Hey there, tech lovers and future unicorn hunters! Today, we’re diving into a fascinating secret that could make you billions — all hidden within AI system prompts.

Superblocks CEO Brad Menezes shares how the biggest money-making ideas are hiding in plain sight: the system prompts used by top AI startups. These prompts, often over 5,000 words long, are the instructions given to foundational AI models from companies like OpenAI, helping create specialized applications. Think of them as masterclasses in prompt engineering, tailored to fit each company’s unique needs.

While not exactly secret, these prompts are rarely public. Menezes’s startup, Superblocks, shared 19 of these prompts from popular AI coding tools, catching the attention of nearly 2 million people, including prominent venture figures. His company, armed with a $23 million Series A, is all about enabling non-developers to build enterprise AI apps, leveraging insights from these prompts.

Studying these prompts reveals three key areas: role prompting, which defines the AI’s persona; contextual prompting, setting the stage and guardrails; and tool use, instructing AI to perform tasks beyond simple text generation. Menezes emphasizes that beyond the initial prompt, the real secret lies in ‘prompt enrichment’ — building infrastructure around these prompts to enhance their effectiveness.

For example, role prompting might instruct an AI to act as a seasoned software engineer, providing consistency and purpose. Contextual prompts help avoid unnecessary costs and ambiguities, while tool prompts enable AI to search, execute commands, or query databases, making them far more capable.

Menezes believes that by analyzing and emulating these prompts, startups can discover undervalued ideas and create billion-dollar ventures. His team even uses internal AI agents to streamline their operations, from sales to support, proving the power of prompt engineering firsthand.

So, if you’re dreaming of the next big thing, keep an eye on these prompts — they might just be the treasure map to your startup’s future!