Podcasts about iterate

https://youtu.be/tU0kHdf7oXo Drew Allen, CEO of Grace Technologies, is driven by a mission to lead a life of adventure and impact. At Grace Technologies, that impact is tangible: the company develops electrical safety and predictive maintenance solutions that help industrial teams prevent downtime, improve productivity, and, most importantly, send workers home safely at the end of the day. We explore Drew's Product Engineering Framework — Clarify the Problem You're Solving, Understand the Constraints, Think from First Principles, Build a Prototype, and Iterate within a Time Limit — a practical approach to innovation in technical product development. Drew explains why rapid iteration beats overbuilding, how constraints can unlock better engineering decisions, and why time-boxing product development prevents teams from getting stuck in endless perfectionism. He also shares how Grace Technologies is expanding into the data center market, where rising power density is creating new safety challenges and new opportunities for growth. — 5 Steps to Engineering Breakthroughs with Drew Allen  Good day, dear listeners. Steve Preda here with the Management Blueprint Podcast, and today’s guest is Drew Allen, the CEO of Grace Technologies—the leading innovator of electrical safety products and predictive maintenance solutions that help companies maximize productivity and foster a safety culture. Drew, welcome to the show.  Hey, thanks for having me, Steve. I’m excited. I’ve really enjoyed your books, and they’ve had a big impact on our business. So it's great to have this conversation today.  Yeah, glad to have you here. So if you enjoyed the book or read Pinnacle and Summit OS perhaps, then you’re going to be familiar with this question. What is your personal “Why,” and how are you manifesting it Grace Technologies?  So my personal “Why” is to lead a life of adventure and impact. And I think that manifests in our company. We try to be as innovative as possible. Typically, around 30% of our annual sales come from products released within the last two to three years. We try to take risks, not in kind of a willy-nilly way, but we try to be smart about our risk-taking, but still make sure that we’re taking risks and we’re on the forefront of the technology edges. In our business, it’s really easy to see the impact that we have. Not many businesses get to say that we literally send people home at the end of the day. We literally save lives, and we don’t take that responsibility very lightly. And so it’s a little way that we can kind of make a dramatic impact in the world. We get a lot of stories of people who have been going to go to work on an electrical system. They were just moving throughout their day, trying to do their work, and all of a sudden they saw that our unit was indicating and they were about to put their hand on that bus bar or that cable, and they stop and realize, “Oh, there's still power there.” And they could have been either severely injured or dead. And so we get those stories quite frequently, and so it's really impactful to hear that, to know that we're doing that kind of good in the world.Share on X  Yeah, I love that. And yes, I mean, it’s dangerous. My son actually worked for an electrical contractor last year, and they told him the story that they were in big industrial facilities and one of their workers was trying to fix a light and he got shocked. And the only way to save him was to kick the ladder out from under him. He ended up breaking his leg. So it was kind of funny story afterward, but also a very dramatic one at the same time. So yeah, you definitely want to avoid situations like that.  100%.  And I think what you do is really great, and focusing on the safety aspect is very important as well. What I'm wondering—because I'm a framework guy and I'm always looking for new frameworks people have developed—and obviously within the Pinnacle system there are a lot of frameworks. But you’ve been doing this for a few years, and I’m sure that you have come up with your own. So what is your favorite framework—something simple enough for listeners to understand in maybe three to five steps—that could help them improve their business?  My favorite framework really comes from Jim Collins' work on the Flywheel. And I think you reference it in your book as well, Steve. I think if people can see their business—or even their life—through the lens of a flywheel, it becomes really useful. So in our business, our flywheel is relatively simple. And I think there are probably only a limited number of flywheel models companies really operate under. Our version of a product flywheel works like this:  We start with amazing new products and services. If we do that well, we naturally excite our channel partners. When our channel gets excited, they can't help but get us specified by customers. Once we're specified by customers, it grows our revenues, unit sales, and customer base.Share on X And as that happens, it expands the power of the brand, which allows us to set high prices and deliver higher gross margins to be able to reinvest into R&D for amazing new products and services. And I think while maybe there’s a couple of pieces in ours channel-specific or whatever, we found that most of my focus as CEO is just constantly figuring out how do I push those pieces of the flywheel, and where is the current bottleneck in the flywheel? Is the bottleneck getting the specifications? Is the bottleneck the wrong product? One of the challenges in our business is that we have a 12-month product development cycle plus an 8-to-12-month sales cycle for products. So if I miss, I'm basically down for two years. And I don't really know it early enough unless I'm paying close attention to the leading indicators—which we've become much smarter about over the last few years. A lot of business people tend to focus only on lagging indicators, and they're not always clear on what the leading indicators are in their business—or how correlated those leading indicators are to the lagging results.  