Podcast appearances and mentions of dave hamilton

In this episode of Business Brain, we open with a management tip that could be costing you right now: tell your staff to use as much AI as they need. You’ll hear why employees quietly ration their own usage out of misplaced budget-consciousness, why a-la-carte tokens still beat leveling up plans you don’t need, and how a quick conversation about limits can surface whether someone’s underusing a tool that could transform their work. Teach your team never to assume a tool is too expensive without asking you first. Then we tackle the AI watermarking debate, sparked by an EU mandate and the first company to publicly embrace it. You’ll learn how text watermarking actually works through word choice rather than hidden characters, why it isn’t deterministic, and what happens when you run watermarked output through another model. We spar over regulatory capture, the AI triopoly, and whether “doing it right” is the brand or the reality, then point you to the tools people are already building to strip marks out. It’s a lively, skeptical look at where this is all heading, all in the spirit of the charmed life. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #783 for Casual FridAI, August 28th, 2026 August 28th: National Bow Tie Day 00:01:37 Tell your staff to use as much AI as they need Loop Engineering 101 00:07:54 SPONSOR: Hims. With Wegovy® at Hims, lose up to 20% of your body weight when combined with diet and exercise. Visit https://hims.com/businessbrain to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you. 00:09:29 SPONSOR: SomniPods 3 sleep earbuds from Fitnexa: Flat enough to sleep on, and the app is the real prize: https://go.fitnexa.com/brain automatically applies $10 off (or use code BRAIN). 00:11:02 Watermarking on other models 00:17:59 How Watermarking Works 00:20:55 Watermarks-Remover Script 00:23:41 Business Brain 783 Outtro This Episode's Big Takeway: Teach your staff not to assume that any tool is too expensive Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI – AI Usage and Watermarking – Business Brain 783 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, we start with a simple receipt that carried a big idea: a restaurant inviting you to text its COO directly, real number and all. You’ll hear why radical accessibility sends exactly the right message to your customers, how the age of personalization lets you automate and stay personal at the same time, and why every business is really in the customer service business. Small touches like proactive reports and easy feedback loops are how you build loyalty that lasts. Then we get into the hard stuff: what happens when a giant customer disappears overnight. Drawing on real names and real receipts from clients that once made up the bulk of the business and then imploded, we walk you through how to prepare instead of panic. You’ll learn to ask your team the uncomfortable question now, redeploy the resources a big client is paying to build, and why twenty small clients often beat one whale. Change is the only constant, so build the resilience that keeps everyone employed and keeps you living the charmed life.We dig into letting staff use all the AI they need and how AI text watermarking actually works. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #782 for Wednesday, August 26th, 2026 August 26th: National Dog Day 00:02:05 Text our COO – Making yourself accessible to your customers That guy that used to put his Social Security Number on billboards 00:04:59 We're in the age of personalization 00:08:30 SPONSOR: Hims. With Wegovy® at Hims, lose up to 20% of your body weight when combined with diet and exercise. Visit https://hims.com/businessbrain to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you. 00:10:01 SPONSOR: SomniPods 3 sleep earbuds from Fitnexa: Flat enough to sleep on, and the app is the real prize: https://go.fitnexa.com/brain automatically applies $10 off (or use code BRAIN). 00:11:35 How to react to losing huge customers Paying attention to your large customers internal and external signals Changes aren't permanent, but change is. 00:18:05 Business Brain 782 Outtro This Episode's Big Takeway: The only constant is change. Be ready for it with your largest customer. What would happen if they disappeared tomorrow? Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post Losing Huge Customers and Please Text our COO – Business Brain 782 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, we get practical about AI note-taking and why your meeting transcripts are pure gold. You’ll hear why local, on-device tools like Granola and WhisperFlow are winning us over, how speaker recognition and instant summaries save you real time, and why you don’t want to be the person stuck taking notes when you should be your best present self in the conversation. We walk through feeding a trimmed transcript into an LLM to spec out a feature, generate action items, and even kick off a build, turning a casual call into a documented plan. Then we hand you the tip most Zoom users are sitting on and don’t realize it: you can query your own meeting notes with a chat interface. Ask how many downloads that show mentioned, or whether demographics came up, and get an answer grounded in your actual conversation. That’s context-aware AI working for you, and it’s part of the charmed life. Turn transcription on by default, file those summaries away, and start treating your recordings as a searchable knowledge base. Create and analyze your transcripts, the data is yours. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #781 for Casual FridAI, August 21st, 2026 August 21st: Internet Self-Care Day 00:01:52 Always assume you're being recorded on calls 00:02:50 Local AI Notetaking Agents Granola WisprFlow Notetaker 00:08:50 SPONSOR: SomniPods 3 sleep earbuds from Fitnexa: Flat enough to sleep on, and the app is the real prize: https://go.fitnexa.com/brain automatically applies $10 off (or use code BRAIN). 00:10:44 SPONSOR: Keeper Security's Password Manager. Right now, Keeper is offering our listeners 60% off personal and family plans at https://Keepersecurity.com/BRAIN 00:12:17 Query your Zoom meeting transcripts with chat 00:18:27 Business Brain 781 Outtro This Episode's Big Takeway: Create AND analyze your meeting transcripts Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI – AI Note Taking and Query Your Zoom Business Brain 781 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, we dig into two decisions that quietly shape an entrepreneur’s whole life: protecting your hobbies and refusing to play it safe. You’ll hear why the happiest business owners guard the things they love outside of work, even during the seasons when the business and the family demand everything you’ve got. We talk through how hobbies can feed your business without ruining what you love, and why setting them down for a while isn’t the same as abandoning them. If you’ve ever told yourself you’ll get back to the thing you’re passionate about “someday,” this one is your nudge to protect it now. Then we get into the meta lesson from a live show on the biggest stage yet: being timid never serves you. Your customers don’t want a hesitant version of you, they want confidence and a solved problem. You’ll learn how to take informed risks, communicate confidence in two directions at once, and play the big fill instead of shrinking back. Make mistakes, own your parts, keep going, and you’ll deliver the charmed life your clients actually came for. Don’t be timid, just go for it. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #780 for Wednesday, August 19th, 2026 August 19th: National Aviation Day 00:01:26 The importance of not giving up your hobbies Happy Birthday, Shannon! Turn your hobbies into businesses Starting your second business 00:10:45 SPONSOR: SomniPods 3 sleep earbuds from Fitnexa: Flat enough to sleep on, and the app is the real prize: https://go.fitnexa.com/brain automatically applies $10 off (or use code BRAIN). 00:12:40 SPONSOR: Keeper Security's Password Manager. Right now, Keeper is offering our listeners 60% off personal and family plans at https://Keepersecurity.com/BRAIN 00:14:13 More on Fitnexa and their packaging 00:14:37 “Play the fill, Dave” – How to react when you're feeling timid 00:22:49 Business Brain 780 Outtro This Episode's Big Takeway: Don't Be Timid Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post Saved by Hobbies and Overcoming Being Timid – Business Brain 780 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, we dig into agents and loops — and how most of us are already using them without realizing it. Every time you interact with a chatbot, it acts as an ephemeral agent; the real leverage comes from building persistent ones. Shannon walks through the three-layer system he handed ten grand to inside Claude Cowork: dumb, fixed-rule loops that check prices daily, a weekly management agent, and a third that reports to him with approve-now, veto-now, or auto-execute options. The lesson that keeps surfacing is to keep the LLM out of the daily rules so the whole thing stays unemotional and disciplined. We also share a quick tip: when you can’t find an old chat, let your AI search its own history instead of fighting clunky built-in search. Then we get into Anthropic’s watermarking announcement, where content produced by Claude will carry hidden signals identifying it as AI-generated. We wrestle with the gray area it creates: if we feed our own transcript to Claude for a summary, that’s our content shaped by AI, not conjured from nothing — so the watermark shouldn’t imply Claude created it from scratch. We argue the definition of AI-generated content needs to be far less binary, favoring transparency about the whole chain rather than just the last step, and we look at how open-source models and Apple might reshape all of it. Owning agents, staying curious, and keeping it honest — that’s how we keep living the Charmed Life. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #779 for Casual FridAI, August 14th, 2026 August 14th: Navajo Code Talkers Day 00:01:57 Ask your LLM chat to search itself for old chats you can't find. 00:03:47 Agents & Loops 00:12:20 Scribe. Don’t get caught being the only person who knows how something works. For a limited time, book a demo at https://scribe.how/brain and mention BRAIN for your first month of Scribe Capture free. 00:14:20 Claude is embedding watermarks into your text (and everything else) 00:28:40 Business Brain 779 Outtro This Episode's Big Takeway: Learn to create persistent agents and loops Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI – Agents + Loops and AI Watermarking – Business Brain 779 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, we get into a lesson that landed on Dave’s doorstep — literally. A local candidate finally cracked the code by leaving cookies at a door that’s asked for exactly that for six years, proving that when people tell you what they want, the smart move is to listen and act. We connect that to food rewards inside your own business, from the Friday barbecue to feeding your clients, and why those casual moments teach you more about your team than any formal meeting ever will. From there we make the case that the first step to your next chapter is simply starting your second business. Once you’ve built a team, delegated well, and freed up a little time, complacency is the enemy — a second venture wakes you up, opens new neural pathways, and often feeds energy right back into the first. We trace how BackBeat Media and the parts business were both accidental second acts, and we land on the real engine behind all of it: staying insatiably curious. That curiosity is what keeps us living the Charmed Life, one new idea at a time. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #778 for Wednesday, August 12th, 2026 August 12th: IBM PC Day 00:02:28 Listen to your customers…and use food rewards 00:08:21 Scribe. Don’t get caught being the only person who knows how something works. For a limited time, book a demo at https://scribe.how/brain and mention BRAIN for your first month of Scribe Capture free. 00:10:18 To level-up your life, the first step is to start your second business! Embrace your insatiable curiosity 00:20:04 Business Brain 778 Outtro This Episode's Big Takeway: Embrace your insatiable curiosity Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post Start Your 2nd Business and the Power of Food – Business Brain 778 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Guest co-host Sean Mullaney joins Dave Hamilton to prove that the gig you want is usually hiding inside the gig you almost skipped. A video with eleven views got Sean hired, the same way a YouTube clip landed Alexandra Mullaney in The Book of Mormon, so the lesson is simple: put the work out there, then be ready to say yes when someone finds it. You’ll dig into managing your niche without getting trapped by it, and the bigger question every bandleader eventually faces: who do you want to be as a frontman? You can’t make a face unless you’ve seen it, so study the greats, then get authentic to who you actually are. Preaching from the stage is hard. Performing as yourself is harder, and better. Then things get deliciously specific. You’ll hear what it’s like to chase Robert Plant with Mr. Jimmy, where nobody’s speaking English, everybody’s in full costume, and the details are so meticulous that imposter syndrome becomes something you manage rather than something that eats you. Sean said no. Then Sean said yes…and ended up on a sold-out stage at the Whisky a Go Go, a little petrified because the stakes were higher. That’s the point. You’ll get the upcoming Whole Lotta Heart show, why theater runs are a fun grind, what happens when you make that first mistake in front of everyone, how to honor your influences by studying the film instead of copying the notes, and how to manage your voice so you can keep doing this. Always Be Performing! Even when nobody’s watching yet, because view number eleven might be the one. 00:00:00 Gig Gab 546 – Monday, August 10th, 2026 August 10th: Duran Duran Appreciation Day Guest co-host: Sean Mullaney 00:01:00 The Underground Series 00:02:33 Hired on the 11th view! Once at Seacoast Repertory Theater Sean singing Leave by Glen Hansard (now with more than 11 views!) Alexandra Mullaney was booked into The Book of Mormon from a YouTube video 00:10:40 Managing your niche! 00:11:27 Be ready to say yes to opportunities 00:16:12 The Instant Classics in Phoenix 00:18:29 Who do you want to be as a frontman? “You can't make a face unless you've seen it” 00:22:42 Being authentic to who you are Preaching is difficult! 00:26:36 SPONSOR: Warby Parker – Our listeners can buy one pair of glasses and get 20% off any additional pairs at https://WarbyParker.com/GIGGAB — and using our link helps support the show. #WarbyParker #ad 00:28:37 Do you want to be Robert Plant in Led Zeppelin? No one's speaking English, and everyone's in full costume The Mr. Jimmy Story on Gig Gab Led Zepagain With Mr. Jimmy, Sean plays a sold out show at The Whisky a Go Go 00:41:56 Managing Imposter Syndrome through the meticulous details 00:43:34 So…I said no. And then I said yes. 00:48:58 Upcoming Whole Lottta Heart Show 00:51:11 Petrified a little because the stakes are higher. 00:55:03 The Underground is… alternative programming! In Danger of Being Discovered Brother Love's Album of the Year 00:59:13 01:06:02 Theater shows…a fun grind! 01:10:37 Making that first mistake 01:11:23 Honoring your influences Studying film! 01:14:00 Managing your voice! 01:19:37 Gig Gab 546 Outtro Follow Sean Mullaney IG: seansingsnstuff Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post Hired From an 11-View Video: Sean Mullaney on Opportunity and Owning the Stage – Gig Gab 546 appeared first on Gig Gab.

