BNI Consulting¶
Commercial-side AI consulting practice of Big Nerd Idea, LLC. Helps startups, nonprofits, social enterprises, and incubators adopt Claude (claude.ai, Claude for Work, Claude Code).
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Organization | Big Nerd Idea, LLC (commercial counterpart to BNI Foundation) |
| Status | Phase 0 — Syllabus scaffold |
| Public site | bignerdidea.com (planned; not yet live) |
| Source | bni-consulting/ (local; GitHub repo pending) |
| Foundational directives | Epistemic Honesty · Sustainability & Carbon Awareness |
What it is¶
BNI Consulting is the for-profit consulting arm that funds part of BNI Foundation's open-source work through commercial engagements. The practice is built around a low-barrier, hands-on syllabus for adopting Claude, paired with a reusable sub-agent library that clients take home and use after the engagement ends.
The practice serves four audience segments, each with a different starting product and recommended module sequence:
- Startup entrepreneurs — 1–5 person teams pre-PMF; Module 1 → 3 → 4
- Small nonprofits — 1–5 staff, grant-funded; Module 1 → 2 → 4
- Social enterprises — hybrid mission + revenue, B Corp track; Modules 1 → 2 → 3 → 4
- Incubators / accelerators — cohort-running portfolio managers; Module 2 → 4 → 1 → 3
The syllabus¶
| Module | Product | First-20-minutes principle |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — Claude.ai (Free) | claude.ai Free tier | Get value in your first message; no install, no signup card |
| 2 — Claude for Work | Claude for Work / Teams | Shared Projects + custom instructions = team-scale workflows |
| 3 — Claude Code | Claude Code CLI | AI takes actions, not just answers; the orchestrator pattern |
| 4 — Sub-Agent Recipes | All three, composed | Package what works; reusable templates your team can call |
The sub-agent library¶
Phase 0 catalogs ~18 starter templates across the four audiences plus three cross-audience operating-level agents (epistemic-marker-applier, model-tier-recommender, prompt-improver). All are [HYPOTHESIS] status today; Phase 1 pilot engagements promote validated templates to [PILOT VALIDATED].
Highlights by audience:
- Startups —
customer-interview-synthesizer,pitch-deck-refiner,mvp-scaffolder(Claude Code),competitive-landscape-mapper,cold-email-drafter - Nonprofits —
grant-application-drafter,funder-research-agent,donor-comms-personalizer,logic-model-builder,990-narrative-drafter - Social enterprises —
dual-narrative-translator,b-corp-assessment-drafter,theory-of-change-refiner,hybrid-pro-forma-builder - Incubators —
application-triage-agent,mentor-matcher,cohort-curriculum-designer,demo-day-feedback-agent,portfolio-reporter
Anthropic relationship — honest status¶
[HYPOTHESIS] — No formal partnership, certification, or referral relationship with Anthropic exists.
The Phase 0 syllabus references public Anthropic resources only (claude.ai, the Anthropic Cookbook on GitHub, public Anthropic documentation). Phase 2 of the roadmap is initiating formal outreach to Anthropic, backed by Phase 1 pilot engagement data. BNI Consulting can operate as an independent consultancy regardless of Anthropic's response; partnership is a multiplier, not a prerequisite.
Roadmap¶
| Phase | Goal | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Syllabus scaffold, sub-agent catalog, partnership pitch materials | [HYPOTHESIS] — in progress |
| 1 | One pilot engagement per audience type; outcome documentation | Not started |
| 2 | Anthropic outreach with Phase 1 pilot data | Not started |
| 3 | Public launch at bignerdidea.com; first paid cohort |
Not started |
Cross-project connections¶
- BNI Foundation — BNI LLC revenue funds part of BNI Foundation's open-source work; Phase 3 publishes the first measurable LLC → Foundation contribution
- Second Boot — overlap on AI literacy curriculum (Module 04 of Second Boot teaches agentic AI tools to digital-literacy learners); the audience-tailored syllabus from BNI Consulting can seed that content
- All BNI projects — BNI Consulting's own operational practice (model-tier discipline, cache discipline, no trailing summaries) demonstrates the Sustainability & Carbon Awareness directive in action
How to engage today¶
Phase 0 — no paid engagements yet. To inquire about pilot collaboration (free or sliding-scale), contact BNI via the channels at the BNI Foundation site.