I'll say this: the most recent releases of Claude have made it incredibly easy to input a bunch of variables and figure out how strongly your leading indicators correlate with your lagging success. I probably haven't done that kind of work since college and deep regression analysis or logarithmic modeling. And now Claude makes it so easy. So if you can identify the leading indicators tied to your future success, and you know there's an 80% or 85% correlation, then that leading indicator is almost as valuable as the lagging indicator itself. And if your lagging indicator is revenue, that gives you a pretty strong signal about what you should actually be focusing on.Share on X Yeah. That's a great way to reverse-engineer those leading indicators from the outcomes you're targeting. I love that. So when you say that one of the flywheel cogs is for people to specify your product, what do you mean by that exactly? We come out with a product, and then we get meetings with large end-user customers. Okay? Our products are really sold into two major markets. One is the industrial market—everything from where things come out of the ground, like oil and gas, pulp and paper, and mining—to all the downstream processing industries, including automotive, tire and rubber, consumer packaged goods, food and beverage, all those kinds of industries like shipbuilding, naval yards, and all those kinds of environments. All of these places have complex electrical and control systems. And when a factory or facility is being designed or upgraded, someone is writing a specification document.  That specification literally defines how everything should be built—including the machinery and the electrical systems. So we want to make sure our products, from an electrical safety perspective, are included in those specification documents. We've been really fortunate to get into some of the world's largest companies' control specificationsShare on X companies like Amazon, Procter & Gamble, GM, and Ford. These large organizations really see the value in our products from both a productivity and a safety standpoint. And that's really the key to our success: driving specifications with large end-user customers. Yeah. So it sounds like when you get specified, then essentially you’re baked in to their product, and then you kind of have, at least for the time being, you have a monopoly of supplying them. Is that the case?  Yeah. And some specifications are a little more open. They may specify our type of device, or they may even list competitors as alternatives. And then it becomes a little more of a street brawl when we're competing. But either way, we want to grow the overall market for products like ours—not just our own products—because we're in the safety business. And I think it's really shortsighted to be selfish about that. I think we have much more opportunity if the overall pie grows than if we focus only on increasing our individual slice of the pie. Of course, I'm going to do the best I can to grow our share. But ultimately, electrical safety and electrical reliability in factories are still major problems. And the number of deaths, injuries, and life-changing accidents we hear about—it continues. We hear those stories all the time, and we don't want those things to happen. Yeah. Love it. So your business is innovation-driven, and you are designing these electrical appliances that increase productivity, reduce risk. What is the major success factor in being able to come up with new products along these lines?  Yeah, so I guess I'll tell you my biggest failure. Okay? I'll use the failure to illustrate the point. That's good. I think I was about 25 or 26 years old, and I was working with a customer—a very large publicly traded company. They liked our product, but they needed it in a different form factor, which meant we had to re-engineer the product, retool it, and go through all the certification processes again. And I just took it hook, line, and sinker. I thought we were really onto something. I probably had delusions of grandeur and thought I was some Steve Jobs-like figure who could just wave a magic wand. And by the way, I don't think that's actually what Steve Jobs did, so I want to put that out there for a minute. I think what we see from the outside as consumers is often not the reality inside the company. So I just want to say that.  But anyway, instead of taking small iterative steps and quickly prototyping and getting feedback, I did a full design based only on feedback from that one customer before cutting tooling and paying all the certification costs. It ended up being about a $400,000 project. And I think we still have inventory from that project—and this was probably 12 years ago or something.  