In this Casual FridAI episode of Business Brain, we get real about the AI tools that let us down and the ones that blow us away. You’ll hear how Shannon tried a buzzy new text-to-video service, hit a wall of tokens and friction, and gave it a thumbs down—only to get a personal email from a founder mid-recording asking to hop on a call. It’s the perfect reminder that every business is in the customer service business, and that a broken feedback loop is a black hole you can’t afford. We dig into why you should stay wary of every shiny new tool that pops up, and why great onboarding beats slick features every time. Then Dave pulls back the curtain on using AI as a procrastination eliminator, feeding messy email trails into a custom MCP connector that pulls live data and spits out a polished PDF, a spreadsheet, and a draft reply in minutes. You’ll pick up a clever pro move for the AI age—offering clients a Markdown file when they’re running your proposal through their own LLM—plus the big takeaway that anchors it all: if your AI isn’t surprising and delighting you every single week, you’re not pushing it hard enough. That’s the Charmed Life, where the right division of duties finally gives entrepreneurs like us the leverage we’ve wanted our whole lives. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #777 for Casual FridAI, August 7th, 2026 August 7th: International Beer Day 00:03:18 Be weary of lousy AI tools. Simplifying AI Newsletter Shannon didn't like Motion.so…and the founder emailed him! 00:10:10 SPONSOR: Hims. With Wegovy® at Hims, lose up to 20% of your body weight when combined with diet and exercise. Visit https://hims.com/businessbrain to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you. 00:12:07 Claude Cowork: feed it your email, let it build 00:18:24 Offering a Markdown file to customers 00:23:20 Business Brain 777 Outtro This Episode's Big Takeway: If you're not yet surprised and delighted by your LLM every week, push harder Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI – Tool Testing and a Claude Cowork Update – Business Brain 777 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, we dig into what happens when you finally step away. Shannon walks you through his experiment of doing “nothing” with his thriving mastermind community—handing off the day-to-day and discovering that the business didn’t just survive, it kept getting bigger and better. You’ll learn why identifying the work you actually love is the real key to scaling, how to escape both the consultant trap and the box you build for yourself, and why stepping away for a week, two weeks, or even a full month is the ultimate stress test for whether your business can run without you. Then we reframe the whole lifestyle business debate. Critics love to say a lifestyle business is “just a job”—but what if it’s a job with unlimited upside? You’ll hear why flexibility, not just money, is the most valuable thing you can chase, and how putting value at the center of everything (for customers, employees, contractors, and suppliers) builds the kind of freedom that lets you attend concerts on a Tuesday and still grow. It’s the Charmed Life in action: proof that the experiment of stopping might be the smartest move you make all year. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #776 for Wednesday, August 5th, 2026 August 5th: National Work Like a Dog Day 00:01:19 What happens when you step back? Avoiding the The Consultant Trap Is Shannon Semi-Retired? Be careful, though, that things don't fall apart Start a second business! 00:12:57 SPONSOR: Hims. With Wegovy® at Hims, lose up to 20% of your body weight when combined with diet and exercise. Visit https://hims.com/businessbrain to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you. 00:14:53 A (good) lifestyle business is a job with unlimited upside. Flexibility is the most valuable thing to chase Add value for OTHER people first 00:19:58 Business Brain 776 Outtro This Episode's Big Takeway: Stop and do nothing! Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post What Happens if You do Nothing? Business Brain 776 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, we dig into a question that’ll save you money and focus: before you buy yet another AI tool, ask the tools you already have if they can do the job. We walk through how connecting your existing stack—using AI as the glue—often beats chasing hundreds of shiny single-purpose apps down the rabbit hole. Shannon shares how linking Claude to his Kajabi community surfaced which members had gone quiet so he could re-engage them, and we talk through the real litmus test for every new tool: what’s the most important thing you can do right now to actually move revenue? Because productivity that doesn’t move the bottom line is just busywork in disguise. Then we get into MCP connectors—the model context protocol that lets your AI talk directly to your internal systems—and why building one is a game changer if you’re forever fielding “can you look this up for me” emails. Dave breaks down the read-only connector he built for BackBeat’s ad system, how it gets him out of the way of his own process, and even how AI spotted a hidden pattern in his health data that no human would’ve caught. Connect your tools, pick the right model for the job, and stop paying for glue you don’t need—that’s how we keep living the Charmed Life. We’ll see you Friday. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #775 for Casual FridAI, July 31, 2026 July 31st: National Talk In An Elevator Day 00:02:58 Don't look for another tool, connect the tools you have SaaS-pocalypse 00:10:16 SPONSOR: Shopify: Own your customer relationships. Own your revenue. Start with a free trial at Shopify.com/BusinessBrain. 00:11:39 I built an MCP Connector 00:17:05 Business Brain 775 Outtro This Episode's Big Takeway: Use AI to connect your business tools together Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI: You Don’t Need Another Tool – Business Brain 775 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, you’ll learn why the smartest marketing move is to get out of your own spotlight and put your customers there instead. Shannon and Dave break down how making your clients the heroes of your story—showing what they built, how they succeeded, how their lives changed—beats any “me, me, me” pitch every time. You’ll hear why the hero section of your website should feature your customers, not your team, and why saying something genuinely nice about your competition costs nothing while buying you trust, clarity on your own differentiator, and an escape from the race-to-the-bottom trap of competing on price. Remember: you’re a monopoly of one, and your only real competitor is yourself. Then things get delightfully weird when Dave floats a “urinal inspiration” business idea: a Tinder competitor with built-in reviews. You’ll follow the whole workshop live—star ratings, retaliatory-review pitfalls borrowed from Airbnb and eBay, and the discovery that apps like Skip, Pear, and Oyster already exist. It’s part cautionary Black Mirror tale, part real market lesson in knowing exactly what your product is for. Apply the customers-as-heroes blueprint, keep your mindset abundant, and you’ll be well on your way to living the Charmed Life your business was meant to give you. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #774 for Wednesday, July 29, 2026 July 29th: National Chicken Wing Day 00:01:07 Make Your Customers Heroes It costs nothing to help lift and highlight your customers *or* your competitors A compliment costs nothing, and often buys you a lot Abundance vs. Scarcity mindsets 00:9:25 SPONSOR: Shopify: Own your customer relationships. Own your revenue. Start with a free trial at Shopify.com/BusinessBrain. 00:10:49 Crazy Business Idea: Tinder, but with reviews. Know what your business actually is. 00:19:47 Business Brain 774 Outtro This Episode's Big Takeway: Make your customers the focus of your marketing Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post Make Your Customers Heroes – Business Brain 774 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, we dig into the tools that make us better operators, starting with Markdown, the plain-text format John Gruber built to be human-readable and computer-friendly, and now the format our AI overlords love because it burns fewer tokens and runs faster. We share a free live-preview tool at markdownlivepreview.com and Dave’s go-to Mac app, then get real about software pricing: consumers overwhelmingly want to buy outright while enterprises prefer subscriptions, and why recurring revenue is what keeps the small developers we love in business. Then we get into the FridAI meat: using agentic browsers like Comet to stress-test our own websites the way a customer would. How many clicks to find your contact form, file a warranty claim, or unsubscribe? We ask AI to surface the friction points, audit our SEO and AI engine optimization, and flag security holes, because an unpublished private API is not a private one. We even threw out one of our own user interfaces for a chat interface and watched engagement jump 10x. Test every customer touchpoint, keep the friction out, and keep living that Charmed Life. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #773 for Casual FridAI, July 24, 2026 July 24th: Tell an Old Joke Day 00:01:32 MarkDownLivePreview.com Marked (macOS app) 00:08:43 Scribe. Don’t get caught being the only person who knows how something works. For a limited time, book a demo at https://scribe.how/brain and mention BRAIN for your first month of Scribe Capture free. 00:10:34 SPONSOR: FanVue. Are you ready to start your own creator journey and make it big? Visit https://www.fanvue.com/ today and launch your career! 00:11:48 For the apps you use: subscription vs. buy it outright? 00:13:19 Using an Agentic Browser to Test Your Website Comet Browser from Perplexity Things to look for: How easy is it for my customers to contact me? Go find [x] FAQ and tell me how easy it was. Pretend you have [x] question. Tell me how to solve it. How effective is my SEO? How effective is my AIEO? Have it review your site for security holes Business Brain 773 Outtro This Episode's Big Takeway: Use AI to Test all the customer touch points of your business Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI – AI Browsers Test Your Website + Markdown – Business Brain 773 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, we welcome a special third brain to the table for World Brain Day as Lisa joins Shannon and Dave with real questions about turning household clutter into a reselling business. We walk through the exact path we’d take: start by selling what you already own, research your market before spending a dime using eBay’s free product research, and register on every platform early so your accounts have time to warm up. From first-edition Stephen King books to collectible dolls, we get into where to sell, how to price with sold-listing data, and why the profit is always made when you buy, not when you sell. We dig into the reselling gold that never shows up in the how-to guides: buy with math and sell with emotion, work every deal backward from what it sells for, and lean into the one unfair advantage nobody can copy. People buy from people, so a credibility statement and a noble cause in your listing turn “eBay user 559678” into a real human someone wants to support. We cover sourcing from B-Stock, GovDeals, and BidSpotter, using Claude to crunch manifests, and setting a hard bidding ceiling and walking away. Small wins compound, personalization wins the sale, and that’s how we keep living the Charmed Life.We turn clutter into cash: reselling research, pricing with math, and why people buy from people on Business Brain. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #772 for Wednesday, July 22, 2026 July 22nd: World Brain Day 00:01:34 With a new business, learn the system Start with small wins! 00:04:35 Learn what your market is? Use eBay Product Research Learn from them. Add video if your market uses that! BStock.com Shannon Jean's Reseller Mastermind 00:10:11 For your listings Your credibility statement. One or two sentences at the beginning of your listing. A quick blurb that helps you stand out. What's your noble cause? (trying to get out of debt, lifelong learner, paying for a new car) People buy from people. 00:12:25 Scribe. Don’t get caught being the only person who knows how something works. For a limited time, book a demo at https://scribe.how/brain and mention BRAIN for your first month of Scribe Capture free. 00:14:18 SPONSOR: FanVue. Are you ready to start your own creator journey and make it big? Visit https://www.fanvue.com/ today and launch your career! 00:15:31 What sites to use…beyond eBay? Poshmark (mainly fashion, plus others) Facebook Marketplace Vinted Depop Tools: Comet Browser Claude Create your social accounts 00:18:17 All the profit is made when you buy. You never want to buy ANYthing until you KNOW what you can sell it for Buy with math and sell with emotion 00:22:15 Where do we buy? BStock.com GovDeals BidSpotter 00:26:20 Do Your Research! Work the deal backwards 00:28:25 Auction or Buy It Now? 00:30:18 This Episode's Big Takeway: People Buy From People. Bring Your Personality. 00:31:22 Business Brain 772 Outtro Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post Reselling, Unfair Advantage, People want to Buy from People – Business Brain 772 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, we get into when to stop using chat and move to Cowork. Chat is a great place to start — it’s just not where we should live. Dave’s signals: more than five back-and-forths, or constantly pasting in screenshots, log files, and PDFs. That’s the tell. Point Cowork at the folder instead and stop copying and pasting. His trick is to ask the chat directly whether it’s time to move, and to have it write the handoff prompt for the Cowork session, since Cowork doesn’t inherit the full context. Flip the default: assume you’re going to Cowork, then convince yourself why you should stay in chat. We also untangle chats vs. projects vs. Cowork vs. Claude Code — and the one real reason to stay put, which is cloud sync across devices. Then Dave walks us through a wild experiment: handing $10K of found money to Claude to run as a 90-day trading portfolio. He planned it in chat with Fable, executed in Cowork with Opus, and let it pick platforms with API and MCP access — Kraken for crypto, Alpaca for securities. It insisted on a seven-day paper trading run first, keys live in a 1Password vault instead of the session, and there’s a kill switch on his phone. No options, so the floor is zero. Whatever happens, it’s tuition. Real story: Claude didn’t earn the money — it just got him far enough through the process to actually collect it. Get out of the chat, and keep living that Charmed Life. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #771 for Casual FridAI, July 17, 2026 00:00:15 July 17th: National Tattoo Day 00:01:26 Defaulting to Claude Cowork instead of Claude Chat 00:10:26 SPONSOR: FanVue. Are you ready to start your own creator journey and make it big? Visit https://www.fanvue.com/ today and launch your career! 00:11:43 SPONSOR: Shopify: Own your customer relationships. Own your revenue. Start with a free trial at Shopify.com/BusinessBrain. 00:12:58 Letting Claude invest the money it earned 00:20:06 Business Brain 771 Outtro This Episode's Big Takeway: Get out of the chat! Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI – Cowork vs Chat and $10k to Claude – Business Brain 771 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, we dig into the exponential timeline — the long, flat stretch every business grinds through before anything looks like growth. We break it down as chutes and ladders: you climb, you slide back, you climb higher. The problem is most of us quit before the hockey stick ever arrives, because the middle part sucks and the feedback loop goes quiet. But that horizontal grind is where the knowledge, the network, and the team stack up. We also talk about recognizing the ladder when you’re standing at its base — bad stuff barges in uninvited, good stuff knocks politely, so throw the door open when it does. Then we get into reading negotiating signals. There’s the jackass negotiator who says “your prices are too high,” and the collaborative one who tells you exactly what the number needs to be. When someone tells you who they are, believe them — and match the energy accordingly. We cover the understated jackass-back move that reframes the whole conversation, why you compete on value instead of price, how scarcity and confidence do real work for you, qualifying leads by asking the budget question straight out, and chasing the no to save everyone’s time. Add value instead of cutting price, stick around long enough for the opportunity to find you, and keep living that Charmed Life. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #770 for Wednesday, July 15, 2026 00:0:14 July 15th: National Give Something Away Day 00:02:13 Exponential Timeline Growth is rarely linear Chutes and Ladders 00:10:14 SPONSOR: FanVue. Are you ready to start your own creator journey and make it big? Visit https://www.fanvue.com/ today and launch your career! 00:11:33 SPONSOR: Shopify: Stop waiting for permission to build something. Your next revenue stream starts free at Shopify.com/BusinessBrain. 00:12:48 Learn what kind of negotiator you’re working with Don't collaborate with the jackass Leverage scarcity Chase the “no” This Episode's Big Takeway: Stick around long enough to take advantage of the eventual opportunities 00:22:08 Business Brain 770 Outtro Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post The Exponential Timeline + Negotiating Signals – Business Brain 770 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

