6. That’s why the stickiest AI products aren’t “AI-first.”
   They’re *problem-first*.
📨 I unpacked this idea in my latest newsletter: parul.substack.com/p/falling-in... 
It’s about how falling in love w the problem helps AI products win.
What’s one AI tool that erased real pain for you?
               
            
            
                08.07.2025 14:08 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            5. That’s when AI clicks.
   Not when you show what the model can do.
   But when the user says:
   “Oh. I never want to do this manually again.”
               
            
            
                08.07.2025 14:08 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            4. Builders who get this ask better questions:
   ✦ Where are users duct-taping a workflow today?
   ✦ What do they copy/paste 10 times a day?
   ✦ What feels like magic *only because* it was previously awful?
               
            
            
                08.07.2025 14:08 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            3. That wedge only shows up when you fall in love with the problem.
Not the model.
Not the market.
The actual problem—at the atomic level of real users, real pain, real friction.
               
            
            
                08.07.2025 14:08 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            2. These products are sticky not because of their tech.
   But because they nailed the wedge.
They found one painful, valuable, *frequent* task.
And made it vanish.
               
            
            
                08.07.2025 14:08 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            1. The best AI tools don’t dazzle.
   They disappear.
They compress 15 clicks into 1.
Auto-fill your messy CRM.
Draft the response you *meant* to write.
Catch the error you missed.
               
            
            
                08.07.2025 14:08 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            🧵 The stickiest AI products don’t feel magical.
They feel inevitable.
They don’t just show off what the model can do.
They erase something frustrating from your workflow—so smoothly, you can’t imagine going back.👇
               
            
            
                08.07.2025 14:08 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
                                                
                                                
    
    
    
    
               
            
            
                01.07.2025 17:22 — 👍 21724    🔁 7208    💬 652    📌 526                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            7/
Prompt chains aren’t just for productivity.
They’re a new way of thinking—at founder speed, with strategist depth.
💬 If you're building this way, what chains have you tried? What are your most useful strategy prompt hacks?
               
            
            
                23.06.2025 18:05 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            6/
And as tools evolve, this gets even more powerful:
→ Agents that remember your context
→ Embedded copilots in your dashboards
→ AutoGPTs that can run the whole chain for you
But the mindset shift matters:
🔗 Think in chains.
🍰 Refine in layers.
               
            
            
                23.06.2025 18:05 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            5/
🧭 Here’s a 5-prompt strategy chain I run monthly w founders :
1. What changed this month?
2. Are we differentiated enough from [X competitor]?
3. What would a skeptical buyer distrust on our site?
4. What’s fragile in the business rn?
5. What user behavior could unlock LTV?
               
            
            
                23.06.2025 18:05 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            4/
That’s the power of a *prompt chain*.
It’s not about output.
It’s about structured, layered thinking.
When done right, a prompt chain becomes something like a *mindflow* — a way to deepen clarity, test hypotheses & find sharp answers *faster* than any brainstorming session.
               
            
            
                23.06.2025 18:05 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            3/
It became an instant mini-diligence loop.
Each follow-up prompt refined the strategy.
The ideas got better.
The positioning got sharper.
I walked away with a spreadsheet I could hand to my product team—or my favorite vibe coder.
All in a single conversation.
               
            
            
                23.06.2025 18:05 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            2/
I asked ChatGPT for 10 startup ideas:
✔️ Based on verticals I care about
✔️ With product-led growth potential
✔️ Subscription pricing $250–$500/mo
Then I kept going...
What keywords would matter?
Could we win via SEO?
What’s the fastest GTM motion?
               
            
            
                23.06.2025 18:05 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            Founder myth tends to reward charisma and momentum. But behind the scenes, real mastery looks like clarity, compounding, and staying calm in the hard moments.
Who’s a founder you admire, and what have they taught you? (3/3)
               
            
            
                12.06.2025 16:40 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            They’re the ones who’ve quietly shipped through chaos, built exceptional cultures, and made it look effortless when it wasn’t. (2/3)
               
            
            
                12.06.2025 16:40 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            Name a founder more people should be learning from—someone whose name doesn’t get mentioned enough.
I’ve been lucky to back and learn from some remarkable founders. The ones I keep thinking about aren’t always the loudest or most followed. (1/3)
               
            
            
                12.06.2025 16:40 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            (3/3) It’s not just “busywork.” It’s the glue -- the repetitive, context-switch-heavy work that slows down execution across the org.
What are you handing off first? Bonus: for your favorite tools (or are you creating bespoke ones?)
               
            
            
                11.06.2025 18:20 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            (2/3) 
The top answers?
💻 Coding
📆 Scheduling & email triage
🧑💻 Document processing & data entry
📝 Content creation & editing
💪🏽 Automating workflows in onboarding / customer success
☑️ Task management
🧐 Research & decision support
               
            
            
                11.06.2025 18:20 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            If AI could take one thing off your plate today -- what would you hand over without hesitation?
I’ve been asking this in 1:1s with founders. And what’s surprising isn’t that they’re automating more -- it’s what they’re automating first. (1/3)
               
            
            
                11.06.2025 18:20 — 👍 1    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            congrats!!! 🎉
               
            
            
                10.06.2025 17:32 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            If you're building lean, embedded, and impossible to rip out — you’re not alone.
This is what survival looks like in 2025.
Thanks to @henrythe9ths for compiling the Lean AI Leaderboard.
               
            
            
                10.06.2025 14:13 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            (10) They execute like survival depends on it — because it does.
No tourists. No hype-chasers. Just sharp operators with early revenue and fast iteration loops.
               
            
            
                10.06.2025 14:13 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            (9) Infra isn’t the pitch.
It’s just what lets the product scale.
               
            
            
                10.06.2025 14:13 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            (8) Vertical AI is outperforming.
Legal, healthcare, logistics. Regulated = defensible.
               
            
            
                10.06.2025 14:13 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            (7) Optionality > overcapitalization.
Many never raised a priced round. Some are bootstrapped.
               
            
            
                10.06.2025 14:13 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            (6) No model-building for its own sake.
They wrap models with distribution, UX, and stickiness.
               
            
            
                10.06.2025 14:13 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            (5) $1–3M revenue per employee.
Yes, seriously. Lean and wildly efficient.
               
            
            
                10.06.2025 14:13 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
            
        
            
            
            
            
            
    
    
    
    
            (4) They embed into workflows.
No dashboards, no new tabs.
AI shows up where work already happens.
               
            
            
                10.06.2025 14:13 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0                      
            
         
    
         
        
            
        
                            
                    
                    
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