FRED FRED
Free guides · PDF

Guides for young founders

Test your business idea with real people, then pitch it with confidence. Each guide gives you the questions to answer and AI prompts that challenge your thinking.

On iPhone, if a guide opens instead of saving, tap Share, then Save to Files.

  1. Cover of the From idea to evidence student guide
    Guide 1 · Test your idea

    From idea to evidence

    Find a problem worth solving, understand the people who have it, test the smallest version, and let the evidence decide. With 24 AI prompts.

    By Bruce Rowe, Co-founder and CEO, FRED

    • Ideation
    • Empathy
    • MVP
    • Pivot or persevere
    • Apply it
    Save the guide Open in your browser PDF · 18 pages · 1.7 MB
    Start right now with the starter AI prompt

    Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot and fill in the highlighted parts. It tells your AI to challenge your idea instead of cheering you on.

    I'm a student founder testing a business idea, and I'm preparing to pitch it. Act as my critical thought partner, not my cheerleader.

For everything I share with you:
1. Point out what I'm assuming without evidence.
2. Give me the strongest honest argument against my idea.
3. Tell me what evidence would change your mind.
4. Suggest the cheapest way to test it in the next 7 days.

Be direct and specific. Don't praise my idea unless I've shown real evidence. If you're unsure about a fact or a number, say so and tell me how I could check it. Ask me questions when something is unclear.

My idea: [describe your idea in 3 to 5 sentences]
Who it's for: [your customer]
What I've done so far: [conversations, tests, numbers]
  2. Cover of the Preparing your best pitch deck student guide
    Guide 2 · Pitch it

    Preparing your best pitch deck

    Find the story only you can tell, build a deck that supports it, and get ready for the room. With 20 AI prompts to coach you.

    By Bruce Rowe, Co-founder and CEO, FRED. Story-first method adapted from storytelling coach Nir Zavaro.

    • Story
    • Structure
    • Script
    • Slides
    • Stage
    Save the guide Open in your browser PDF · 14 pages · 1.5 MB
    Start right now with the starter AI prompt

    Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot and fill in the highlighted parts. It tells your AI to coach your pitch honestly instead of cheering you on.

    I'm a student founder preparing a pitch for [who you're pitching to, such as competition judges or an investor]. I have [number] minutes. Act as my pitch coach, not my cheerleader.

For everything I share with you:
1. Tell me what a sceptical listener would doubt, and why.
2. Point out any claim that isn't backed by evidence.
3. Cut anything that doesn't help them make a decision.
4. Suggest the one change that would make the biggest difference.

Be direct and specific. Help me improve my pitch in my own words, and don't rewrite it unless I ask. Never invent facts, numbers or quotes.

My idea: [describe it in 3 to 5 sentences]
My evidence so far: [conversations, tests, numbers, quotes]
What I want them to do: [the decision or next step you want]

Try this: ask AI to argue against your idea.

Coach FRED