ChatGPT Crash Course: A Founder's Guide to Working Smarter with AI
I still remember where I was and what I was doing when a friend told me he had to show me ChatGPT. At the time, I had never seen anything like it. I was honestly a bit speechless. And as a full-time writer, I immediately felt threatened.
The next day, I sat in front of my home computer and played around with ChatGPT, but left it at that. It wasn’t until a year or two later that I really hunkered down at the suggestion of one of my colleagues. Shocking to me at the time, but it only took about a week of research and I became…shamelessly hooked on what ChatGPT could do. I then spent six solid months diving deep into ChatGPT.
Today, I’m a raving fan and I get excited about building and fine-tuning custom GPTs (more on what that is in a moment) because they are incredibly helpful and save loads of time. Since every day I am amazed at what ChatGPT can do, I made it my mission to pass on my countless hours of research to readers so they too can reap the benefits of AI tools such as ChatGPT.
If you have 10 minutes, here’s your crash course to get started…
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a conversational AI developed by OpenAI. It runs on a type of artificial intelligence called a GPT, or Generative Pre-trained Transformer. Think of it like a highly intelligent writing assistant that can understand and generate natural, human-like responses.
Let’s break that down:
Generative: It creates new content (like text, summaries, emails, or code) from scratch.
Pre-trained: It’s trained on massive amounts of publicly available internet data and documents, so it already knows how humans write.
Transformer: A deep learning architecture designed to understand the relationships between words and ideas in context.
ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI—a San Francisco-based AI research lab co-founded by Elon Musk and Sam Altman—first launched publicly in late 2022. OpenAI's mission was to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity, and ChatGPT was introduced as a way to make cutting-edge language models accessible to everyday users.
It quickly became one of the most widely adopted AI tools in history. Picture a text-based assistant that can draft emails, brainstorm ideas, answer questions, write code, analyze data, and more. Since launch, it’s become one of the most popular AI tools—helping leaders from startups to enterprises grapple with complexity in creative, practical ways.
Why it matters to entrepreneurs
Fast knowledge worker: Imagine having a digital team member accessible 24/7 to research, draft, and prototype.
Amplified productivity: Small teams can stretch farther by automating low-level tasks.
Creative springboard: From copywriting to brainstorming, it sparks ideas in minutes.
How ChatGPT Works
Behind the curtain, it’s powered by advanced language models trained on massive text data. When you type a prompt, it predicts the next word sequences that best match your request, balancing accuracy and creativity.
Its design includes:
Conversation memory: It keeps context so follow-ups make sense.
Fine-tuning: Reinforced learning with human feedback (RLHF) helps it follow instructions better.
Multimodal: Modern versions can handle images, PDF uploads, and code execution too.
In 2025, OpenAI unveiled Operator, a feature that enables ChatGPT to execute real-world tasks—ordering, filing, browsing—emphasizing its role as hands-on digital co-pilot.
The Art of Prompt Engineering
“Prompt engineering” is the craft of writing questions and instructions that yield useful responses. Good prompts are:
Clear and specific—E.g., “Summarize this document in 3 bullets.”
Context-rich—Include brand, audience, tone, or data.
Formatted—State your expected output format (“Table,” “Email draft,” etc.).
Interactive—Ask for iterations or revisions.
Sample prompt:
You are [MyCompany]'s marketing manager. Craft three email subject lines to re-engage previous customers, each under 50 characters and with a friendly, trust-building tone.
Your AI partner gets sharper the more you define context and constraints.
Top Business Use Cases
ChatGPT empowers founders across business functions:
1. Content & Marketing
Idea generation: “Propose five blog post ideas for X audience.”
Copywriting: “Write an Instagram caption announcing our new service.”
Ad templates: “Generate Google Ads headlines + descriptions.”
2. Customer Support
Reply drafting: “Here’s a customer complaint—reply politely with refund and apology.”
Knowledge base builder: “Outline FAQs about our product features.”
3. Data & Analysis
Spreadsheet formulas: “Write an Excel formula to calculate monthly growth.”
Trend summaries: “Summarize this sales dataset and highlight insights.”
4. Internal Training & Documentation
Onboarding guides: “Draft orientation steps for our new hires.”
Training quiz: “Generate a 5-question quiz about our compliance policy.”
5. Market & Competitive Research
Market overview: “Summarize the current state of remote-work tools market.”
Competitor analysis: “Compare features and pricing of ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.”
6. Coding & Technical Support
Simple automation: “Write a quick script to rename all the files in a folder.”
Website tweaks: “Help me change the background color on my homepage using CSS.”
Error fix explainer: “This code gives me an error—can you explain what’s wrong in plain English?”
7. Business Ideation & Planning
Idea brainstorm: “List sustainable startup ideas in wellness.”
Validation prompts: “How can I survey target users to validate ideas?”
Prompt Examples in Action
Task: Blog Outline
Example Prompt: “Outline a 1,200-word blog post about ChatGPT benefits for SMBs.”
Task: Customer Email
Example Prompt: “Draft a gentle email notifying a delayed shipment with empathy.”
Task: Social Media
Example Prompt: “Write 3 LinkedIn captions about our summer sale—professional tone.”
Task: Code Explanation
Example Prompt: “Explain what this Python function does and how to improve it.”
Task: Data Summary
Example Prompt: “Summarize this Excel sheet: columns A-E, last 12 months, key trends.”
ChatGPT vs. Other Tools
The AI landscape in 2025 is crowded, but here’s a quick pulse check on how the top contenders stack up—think of it as the ultimate AI draft board for your business:
ChatGPT (OpenAI): The all-arounder. Versatile, intuitive, and backed by constant innovation (hello, GPT-4o and Operator). Best for founders who want speed, depth, and creativity in one tool.
Claude (Anthropic): The diplomat. Known for its safe, thoughtful responses, it’s a great fit for industries prioritizing ethics, moderation, and compliance.
Gemini (Google): The researcher. With deep ties to Google Search and Workspace, it excels in sourcing, summarizing, and search-based tasks.
Microsoft Copilot: The office assistant. Seamlessly integrated into Word, Excel, and Teams—perfect for corporate environments or MS Office power users.
Grok (xAI): The wildcard. Created by Elon Musk’s xAI and baked into X (formerly Twitter), it’s punchy, real-time, and tuned for current events with a bit of edge.
Open-source LLMs (e.g., Llama, Cohere): The hacker’s choice. Great for businesses with in-house dev teams who want control and privacy—though setup requires technical chops.
Each tool has its strengths, but ChatGPT remains the Swiss Army knife—equally at home drafting social copy, analyzing data, or building internal SOPs in minutes.
Getting Started: A Founder’s Checklist
Set up access: Start with the free tier, then upgrade to Plus or Pro for more features.
Train your team: Share prompt best practices and hold a demo session.
Pilot one use case: Try drafting social media content or internal docs first.
Validate speed and accuracy: Always review facts before sending externally.
Layer compliance and privacy: Avoid entering sensitive data until you're ready.
Iterate: Collect feedback and refine your prompts and processes.
The Paradigm Shift
For SMB founders, ChatGPT represents a paradigm shift: light but powerful AI that can dramatically reduce friction in marketing, customer support, operations, and research. It’s your AI teammate—ready to help, but still needing your leadership, vision, and humanity.
And here’s what I want you to sit with: this is your moment to reclaim time and refocus your energy on the parts of your business only you can do. ChatGPT isn't here to replace you—it's here to replace the friction.
You don’t need to understand every technical nuance to start benefiting. You just need curiosity, a willingness to experiment, and the courage to lead with tools that move at the speed of now.
