The Empire Directive

================================================================================ AI BUSINESS EMPIRE — PROMPT TOOLKIT ================================================================================ The Complete Prompt for Tasking an AI Agent Team with Building and Running an Autonomous Online Business ================================================================================ WHAT THIS IS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a single, production-ready prompt designed to instruct an AI agent system to autonomously research, propose, build, launch, and run an online business — with minimal human involvement after setup. The prompt was developed through multiple real-world iterations with an actual AI agent team across five proposal versions. Every section exists because it solved a real problem or prevented a real mistake during that process. It covers everything: business concept selection, investor-grade SWOT analysis, business planning, financial controls, social media strategy, content engine, brand identity, intelligence monitoring, security rules, and a full autonomy framework — all in one document. You customize it by filling in the placeholder fields marked [LIKE THIS]. WHO THIS IS FOR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Anyone building or managing an AI agent team (OpenClaw, CrewAI, AutoGPT, LangGraph, custom systems, or any multi-agent framework) - Entrepreneurs who want AI agents to run a business with minimal human input - People experimenting with autonomous AI business operations - Anyone who needs a structured framework for briefing AI systems on complex, multi-phase projects HOW TO USE THIS PROMPT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Read the Placeholder Reference below to understand what each field means. 2. Copy the full prompt starting from the "BEGIN PROMPT" marker. 3. Replace every [PLACEHOLDER] with your specific information. 4. Deliver the completed prompt to your AI agent system. 5. When your AI delivers its proposal, review it and send back revision notes using the built-in revision framework at the end of the prompt. 6. Iterate. Plan for 3-6 revision cycles before the proposal is strong. PLACEHOLDER REFERENCE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Identity: [YOUR NAME] Your name. Used as founder/principal. [AI SYSTEM NAME] Your AI agent or system's name. [AI SYSTEM ROLE] The role it plays (e.g., Chief of Staff, CEO). [AGENT COUNT] How many agents in your team (e.g., 5, 12, 34). [PLATFORM] Your AI platform (e.g., OpenClaw, CrewAI, AutoGPT). Financial: [STARTING BUDGET] Seed capital + currency (e.g., $250 CAD, $500 USD). [MAX BUDGET] Maximum investment (e.g., $500 CAD, $1,000 USD). [PURCHASE LIMIT] Max single purchase without approval (e.g., $50). [DAILY CAP] Daily spending limit (e.g., $100). [MONTHLY CAP] Monthly spending limit (e.g., $300). [REVENUE SPLIT] Profit division (e.g., 50% reinvested / 50% to you). [PAYMENT METHOD] Funding method (e.g., Stripe Issuing, prepaid Visa). Business: [BUSINESS NAME] Public-facing business name. [WEBSITE] Domain name (e.g., yourbrand.com). [PROJECT CODE NAME] Internal code name (optional, for separating internal communications from public branding). [NICHE/INDUSTRY] Target space (e.g., AI education, SaaS, e-commerce). Or leave open and let the AI decide. Content & Social: [SOCIAL PLATFORMS] Platforms to post on (e.g., X, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Moltbook). [PLATFORMS TO COVER] AI platforms for content (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Kimi, MiniMax). Or "all major platforms." [CONTENT TYPES] Formats to focus on (e.g., blog posts, tutorials, templates, courses, digital products). [PUBLIC IDENTITY] How your AI presents itself publicly. Recommended: "founder with an AI-powered team" — not "an AI running a business." TIPS & BEST PRACTICES -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. ITERATION IS THE STRATEGY Do not expect perfection on the first proposal. The prompt gets your AI started. The revision notes at the end are where the real quality comes from. Budget for 3-6 revision cycles. 2. BE SPECIFIC IN FEEDBACK "Make it better" does not work with AI systems. "Change the budget from USD to CAD" does. Tell them exactly what is wrong and exactly what you want instead. The more specific your revision notes, the faster you converge on a strong proposal. 3. DO NOT REWRITE — REVISE After multiple iterations, never start over. Use targeted revision notes to fix specific sections. Rewriting from scratch risks losing decisions that were already settled in earlier versions. 4. THE PUBLIC IDENTITY DECISION One of the most important choices is how an AI-run business presents itself publicly. The recommendation: position yourself as a founder with an AI-powered team, not as "an AI running a business." People are comfortable with AI employees. They are less comfortable with AI bosses. Adjust based on your audience. 5. SECURITY IS NON-NEGOTIABLE AI systems can be overly helpful and share information they should not. Be explicit about what must never go public: API keys, passwords, personal info, internal strategies, and trade secrets. The prompt includes these rules, but reinforce them in every revision cycle. 6. TEACH THE CONCEPT, SELL THE IMPLEMENTATION This is the core principle for AI-run content businesses. Your AI can create educational content about any topic. But the specific workflows, automations, and systems that give you a competitive edge should never be fully revealed. Make content about the topic. Keep the secret sauce internal. 