Oh my gosh.  So what have I learned now? The best innovation happens through rapid iteration. A lot of your listeners have probably seen the Elon Musk SpaceX Raptor engine images, right? You have this incredibly complex engine that goes up into space, and then the next version looks much simpler, and the third one looks like it came out of a sci-fi movie. It's almost like the Picasso bull sketches.  There are nine different bulls until Picasso eventually gets it down to two lines, and you still understand it's a bull. Okay? And I think that's what iteration looks like. What you see as a final product from Apple is actually the result of thousands of prototypes, iterations, and constant testing behind the curtain. For me, I want to test with customers directly, because you get much better feedback that way. I think the more rapidly you can prototype, the more rapidly you can iterate and get real customer feedback, the more innovative your product is going to be. I really think that when you try to make too big of a leap all once, you usually can't get there. And I think 10% compounded over time is a much better strategy than trying to go 10X in a single shot. Yeah. It's kind of the Kaizen principle of continuous improvement through small steps. But actually, I was listening to an interview with Jensen Huang, and he said he hated Kaizen because he wanted more first-principles thinking—completely rethinking things from the ground up. And I think Elon Musk does that too. Although honestly, I think he does both, which is really interesting. But I love Kaizen. I think it's a wonderful concept to continually improve things. We do work with SpaceX. We don't do much with NVIDIA—a little bit, but not much. And while you can think from first principles, you still have to iterate on the prototypes, right? Yeah. You have to constantly try things. So you may have a first-principles vision of where you want to go, but you're not going to get there by designing the perfect thing 100% upfront. You get there through iteration. Yeah. So you really need both. That’s a really good point. So Drew, what is it that you are trying to figure out in your business right now?  So over the last 12 to 18 months, our largest orders have started coming through the data center sector. Back in 2015 or 2016, I tried to push into data centers, and we just had no product-market fit. None. Everybody kept talking about the data center business, and I was like, “Well, they're just not using our products. We tried…” But what suddenly changed was the increase in power density inside data centers. And what I mean by that is this: You can now have a hundred megawatts in a traditional data center hall. That's basically the equivalent of multiple oil and gas refineries worth of electrical load inside a single data center hall. A hundred megawatts—yeah.  And so the electrical risk profile has really changed. And because of that, now there is product-market fit. So now I'm trying to figure out: How do I set up the right distribution channels? How do I build the right sales network? Because data centers definitely buy differently than our traditional industrial customers. And then, as CEO, you always have to decide where you're going to focus your time. I've been very intentional about not losing the core identity of Grace through our industrial business. So I've had to build a separate group that really focuses on the data center market. That also means bringing in a board member who really understands the data center space. Right now, though, it's a huge growth area for us, so figuring that out has been super important.  The other thing is that over the last few years, we've launched an incredible number of new products. But a lot of those were what I'd call necessary innovations—things we had to execute on quickly. So now we're finally getting to a point with the engineering team where we can start from a clean sheet of paper again. We can think more deeply about where we really want to go—maybe even from first principles. Because honestly, I feel like we've been operating in a reactive mode for the last few years. So it's going to be really exciting to finally have some white space again and be able to innovate more intentionally for the future. Yeah. So you want to have that sci-fi engine for Grace Technologies that SpaceX has for the rockets, right?  Yeah. That's the goal. And our mission is to accelerate the industrial world to zero downtime and zero harm. Until we get there, it's a pretty lofty goal. And I think it's going to require a lot of innovation to achieve it. So what's the process when you're trying to get to that kind of innovation—when you're rethinking something from first principles? Is there a process you can follow or work through? Or is it more about letting your imagination wander? Like when Albert Einstein came up with the theory of relativity—he was daydreaming in the patent office and suddenly had these insights. What's your process for getting there? So first, we want to be really clear on the problem statement. Getting absolute clarity on what problem we're solving is the first step, right? If you don't know what problem you're solving, there's no amount of engineering you can throw at it that's going to make sense. Second is understanding the constraints. For one of our new product development efforts, we decided to move away from a digital platform and go to a fully analog electrical platform because we realized one of the main constraints was size. And size is really determined by the power supply.  