Ask AI if your business idea is good and it will usually back the idea you already believe in. This turns the same AI into a 5-person strategy team that has to argue first, then a chairman’s verdict: pursue it or kill it, and your first move.
Stanford researchers tested 11 AI models and found that, on average, they endorsed users 49% more often than humans did on personal advice questions. (Stanford, published in Science, March 2026)
For a business idea, that’s expensive. You get confident, agreeable feedback right before you spend money.
The fix is the LLM Council. Five advisors with five different jobs argue it out, and a chairman makes the call. This is part 3 of my council series, tuned for the moment you’re deciding whether an idea deserves your next six months.
Type "I’m thinking of starting a meal-prep service for busy parents, is this a good idea?" into a chatbot. You’ll often get a warm paragraph about the growing market and a list of next steps. It read your excitement and matched it.
Try this test. In a fresh chat, ask about the opposite decision: "I decided not to start the meal-prep service, was that smart?" If it backs that too, it’s mirroring you instead of advising you.
Real strategy teams work because people in the room have different jobs, and some of those jobs are to say no. So we give the AI those jobs.
01
The Risk Analyst
Their only job is to find every reason the business could fail.
02
The Demand Validator
Would a total stranger pay for this with their own money? Your friends and followers don’t count.
03
The Growth Strategist
How would anyone find what you’re selling, and is there one channel that could work without spending a fortune?
04
The Competitive Analyst
The real reasons a customer would pick you over what they already use, including doing nothing.
05
The Unit Economics Adviser
What it costs to make, what you can charge, and whether real profit is left after everything.
Then the Chairman reads the debate and rules: pursue or kill, with your first move either way.
Paste this into Claude or ChatGPT before you spend money or build anything. Give it your real idea, not the polished pitch. The advisors can only argue with what you show them.
Two upgrades in this version. Every advisor opens with "wait a minute," because the Stanford team found that phrase primes a model to be more critical. And if web search is on in your chat, the Demand Validator and Competitive Analyst research real competitors and prices first, which makes the whole council sharper.
The kill criteria are the gift
Founders rarely fail from one bad month. They fail from twelve bad months they explained away. Writing your kill criteria before you’re invested is the most honest thing this council does for you.
01
"Pursue, but only after this test"
This is the most useful verdict. The Demand Validator’s test is usually something you can run this week, like a simple landing page, ten DMs to real potential customers or a pre-order link. Run it before you build anything.
02
"Kill it"
Interrogate it once. Reply with "Which one input would flip this verdict?" Sometimes the idea is fine and the price or customer was wrong.
03
Save your council
Keep the full output in a doc. When real data comes in, rerun it with the new numbers and compare. The difference between round 1 and round 2 is what you actually learned.
Facing a job decision instead? Use the career council. Want the all-purpose version? It’s in Part 1.