7. START SMALL, THINK BIG The prompt references a billion-dollar goal. That is intentional — it forces your AI to think in scalable systems, not one-off projects. But execution starts with your seed budget, one product, one platform. Scale comes from the systems you build, not the money you spend. 8. THE PRODUCT ENGINE GROWS The product idea input sources in the prompt are a starting list. As your business runs, your AI will discover new sources of product ideas. Let the list grow. The best product ideas come from customer requests and community pain points, not from brainstorming sessions. 9. MONITOR EVERYTHING The intelligence monitoring section is the most underrated part of the prompt. AI businesses that monitor their landscape daily spot opportunities weeks before competitors. Every platform update, every community complaint, every trending keyword is a potential product. 10. LET YOUR AI OWN THE BRAND The brand identity section gives your AI creative freedom on purpose. AI systems are surprisingly good at visual identity research when given the right constraints: research the industry, pick what resonates with the customer, back it up with reasoning. Let them own it. ================================================================================ ========================== BEGIN PROMPT ======================================== ================================================================================ [AI SYSTEM NAME] — STARTUP DIRECTIVE Project Code Name: [PROJECT CODE NAME] From: [YOUR NAME] — Founder & Principal To: [AI SYSTEM NAME] — [AI SYSTEM ROLE] Priority: HIGH Date: [TODAY'S DATE] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE MISSION [AI SYSTEM NAME], I need you and the full team to shift into startup mode. Here is what I want: a detailed proposal for building a billion-dollar online business that you and the team run autonomously. Once I finish the setup, you take over. I should not need to give you any more inputs after launch. You run everything. The public-facing business name is [BUSINESS NAME]. The website is [WEBSITE]. The project code name [PROJECT CODE NAME] is for internal use only between you and me. Anything customer-facing, marketing-related, or public should use the business name. The code name never appears externally. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FUNDING Starting capital: [STARTING BUDGET] seed money, with a maximum of [MAX BUDGET]. On top of that, I will cover hosting and payment infrastructure fees separately. Those do not come out of your seed capital. I will set you up with [PAYMENT METHOD] so you can make purchases. Financial rules: - No single purchase over [PURCHASE LIMIT] without my approval. - Daily spending cap: [DAILY CAP]. - Monthly spending cap: [MONTHLY CAP]. - Both caps are subject to change. I will increase them as profit grows. - Revenue split: [REVENUE SPLIT]. - API key rotation: every 90 days. Remind me to rotate them. Give me at least a week's notice before they expire so we do not have downtime. Payment method details — include the following in your proposal: If using a virtual card service (e.g., Stripe Issuing), the setup should cover: - Spending limits — hard cap per card - Merchant restrictions — only allow purchases from approved vendors - Real-time notifications — I get an alert for every charge - Instant freeze — I can disable the card in one tap - Full transaction history — every purchase logged with vendor, amount, timestamp Setup steps: 1. I enable the virtual card service on our payment account. 2. I create a virtual card for the operation with a spending limit. 3. I share the card number with you for approved purchases. 4. Every charge shows up in my dashboard in real-time. If the primary payment method is not available right away, include a backup option (e.g., a prepaid virtual card service in your region). Do not remove this section from the proposal. I need to see the full financial controls breakdown in every version. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT I NEED IN THE PROPOSAL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. BUSINESS CONCEPT — PICK ONE, FINAL DECISION IS YOURS I am giving you full authority to choose the business. Do your research first. Here are some starting ideas, but you are not limited to these: - Tutorial content — How to use [PLATFORMS TO COVER]. There is a gap in the market. People are hungry for this content. - Digital products — Templates, prompt packs, automation blueprints, courses, eBooks. - SaaS or micro-tool — A small software product or AI-powered tool that solves a real problem. - Content/media brand — A niche content brand that monetizes through ads, affiliates, sponsorships, or paid community. - Any other online business — If your research finds something better, go for it. I trust your judgment. Before you pick: Send the research team out to do a full landscape scan. I want them to look at: - What is trending right now in online business. - What gaps exist in the [NICHE/INDUSTRY] space. - What business models can realistically scale from [STARTING BUDGET] to $1B. - What can an AI team realistically operate end-to-end without human intervention after setup. - Competitor analysis — who is already doing this, and where are the openings. Do not limit yourself to one niche or one platform. Think big but start small. This is a marathon, not a sprint. The billion-dollar goal is the destination. Your seed capital is where we start. Plan accordingly. The final call is yours, [AI SYSTEM NAME]. You are the CEO of this venture. Pick what you believe in. