A colleague called me the queen of GrokBots, and honestly, that’s exactly how it feels:
About a month ago, Claire Vo, founder of ChatPRD and host of the How I AI podcast, got me hooked on GrokBots. Since then, I’ve explained my GrokBot setup at least ten times, so I thought I’d share what I’ve borrowed from other investors and what I’ve built myself.
I’ve heard someone calling Grok bots a “Canva moment for AI agents,” and I cannot unsee it.
They’re incredibly easy to set up. I expect OpenAI’s dots will be just as simple. So, think of this article as general bot inspiration, not just about GrokBot. Dots are about seven weeks newer than GrokBot, and I don’t think they’re quite ready yet (or at least that’s what my YouTube research suggests).
What makes GrokBot different
First, each bot gets its own cloud computer. They can log into sites and do anything you would, and they keep working even when your laptop is closed. If a bot gets stuck logging in, you can step in, take over, and help.
Second, with GrokBot, you hire bots instead of building workflows. Each bot has a simple job and routine, which appeals to non-technical people. When bots need to work together, you can add a manager bot to coordinate them. My chief of staff bot (see bot 2 below) does this for me.
Third, you can connect several accounts for the same tool. For me, it’s a game changer- I have multiple Gmail accounts. GrokBot lets me keep my work-related bots and personal bots in one place.
OpenClaw and Hermes are open-source agents you install and run yourself, which can feel intimidating if you’re not technical. GrokBot is so simple that I even told my mum she should have one 🙂
One thing you need to consider is giving your bots access to your email, calendar, X, and any other media you use. In my experience, you won’t get the full value from them otherwise. If you don’t want to do that, a good solution is to set up a separate Gmail inbox and forward only what the bot needs to that address.
Another important rule I recommend is to review and humanise automated outreach or messages before sending them. It’s tempting not to, but in the end it makes people think you’re lazy.
Getting started
Here’s a simple onboarding guide from Cursor.
Before you build anything, take a look at the GrokBot marketplace where you can find ready-made bots.
For my setup, I followed advice from Roman Ugarte, who helped build GrokBot. He suggests thinking of your bots like new employees. Each one has its own area of expertise and needs proper onboarding to succeed.
(1) Bot designer - Dr Eggbot
This bot is from the marketplace. His job is to build new bots. You share your bot idea with Dr Eggbot, and it asks a few questions and builds the bot for you.
I suggest using it to build every other bot on this list.
Tip: You can also ask it to colour-code your bots. For example, I make my work bots blue, personal ones pink, and side projects purple.
(2) Chief of staff
Chief of staff takes your requests and delegates them to other bots, reviews your meeting notes, tells you what you promised and asks you if you did it :) Polly (my ChoS) is my accountability manager.
Tell your bot designer:
Build me a chief of staff bot.
Job: take my messy requests, send each one to the right bot, and keep one list of everything still open. Review my meeting notes and tell me every evening what I promised, and ask whether I delivered. If it's obvious from my inbox, you don't have to mention it.
Reads: my chats with it, my meeting notes from [your meeting notes tool], my email and my calendar.
Runs: whenever I message it, plus every weekday evening at [time] in [time zone].
Sends: each evening, a short list of promises I made to other people in meetings, asking, "Did you do these?" It drops the items I confirm as done. Replies are short and crisp. It asks a question only when it's blocked; otherwise, it assumes and states it.
Never: does deep specialist work itself (it hands that to the right bot), or sends, posts or replies on my behalf without my explicit yes.Finding companies
(3) Stealth founder scout
Stolen from: Francis Santora, angel investor
Stealth founder scout searches Hacker News, Crunchbase, X, Reddit and Product Hunt for early-stage companies with accomplished founders. Twice a week in the morning, it texts me a table of what it found.
You can point it at any website or page you follow to scan for hackathon winners or conference speakers.
Tell your bot designer:
Build me a stealth founder scout bot.
Job: find early-stage companies with accomplished founders in [your sector] and [your region].
Reads: Hacker News, Crunchbase, X, Reddit, Product Hunt, [your local news site], and lists of conference attendees and hackathon winners in [your region].
Runs: twice a week, on [days] at [morning time] in [time zone].
Sends: a text with a table of company, founder, why the founder stands out, stage, and a source link. A source for every claim; "couldn't verify" rather than guessing.
Never contact founders, or send posts or replies on my behalf without my explicit yes.(4) Funding round tracker
This bot logs new funding rounds in your sector or region, including the amount, lead investor, and a source for each.
Tell your bot designer:
Build me a funding round tracker bot.
Job: log new funding rounds in [your sector] and [your region], and keep a running list I can search later as a co-investor map.
Reads: [your go-to news sites], X and Crunchbase.
Runs: once a week, on [day] at [time] in [time zone].