When you run a digital circuit, you're operating at something like 100 to 300 milliamps. If you go to an analog circuit, you're operating at the microamp level. So you're literally at around 10% of the power requirement. And if you're at 10%, you can make the power supply about 90% smaller. Now, it's much easier to do things digitally because you just program the microcontroller. You're not dealing with the art of analog circuitry. So I think that's a good example of thinking from first principles. Okay—we're solving this problem. One of the major problems inside that problem is the size of the unit. How do we reduce the size? Well, we have to reduce the power supply. How do we reduce the power supply? Reduce the power draw from the circuit. How do we reduce the power draw? Go analog. And that's how we got there.  But even then, the amount of prototyping and iteration we've done on that over the last 12 months has probably involved 75 major iterations of the circuit, tons of prototypes, tons of testing, and countless tweaks that probably never even hit my radar. I know I'm getting a little nerdy for the podcast, but I think it's a really good example. And if you take it out of engineering for a minute and look at our sales engine, it works similarly. Ultimately, what drives sales? You have to have unique selling conversations with customers. So everything I focus on becomes: How do I maximize those conversations?  Getting people interested in the product and actually getting to the point where we can sit down and fully tell our story—that's kind of my North Star.Share on X I know that if we increase the number of those conversations, sales will increase. And of course, there's optimization on both sides of the meeting—follow-through, follow-up, competitiveness, lead quality, all of that. But the big North Star in our sales function is: How many unique selling conversations are we having with customers? Okay. I love it. So this is a framework that I’m more excited about than the flywheel because we are almost 400 episodes in. Here is what I heard. So be clear on the problem, step number one. Understand the constraints, step number two. Think from first principles, that’s step number three. Build the prototype, step number four, and perform iterations. Step number five, essentially the optimization. And with the sales engine, it’s kind of a similar process that you described, but less technical perhaps.  Yeah. And one other piece too is that all of this has to be time-constrained.  What do you mean by that?  I think people miss that point. If you don't have a time constraint, it will literally take forever. So inside of your framework, you need a time box, and I think that's really critical. I like what Elon says about timelines. He assigns timelines that he believes have about a 50% probability of being achieved. I think that's actually a really smart way to think about it. And that means that about 50% of the time, you're going to miss the target. But that's okay, because you want that level of tension and flexibility in the system. You still have to be aiming at something. If you don't put a time box around iteration, if you don't set launch dates, product development can drag on forever. For example, we have a major trade show every fall, and we always try to have products ready for that event. That creates a really effective natural time box for us. And if your business doesn't already have natural time boxes, then as CEO, you need to create them. Yeah.  Otherwise, iteration, product development, and even sales initiatives can lose momentum. Sales naturally has monthly, quarterly, and annual cycles. But in engineering especially, having that time box is really important. Yeah. And what I read about Jensen Huang is that one of the innovations he introduced was creating two overlapping time boxes. So instead of having just a single one-year cycle, he created two teams working on separate one-year cycles that were staggered by six months. That way, they could effectively iterate on the product twice as fast. I thought that was amazing. And I also had a client—an engineering software company—whose challenge was that they couldn't launch a product for three years because they were such perfectionists. So we talked about putting a stake in the ground and committing to a release every year. Maybe the scope would have to change, maybe they'd have to narrow it or simplify it, but the release date itself would become a forcing function. And once they did that, their product suddenly started gaining much more traction. That's a fantastic point. Yeah. I was advising one of the companies we're invested in. I was actually on a call with them yesterday, and they're starting to run out of time a little bit, right? And that was literally the conversation we had. “Okay, we had this wish list. We had this dream product-development idea. Now what can we realistically get done in three months?” So we started stripping out everything that couldn't be completed in that timeframe, and