SecondDraft
An AI word processor for professional communicators
We built SecondDraft for ourselves first.
We’d been using prompt-based AI tools and found the process to be one of incantation. You’d cast your spell into the machine and hope it gave back what you wished for. It never did.
So we started building what we actually needed: a word processor that followed our mental map. Quick draft, talk it out, iterate. But the key insight was the library — a curated collection of the writing we thought was best. The tool searches against it for every draft, finding what other writers did when they faced your problem. You can’t hack your way to good writing. You have to know what good looks like. We built that knowledge into the machine.
What started as a janky web app two and a half years ago grew into something we use every day. We never intended for anyone else to touch it.
But then our clients started asking if we could build versions for them.
So here we are.
More content does not produce more value. Quality does.
A study by Cardinal40 analyzed more than 1,000 CEO communications from S&P 500 companies, measuring each against abnormal stock returns while excluding communications tied to market-moving news.
Researchers tested 60+ common writing traits — tone, readability, length — and found little signal. What predicted outperformance was something different: how closely a communication resembled a curated canon of standout executive writing. Weak communications correlated with neutral or negative outcomes.
When AI is trained on everything, it loses its taste. Humans are going to need to inject their taste into it — and when they do, it can drive measurable returns.
Better owned content in four steps.
Write
Your first 150 words unlock AI features. Chicken scratch and bullets are fine.
Interview
An AI ghostwriter, attuned to your company's voice, asks you what's missing.
Translate
Your draft gets benchmarked against CEO communications correlated with positive stock returns, according to our internal research.
Edit
Refine your draft by chatting with the AI, locking sections, and translating with specific instructions.
For anyone at your company doing serious long-form work.
SecondDraft is designed for high-stakes writing where taste, originality, and quality actually matter.
Executives
Speeches, keynotes, shareholder letters, op-eds, CEO updates
Comms & marketing
Thought leadership, bylined articles, brand narratives, campaign content
Investor relations
Earnings narratives, annual report prose, investor letters and materials
Research & strategy
White papers, market analysis, strategic memos, research notes
Senior leaders
All-hands remarks, internal strategic communications, personal publishing
Teams at scale
Multiple leaders, a shared voice, growing content volume — without growing headcount
Better messaging is better business.
See SecondDraft in action. Request a 30-minute demo with the team.
A product of Cardinal40. Built by economists and speechwriters.