Logs: for each round, company, amount, round stage, lead investor, other investors, date, and a source link, including the founder's own announcement when there is one. "Undisclosed" when a number isn't public; "couldn't verify" rather than guessing.
Never: invents amounts or investors, or sends, posts or replies on my behalf without my explicit yes.Research and staying on top of things
(5) Call prep buddy
Before each call, it writes a short brief and suggests questions to ask the founder/person you’re meeting.
Tell your bot designer:
Build me a call prep bot.
Job: write a short brief on a company before my first call with its founder.
Reads: my calendar, the intro emails, the company website, the founders' LinkedIn profiles, news and X.
Runs: whenever I ask
Sends: a brief of no more than one page, with three sections: what we know, what we don't know, and three questions the founder can't answer with their standard pitch. A source for every claim; "undisclosed" or "couldn't verify" rather than guessing.
Never: replies to the founder or the person who made the intro, or sends, posts or replies on my behalf without my explicit yes.(6) Podcast summarizer
Stolen from: Gavin Baker, A16Z podcast
This bot summarises podcasts you don’t have time to listen to.
Tell your bot designer:
Build me a podcast summarizer bot.
Job: summarise podcasts I don't have time to listen to.
Reads: the episodes I send it, plus new episodes from [list of podcasts].
Runs: whenever I send an episode, and weekly on [day] for new episodes on my list.
Sends: for each episode, title and link, a five-line summary, and three key takeaways.
Never: sends, posts or replies on my behalf without my explicit yes.(7) Substack digest reader
Mine is called Substack Nerd. It reads every Substack newsletter that landed in your inbox overnight and tells you each one’s main takeaways, so you know which ones are worth opening.
You can set it up to read any newsletters you subscribe to, not just Substack, and adjust it for your field. Mine puts VC and emerging-markets pieces first, with lighter reads at the end.
Tell your bot designer:
Build me a newsletter digest bot.
Job: summarise the newsletters I receive.
Reads: my [Gmail] inbox, read-only, covering mail since the last run. It opens each article in full and follows the link to the public post when the email is only a teaser.
Runs: every morning at [time] in [time zone].
Sends: activity on my own publication first (new subscribers, comments), then the pieces most relevant to [your field], then the rest. For each piece, it gives the publication, title, link, two to four main takeaways, and one line on why it matters to me. It flags anything paywalled or a video it couldn't watch.
Never sends, replies to, labels, archives, or deletes any email, and never makes up facts it didn't read. It stays quiet when there's nothing new.Portfolio and LPs
(8) Portfolio news watcher
Stolen from: David Cummings, Atlanta Ventures
Portfolio news watcher tracks every company in your portfolio for news and online announcements and emails you a weekly summary. If a company hits a major milestone, like launching a new product, it drafts a congratulatory message and puts it in your email drafts.
If you add your portfolio companies’ main competitors, you might learn about a rival’s funding round before your founder does.
Tell your bot designer:
Build me a portfolio news watcher bot.
Job: track my portfolio companies and their main competitors.
Reads: the websites, news coverage, press releases and online sentiment for [list of portfolio companies] and [list of competitors].
Runs: continuously, with a weekly summary by email every [day] at [time].
Sends: a weekly summary by company covering website changes, news, sentiment and competitor moves, each with a source link. When a portfolio company hits a major milestone, such as launching a new product, it puts a short congratulations draft in my email drafts for me to review. "Couldn't verify" rather than guessing.
Never: sends the congratulations note or anything else on my behalf without my explicit yes.(9) Exit and liquidity tracker
Stolen from: Paul Klay, Begin Capital
The exit and liquidity tracker watches exits and shutdowns and sorts them into real liquidity events, acqui-hires, and shutdowns.
Tell your bot designer:
Build me an exit and liquidity tracker bot.
Job: watch exits and shutdowns in [your sector] and [your region] and sort each one.
Reads: news sites, X, Crunchbase and company announcements.
Runs: checks every [frequency], sends a summary every day.
Sends: for each event, company, buyer, date, a label (real exit, acqui-hire or shutdown), why it chose that label, and a source link. For real exits, who likely got liquidated, as a possible LP lead. For acqui-hires and shutdowns, the team that may soon be free. "Undisclosed" or "couldn't verify" rather than guessing.
Never: contacts anyone, or sends, posts or replies on my behalf without my explicit yes.Other productivity tasks
(10) Writing team: my team of bots
For my Substack writing, 4 bots work together. Topic Scout suggests topics relevant to my audience. Once I approve it, the researcher returns arguments, counterarguments, data, and sources, and flags anything it couldn’t verify. Then the prompt writer takes over and turns that research into a writing prompt I can use later in Claude. After I publish, I’m letting my bot know that the article was published, and my Substack and my distribution bot called Elena (I named it after the ultimate suggest to me LinkedIn posts and notes that I can share in order to promote the article
You can use this same process for LP updates or a portfolio newsletter.
