How to automate 90% of a startup with Claude

THE PREMISE

How did I automate 90% of my tech startup?

I built ten small systems with Claude. Each one reads one thing, makes one decision and sends the result somewhere I already look, on a schedule. This guide gives you the five parts every system shares, the build prompt I start each one with and the full list of my ten.

I didn't automate my startup with one big clever agent. As co-founder and CEO of Techlerator, the company behind Xeruit, I built ten small, boring systems with Claude. Each one does a single job every day. Together they run about 90% of the work.

Every one of them has the same five parts. Once you can see the parts, you can build your own, one at a time.

Reads: One place it looks: an inbox, a calendar, a list of companies, a meeting.
Decides: One judgement Claude makes each time, like which emails need you.
Sends: One place the result lands, where you already look.
Runs: A fixed time, or a command you type. It doesn't wait to be remembered.
Never: The line it must not cross, written down before you build.

The 10 systems

01STEP · THE PROMPT

What prompt do I use to build each system?

Paste this into Claude Code and fill in the brackets. It's the brief I start every system with. Claude asks its questions first, builds a dry run and only then switches it on.

build-a-system.md

I want you to build me one small system that runs on its own. It does one job, every time, without me. Read my answers below, then follow the build rules.

SYSTEM: [A short name, e.g. Morning brief]

JOB: [The one job it does, in one sentence]

READS: [What it looks at: my inbox, my calendar, a folder, a spreadsheet, a website]

DECIDES: [What you should judge each time, e.g. which emails need me]

SENDS TO: [Where the result goes: Google Chat, Slack, an email to me, a Google Doc]

RUNS: [When: every day at 7am, every hour, or only when I type a command]

NEVER: [What it must never do, e.g. send an email without my approval]

BUILD RULES:

1. Ask me up to five questions before you write any code. Don't guess the parts you can't see.
2. Use the simplest setup that works on my computer. Explain every tool you install and why.
3. Keep passwords and keys in a .env file. Never write them into the code.
4. Build a dry run first that shows me what it would send without sending it. Wait for my OK.
5. Anything that goes to another person needs an on/off switch I control.
6. Then schedule it to run on its own and show me how to stop it.
7. Finish with a short README: what it does, how to run it, how to switch it off.

Start with your questions.

Fill in NEVER before anything else. It's the line that keeps a system from doing damage while you sleep.

02STEP · YOUR FIRST ONE

Which system should you build first?

Start with the morning brief. It only reads and only messages you, so nothing can go wrong for anyone else. Here it is filled in.

morning-brief-example.md

SYSTEM: Morning brief

JOB: Tell me my day before I open my laptop.

READS: My Gmail inbox and today's Google Calendar.

DECIDES: Which emails need a reply from me today, what's on my calendar and the one thing I should do first.

SENDS TO: One message in Google Chat.

RUNS: Every day at 7am.

NEVER: Reply to, delete or archive any email.

THE TEN

What do my ten systems do?

1. Product brain: Holds 16 years of my product experience. Writes requirements, tests what we build and runs the roadmap with me.
2. Client finder: Finds companies that fit who we sell to, checks the contact and works out why we should write.
3. Outreach email: Writes to those companies from its own address. Their emails stop when they reply.
4. Meeting agent: Listens to my Google Meet calls, catches every ask and drafts the work in Drive.
5. Morning brief: At 7am, reads my inboxes and calendar and sends one message.
6. Inbox watch: Every hour, messages me only about emails that need me.
7. Market analyst: At 8am, reads the AI news and what competitors did, then says what it means for us.
8. Hiring manager finder: Finds the person behind each new job post and drafts an email. I approve each one.
9. Control room: One page to switch outreach on or off and read, edit or stop any email.
10. Co-founder agent: Argues with my ideas before I commit to them.

03STEP · KEEP IT SAFE

How do you stop a system doing damage?

Build one system at a time. Get it running for a week before you start the next.
Run the dry run until it's boring. If you'd be embarrassed by what it would have sent, fix the brief, not the output.
Give anything outward-facing a switch. My outreach has an on/off switch and one page where I can stop any email.
Send results where you already look. I use Google Chat, so I read them without opening anything new.

The trap

The trap is building one agent that does everything. It's hard to test, hard to trust and you can't tell which part broke. Ten boring systems with one job each are easier to check, easier to fix and easier to switch off.

THE TAKEAWAY

Build the boring one first.

Paste the build prompt into Claude Code today and fill it in for a morning brief. When it has run quietly for a week, pick the next job you're tired of doing.

How I use it. All ten run from my own computer. The scheduled ones start on a timer each morning or every hour, read my email and calendar and message me with what they found. My outreach only sends while its switch is on and I can stop any email from one page. My hiring manager finder only drafts. I approve every one.

What this won't do: it won't run while your computer is off, unless you move it to a server. Google sign-ins can expire and need redoing. Agents make mistakes, so keep a human check on anything that reaches another person. If you send cold email, check the rules where you are. In the UK that's PECR.

One job each. Every single day.

Built from my own systems as they run in November 2026. Tool names and menus change often, so follow what Claude Code asks for on your machine.

Building something of your own?

Join me for The Audacity to Build Challenge. Day 1 is working out what to automate, then it's one build a day for 13 days, with me in the room every day. It starts Monday 23 November. It's $247 until the end of Monday 16 November, then $297.

How I automated 90% of my tech startup

How did I automate 90% of my tech startup?

What prompt do I use to build each system?

Which system should you build first?

What do my ten systems do?

How do you stop a system doing damage?

Build the boring one first.

Tell me who's reading.