those items will move into the next iteration cycle. But I think it's super critical. You've got to put a stake in the ground and force things through. Yeah. Constraints create creativity. Yeah. that's fantastic. So, penultimate question—I have one more just to wrap things up. If you had a magic wand, what would be the one thing you'd want to fix inside your company over the next 12 months? I think we have a lot of relatively new and young salespeople. We operate in a very technical field, and trying to get them to really understand the application space from a technical perspective is difficult. And when you're selling to engineers, they can immediately tell if you don't know what you're talking about. So the challenge becomes: How do you compress 20 years of experience into a brand-new sales or business development person in just a few months? Trying to accelerate that learning curve is probably one of our biggest challenges. We're trying to use AI to help visualize the kinds of equipment our products go on.  And frankly, even after doing this for years, I still run into things I don't fully understand. But I have enough experience that I can have a relatively technical conversation, understand the constraints, and work through the problem set. But compressing that knowledge into a faster training process—that's definitely been hard. I'm also opening a sales and engineering office down in Austin, so I'll be moving there in June. The plan is to build out another R&D facility there. That's one of my major time boxes over the next 12 months—getting that operation fully up and running. But from a more holistic perspective, I think really solving that sales knowledge-transfer problem is critical. And on one of our product lines, honestly, I'd love ideas from listeners.  We have an IoT condition-monitoring product, and we've been very successful at selling pilot programs. What we've found, though, is that it's been much harder than expected to convert those pilots into broader expansion deployments. So we're asking ourselves: Are we making the barrier to entry for the pilots too low? Are we attracting the wrong type of customer—people who don't actually have the authority to make a larger purchase decision? Or are we missing something in the sales process that would better position the expansion after the pilot succeeds? Those are a few of the areas we're really trying to figure out right now. Yeah. Love it. That’s fascinating. So if the listeners would like to learn more about Grace Technologies—or maybe you spark something in their mind and they want to reach out and communicate to you, or have access to someone in your company to answer the questions about the products. Maybe they want to have more safety and more productivity with their electrical safety equipment. Where should they go, and where can they find you? Yeah. You can reach me at drewa@gracetechnologies.com or find me on LinkedIn. I think it’s Allen-Drew is my handle, but Drew Allen on LinkedIn. I love hearing from people. I really enjoy advising startups, especially in the industrial electrical space. If you have a product idea or you’ve got a startup, I do a lot of advisory work, and we’ve invested in a number of startups as well. We’re really passionate about having more innovation in the industrial world. I believe that the reindustrialization of America is super important, and I’m a big proponent, and so love to support companies that are doing cool things in our space.  Oh, that’s fantastic. So if you’re listening to this and you have a startup in the engineering space, then definitely this is your opportunity to get mentored by Drew, and maybe to get opportunities that you don’t have yourself. So reach out to him. And if you just enjoyed this conversation with an entrepreneur who’s innovating fast and who is working from first principles and time boxes and and leveraging constraints, then definitely stay tuned on this channel because I have more wonderful guests coming on every week. So thank you Drew for coming, CEO of Grace Technologies, the leading innovator of electrical safety products and predictive maintenance solutions. So thanks for sharing your wisdom and thanks for listening. Important Links: Drew's LinkedIn Drew's website Drew's email: drewa@gracetechnologies.com

https://youtu.be/aQyHwoGfy50 Max Kryzhanovskiy, President and CEO of MOS Creative, is driven by a desire to set an example for his children and show what's possible through technology, persistence, and innovation. As the leader of a tech-forward agency that builds websites, apps, and AI-enabled platforms, Max helps businesses move from idea to execution by creating digital products that solve real problems and scale over time. We explore Max's MVP Framework — Define the problem, Determine target market, Prototype the product, Build the MVP, Test and obtain feedback, Iterate — a practical approach for transforming ideas into scalable digital products. Max explains why founders should avoid overbuilding too early, how AI is accelerating prototyping and development, and why businesses must balance automation with authentic human connection. — Drive Growth Using AI Agents with Max Kryzhanovskiy  Good day, dear listeners. Steve Preda here with the Management Blueprint Podcast, and my guest today is Max Kryzhanovskiy, the President and CEO of MOS Creative, a company that builds websites and apps that drive growth. They were also the first company in Baltimore to launch a mobile site. Welcome to the show, Max.  