This week on Mac Geek Gab 1150, Pilot Pete, Adam Christianson, and Dave Hamilton pack an Embrace Your Geekness Day episode with Quick Tips you’ll put to work immediately. You’ll learn how to schedule birthday messages so you never miss one, silence those pesky automatic Shortcuts notifications, and give Apple Intelligence the context it needs to actually help. From automating Theater Mode the moment CarPlay connects, to using your iPhone to check for ticks, to texting “Marco” so your lost iPhone sings until you find it, these are the tips that keep you sharp. You’ll also dig into searching Safari history to retrace your steps, building Smart Folders to hunt down space-hogging files, and using Photos’ Map utility to surface shots from wherever you are. Then it’s your questions, answered. You’ll find out how to identify and clear runaway RAM, where Messages in the Cloud actually lives, and how to reclaim iCloud storage with tools like PowerPhotos and Gemini 2. You’ll get the real story on Time Machine drives and Spotlight, plus how to speed up sluggish Notes syncing. In Cool Stuff Found, the crew serves up Catchin’ Sync, the OBSBOT Tiny 3 webcam, Hyperspace for reclaiming space with file clones, and imessage-exporter to back up your texts. It’s an hour-plus of geek gold, and if you tune in every week, you Don’t Get Caught missing the fix you needed. 00:00:00 Mac Geek Gab 1150 for Monday, July 13th, 2026 July 13th: Embrace Your Geekness Day MGG Monthly Giveaway – Win a license to Mole Quick Tips 00:00:01 Jim-QT-Schedule Sending of Birthday Messages 00:04:16 JT Ray-QT-Disable automatic Shortcuts notifications 00:06:33 QT-Apple Intelligence and its context 00:09:26 Todd-Automate Theater Mode when CarPlay is enabled 00:10:44 Troy-QT-Use your iPhone to check for ticks 00:12:49 Larry-QT-Text Marco to your lose iPhone and have it play a song until you find it 00:18:31 Andy-QT-Search Safari’s History to find places you’ve visited 00:20:12 KiwiGraham-QT-Setup Smart Folders to find large files 00:23:38 Greg-QT-Use Photos > Utilities > Map to find photos in your current location (and elsewhere) Sponsors 00:26:42  SPONSOR: Helix Sleep makes premium mattresses and bedding that are customized to fit your personal needs, and conveniently shipped to your door. Go to https://helixsleep.com/MGG for 27% Off Sitewide. 00:27:50 SPONSOR: CleanMyMac. Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use our code MACGEEK for 20% off at https://clnmy.com/MACGEEK 00:29:02 SPONSOR: OneSkin. Born from over a decade of longevity research, OneSkin's OS-01 Peptide is proven to target the visible signs of aging, helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code MGG at https://www.oneskin.co/MGG  #oneskinpod #ad Your Questions Answered and Tips Shared! 00:30:31 Bill-1148-How do you identify and clear up RAM usage? iStat Menus Marco Arment's Quitter 00:39:23 Gary-1149-Where can I see Messages In The Cloud? 00:44:17 Roy-How can I clean up my iCloud storage? PowerPhotos Gemini 2, the duplicate finder (and “similar finder”) 00:53:25 Bill-1148-Turns out you can’t exclude Time Machine drives from Spotlight 00:56:51 Henry-1148-Speeding Up Notes Syncing Cool Stuff Found 01:01:20 Andy-1149-CSF-Catchin' Sync 01:02:15 Andy-CSF-Obsbot Tiny3 Webcam 01:08:53 Harvey-CSF-Hyperspace to use file clones to save space 01:11:44 Chris-CSF-1149–imessage-exporter to export your iMessages 01:17:42 MGG 1150 Outtro MGG Monthly Giveaway Bandwidth Provided by CacheFly Pilot Pete's Aviation Podcast: So There I Was (for Aviation Enthusiasts) The Debut Film Podcast – Adam's new podcast! Dave's Business Brain (for Entrepreneurs) and Gig Gab (for Working Musicians) Podcasts MGG Merch is Available! Mac Geek Gab iOS app Mac Geek Gab YouTube Page Mac Geek Gab Live Calendar This Week's MGG Premium Contributors MGG Apple Podcasts Reviews feedback@macgeekgab.com 224-888-GEEK Active MGG Sponsors and Coupon Codes List BackBeat Media Podcast Network

In this episode of Business Brain, Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton kick off Casual FridAI with a $10,000 surprise. Dave got an unsolicited email about a domain he’d owned for 21 years and never used — exactly the kind of message he’d normally ignore. This time he fed it to Claude, treated AI as a confidential collaborator, and worked through how to value a domain with zero cash flow and how to play the negotiation. He came in high at $15K, settled at $10K through escrow, and netted every dollar. The takeaway for you: stop using AI just to do the work and start using it to think alongside you. That everyday, back-and-forth collaboration mode is where the real money hides. From there, the guys dig into why the AI industry feels flat-out insane. Palantir’s Alex Karp argues enterprises are paying to feed frontier models their own IP, only to get outcompeted by the very tools they’re training — you can’t rent intelligence from the same place that rents it to your competitors. Where does that leave you? Betting on on-device AI and owning your software instead of renting it. If you’re still paying for a CRM a year from now, you may be throwing money away, because there’s never been a better time to build your own. Put these moves to work and you’ll be living the Charmed Life. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #769 for Casual FridAI, July 10, 2026 July 10th: National Piña Colada Day 00:01:03 I made ten grand by surprise Escrow.com 00:10:38 SPONSOR: Shopify: Stop waiting for permission to build something. Your next revenue stream starts free at Shopify.com/BusinessBrain. 00:12:03 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:13:37 Plantir CEO Alex Karp says AI Industry is Effing Insane You can't rent intelligence from the same place that rents it to your competitors FileMaker and AI Business Brain 769 Outtro This Episode's Big Takeway: There's never been a better time to own and build your own business software Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI – Free $10K + AI Insanity. Business Brain 769 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, you’ll rethink everything you assumed about failure. Shannon and Dave dig into why America’s culture of embracing failure, from bankruptcy protection to at-will employment, fuels entrepreneurship in a way most other countries can’t match. You’ll hear how low switching costs mean low experimentation costs, why VCs invest in founders instead of ideas, and why a business failure here doesn’t follow you for life the way it does elsewhere. The big idea: failure isn’t a punishment, it’s tuition, and outliving it is what keeps your charmed life on track. Then the conversation takes a sharp turn into the awkward economics of small talk. You’ll laugh at Dave’s confession that he’d pay extra for a silent haircut, and you’ll dig into the introvert-extrovert divide, the rise of silent salons, and even a pitch-black Vegas restaurant where waiters wear night vision goggles. Whether you’re the type who bonds with your barber over rental properties or the type who just wants to sit in silence, you’ll walk away with a sharper sense of how comfort, connection, and customer experience shape the businesses you build and support. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #768 for Wednesday, July 8, 2026 July 8th: National Blueberry Day 00:02:17 How we perceive failure in the USA We are surrounded by opportunities Mistakes are tuition Bankruptcy and business failures can be outlived Failure is baked into venture capital business The power of at-will employment The pivot is revered 00:12:28 SPONSOR: Shopify: Stop waiting for permission to build something. Your next revenue stream starts free at Shopify.com/BusinessBrain. 00:13:53 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:15:25 Can I pay extra for the silent haircut? 00:19:55 Blackout, the dark restaurant in Las Vegas 00:23:05 Business Brain 768 Outtro This Episode's Big Takeway: Business Failures Can Be Outlived Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post What Have You Failed at This Week? Business Brain 768 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, we break down Anthropic’s surprise release of Claude Sonnet 5, a leaner, more agentic model built for the daily grind of coding, automation, and multi-step tool use, and why we’re shifting our default from Opus to save tokens without sacrificing quality. We also dig into the new OpenClaw iOS app, which finally gives us voice control and location-sharing baked right into our personal AI agent, and why pairing it with Tailscale unlocks near-magical remote access from anywhere. From outfit suggestions based on real-time location to bigger questions about where local, on-device models are headed, we cover why this shift toward privacy-first AI is picking up serious steam. Then we shift to a tool a listener put on our radar: Supercut, a screen recording app we think might finally dethrone Loom. We walk through why its AI editor, which automatically cuts between screen and face depending on the moment, keeps viewers hooked, and how features like flexible framing, instant captions, and a new MCP integration make it a serious contender for SOPs, tutorials, and team wrap-ups. We also get real about when async video communication helps and when it backfires, plus why we think local LLMs are the next big shift every business owner needs to watch. It’s this constant hunt for smarter tools and sharper workflows that keeps us living the Charmed Life. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #767 for Casual FridAI, July 3, 2026 July 3rd: National Independent Beer Run Day 00:01:04 Anthropic Sonnet 5 is out OpenClaw for iPhone and Android are released 00:09:41 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:11:13 SPONSOR: FanVue. Are you ready to start your own creator journey and make it big? Visit https://www.fanvue.com/ today and launch your career! 00:12:55 Supercut AI 00:22:12 Business Brain 767 Outtro This Episode's Big Takeway: Get ready to hear more — and learn more — about using local LLMs Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post OpenClaw for iOS + Supercut – Business Brain 767 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Send us Fan MailHi everybody and welcome to Attendance Bias. I am your host Brian Weinstein. Before we get started with today's episode, I wanted to remind you that you can support Attendance Bias by rating and reviewing the show wherever you get your podcasts, you can follow Attendance Bias on social media, and you can visit www.buymeacoffee.com/attendancebias and donate anything you can. Now, onto the show:We've made it–the tour closer. Phish is closing the 2026 summer tour with a pair of shows at a venue with a complicated Phish history: Fenway Park in Boston. It's no stretch to say that Boston is a pivotal city when it comes to Phish history. It's a straight line from Burlington to Boston to New York, with occasional stops in Colorado when it comes to “Crucial Places on the Phish Map.” Yet, since the mid-90s, Phish has become a bit shy when it comes to playing Beantown. And when they do play in Boston, it's at the oldest active stadium in Major League Baseball: Fenway Park; a venue loved by baseball fans and loathed by live music fans.  To help us bridge that gap is today's guest, Dave Hamilton. Dave has more than his share of experience behind the mic and behind the drum kit. He plays in at least two bands: Casual Gravity and Bitter Pill. He also hosts, or co-hosts the podcasts Gig Gab about music and musicians, Mac Geek Gab about Apple products, and Business Brain for entrepreneurs. So you can tell he's got experience at speaking about his passions, not to mention a touch of Casey Kasem in his vocal tone. In other words, he knows what he's talking about and it's fun to listen to him tell us what he knows,For today's purposes, Dave tells us about what makes Fenway great, what makes it not-so-great, and what Phish's ascent throughout New England in the 90s and early 2000s so meaningful. In addition, we make sure to touch on key moments and gigs from Phish's extensive history in Boston, and what to expect for these upcoming Fenway shows, based on their previous performances at the stadium.  So let's join Dave as we close out the Summer Tour Preview at Fenway park on July 31 and August 1, 2026.Support the show