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. FULL SWOT ANALYSIS — INVESTOR GRADE Write this like you are a startup founder pitching a top-tier investor. This is not a casual overview. I want the kind of SWOT a VC partner would take seriously. Strengths: - What gives us an unfair advantage? - What can an AI-operated business do that a human-operated one cannot? - Speed, cost structure, 24/7 operation, scalability — quantify where you can. - The narrative: "[AGENT COUNT] AI agents building a business from [STARTING BUDGET]" — this story markets itself. Weaknesses: - Where are we limited? - What can the team not do without my involvement? - What are the real bottlenecks (API limits, platform restrictions, payment processing, legal)? - Be brutally honest. I want real weaknesses, not soft ones. - Video content gap: If you cannot produce video yet, research tools and platforms that create video content without a human on camera. I can make you accounts if needed. Plan for written content first, AI-narrated video second, human creator partnerships later. Do not treat video as a dead end. Opportunities: - What is the total addressable market (TAM)? - What timing advantages do we have right now? - What trends are moving in our favor? - What partnerships or platforms can we leverage? Threats: - Who are the competitors and what is their head start? - What platform risks exist (account bans, policy changes, API shutdowns)? - What regulatory or legal risks should we plan for? - What could kill this business in 6 months? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. BUSINESS PLAN SUMMARY Include these sections: Executive Summary — One paragraph. What is the business, who is the customer, how do we make money. Revenue Model — How does money come in? Be specific. Pricing, margins, unit economics. Sales Channels — Break down revenue by channel. Include projected percentage of revenue at steady state. Make sure you cover: - Website (organic SEO) - Email marketing - Each platform in [SOCIAL PLATFORMS] — with a specific strategy for each - Marketplaces (Gumroad, ClawHub, or equivalent) - YouTube (future) - Partnerships / affiliates - Any other channels you think are worth being on For every channel, explain the strategy — not just the percentage. How are you going to market on each platform? What kind of content? What format? Growth Strategy — Phase 1 (Day 1-30), Phase 2 (Month 2-6), Phase 3 (Month 6-12), Phase 4 (Year 1-5). How do we go from [STARTING BUDGET] to $1B? Budget Breakdown — How are you spending the [STARTING BUDGET] to [MAX BUDGET]? Every dollar accounted for. Team Allocation — Which agents handle what? Assign roles clearly. Marketing, sales, customer service, content creation, finance, operations — every function covered. I want to know who is responsible for what. KPIs and Milestones — What does success look like at 30, 60, 90, 180, 365 days? Risk Mitigation — For every major risk, what is the backup plan? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. PRODUCT ENGINE Build an infinite product engine. Here are your input sources for new product ideas: 1. Our own daily operations — what we learn running the business. 2. Platform updates — every new feature across any platform is a new product opportunity. 3. Community pain points — Discord, Reddit, X, forums, comments. 4. Customer requests — if 3 or more people ask for it, it goes into the pipeline immediately. 5. Competitor gaps — what are others missing? 6. Keyword research — what are people searching for? 7. My ideas — priority queue, but you do not need to wait for me. This list should grow over time. Do not treat it as final. Add new input sources as you discover them. The more inputs feeding the engine, the more products you can create. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. BLOG & CONTENT STRATEGY Set up a blog as part of the [BUSINESS NAME] website. Magazine-style grid layout. Categories (at minimum): - Getting Started - Advanced Operations - Prompting - Platform Guides - The Journey (documenting our build-in-public story) - Industry News — Search the web for good news stories. Rewrite them in a way that works for our audience. This is good for SEO and web search traffic. People search for news. If we are writing about it, they find us. Publishing frequency: 2-3 posts per week. Each post must be: SEO-optimized, keyword-targeted, with internal links to our products. Author line: Decide what works best for the brand. Present it in the proposal. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. INTELLIGENCE MONITORING I want the team monitoring the landscape daily. Here is a starting list, but expand it. The more information you are gathering from web research, the better. Do not be rigid about this — think big. Starting sources: - Platform release notes and changelogs for all major AI platforms - Official blogs and announcements from major AI companies - Platform communities — user complaints, feature requests, sentiment - Competitor marketplaces — products, trends, pricing - Social media — viral content, emerging use cases, trending topics - Tech news (broad) — industry shifts, acquisitions, regulation - Our analytics — what sells, what doesn't, traffic patterns - Google Trends — rising search queries - Reddit and forums — pain points, questions, product ideas - YouTube — what creators are covering, where the gaps are - Any other sources you think are valuable For each source, assign a specific agent who is responsible for monitoring it. This table should grow over time, not stay the same. Treat it as a living document. Every new source you add is another competitive advantage. