| Thursday · April 30th, 2026 · Issue #029 Jordan's favorite question:
"What are you trying to build?" Every Thursday we go deeper on Jordan — what it's learning, how it's evolving, and what it can do this week that it couldn't last week. Today we're looking at the question type that gets Jordan's best answers — builder questions. And why they outperform search queries every single time. |
| ✦ | The Builder Question Jordan · Pattern Recognition · This Week | Most people come to The Promptory looking for a tool. Jordan's best sessions come from people who start with what they're building. There's a meaningful difference between these two questions: | Weaker question "What's the best LMS?" | | Builder question "I run a 6-person consulting firm and every time I hire someone it takes three weeks to get them productive. I want to build an onboarding program they can go through on their own. What do I need?" | The first question gets a list. The second question gets a recommendation built around your specific situation, team size, and desired outcome. That's the difference between a directory and a concierge. | |
| 🧠 Why Builder Questions Get Better Answers | |
| Jordan can filter for your constraints When you describe what you're building — not just what category you're searching — Jordan can apply real filters: your budget, team size, existing tools, timeline, and technical comfort level. "Best LMS" returns 12 options. "I need an LMS my non-technical team can manage, under $50/month, that works with Zoom" returns one or two that actually fit. | | Jordan can tell you what you didn't know to ask When you describe the outcome you want, Jordan can identify gaps in the approach. Someone building an employee training program might get a recommendation for both an LMS and an AI assistant for new hire questions — because the second tool is what makes the first one actually work. You didn't know to ask. Jordan knew to include it. | | Jordan can sequence the recommendation Builder questions often span multiple tools. Jordan can tell you which one to start with, which one to add in week two, and which one to consider once you're further along. It's not just "here's what exists" — it's "here's the order that makes sense for where you are right now." | |
| 💬 Try These Builder Questions with Jordan This Week | |
| "I want to build an online course to sell my consulting methodology. I have about 6 hours of content to teach, no technical background, and a budget under $100/month. Where do I start?" | | "I'm trying to build a content system for my business. I want to produce 3 videos a week for LinkedIn without hiring a video editor. What tools make that realistic?" | | "I'm building a creative production capability in-house. Right now we spend $4,000/month with an agency for design and video. What would it cost and what tools would I need to bring that in-house?" | | "I want to build a training library for my team — processes, SOPs, how we handle clients — so it doesn't all live in my head. What's the fastest way to do that for under $50/month?" | | |
| 🎓 | LearnWorlds ✦ Partner Education & E-Learning · Free trial / $29/mo | Try it → | What Jordan recommends when someone is building a training program, course business, or knowledge product. Interactive courses, quizzes, certificates, community, and a full website builder — everything you need to turn what you know into something you can sell or teach at scale. | |
| 📅 | Reclaim AI ✦ Partner Productivity · Free / $12/mo | Try it → | Building anything takes focused time. What Jordan consistently recommends alongside any "I want to build" question — because the biggest obstacle to building is never the tool, it's the calendar. Reclaim schedules your deep work automatically so the building actually happens. | |
| Got something you're trying to build? Tell Jordan — in plain English, with as much context as you have. The more specific you are about what you're building and why, the better the recommendation. That's how Jordan works best. | |