The AI companion

Use Speedstrap with your AI assistant.

Start with the exercise below. It's a simple interaction you can do with any AI assistant (ideally a frontier model). It includes the public principles we share, so you can start without uploading the book.

Start the exercise

01 / The starting point

Minimal equity.
Rapid revenue.

Speedstrapping makes this the primary plan. It can still take substantial capital; the question is where that capital comes from and when.

This exercise draws on the five edges described on the public book page.

Revenue FirstGet to the first dollar fast.
Customer-Funded GrowthExplore prepayments, paid pilots, and co-development.
AI-Enabled EfficiencyConsider what agents can do before adding headcount.
The Complete Capital StackUnderstand the options beyond equity rounds.
The Living ModelKeep a current, honest model of what may happen.

02 / Put it to work

One constraint. One next step.

Copy the prompt, paste it into your assistant, and answer its questions. Approximate numbers are enough to begin.

Your starter prompt

Help me examine my business using the public Speedstrap principles below. This is a starting exercise based on the public book page, not a claim that you have read the book.

PUBLIC FRAMEWORK
Speedstrapping treats minimal equity and rapid revenue as the primary plan. Capital can come from more sources than equity rounds. Its five edges are:
1. Revenue First: get to the first dollar fast; paying customers validate a market.
2. Customer-Funded Growth: explore prepayments, paid pilots, and co-development.
3. AI-Enabled Efficiency: consider what agents can do before adding headcount.
4. The Complete Capital Stack: understand options beyond equity, including partners and lenders; revenue opens many of these options.
5. The Living Model: keep a current, honest financial model of what may happen.
Source: https://speedstrapbook.com/#five-edges

FIRST, ASK ME
Ask up to five questions about what we sell and to whom, our stage and evidence of demand, when customers pay versus when we spend, our approximate cash and capital needs, and our biggest constraint. Include our location if relevant to funding options. Wait for my answers before analyzing. If a missing fact would change your conclusion, ask a follow-up rather than guess.

THEN, HELP ME CHOOSE
Identify the most important constraint suggested by my answers and explain why. Compare two or three ways to address it using the framework. For each, state the assumptions, tradeoffs, and evidence needed to test whether it fits. Do not assume customer funding, debt, AI, or equity is suitable without that evidence.

Finish with one practical experiment I can run next: the question to test, the action, the time and cash required, and the result that would change my decision. Ask me to confirm feasibility before treating the experiment as a plan.

Separate facts I gave you from assumptions and your own suggestions. Do not invent book quotes, case outcomes, financial figures, or lender eligibility. Label outside ideas as your own and verify current external claims with sources when you can; otherwise mark them unverified.

You can also select and copy the text directly. The prompt includes its own framework; browsing is optional.

The assistant’s response is a starting hypothesis. Check its sources, assumptions, and numbers before acting. If you bring in a passage from your copy of the book, ask it to distinguish that passage from its own interpretation.

03 / Follow the evidence

Use the sources.

The source index

Follow the book’s citations to their sources. Bring the relevant evidence back into your conversation.

Cap Stack Compass

Explore lenders, foundations, and alternative capital providers. Check the provider’s current terms and eligibility directly.

Use Speedstrap with your AI assistant.

Minimal equity.Rapid revenue.

One constraint. One next step.

Use the sources.

The source index ↗

Cap Stack Compass ↗

Minimal equity.
Rapid revenue.

The source index

Cap Stack Compass