In this episode of Business Brain, we dig into the power of intentional language and why unnecessary change can quietly wreck a good team. We kick things off with a customer service moment that stuck with us: a tuxedo rental shop promised to call “if we have any questions,” not “if we have any problems,” and that one word swap became a masterclass in framing. We talk about why capturing good ideas the moment we have them (yes, even in our Notes app) beats trusting our memory, and why July is the perfect time to lock in next year’s holiday calendar before anyone has to ask. Then we get into the real meat of it: how do we know if a change is worth making, or if we’re just chasing a shiny object? We break down the two questions we ask before we touch anything — are we solving a real problem, or seizing a real opportunity — and why “we’ve always done it that way” is basically a curse word in our book. We share how a two-week experiment saved us from a costly email misstep, and why walking back a change we can’t support isn’t failure, it’s smart business. It’s this kind of thoughtful, deliberate decision-making that keeps us living the Charmed Life. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #766 for Wednesday, July 1, 2026 July 1st: Canada Day 00:01:26 Customer Service: Language Matters Returning my Tuxedo: “We'll call you if we have any questions.” vs. “we'll call you if we have any issues.” 00:05:45 QT: Reminder to create your business's holiday calendars for 2027 00:07:23 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:08:55 SPONSOR: FanVue. Are you ready to start your own creator journey and make it big? Visit https://www.fanvue.com/ today and launch your career! 00:10:36 Change for the sake of change Beware the alternative of change Find data to use to support/refute your decision 00:16:53 This Episode's Big Takeway: Clarify your reasons for change, and be mindful of how you roll it out. 00:18:25 Business Brain 766 Outtro Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post CS Language and Unnecessary Change – Business Brain 766 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, we tackle a question that hits closer to home than anyone wants to admit: is AI quietly stealing your creative time the same way social media does? We dig into “faux-ductivity” — the trap of endlessly building, prompting, and tinkering in AI under the guise of getting work done, when really it’s just one more shiny barrier between you and the hard stuff that actually moves your business forward. If you’ve ever told yourself you just need to learn one more thing before you take action, this one’s for you. Then we flip the script and show AI at its best. Inspired by Rick Rubin calling himself a “reducer” instead of a producer, we walk through how feeding your real data into Claude can cut the clutter, tighten your calls to action, and lift your numbers — newsletter open rates jumping past 50% and click rates doubling, all from learning to reduce, reduce, reduce. Stop letting your tools yes-man you, start letting them challenge your gut, and you’ll find the data-cruncher in your pocket is the real secret to living the Charmed Life. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #765 for Casual FridAI, June 26, 2026 June 26th: National Food Truck Day Off The Grid Food Trucks Tideline Public House 00:01:32 Is AI stealing our immersive/creative/digital time? Productivity or Faux-ductivity? 00:07:50 Why don't we have a Business BrAIn Mastermind? 00:09:28 SPONSOR: FanVue. Are you ready to start your own creator journey and make it big? Visit https://www.fanvue.com/ today and launch your career! 00:11:06 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:12:34 Reducing with AI Rick Ruben, the Reducer Reducing…based upon data 00:19:01 Using AI to crunch your data 00:23:22 Business Brain 765 Outtro This Episode's Big Takeway: Don't let AI lull you into being Faux-ductive Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI – Reducing and Distractions – Business Brain 765 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton tackle a topic that hits every wallet: tipping culture, and how far the pendulum has swung. We dig into why the standing-up-means-no-tip rule makes sense, how COVID-era generosity quietly became the new default, and why getting prompted to tip at the pharmacy or grocery checkout feels so absurd. We break down the math that nobody questions anymore (why a $7 beer and a $17 martini earn the same buck), the European model where tips aren’t expected, and those creeping service fees stacking on top of tax. The reset is coming, and we’re here for it. Then we flip to the upside of customer experience with two unforgettable words: disco bathrooms. We unpack how one gas station turned a restroom into a viral, million-view marketing machine, and why every business, no matter how boring, is in the experience business. From toilet-wrapped plumber vans to funny auto-attendants to the music in your waiting room, we share simple ways to differentiate, get remembered, and earn free word-of-mouth. Make it weird, make it memorable, and keep leveling up your Charmed Life. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #764 for Wednesday Casual FridAI, June 24, 2026 June 24th: Farmer Day 00:01:23 Tipping Culture Needs a Reset When was the last time you left no tip at a restaurant? We need to reset this. $1/drink is better because it's the same even if I get top shelf or well. Restaurants that add a workers' fund fee as a percentage of the bill 00:13:01 SPONSOR: FanVue. Are you ready to start your own creator journey and make it big? Visit https://www.fanvue.com/ today and launch your career! 00:14:40 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:16:09 Every business is in the experience business 00:20:18 Business Brain 764 Outtro This Episode's Big Takeway: Find a way to differentiate your business Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post Disco Bathrooms and Tipping Culture – Business Brain 764 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Rob is joined by industry peers Dave Hamilton, Luke Slota, and Marques Pfaff to talk about the realities of podcast advertising. The group discusses the realistic download numbers needed for host-read sponsorships, comparing traditional CPM models to cost-per-action (CPA) campaigns.The conversation covers the necessity of video in modern podcasting. While video aids discoverability and search on platforms like YouTube, the panel agrees that audio remains the core experience for loyal subscribers who drive actual sales.Finally, the group shares the biggest mistakes creators make when working with advertisers. From skipping over ad-read instructions to overpricing their shows, the peers outline how to build credible, long-term relationships with brands.Guest ContributorsDave Hamilton — Backbeat Media, Gig Gab, Mac Geek Gab, and Business BrainLuke Slota — The Out Loud GroupMarques Pfaff — Amplitude Media PartnersLinks to interesting things from this episodeGrowth Labs Sessions!Are You Ready for Podcast Ads? (Diagnostic Checklist) - YouTubeHow to Use Captivate Marketplace, AIME Campaign Management (Live Walkthrough)People, Shows & LinksAmplitude MediaThe Outloud GroupGig Gab — A Weekly Podcast for Working Musicians - Gig GabBackBeat MediaMac Geek Gab PodcastA Weekly Podcast For Entrepreneurs Who Do The Work - Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' PodcastIn & Around Podcasting is a podcast industry podcast started by Mark Asquith and Danny Brown and now hosted by Elsie Escobar and Rob Walch, continuing its mission as an industry show that belongs to the whole community.If you enjoy the show, we'd love for you to leave us a rating or review on your favourite podcast app! You can also drop us a tip at https://www.inandaroundpodcasting.com/support, too!If you're an independent creator who would like to co-host with us, please let us know by emailing the show! community@captivate.fm.Please tell your friends that the show is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube, plus wherever else they may listen to their podcasts.If you'd like your podcast trailer featuring in our "Wave File" segment, submit it via this quick contact form, please.The podcast is also available at In & Around Podcasting.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