Thank you for having me.  Let me ask you this—what is a mobile site? Is it a mobile phone site, or is it something different?  I mean, now it probably doesn't matter as much anymore, because everybody obviously has a website that works on a smartphone screen—or a responsive websites. But before mobile websites came out—or I should say, when smartphones first came out—we had to adjust for smaller screens. We were all used to bigger screens on a computer, and then once we started having different screen sizes come out before responsive, we were the first company to have a mobile website in Baltimore. And we actually built a web application specifically to create them ourselves, and then also went to market to offer it to other clients as well. So a mobile website is just like it sounds, a website that’s specifically designed for mobile.  That’s cool. So it sounds like you are very much a tech-forward company, and you are at the edge of technology. And as we were logging on, you said that you would be recording this on your phone because you actually have AI agents running on your computer. Does that mean you have AI agents as part of your team? What kind of agents do you have? Is it still an experiment, or is it already in execution mode?  It's in execution mode, but we're always experimenting. We like to think we're ahead of the curve, but with AI, we're all experimenting to a certain extent, right? Something new comes out, we try it out, see if it works, and see how it can be applied to your business—what kind of outcomes it can give you. So I'm all about AI. It's amazing. It's an amazing tool. But I think AI is becoming a lot more than we thought it was going to be—and also a lot less at the same time. Meaning, when AI launched—for example, when ChatGPT came out to the broader market—I mean, obviously AI had been around for a while—but when ChatGPT launched its chatbot platform publicly, we were amazed by how much work it could done. So it went from zero to a hundred. “Oh my God, it can do all of this,” right? But now, for example, with the more recent models—4.5, 5.0—the improvements are much smaller.  It's not a hundred percent or a thousand percent better anymore. Now it's maybe five or ten percent better, but the cost keeps increasing. I just read somewhere that even Claude said Claude Code won't be included much longer as part of the regular plan. So now it's only in the $200 higher-tier plan, plus you have to buy additional tokens. So it's really becoming more like, “Hey, yeah, we can do this for you—but you're going to end up paying something similar to what you'd pay a team.” At first, it was more like, “Let's get into the market. Let's get a lot of people interested.” But now, obviously, they have a lot of money behind them—investors, VCs, public market pressure—and they need to bring in revenue. So I think things are going to change very soon. AI is going to become a lot more expensive because the infrastructure and resources it requires are expensive. So eventually, those costs are going to be passed on to users. Yeah. And I noticed that ChatGPT started to do some ads as well. They’re probably going to go that direction, and who knows what that’s going to bring. But that's not our topic today. Today, it's about something else—frameworks. But before I go to the framework question, I'd like to ask you: what is your personal “why,” and how are you manifesting it at MOS Creative? Well, I'm a family man, so my “why” is to see my kids grow up to be amazing human beings—and hopefully to show them a great example of what can be accomplished in sports and in business. So my “why” is also to be a good person. Success can mean different things to different people, but for me, I love the hunt to get to a certain level of success. And then it's kind of like—us as humans, or at least a lot of people—we reach a certain level of success and we don't really celebrate it. It's more like, “Okay, let's get to the next level.” So my “why” is to show my kids that anything is possible if they really want it. Why I got into this space—it was exciting. You could see how quickly technology was moving, the kind of innovation that was possible, and it excited me. So that was one of the main reasons I got into technology. But the other reason was because I was in a different business, and we created technology that helped us grow. And I thought, “Oh wow, this is a completely different way to scale a business.” So technology became the direction we took. Yeah, I love it. I think inspiring our kids is a huge driver for many people, and it totally makes sense. Technology is exciting. I'd like to switch gears here and ask my other common question on this podcast, because this podcast is all about frameworks—business frameworks—how we can help listeners understand things, simplify things, and see different perspectives. So my question to you is: what is your favorite shortcut to success—or framework? And I don't mean “shortcut” in a negative sense, but rather a framework that allows you to understand things differently, make decisions, serve clients, and create valuable outcomes. Whatever it is—something that has worked for you, and is simple enough that you can explain it to listeners in three to five steps. Well, I believe in always being open to learning. It's not specifically a framework—it's more of a mindset: understanding that we don't know everything, especially now, with how quickly things are changing. I mean, a lot of people say that AI is going to make humanity a little dumber than we are. But actually, I learn a lot from it as well. If I'm doing something and I think, “Oh, this is a great way to speed up the process,” then I use it. So let's say, for example, a client asks me a question. There are different ways to approach it. If I already know the answer because I have specific experience with it, I can answer it, right? That doesn't always mean the answer is going to be correct.  