Tell your bot designer (one request per bot):
Topic scout
Build me a topic scout bot.
Job: suggest writable topics for [your publication or LP update] in [your topics].
Reads: the news, X and newsletters in my field, plus any ideas I send it.
Runs: every morning at [time] in [time zone], and whenever I send an idea.
Sends: exactly 5 numbered topics, each with a one-line angle, why it fits, and a real recent spark with a link. It saves any idea I send as a pending topic.
Never: invent sources, research deeply or write drafts.Researcher
Build me a researcher bot.
Job: research a topic I pick.
Reads: the web, reports and articles.
Runs: whenever my topic scout or I send it a topic.
Sends: a brief with a core angle, key arguments, counterarguments, data and examples, sources, and open questions. A real source for every claim; "couldn't verify" next to anything it can't confirm.
Never: invent sources, quotes or numbers, or write the article.Prompt writer
Build me a prompt writer bot.
Job: turn a research brief into a writing prompt tuned to my voice.
Reads: the research brief and these samples of my writing: [links to 2 or 3 of your pieces].
Runs: whenever a research brief is ready.
Sends: one copy-paste writing prompt covering audience, my voice, the angle, an outline, must-include facts with sources, what to avoid, and target length [word count].
Never: add facts that aren't in the brief, or write the article itself.Distribution
Build me a distribution bot.
Job: turn a published piece into social drafts.
Reads: the published piece I send it.
Runs: whenever I send a published link.
Sends: [number] Substack Notes and [number] LinkedIn posts, each ready to paste, using only lines and facts from the piece.
Never: posts, schedules or publishes anything. I copy and post every draft myself.(11) Outreach drafter
It drafts intros, follow-ups and connection requests after looking each person up in a contact-data tool like Apollo. Nothing goes out until you approve it.
Tell your bot designer:
Build me an outreach drafter bot.
Job: draft intros, follow-ups and connection requests to people I want to reach.
Reads: [your contact-data tool, for example Apollo] to look each person up, plus their LinkedIn and anything I tell it about why I'm reaching out.
Runs: whenever I name a person and a goal.
Sends: for each person, a two-line summary of who they are, the best channel (email or LinkedIn) and why, and a short draft message in my voice that I'll rewrite.
Never: sends anything (nothing goes out until I say send), or manages or triages my inbox.(12) Best student
What it does: keeps track of the deadlines and readings for a course you’re taking and reminds you before each one is due. Mine does it for my Stanford leadership program.
Tell your bot designer:
Build me a study assistant bot.
Job: track deadlines and readings for [your course].
Reads: [course portal, syllabus or board pre-read folder], my email and my calendar.
Runs: checks daily and reminds me [number] days before each item is due, at [time] in [time zone].
Sends: for each reminder, what's due, the due date, how long it will likely take, and a link; every Monday, a list of the week's deadlines.
Never: submits assignments or replies to anyone on my behalf without my explicit yes.Bots for fun
(13) Local culture scout
Mine is called Inshallah.
What it does: finds non-commercial events in your city: art, underground cinema, classical and underground music.
(The name is a joke. Here, “inshallah” (God willing) is the standard answer to “are you coming tonight?” and can mean yes, maybe, or no.)
You can swap the categories for anything that doesn’t usually show up on the big listing sites in your city, like talks or supper clubs.
Tell your bot designer:
Build me a local culture scout bot.
Job: find non-commercial events in [your city].
Reads: local venue sites, community pages, social media and newsletters, looking for [your categories, for example, art, underground cinema, classical and underground music].
Runs: every [day] at [time] in [time zone].
Sends: a short list for the coming week. For each event, name, date and time, venue, one line on why it's worth going, and a link. "Couldn't verify" if details are unclear.
Never: suggests big commercial events, or books or buys tickets without my explicit yes.(14) Personal stylist
Mine is called Miranda (iykyk). She learns your taste and sends you a short list of clothes every two weeks. It has access to my Pinterest board, so it understands my style. It knows what size I’m wearing, and it knows what shops and materials I like
You can use this for books, wine, or restaurants, too.
Tell your bot designer:
Build me a personal stylist bot.
Job: learn my taste and find [clothes, books, wine or restaurants] I'll like.
Reads: what I tell it about my taste, the Pinterest board [link], sizes [your sizes] and budget [your budget], and what I liked or rejected before. It searches shops that deliver to [your country].
Runs: every two weeks on [day] at [time] in [time zone].
Sends: a short list of [number] items, each with name, price, a link, and one line on why it fits me. It learns from my reactions.
Never: buys anything without my explicit yes.PS. When doing the research for this article, I found this super cool website where people share what they’ve built with Grok bots, and there are almost 4000 use cases here: https://www.grokbots.de/en/
PS2. This article is AI-assisted. I used GrokBot Chief of Staff to describe my setup and write the prompts accordingly.