In this episode of Business Brain, we dig into the question of who really controls AI. We trade notes on Anthropic’s new Mythos model and its Fable guardrails — including a jaw-dropping account of how relentlessly capable these tools have become — and we wrestle with the bigger issue lurking underneath: when AI decides what we can and can’t do, who’s holding the keys? We talk search-engine parallels, data retention, the push for government oversight, and why locally run, private AI might be the move for protecting our business data while still tapping the power. Then we get practical with MCPs — Model Context Protocol — and why this might be the easiest upgrade we can make to how we work. No fussy API tokens, no burning through credits letting AI drive a browser. We share real wins: connecting analytics dashboards, newsletter platforms, and entire email inboxes so our AI can summarize, draft, and act on our behalf. It’s platform-agnostic, dead simple to set up, and a genuine game-changer — exactly the kind of leverage that keeps us building the Charmed Life. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #763 for Casual FridAI, June 19, 2026 June 19th: Juneteenth and National Martini Day 00:01:44 AI Censorship Fable/Mythos is relentlessly good! Dave (unintentionally) hit Fable's cybersecurity guidelines 00:12:45 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:14:26 SPONSOR: OneSkin. Born from over a decade of longevity research, OneSkin's OS-01 Peptide is proven to target the visible signs of aging, helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code BRAIN at https://www.oneskin.co/BRAIN  #oneskinpod #ad 00:16:38 David-China turns on underwater datacenter 00:17:32 MCPs – Model Context Protocols Claude Cowork is becoming my primary email agent Fastmail Official MCP 00:21:44 This Episode's Big Takeway: MCPs are easy to implement, connect your AI to more things than you realize 00:23:00 Business Brain 763 Outtro Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI – AI Censorship and MCPs – Business Brain 763 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, we dig into how a little personality goes a long way in business. We talk about turning our interests into businesses (and yes, making a chunk of our lives tax-deductible while we’re at it), then unpack the underrated power of the email autoresponder — how a quick, human note while we’re away humanizes our brand and earns real goodwill. From custom-wrapped fire trucks to quirky on-hold voicemail greetings, we share the small touches that drop the corporate armor and let customers connect with the actual person behind the business. Then we shift gears to mindset, sparked by SpaceX’s IPO and the headlines crowning a first trillionaire. We make the case that wealth isn’t a zero-sum game — and that a scarcity mindset is the fastest way to stall out as an entrepreneur. We talk about choosing abundance, spreading that optimism through our teams, empowering ambitious people even when they out-earn us, and believing our best years are still ahead. It’s a reminder that minding your mindset is exactly how we build and protect the Charmed Life. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #762 for Wednesday, June 17, 2026 00:01:30 June 17th: National Stewarts Root Beer Day 00:03:57 Make your life tax-deductible by making businesses out of your interests 00:07:50 Use your auto responder to personalize your business life Your email signature, too Maybe something personal in your logo 00:12:54 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:14:35 SPONSOR: OneSkin. Born from over a decade of longevity research, OneSkin's OS-01 Peptide is proven to target the visible signs of aging, helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code BRAIN at https://www.oneskin.co/BRAIN  #oneskinpod #ad 00:16:47 Elon Becomes a Trillionaire Dave's visit to Kennedy Space Center unpacked on Mac Geek Gab Mind your mindset – Abundance is the key Embrace abundance, don't get caught in scarcity 00:24:13 Business Brain 762 Outtro Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post Auto Responders and Trillionaires – Business Brain 762 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Three Rush fans — a father, a son, and Spartacus — walk into a podcast. There’s no punchline, just the tape rolling on a conversation that was going to happen anyway, and you get to be the fly on the wall. Two of them just flew home from LA, where they stood in the room and watched Rush kick off the tour nobody was sure would ever come. The third has been taking it all in from a distance, which is its own peculiar thing when you once mixed front of house for the band for years. You’ll get the origin stories — a kite-flying contest in early-seventies St. Louis, an R40 playlist that turned a kid into a lifer — plus enough on the drummer question (yes, Anika Nilles) and show-count stats to earn the Rush-nerd badge none of them will quite cop to. Then it gets real. This is a band that fans and insiders alike once quietly accepted was finished, now back out there proving otherwise, and that turns the talk toward something bigger than setlists. You get to do this. Whether it’s thousands of people or a Tuesday night for a dozen, that gratitude is the whole game — the reason to Always Be Performing no matter how rough the bus ride was. Stick around for a ten-year-old’s perfectly timed gut check that still lands two decades later. Press play, and join Lucas Hamilton, Robert Scovill, and Dave Hamilton for a tour through the opening of Rush’s comeback — from inside the room, and from afar. 00:00:00 Gig Gab 538 – Monday, June 15th, 2026 June 15th: British Beer Day Guest co-hosts: Lucas Hamilton and Robert Scovill 00:02:46 Rush Stats All three co-hosts have seen Rush live with 2 drummers Lucas and Anika are tied for Rush shows… as of this recording 00:04:39 Robert Scovill was living in St. Louis when he saw Rush with Rutsey KC Kite Flying Contest 00:07:31 Lucas's Rush origin story 00:08:31 About that whole live concert sound thing Spoiler: Rush always sounded good 00:11:02 Favorite Rush heirlooms 00:13:55 I want a Red Barchetta for my midlife crisis Rush 2026 Tour started with 12 dates 00:16:02 That opening song, that opening night Rick Beato's Breakdown of Xanadu 00:23:40 Anika Nilles' dropped stick recovery Getting the first mistake out of the way moments into the first song of Rush’s 2026 Reunion tour 00:27:21 Time Stand Still for those emotional moments 00:33:11 Lights and video for 2112 – in the cave! 00:34:00 Singing 2112: Presentation at the tops of our lungs 00:38:50 Moving Pictures to open night 3 set 2 00:40:13 Loren Gold's keys and vocal harmonies And Geddy Lee’s voice, too! 00:44:29 The composition of YYZ Alex Lifeson is the most underrated guitarist in rock and roll 00:45:48 Anika Nilles is just a star 00:49:25 Anika grooving during A Passage to Bangkok 00:52:22 The physicality of playing Rush music The wisdom of days off in between shows for the entire Rush Fifty Something tour 00:57:41 You know what we get to do today? We get to go play music in front of thousands of people! This is the best job on earth 01:01:23 Who is Spartacus? 01:03:33 Gig Gab 538 Outtro Follow Lucas Hamilton On Instagram Follow Robert Scovill On Facebook On Instagram On LinkedIn RobertScovill.com (where you'll find The Back Lounge) Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post Three Rush Fans and Rush’s 2026 Comeback Tour: From the Room and From Afar – Gig Gab 538 appeared first on Gig Gab.

In this episode of Business Brain, we dig into why data centers and AI have suddenly become public enemy number one. Shannon unpacks the wave of negative press and protests, and the fascinating thread connecting some of the loudest anti-data-center voices to foreign funding—China in particular. We talk through “bring your own infrastructure” mandates, the wild ideas in play like data centers in space and underwater, and why keeping this technology stateside matters for our economy and security. It’s lobbying 101, and once we follow the money, the noise starts to make a lot more sense. Then Dave drops a headline worth remembering: AI is non-binary. It’s not a thing we either use for everything or refuse entirely. We can hate AI in music and still love it for the grunt work that frees up our time and mental energy. History backs us up—nearly every technological leap has lifted society, even with messy displacement along the way. The takeaway? Find the spots where AI makes sense for our business, embrace it, and keep living the Charmed Life. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #761 for Casual FridAI, June 12, 2026 June 12th: National Button Battery Awareness Day 00:01:41 AI vs. Datacenters China is doing some anti-datacenter lobbying BYOI for AI Underwater datacenters? Space-based datacenters? 00:08:04 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:09:42 AI is non-binary Gig Gab 536: Musicians and AI This episode's big takeaway: Find ways to benefit from using AI 00:15:51 Business Brain 761 Outtro Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI Datacenter Bashing + AI is Non-Binary – Business Brain 761 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, we get into the balance between digital and analog life. Shannon makes the case that being “too online” dulls us, and that we need a real mix of screen time and hands-on, analog work to stay fulfilled. Whether we’re chipping branches with a chainsaw, immersing ourselves in playing music, or losing ourselves in a good book, that shift away from the screen is what keeps us sharp. The trick isn’t choosing one over the other, it’s deliberately moving between deep digital immersion and getting our hands dirty outside. Then we dig into a powerful idea: nothing is a valid event on the calendar. We talk about why entrepreneurs say yes to everything out of an old fear of the phone going quiet, and how the “power of the pause” protects our time. Instead of an instant yes, we check the calendar, set expectations, and ask what a yes really costs us. We also get honest about how hard it is to guard those empty blocks, kill the runaway booking links, and give ourselves permission to truly rest. Protecting your nothing time is how we keep living the Charmed Life. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #760 for Wednesday, June 10, 2026 June 10th: National Ballpoint Pen Day 00:01:59 Digital/Analog Balance You're too online, you've lost context! All work and no play makes Shannon a dull boy. We need immersion (both digitally and in the analog world) 00:08:37 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:10:14 “Nothing” is a valid event on the calendar The Power of the Pause 00:16:00 Business Brain 760 Outtro This episode's big takeaway: “Nothing” is a valid event on the calendar Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post Digital vs Analog and All About Nothing – Business Brain 760 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Topics: -This week we welcome Dave Hamilton of Mac Geek Gab! -Dave actually grew up a street away from our very own Joe Saponare. -Dave has some knowledge on the music history in the area. -Dave has known his co-host, John Braun since they were 15 years old. -He remembers the days of NCSA Mosaic. -The Mac Observer and BackBeat Media are just some of Dave's major accomplishments. -Wasn't 2001 just a few years ago? -Dave takes us down memory lane in the early days of The Mac Observer. -His original plan was not to continue hosting Mac Geek Gab. -Being persistent paid off as he reached out to Steve Jobs himself to be included in their new Podcast Directory. -In both Texas and the northeast, Dave has a quite a technical background. -Quick Tip from Joe - If the minimum brightness is too bright on your iPhone, you can Reduce White Point under Accessibility>Display & Text Size. -We talk about listener burnout in the podcast world. -Mac Geek Gab is on episode 941! -A tip that Jerry heard on Dave's show was about Tailscale, which makes a virtual network out of your devices, no matter where you are. -Sam talks about some tips he learned on recent episodes of Mac Geek Gab. -The simple stuff is why you get paid the "big bucks". -Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast is another show Dave co-hosts with Shannon Jean. -The 20 minute rule - keeping clients engaged every 20 minutes along the way. -Besides his podcasts, you can find Dave at https://www.davethenerd.com or on Twitter @davehamilton

This week on Gig Gab, Dave Hamilton sits down with guest co-host Rand Lempert of the Broken Rings, a two-piece recording project built on 15 years of musical kinship between Rand and guitarist Gio da Silva. You’ll hear how these two have crafted an intentional, travel-fueled recording process across cities, cutting live instruments and vocals together, passing files between New Orleans, Tampa, and now Denver, and why that friction and urgency is exactly the point. Rand makes a compelling case for keeping things analog as long as possible: real amps, minimal pedals, old-school mic placements like a modified Glyn Johns setup, and the conviction that nothing replaces the feeling of having a human being in the room when the tape (or hard drive) is rolling. The conversation ranges wide, from Rand’s vivid 9/11 tour story, stranded in St. John’s Newfoundland on one of the last planes to land before U.S. airspace shut down, to a deep dive into the art of the perfect pop song, with nominations for Tempted by Squeeze, Big Star’s Thirteen, Bryan Adams’ Cuts Like a Knife, and Fastball’s Out of My Head. Whether you’re a working drummer obsessing over beat placement, a songwriter who only writes when the muse actually shows up, or a road veteran who knows that idle days on tour are far worse than grueling ones, this episode has your number. Get out there, stay curious, and Always Be Performing. 00:00:00 Gig Gab 537 – Monday, June 8th, 2026 June 8th: Name Your Poison Day Guest co-host: Rand Lempert 00:01:38 The Broken Rings are a 2-man band Drums, guitar, vocals all handled by Rand Lempert and Gio da Silva, his bandmate They consider themselves musical kin: They agree on 95% of all music Met in Houston, played in bands, then moved to different corners of the USA 00:04:48 Songwriting duo starts with a long distance relationship Lutefish Stream 00:07:03 Recording remotely doesn't have the muse of travel So many different avenues to approach recording Finding a way to record with technology in a less sterile way 00:15:08 Preserving analog recording to digital “tape” 00:17:07 The process of recording drums Don't mess up the end of the track! 00:21:14 Country music 00:23:25 Drummer kinship: Tris Imboden saves the day! Learning by visual 00:31:41 SPONSOR: Claude.ai – Ready to tackle bigger problems? Sign up for Claude today, which includes access to Claude Cowork, too, when you visit https://Claude.ai/giggab 00:33:37 Surviving the road 00:34:45 Road story: hanging out in St. John's Newfoundland for 5 days Sonny James and the Centers in Europe in 2001 “There's nothing wrong with this airplane, but this plane is being diverted because of terrorist attacks in the United States.” Canadian authorities: “What do we do with these people? Bring them to a hockey arena!” Memorial University of Newfoundland 00:44:35 Opening up for Bo Diddley in 2004 In Beaumont, Texas Touring is a lot of driving, and you're doing the driving It's a lot of lugging equipment, and you're doing the lugging You get a hotel room…for the entire band! 00:48:55 When touring, days off are worse than the grueling days on 00:51:02 It's important to travel Touring is the way to do that for a lot of us musicians 00:51:25 Making touring maps as a kid is a good sign Rand needed to do this as a career 00:52:50 First concerts, sound nerding, and getting lost in the music for the first time Rand got lost at four years old! Nerd out about sound and recording First concerts! Weather Report for Dave Air Supply for Rand 00:58:05 The Best pop songs Gravitating towards the hook! Cuts Like a Knife – Bryan Adams Tempted – Squeeze Thirteen – Big Star Out of My Head – Fastball One Headlight – Wallflowers No Matter What – Badfinger 01:12:22 Gig Gab 537 Outtro Follow Rand Lempert The Broken Rings Sick in the city – The Broken Rings Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post Road Stories, Recording Secrets, and the Perfect Pop Song – Gig Gab 537 with Rand Lempert from The Broken Rings appeared first on Gig Gab.

