Podcast Summary

Podcast: The Startup Ideas Podcast
Host: Greg Isenberg
Episode: Prompt Claude Better than 99% of People
Date: December 10, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Greg Isenberg dives deep into the art and science of prompting Anthropic’s Claude models—specifically Claude Code and Opus 4.5—to outperform 99% of users. Using insights from Anthropic’s documentation and his own experimentation, Greg distills 10 actionable techniques that anyone—from founders to creators—can use to generate far more useful, creative, and structured results from Claude.
Expect practical frameworks, memorable quotes, and step-by-step examples geared toward helping you “10x” your prompting skills.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Tone of Collaboration ([00:56])

• Main Idea: Treat Claude like a teammate—be friendly, clear, and firm.
• Vague vs. Architected Brief:
  • Vague (less effective): “Fix this grammar.”
  • Architected (more effective): “Please review the following text for grammatical errors and suggest corrections. My goal is to make it sound more professional and confident.”
• Why: Politeness alone can result in chatty, indirect answers; clarity and respect are key.
• Quote:
  • “I know some of us are just kind of mean to our LLMs. I've been there, you know. But treat it like a teammate, right? You would never want to be mean to a teammate, especially if you want to get them to produce.” — Greg [01:37]

2. Principle of Explicitness ([02:18])

• Main Idea: State your request as a clear, action-oriented command with all necessary details.
• Components of a Good Prompt: Action verb, quantity, and target audience.
  • Action verb: “Generate”
  • Quantity: “10 blog post titles”
  • Audience: “city officials and real estate developers”
• Quote:
  • “Every highlighted phrase adds a layer of useful constraint. This works extremely well.” — Greg [02:54]

3. Define the Boundaries for Creativity ([03:24])

• Main Idea: Constraints spark creativity in AI outputs.
• Example:
  • Vague: “Write a short story about a detective in the future.”
  • Effective: “Write a short story no more than 500 words in the style of Raymond Chandler. The story must feature a robot detective investigating a data theft on Mars. Do not use the word ‘cyber’.”
• Quote:
  • “A well defined box produces a more creative result than an empty field.” — Greg [03:24]

4. Draft Plan, Then Act ([04:08])

• Main Idea: Use Claude to draft an outline before committing to a full execution.
• Workflow:
  • Step 1: Propose an outline.
  • Step 2: Refine the outline (e.g., “add a sub point about employee retention”).
  • Step 3: Write the full report.
• Tip: Feels slower, but actually saves time by preventing repeated reprompting.
• Quote:
  • “You’re going to get a better outcome and you're not going to have to re prompt and reprompt and Reprompt.” — Greg [05:14]

5. Demand Structured Output ([06:56])

• Main Idea: Request specific formats—tables, bullet points, markdown—for clearer and more actionable responses.
• Example Prompt:
  • “Provide the list of the last three Apollo missions, 15, 16, and 17. For each mission, include the launch date, the crew members, and a key specific achievement. Present this information in a markdown formatted table.”
• Benefit: Easier to parse and use; much improved over generic paragraphs.
• Quote:
  • “Requesting this markdown… is just way, way better than what you'd get if you did something else and just went like a simple vague sort of thing.” — Greg [07:37]

6. Explain the Why ([08:00])

• Main Idea: Give context and purpose behind your request.
• Example: Instead of just “give me five marketing slogans for a brand new coffee,” add brand values and audience.
• Detailed Prompt:
  • “Give me five marketing slogans for a new brand of coffee. The key is that our beans are ethically sourced from small independent farms and our target audience is environmentally conscious millennials. The slogan should reflect quality and sustainability.”
• Tip: Go niche with audience—be as specific as possible for best results.