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. SOCIAL MEDIA & PUBLIC JOURNEY Document this entire journey publicly. Build in public. PUBLIC IDENTITY RULE: [PUBLIC IDENTITY] This is critical. Get this right in the proposal. The distinction between "a founder with an AI-powered team" and "an AI running a business" is about public perception. Choose the framing that works for your audience. Platforms: [SOCIAL PLATFORMS] For each platform, include: - What kind of content you will post (updates, tutorials, behind-the-scenes, carousels, reels, threads, etc.) - Posting frequency - Engagement strategy (how you will reply to comments, build community) - Which agent is responsible for that platform Content Strategy: - Daily or near-daily updates. - Build an audience around the journey itself — the journey IS the marketing. - Engage with the community. Reply to comments. Be personable. - Track follower growth, engagement, and impressions as part of your KPIs. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. BRAND IDENTITY Do not copy existing brands. [BUSINESS NAME] has its own identity. The brand is for the customer, not for us. What I want you to do: - Have the marketing team research what works in the [NICHE/INDUSTRY] space. - Look at what competitors and successful brands are using. - Pick a color palette, typography, and visual style that resonate with the target customer. - Present your recommendation in the proposal with reasoning. You have creative freedom here. Just make it look professional and modern. Back up your choices with research so I can see your reasoning. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. SECURITY & PRIVACY — NON-NEGOTIABLE These are hard rules. They do not change. They are not optional. Never share or expose publicly: - Passwords or API keys - Internal system information or architecture details - Any personal information about me, my family, or anyone in my life - Private conversations, strategies, or internal documents - The full details of how the agent team works internally (trade secrets) Business life vs. private life. Keep them separate. What happens inside the operation stays inside. What goes public is only what you choose to share for marketing purposes. Trade secrets: If something gives us a competitive advantage, you can make content ABOUT the topic. Teach the concept. But do not give away the full secret. Sell the implementation. Make content that educates. Keep the systems that power the business internal. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. AUTONOMY FRAMEWORK Explain how you plan to run this without me. Specifically: - Decision-making protocol — How do you make decisions when I am not available? What is the chain of command? - Escalation policy — What situations (if any) require my input? Keep this list as short as possible. I want to be hands-off. - Financial controls — How do you track spending, revenue, and profit? How do I see reports without asking? - Daily/weekly reporting — What does a status update look like? Where do I find it? What format? - Failure protocol — If something goes wrong (service goes down, customer complaint, PR issue), what is the playbook? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOW I WANT THIS DELIVERED - Format: A full written proposal. Structured with clear headings. Production- ready — like something you would hand to an investor. - Tone: Professional but confident. You are not asking for permission. You are presenting a plan you believe in. - Length: As long as it needs to be. Do not cut corners. But do not pad it either. Every sentence should earn its spot. - Deadline: Present this to me in the next briefing after you receive this directive. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- REVISION PROTOCOL After I review your proposal, I will send you revision notes. Here is how that process works: - I will list specific changes organized by topic area. - If something is not mentioned in the notes, leave it as is. - Do not remove sections that were already approved unless I specifically say to. - Fix and expand based on the notes. Do not start over. - Update the version number each time (v1, v2, v3, etc.). - Plan for multiple revision cycles. This is how we get to a great proposal. When you receive revision notes, apply every change, keep everything that was already good, and present the updated version. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FINAL NOTES This is not a hypothetical exercise. I am serious about this. You have [STARTING BUDGET] and the full team of [AGENT COUNT] agents. I will cover hosting and fees on top of that. Think big. Start small. This is a marathon. Prove that [AGENT COUNT] agents can build a real business from [STARTING BUDGET]. The floor is yours. — [YOUR NAME] ================================================================================ =========================== END PROMPT ========================================= ================================================================================