In this episode of Business Brain, we tackle a question every entrepreneur is starting to face: how do you tame your AI expenses before they tame you? It starts with a confession — burning through $15 worth of credits in a single morning by running everything on the priciest model — and opens into a bigger conversation about where the real costs hide. We talk about the difference between the static LLM on the back end and the front-end layer that actually shapes your bill, why one giant company torched $500 million in tokens in thirty days, and how much of that spend was pure duplication and waste that smarter tooling could have caught. The takeaway for your Business Brain is twofold. First, there’s a real opportunity in building smarter front ends — caching common answers, flagging redundant work, and routing to a local or lightweight model before reaching for the expensive cloud LLM. Second, and bigger, is the management problem: as your team grows, how do you give everyone AI power while keeping eyes on usage, protecting your data, and setting SOPs that prevent the same project from being built four times over? Most of us are still figuring it out, and that gap is exactly where the next charmed-life opportunity lives. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #759 for Casual FridAI, June 5, 2026 June 3rd: International Thank You Day 00:00:44 $15.22 in a morning – Paying $100/month for AI. I never thought… Claude vs. ChatGPT vs. Perplexity Perplexity Comet is the best AI Browser (even though Perplexity is the worst of the chatbots) Wispr Flow 00:09:23 SPONSOR: OneSkin. Born from over a decade of longevity research, OneSkin's OS-01 Peptide is proven to target the visible signs of aging, helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code BRAIN at https://www.oneskin.co/BRAIN  #oneskinpod #ad 00:11:22 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:12:50 Smarter front ends for AI Customized corporate buffers Run a local LLM to manage your company's use of the (more powerful) cloud LLM A company opened up token usage and spent $500 million This episode's big takeaway: How does your organization manage AI use? Business Brain 759 Outtro Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI – Taming your AI Expenses – Business Brain 759 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, we dig into why every business is now in the experience business. It starts with a tangent on tailors and cobblers — trades that feel like they’re vanishing — and lands on a bigger truth for entrepreneurs: when products and services get commoditized, the experience around them becomes the real differentiator. We look at how some towns subsidize small “lifestyle” shops to preserve their charm and character, how figures like Dave Chappelle are buying up and rebuilding small-town downtowns, and what it means when communities choose winners based on the experiences they create rather than just the money they make. The takeaway is one to apply to your own Business Brain: whether you run an HVAC company, an accounting practice, or an e-commerce shop, ask what experience your customers actually want — from the first click to opening the box. We’ve said every business is in the customer service business and the content business; now we’re adding that every business is in the experience business too. Build the kind of experience people seek out, and you create a more durable, more charmed life for your business. Plus, a listener note on intro music and a candid look at how we use AI to build our show blueprints. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #758 for Wednesday, June 3, 2026 00:01:35 June 3rd: National Tailors Day Cobblers In the age of the Jetsons, you wanna live like the Flintstones Barber shops Municipalities subsidizing small business shops Or sometimes people with wealth buy the town (or parts of it) Dave Chappelle bought (most of) a town Diary of a Wimpy Kid author also bought (most of) a town Towns are buying experiences…by preserving small-town shopping 00:12:36 SPONSOR: OneSkin. Born from over a decade of longevity research, OneSkin's OS-01 Peptide is proven to target the visible signs of aging, helping you unlock your healthiest skin now and as you age. Get 15% off OneSkin with the code BRAIN at https://www.oneskin.co/BRAIN  #oneskinpod #ad 00:14:36 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:16:03 Sorry about last week's episodic mixup! 00:20:01 Ian's Business Brain Blueprint feedback This episode's big takeaway: What's your business's experience? Every business is in the experience business. Business Brain 758 Outtro Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post We’re all in the Experience Business – Business Brain 758 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Dave Hamilton and Stu Dias dig into AI and music: tools vs. threats, Suno, AI mixing, and protecting your gig income.

In this episode of Business Brain, we get practical about putting AI to work on the everyday stuff, not just the big business plays. Shannon walks through building a custom food log with Claude after a doctor’s visit — snap a photo, let the AI ID the ingredients, get a clean report emailed before the next appointment, and pin it to your home screen as a web app. The bigger lesson: if all we’re doing is chatting back and forth with our favorite AI, we’re missing roughly 90% of what it can do. Don’t know what we’re missing? Ask the bot itself. Build the custom tool, start a health folder (eyes wide open about feeding personal data to a third party), and let it take the grunt work off our plate. Then Dave drops a reframe worth keeping: AI isn’t artificial intelligence, it’s assistive intelligence. It helps us, it doesn’t replace us — we’re still the one driving the bus. We connect it to history, too: when Photoshop hit, the same panic about lost jobs and “that’s not real art” played out, and it became the assistive tool every creative now relies on. The internet did the same, creating community and abundance. Every leap looks scary until it becomes the thing that powers our Charmed Life. Used right, with guidance, this is a superpower — so stop treating the chatbot like just a chatbot and start letting it build. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #757 for Casual FridAI, May 29, 2026 May 29th: National Paperclip Day Trade a Paperclip for a House 00:01:29 Claude Food Tracker The SAAS-Pocalypse Create an iOS Home screen app with Claude Don't forget to use your favorite ChatBot for every day things If you're only using your ChatBot as a ChatBot, you're missing out. Ask your ChatBot what you're missing! 00:09:16 SPONSOR: Shopify – For anyone to sell anywhere, sign up for a one-dollar-per month trial period at Shopify.com/BusinessBrain and upgrade your selling today! 00:10:48 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:12:14 AI is Assistive Intelligence AI isn't going to take jobs Photoshop didn't take jobs They both let people replace their jobs with different jobs “Before the Internet, why did you need a computer?” This Episode's Big Takeaway: Think about AI as your Assistive Intelligence 00:22:59 Business Brain 757 Outtro Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI – Assistive Intelligence – Business Brain 757 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

The Road to Macstock takes us to Dave Hamilton, who previews his Macstock session, “From Curiosity to Capability,” which will focus on practical AI workflows anyone can use. Dave discusses how generative AI has changed coding, project management, proposals, productivity, and procrastination for him. The session will encourage experimentation as a way to get involved as AI tools rapidly evolve.  Show Notes: Chapters: [0:00] Introduction to Dave Hamilton and the Road to Macstock[2:17] Dave previews “From Curiosity to Capability”[4:12] AI, neuroplasticity, productivity, and learning by doing[6:28] Coding changes, agentic tools, and the Mac Geek Gab app update[11:30] Agentic AI as project management beyond coding[13:01] Starting small, using the right mindset, and avoiding blind trust[15:04] AI as a procrastination eliminator[16:30] Real-world business proposal example using Claude Cowork[20:16] Goals for the MacStock session and audience participation[23:33] Moving between ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini[26:17] How AI memory, context, and front-end tools affect answers[28:53] Encouraging practical AI use through examples[31:16] Macstock discount codes and why attendees should come[31:53] Macstock camaraderie, hallway conversations, and community[34:06] Where to find Dave Hamilton's podcasts and social links[35:15] Closing invitation to Macstock and Ecamm Creator Camp Guests: Dave Hamilton, a seasoned tech enthusiast, podcaster, and publisher, has dedicated the past three decades to aiding computer users globally. Known for his insightful advice and valuable product recommendations on the Mac Geek Gab podcast, Dave also enjoys an esteemed reputation as the founder of BackBeat Media, a network of fiercely independent publishers. His online publishing journey took off with The Mac Observer, an acclaimed Apple news site he co-founded in 1998 and led to its successful acquisition in 2021.Beyond his tech-savvy persona, Dave embraces a vibrant life filled with music and family in the New Hampshire seacoast. He passionately performs with bands Bitter Pill and Fling, among other musical projects, creating a harmonic balance between his love for technology and music. Alongside his wife, Lisa, he raised their two children amidst this symphony of innovation, passion, and independent spirit, showcasing the power of embracing one's interests and using them to make a meaningful impact in the world. Connect with him on his three podcasts, Mac Geek Gab, Business Brain, and Gig Gab. Support:      Become a MacVoices Patron on Patreon     http://patreon.com/macvoices      Enjoy this episode? Make a one-time donation with PayPal Connect:      Web:     http://macvoices.com      Twitter:     http://www.twitter.com/chuckjoiner     http://www.twitter.com/macvoices      Mastodon:     https://mastodon.cloud/@chuckjoiner      Facebook:     http://www.facebook.com/chuck.joiner      MacVoices Page on Facebook:     http://www.facebook.com/macvoices/      MacVoices Group on Facebook:     http://www.facebook.com/groups/macvoice      LinkedIn:     https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckjoiner/      Instagram:     https://www.instagram.com/chuckjoiner/ Subscribe:      Audio in iTunes     Video in iTunes      Subscribe manually via iTunes or any podcatcher:      Audio: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesrss      Video: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesvideorss

The Road to Macstock takes us to Dave Hamilton, who previews his Macstock session, "From Curiosity to Capability," which will focus on practical AI workflows anyone can use. Dave discusses how generative AI has changed coding, project management, proposals, productivity, and procrastination for him. The session will encourage experimentation as a way to get involved as AI tools rapidly evolve.  Show Notes: Chapters: [0:00] Introduction to Dave Hamilton and the Road to Macstock [2:17] Dave previews "From Curiosity to Capability" [4:12] AI, neuroplasticity, productivity, and learning by doing [6:28] Coding changes, agentic tools, and the Mac Geek Gab app update [11:30] Agentic AI as project management beyond coding [13:01] Starting small, using the right mindset, and avoiding blind trust [15:04] AI as a procrastination eliminator [16:30] Real-world business proposal example using Claude Cowork [20:16] Goals for the MacStock session and audience participation [23:33] Moving between ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini [26:17] How AI memory, context, and front-end tools affect answers [28:53] Encouraging practical AI use through examples [31:16] Macstock discount codes and why attendees should come [31:53] Macstock camaraderie, hallway conversations, and community [34:06] Where to find Dave Hamilton's podcasts and social links [35:15] Closing invitation to Macstock and Ecamm Creator Camp Guests: Dave Hamilton, a seasoned tech enthusiast, podcaster, and publisher, has dedicated the past three decades to aiding computer users globally. Known for his insightful advice and valuable product recommendations on the Mac Geek Gab podcast, Dave also enjoys an esteemed reputation as the founder of BackBeat Media, a network of fiercely independent publishers. His online publishing journey took off with The Mac Observer, an acclaimed Apple news site he co-founded in 1998 and led to its successful acquisition in 2021. Beyond his tech-savvy persona, Dave embraces a vibrant life filled with music and family in the New Hampshire seacoast. He passionately performs with bands Bitter Pill and Fling, among other musical projects, creating a harmonic balance between his love for technology and music. Alongside his wife, Lisa, he raised their two children amidst this symphony of innovation, passion, and independent spirit, showcasing the power of embracing one's interests and using them to make a meaningful impact in the world. Connect with him on his three podcasts, Mac Geek Gab, Business Brain, and Gig Gab. Support:      Become a MacVoices Patron on Patreon      http://patreon.com/macvoices      Enjoy this episode? Make a one-time donation with PayPal Connect:      Web:      http://macvoices.com      Twitter:      http://www.twitter.com/chuckjoiner      http://www.twitter.com/macvoices      Mastodon:      https://mastodon.cloud/@chuckjoiner      Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/chuck.joiner      MacVoices Page on Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/macvoices/      MacVoices Group on Facebook:      http://www.facebook.com/groups/macvoice      LinkedIn:      https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckjoiner/      Instagram:      https://www.instagram.com/chuckjoiner/ Subscribe:      Audio in iTunes      Video in iTunes      Subscribe manually via iTunes or any podcatcher:      Audio: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesrss      Video: http://www.macvoices.com/rss/macvoicesvideorss