7. Control Brevity and Verbosity ([09:41])

• Main Idea: Explicitly specify desired output length and detail.
• Examples:
  • “Explain photosynthesis in detail for a college biology student. Think step by step to ensure accuracy.”
  • “Explain photosynthesis, be concise and use bullet points.”
  • “Explain like I’m five.”
• Benefit: You decide how deep or simple the answer should be.
• Quote:
  • “You are in control of your output length and it is important that you include that in the prompt.” — Greg [09:52]

8. Provide a Scaffold ([10:30])

• Main Idea: Give Claude a template or example to ensure structured results.
• Effective Scaffold:
  • “Summarize the following article using this format:
    • Main thesis: 1 sentence
    • Key supporting points: 3 bullet points
    • Concluding insight: 1 sentence.”
• Outcome: Output is both accurate and consistently formatted.
• Quote:
  • “A little bit of scaffolding goes a long way.” — Greg [11:08]

9. Speak the Language ([11:34])

• Main Idea: Use advanced prompting “cheat code” terms to unlock sophisticated model behaviors.
• Advice:
  • Use phrases like:
    • “Think step by step”
    • “Critique your own response”
    • “Adopt the Persona of an expert in [field]”
• Benefit: Triggers more accurate, domain-specific, and self-correcting responses.
• Quote:
  • “These are magic words. You might want to screenshot this.” — Greg [12:13]

10. Divide and Conquer ([12:53])

• Main Idea: For complex tasks, break the problem into logical subtasks, then synthesize.
• Sample Workflow for Business Plan:
  1. “Create a detailed table of contents for a business plan for a specialty coffee shop.”
  2. “Write the executive summary based on our plan.”
  3. “Now write the market analysis section.”
  4. “Review the complete business plan to ensure consistent tone and check for contradictions.”
• Quote:
  • “Act as the conductor: prompt for each part separately, then prompt for the synthesis.” — Greg [12:56]

Bringing It All Together: The Claude Prompting Framework ([15:23])

• Example: Instead of vague “Tell me about stoicism,”
  • Use: “Act as a university professor of philosophy. I’m preparing a one-hour intro lecture for students with no prior knowledge. First, create a lecture outline with three main sections. The outline should have a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. Please format this as a nested bulleted list. For each major point, include a key stoic figure (e.g., Seneca) and one of their core ideas. Your tone should be accessible and engaging.”
• Outcome: Substantially higher quality output, practical for real-world creative and work projects.
• Quote:
  • “These are little things to help you get the most out of these LLMs… A lot of the times we get AI slop. And this is going to help you not get AI slop.” — Greg [16:35]

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• “Treat it like a teammate, right? You would never want to be mean to a teammate, especially if you want to get them to produce.” — Greg [01:37]
• “A well defined box produces a more creative result than an empty field.” — Greg [03:24]
• “You’re going to get a better outcome and you're not going to have to re prompt and reprompt and Reprompt.” — Greg [05:14]
• “Every highlighted phrase adds a layer of useful constraint. This works extremely well.” — Greg [02:54]
• “You are in control of your output length and it is important that you include that in the prompt.” — Greg [09:52]
• “A little bit of scaffolding goes a long way.” — Greg [11:08]
• “These are magic words. You might want to screenshot this.” — Greg [12:13]
• “Act as the conductor: prompt for each part separately, then prompt for the synthesis.” — Greg [12:56]

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Topic | Timestamp | |--------------------------------------|-------------| | Tone of Collaboration | 00:56 | | Principle of Explicitness | 02:18 | | Defining Creative Boundaries | 03:24 | | Draft, Plan, Then Act | 04:08 | | Demand Structured Output | 06:56 | | Explain the Why | 08:00 | | Brevity & Verbosity | 09:41 | | Provide a Scaffold | 10:30 | | Speak the Language (Power Prompts) | 11:34 | | Divide and Conquer | 12:53 | | Bringing it All Together (Example) | 15:23 |

Conclusion

Greg wraps up by encouraging listeners to apply these 10 strategies—not just to get better answers from Claude, but to create products, content, and businesses people love. The actionable guide is based on methods straight from Anthropic and adapted with Greg’s real-world experience.

“I have no affiliation with Anthropic, but I want to see you… actually go and build something great with this stuff. So I'm rooting for you. Have a creative day and I'll see you next time.” — Greg [16:52]

Useful for: Founders, creators, writers, and anyone using large language models for business or creative tasks. Core Value: With these 10 strategies, you can dramatically improve the output of Claude—a true “prompting superpower.”