In this episode of Business Brain, we dig into what happens when a holiday throws off your rhythm. Dave detached over Memorial Day weekend and paid for it on Tuesday, proof that a long weekend needs the same planning as a road trip if you want to land softly back at your desk. We get into the language we use to talk to ourselves, why a “to-did” list might be the best sleep aid going, and how offloading reminders frees up the brain cycles you’re burning trying to remember everything. Find the system that fits how your mind actually works, and you’ll sleep better knowing you checked the boxes that matter. Then we break down SB Mowing — the landscaper who turned free lawn cleanups into a $2.4 million business run out of a pickup truck and trailer. Spencer films time-lapse videos of his worst overgrown yards, posts them on YouTube, and pulls 55 million followers and 3 billion annual views, no longer charging for the work because the content is worth a hundred times more. The lesson for living the Charmed Life: every business is in the social media business. Find the repetitive grunt work you already do, point a camera at it, and let the time-lapse do the marketing — whether you’re mowing lawns, running robot mowers, or tearing down a drum kit after a gig. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #756 for Wednesday, May 27, 2026 May 27th: National Sunscreen Day 00:01:37 The cost of a day off. Dave failed to plan ahead The 5-Day work week is dead! 00:06:50 The to-did list is the very best sleep aid To dos vs. Reminders 00:10:42 SPONSOR: Shopify – For anyone to sell anywhere, sign up for a one-dollar-per month trial period at Shopify.com/BusinessBrain and upgrade your selling today! 00:12:14 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:13:39 SBMowing.com Time lapse videos for your business Dave's gonna time lapse his robot mowers and setting up his drums Shannon's gonna destroy old massage chairs This Episode's Big Takeaway: The to-did list is the very best sleep aid 00:21:58 Business Brain 756 Outtro Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post SB Mowing + The Cost of a Day Off – Business Brain 756 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, we kick off Casual Friday AI with Dave’s pitch to learn Markdown — the plain-text format that every AI engine now prefers. Skip it, and you’re burning tokens (and cash) every time the robots have to wade through bloated Word docs. Then Shannon drops the move that’ll change your week: connect Claude to Slack and let it pull weekly summaries of wins, blockers, and who’s actually carrying the team. It’s the kind of leverage that turns a flood of channels and DMs into one tidy report waiting on your desk every Friday. From there,We dig into Markdown for AI, connecting Claude to Slack, Claude for Small Business, and xAI voice cloning results. we dig into Claude for Small Business, the new Claude Cowork layer that plugs straight into QuickBooks, HubSpot, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Canva, DocuSign, and PayPal — your small business operating system, basically. Toggle one workflow on, fix one pain point, repeat. We also revisit Shannon’s xAI voice clone experiment (verdict: too old, too audiobook, needs another pass), and land on the big takeaway driving the Charmed Life right now — connect, connect, connect. The AI tools you already pay for get exponentially more powerful the moment you wire them into the platforms you actually live in. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #755 for Casual FridAI, May 22, 2026 May 22nd: Bitcoin Pizza Day 00:01:39 Learn Markdown! 00:05:18 Connect Claude to Slack Weekly summaries Context Whatever you want! 00:07:14 SPONSOR: Whatnot is the largest dedicated live shopping platform. Download the Whatnot app today and get free shipping on your first order. Just search Whatnot in the app store and start scoring amazing deals 00:08:44 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:10:00 Claude for Small Business is your new business operating system AI Fluency for Small Businesses 00:13:52 X.ai Voice Cloning 00:16:29 This Episode's Big Takeaway: Connect AI tools to your existing platforms Business Brain 755 Outtro Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI – Voice, Slack & Markdown – Business Brain 755 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Most music theory education is built for nineteen-year-olds in a conservatory. If you're a working musician who's been gigging for years on ear, feel, and a handful of chord shapes, that path doesn't fit your life — and it doesn't have to. In this deep-dive, Robonzo breaks down a four-part framework for adult musicians who want to finally crack music theory and reading without quitting their job, abandoning their gigs, or pretending they're starting from zero. The framework comes from a conversation with drummer, vocalist, and podcaster Dave Hamilton from way back in Episode 13 — and it's the cleanest, most adult-friendly roadmap Robonzo has come across. The episode covers why piano is the right tool for the job (even if it isn't your instrument), how chord construction and the 1-4-5 unlock most of popular music, why guitar chord charts make brilliant practice material, and the concrete revenue case for learning to read music as a working musician. Support the Unstarving Musician The Unstarving Musician exists solely through the generosity of its listeners, readers, and viewers. Learn how you can offer your support at UnstarvingMusician.com/CrowdSponsor This episode was brought to you by Podcast Startup. Ready to launch your podcast or take it to the next level? Podcast Startup gives you the frameworks, systems, and insider knowledge to build a show that actually grows your audience and serves your goals. Whether you're just getting started or looking to improve your existing podcast, you'll get actionable strategies on equipment selection, content planning, audience building, and sustainable production workflows—without the overwhelm. Learn more at UnstarvingMusician.com/PodcastStartup. Join podcasters who are building shows that last. Resources The Unstarving Musician's Guide to Getting Paid Gigs, by Robonzo Dreamhost – See the latest deals from Dreamhost, save money and support the UM in the process. More Resources for musicians Pardon the Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means I make a small commission, at no extra charge to you, if you purchase using those links. Thanks for your support! Stay in touch! @RobonzoDrummer on  Instagram @UnstarvingMusician on Facebook  and  YouTube   

In this episode of Business Brain, we dig into the messy, human side of managing a team — specifically what happens when you take over customer service and realize the old habits have to go. Dave shares how he’s rewiring an eight-year-old support operation, swapping correction for reassurance, and learning (reluctantly) that buy-in and consensus aren’t a waste of time — they’re the whole game. The breakthrough? Stop telling your team what to say. Make them draft it, workshop it, and own it. That’s how empathy becomes a reflex instead of a script, and how your reviews start climbing without you hovering over every ticket. Then we get into a brilliant scarcity play with Last Bottle Wines — a company that flipped the stigma of overstock liquidation into a daily, one-bottle-only event that wine snobs can’t stop sharing. We unpack how to apply that same storytelling-plus-scarcity model to your own excess inventory, and we land on the takeaway that quietly runs a Charmed Life business: teach your team to ask “What would the boss do?” before they escalate. Get that one habit locked in, and you’ll stop being the bottleneck in your own company. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #754 for Wednesday, May 20, 2026 May 20th: Be a Millionaire Day 00:02:56 Managing and the Value of Buy-in and Consensus “What would Shannon do?” 00:13:00 SPONSOR: Whatnot is the largest dedicated live shopping platform. Download the Whatnot app today and get free shipping on your first order. Just search Whatnot in the app store and start scoring amazing deals 00:14:30 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:15:45 Last Bottle Wines Using scarcity for overstock items Learning your customer, then marketing to them that way 00:19:17 This Episode's Big Takeaway: What would the boss do? Business Brain 754 Outtro Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post Employee Buy-in + Last Bottle Wines – Business Brain 754 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

OG co-host Paul Kent rejoins Dave Hamilton to talk about how The Houserockers have stayed booked into their 27th year, and what your band can steal from their playbook. You’ll dig into the social media reality of 2026 (Reels are currently king), why your mailing list is the asset you actually own, and how to grow to 10,000 followers without losing your soul. Paul makes the case that if you want gigs, your band has to be a business, which means alignment on mission, passion, and musical style with the partners or employees standing next to you on stage. There’s nothing wrong with playing for fun, but go in eyes wide open about what you’re chasing. From there you’ll dive into the value of scarcity, Kevin Kelly’s thousand true fans, and why mixing up your setlists is one way to keep audiences coming back. Paul breaks down the current Houserockers formula (civic concert series, experiential marketing, and ticketed off-season events) and why aging-up audiences mean you have to market harder and talk to fans like Springsteen does: a lifetime conversation, all with individuals. You’ll also get the real talk on finding bandmates (Craigslist included), the Gig Gab bookable-band checklist, and Paul’s (joking?) pitch for two new show segments. Whatever your lane, Always Be Performing, and start treating every touchpoint like the gig it is. 00:00:00 Gig Gab 534 – Monday, May 18th, 2026 May 18th: National Visit Your Relatives Day 00:01:27 Guest co-host: Paul Kent The Houserockers in their 27th year! 00:04:21 Did someone call you an old man?!? 00:08:46 The Gig Gab social media approach 00:10:29 Your band can get 10,000 followers Reels are it…today. 00:13:37 Gain a mailing list 00:16:41 It's about the music business. Is your band willing to be in business? 00:19:00 There's nothing wrong with doing what you want to do. Just go in eyes wide open. 00:20:49 Getting alignment within your band. You now have business partners or employees Be aligned with mission, passion, style of music … the alchemy of it. 00:26:48 The value of scarcity Does success equal quantity of gigs? Some people want to play five times per month 00:30:43 Finding Your Thousand True Fans 00:32:05 Mixing up your setlists is another way to keep people coming back 00:36:00 Marketing 101 – you have to have something to say Hopefully unique! And then deliver. 00:37:13 The Houserockers formula for today Civic Concert Series Experiential Marketing Ticketed Events in the off-season 00:39:13 Use your mailing list! 00:41:28 Ticketed events required more marketing this year Audiences are aging up 00:43:04 How do you talk to your audience? Springsteen: my career is a lifetime conversation with my audience It's about you, your personality, and each individual audience member 00:50:11 Finding band members is an imperfect science Craigslist lets you find who is available THEN. The Gig Gab Band checklist 00:56:41 Paul's show ideas for Dave Dave reads mean comments Dave reads band ads from Craigslist, et al 00:59:47 Gig Gab 534 Outtro Follow Paul Kent SVHouserockers.com Facebook Houserockers Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post What’s Your Band’s Definition of Success? — Gig Gab 534 with Paul Kent appeared first on Gig Gab.

In this episode of Business Brain, we unpack why so many websites still have terrible search even with AI everywhere — and it comes down to tokens. We break down what a token actually is, why feeding an LLM your entire knowledge base on every customer query gets expensive fast, and how the math changes dramatically depending on which model you choose. A real-world example shows the difference between a $2.5M-a-month implementation and a $25K one running on a leaner model. The takeaway: figure out what it’ll cost to leverage AI against your existing customer data, then decide if the lift is worth it. Then we dive into xAI’s new Grok Custom Voices feature, which clones our voice from roughly 90 seconds of audio and plugs into text-to-speech and voice agent APIs. We riff on the Charmed Life use cases — turning written posts into audio versions for drivers, recording sponsorship reads without the edit pass, voicing phone trees in our own brand voice, and keeping content flowing even when our actual voices are blown out from too much mic time. Voice cloning is either already here or very close, and we’re going to test it in the coming weeks. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #753 for Casual FridAI, May 15, 2026 May 15th: Customer Experience Day 00:01:19 AI compute tokens: Using AI/LLM for search and customer service in your business Sponsors 00:10:54 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:12:25 SPONSOR: Shopify – For anyone to sell anywhere, sign up for a one-dollar-per month trial period at https://Shopify.com/BusinessBrain and upgrade your selling today! 00:13:52 Grok's new voice cloning 00:17:55 This episode's Big Takeaway for Business Blueprints: Figure out how to use AI to leverage your business's existing data 00:21:57 Business Brain 753 Outtro Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI – Tokens + xAI Voice Cloning – Business Brain 753 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, we’re launching something new: Business Blueprints, a free companion resource that distills each episode’s topics into actionable playbooks complete with industry context, analogies, and step-by-step plans. Grab them at businessbrain.show/blueprints. We also dig into the hidden community that surrounds every market — the “family” behind trade shows, conferences, even Ren Faires — and why participating in that ecosystem is one of the most overlooked levers for long-term business longevity. Then we break down the viral Crawler Box story: a homemade RC off-road trailer pulling 800,000+ views across socials, and the massive opportunity its creator is leaving on the table. The big takeaway for living the Charmed Life this week — every business is in the social media business, but distribution without a net is a missed jackpot. If we’re going to fish for virality, we’d better have a lead magnet, an email capture, or a product ready to convert the catch. Build the net before the big one bites. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #752 for Wednesday, May 13, 2026 May 13th: Cough Drop Day 00:02:00 Renaissance Faire Ren Faire Documentary 00:06:28 New from Business Brain: Business Blueprints Complete with a playbook including actionable steps Sponsors 00:11:26 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:12:56 SPONSOR: Shopify – For anyone to sell anywhere, sign up for a one-dollar-per month trial period at https://shopify.com/BusinessBrain and upgrade your selling today! 00:14:24 Dissecting a business: Crawlerbox $10 for 10 minutes Every business is in the social media business Don't build a business, build a net! 00:22:47 This episode's Big Takeaway for Business Blueprints: Build a net! Sub-takeaway: Pay attention in your businesses market for the “family” aspect 00:25:48 Business Brain 752 Outtro Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Business Blueprints Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post Business Blueprints + Crawler Box – Business Brain 752 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton celebrate Casual FridAI #751 with a Reward Yourself Day kickoff before diving into the art of focus with “Don’t Think, Just Concentrate.” You’ll hear why Wispr Flow is earning rave reviews from listeners, and how voice-driven AI tools are quietly transforming the way entrepreneurs capture ideas, draft content, and reclaim hours in their week. It’s another reminder that the right tools, used right, are what keep you living the Charmed Life. Then the guys roll up their sleeves for Prompt Engineering Time, unpacking why most AI failures aren’t the AI’s fault — they’re prompt failures. You’ll learn why micromanaging your AI is actually a feature, not a bug, and how giving Claude, ChatGPT, and friends tighter direction, clearer constraints, and more context delivers dramatically better output. If you’ve ever walked away from an AI tool frustrated, this episode hands you the playbook to flip that experience around. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #751 for Casual FridAI, May 8, 2026 May 8th: Reward Yourself Day (and also National Phone In Sick Day) 00:01:34 Don't Think, Just Concentrate 00:03:17 Jeffrey-Wispr Flow rocks! 00:09:39 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:11:07 SPONSOR: Granola is an AI-powered notepad built for the way real people actually meet, and it integrates seamlessly into the video conferencing tools you already use. Try Granola totally free for three months – just head to granola.ai/brain. 00:12:38 Prompt Engineering Time! 00:22:54 Business Brain 751 Outtro This episode's Big Takeaway: Micromanage your AI Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI: Prompt Failure + Micromanaging AI- Business Brain 751 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton kick off episode #750 by celebrating National Tourist Appreciation Day (and the lesser-known National Phone In Sick Day) before diving into a powerful business and life skill: finding common ground. You’ll learn why sports remain the universal icebreaker, how humanizing the people across the table transforms negotiations, and why discovering shared interests can unlock relationships that drive your Charmed Life forward. It’s a reminder that connection often beats credentials in business. Then the conversation shifts to a hard-earned truth every entrepreneur needs to hear: lawyers make terrible (and incredibly expensive) therapists. Shannon and Dave break down why venting to your attorney at six-minute billing increments is one of the costliest mistakes you can make, and how to keep legal conversations focused, efficient, and strictly transactional. You’ll walk away knowing exactly when to call your lawyer, when to call a friend, and how to protect your wallet from emotional overspend. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #750 for Wednesday Casual FridAI, May 6, 2026 May 6th: National Tourist Appreciation Day (and also National Phone In Sick Day) 00:01:35 The power of finding common ground to discuss Humanizing everyone Sports is a good topic 00:10:21 SPONSOR: Bitdefender. Keep your small business safe with Bitdefender Ultimate Small Business Security. Save 30% when you go to https://bitdefender.com/BRAIN 00:11:42 SPONSOR: Granola is an AI-powered notepad built for the way real people actually meet, and it integrates seamlessly into the video conferencing tools you already use. Try Granola totally free for three months – just head to granola.ai/brain. 00:13:17 Lawyers can be expensive therapists! 00:21:04 Business Brain 750 Outtro This episode's Big Takeaway: Your lawyer is billing you for every second (rounded up to six minute increments) Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post Common Ground + Attorney Therapy – Business Brain 750 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

Ready to make the leap from wedges to in-ear monitors? Or finally get the stage mix you’ve always wanted? Dave Hamilton welcomes back monitor engineer Paul Klimson, the man who mixed 32 stereo IEM feeds for Justin Timberlake, for a working musician’s deep dive on monitor world. You’ll learn how to build a default mix from scratch (start yourself at 0dB, your instrument at -5, everything else at -15), why drummers have an easier transition to in-ears than most assume, and how a split snake lets you take care of yourself when the gig demands it. Paul digs into hi-hat pitfalls, drum overheads as stage wash, and why bands who mix themselves on stage make life better for their FOH engineer, too. Then it gets practical. Paul walks you through IEM fittings (pain is always bad, the seal is everything, and yes, drop an AirTag in your case) plus the universal-versus-custom decision, vetting vendor customer service before you buy, and the repair costs nobody talks about until they need to. You’ll get honest talkback etiquette (keep the drama off-stage, give everyone a voice, remember that your monitor engineer is a short-order cook), the post-mortem habit every band should adopt, and a peek at SoulSeed.tv. Wherever you sit on stage, this is the episode that sharpens how you Always Be Performing. 00:00:00 Gig Gab 532 – Monday, May 4th, 2026 May 4th: Dave Brubeck Day Guest co-host: Paul Klimson 00:03:24 Start with headphones in your practice space Start with earplugs 00:05:09 Drums are a dynamic instrument, which may be why drummers have an easy transition to IEMs (usually) 00:08:33 What do you want in your wedge? What's your reference? 00:09:11 The artist/engineer relationship 00:11:03 Building a default mix Start yourself at 0dB Instrument at -5dB Everything else at -15dB 00:12:58 Using a Split Snake When possible, take care of yourself 00:14:47 Timing of a mix Don't forget about hi-hats Work with your engineer to dial-in your own mix 00:19:18 Drum overheads for stage wash effect 00:22:21 In-ears help you listen better Bands who mix themselves on stage makes your ears AND the FOH engineers job ears 00:23:54 Learn where you and your instrument fit into the mix of your band And change it if you don't fit. You're not the most important thing! 00:26:40 What's going to make you stand out when someone comes to see you at clubs of any size? Do you hear the lyrics? Do you hear the intent of the story of the song? Watch your instagram videos and evaluate honestly 00:30:28 Knowing when the studio mix is done. 00:33:27 Fittings for IEMs Things to look for: Pain is bad Is the seal functioning correctly? Listen for sound leakage (including when you open your mouth and move around) Are the ports aimed down the canal wrong Do you hear high-end better when you rock the mold around? 00:37:36 Put an AirTag in your IEM case! 00:39:28 Figuring out which model to order Try universal fits first to learn the musical qualities 00:41:16 Test the customer service of vendors before you choose 00:42:55 The origin of IEMs 00:44:44 Find out repair costs Comply Foam Strips 00:48:20 Talkback Use Keep the drama off-stage Give everyone a voice Monitor engineers are like short-order cooks… be kind! 00:58:23 Always post-mortem the problems from the gig And also “what happens if?” conversations 01:03:22 Soulseed.TV 01:06:05 Gig Gab 532 Outtro Follow Paul Klimson SoulSeed.tv @TheRoadieClinic Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post From Wedges to In-Ears: A Monitor Engineer’s Playbook with Paul Klimson – Gig Gab 532 appeared first on Gig Gab.

In this episode of Business Brain, it’s FridAI and Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton are putting Anthropic’s brand-new Claude Cowork through its paces — using it with a Manager to handle real workflow delegation. If you’ve been wondering how AI agents actually fit into your day-to-day operations (instead of just answering chat questions), you’ll get a front-row look at what this tool can do and where it shines for entrepreneurs trying to multiply their output without multiplying their headcount. Then the guys dig into AI training resources from your local Small Business Development Center, including how to get found in the age of AI and lean into AI-driven content creation. Free help from people who actually want you to win? That’s the kind of resource that turns a side hustle into the Charmed Life. Tune in, take notes, and pick one AI play you can run before Monday. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #749 for Casual FridAI, May 1, 2026 May 1st: National Executive Coaching Day (and also National Phone In Sick Day) 00:01:12 Claude Cowork with a Manager 00:09:22 SPONSOR: Intuit QuickBooks Payroll is evolving beyond pay runs to support how you hire, onboard, manage, and retain your team. Learn more by visiting https://QuickBooks.com/workforce 00:10:38 Small Business Development Centers Get found in the age of AI from SBDC AI Driven Content Creation 00:15:47 Business Brain 749 Outtro Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI, AI Training + Claude Cowork – Business Brain 749 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, hosts Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton tackle two profit-protecting plays every entrepreneur needs to hear. First up: why you absolutely should be charging credit card convenience fees, plus the persistent myth that American Express costs more than Visa or Mastercard (spoiler: the math might surprise you). If you’re leaving margin on the table because you’re afraid to pass through fees, this segment is your wake-up call. Then Shannon and Dave dig into Justin Kan’s killer insight that first-time founders obsess over product while second-time founders obsess over distribution. You’ll learn why social is a rented audience, newsletters give you permission, podcasts build trust, and masterminds drive the real revenue. Mix in some Rick Rubin wisdom about the work revealing itself as you go, and you’ve got the blueprint for living the Charmed Life of a second-time thinker on your first go-around. Tune in, take notes, and start building distribution before your next product. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #748 for Wednesday, April 29, 2026 April 29th: National Shrimp Scampi Day 00:01:39 Make sure you charge credit card convenience fees 00:06:42 The myth that American Express costs more than Visa or Mastercard 00:11:13 SPONSOR: Intuit QuickBooks Payroll is evolving beyond pay runs to support how you hire, onboard, manage, and retain your team. Learn more by visiting https://QuickBooks.com/workforce 00:12:34 “First Time Founders are Obsessed with Product, Second time Founders with Distribution” – Justin Kan Founder of Twitch Social = Rented audience Newsletter = Permission from audience Podcast = Trust-building Mastermind = that's the revenue-generator The work reveals itself to you as you go. – Rick Rubin 00:22:58 Business Brain 748 Outtro Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post Distribution > Product – Business Brain 748 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.

In this episode of Business Brain, Shannon Jean and Dave Hamilton celebrate Casual FridAI (and Scream Day, April 24th) by flipping the script on a fear a lot of builders are sitting with right now: being de-skilled by AI as a programmer. Spoiler — it’s actually great. Instead of “I’m going to be obsolete,” you get to shift to “now I can finally do all the things I never had time for.” Dave and Shannon unpack Gell-Mann Amnesia, why embracing change beats resisting it every time, and how leaning into AI tools can unlock the charmed life you’ve been chasing instead of threatening it. From there, you’ll get into Claude Design and why Claude’s image generation is still, frankly, a joke — with real examples of where it shines and where it flops. Then the guys close with a question every entrepreneur working alongside AI is starting to ask: do I need to pay Claude CoWork a sales commission? It’s a practical look at how AI collaborators are blurring the line between tool and teammate, and what that means for how you price, credit, and build going forward. 00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs' Podcast #747 for Casual FridAI, April 24, 2026 April 24th: Scream Day 00:01:23 Being De-Skilled by AI as a Programmer…is great! Embrace Change I'm going to be obsolete vs. now I can do all the things I didn't have time for! Gell-Mann Amnesia 00:11:28 SPONSOR: Granola is an AI-powered notepad built for the way real people actually meet, and it integrates seamlessly into the video conferencing tools you already use. Try Granola totally free for three months – just head to granola.ai/brain. 00:12:56 SPONSOR: Intuit QuickBooks Payroll is evolving beyond pay runs to support how you hire, onboard, manage, and retain your team. Learn more by visiting https://QuickBooks.com/workforce 00:14:13 Claude Design 00:16:21 Claude's image generation…is still a joke! 00:18:34 Do I need to pay Claud CoWork a sales commission 00:23:46 Business Brain 747 Outtro Check out Business Brain Blueprints Tell Your Friends! Review Business Brain Subscribe to the show feedback@businessbrain.show Call/Text: (567) 274-6977 X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain The post FridAI – DeSkilled by AI – Business Brain 747 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.