I can research it, or I can get an answer from AI and then verify it through research and experience to make sure the outcome is actually what it says it's going to be. The learning part is making sure you're always open to figuring out whether the steps you've taken before are the right steps—or whether they can be optimized. I'm a big believer that everything can be optimized, especially now. There's almost no question that can't be answered quickly. Maybe there are some deep philosophical questions—but for the most part, especially in business, work, or even life, you can get answers very quickly. For example, I had a kind of vertigo-type feeling, and I was wondering what exactly it was. I entered specific prompts into ChatGPT, and it actually broke things down really well for me. Then I went to a doctor. First, I checked with a friend of mine who's a nurse, and she said, “This is probably what you have.” And she started asking me questions. I thought, “This is funny—these are exactly the same questions ChatGPT asked me.” And her husband said, “You know what? That proves that medicine is basically a set of questions. As you answer one question, it leads to the next.” So it's like a dynamic questionnaire. And by the time I got to the doctor, I already had a good idea of what it potentially was, and I knew what questions to ask so I could understand the next steps to fix it.  Yeah.  So what I'm saying is there’s always a way to improve. I'm a big believer in that. It doesn't matter what you're doing, because in this age, everything moves very fast—regardless of the business you're in. That's true. It's interesting that you say ChatGPT can answer any question. It's true—sometimes it hallucinates, but it still gives you an answer. Yesterday, I went to a presentation, and the president of Great Game of Business talked about this. He said, “Today, the answer is everywhere. So it's not a lack of answers—it's a lack of good questions.” So what we really have to come up with are good questions to ask. That's the bigger challenge now—not finding the answer. And I thought that was a really interesting insight. I agree. It's the same thing, right? It relates to prompts as well. If you have a good prompt, you're going to get a better answer. If you ask a good question, you're going to get a better answer. So yeah, I agree with you. Listen, AI isn't a complete solution, but it's a huge help—especially if you're just starting out. Yeah. So what drives your business? Is it technology? Is it trends? Is it something else? What drives it?  It's kind of a mix between technology and growth marketing. What that means is we work with clients all the way from ideation to scaling. We've also had several clients successfully exit. So clients come to us and say, “I have an idea. How do I take it to the next step?” Obviously now, there are AI builders and AI platforms that can help take a high-level idea and turn it into some kind of prototype—or at least a basic flow. But ideally, we work with clients from the idea stage all the way through design, development, launch, and driving traffic to the product. So the perfect client fits into that category. They might have an idea for a web application, mobile application, or software product.  They come to us and they're not really sure what the next steps are—or they've done some research For example, I spoke to a prospective client the other day. She worked with a developer who tried to build the product using an AI builder. For some reason, something didn't work out, and now she's back at square one. So now we have to review what she actually wants to build, determine the best approach, and figure out what phase one, phase two, and phase three should look like. So that's kind of how we work. For our clients, it's not just, “Let us develop it for you.” It's also about the creative side, the messaging, and the user experience. It's about making sure that when someone downloads the app—or visits the website or web application—it serves its purpose. It's a problem-solving product. It needs to solve a problem so users keep coming back again and again. And then we help grow it to new audiences. That's when it starts to scale and become exponential. Does that make sense? Yeah. So I’m wondering, you work from the idea forward, or you work from the outcome backwards? What’s the approach?  That's a great question. Not everyone knows the outcome right away. When someone has both an idea and a clear outcome, it works better, right? Because then you can help them get to that outcome. But overall, the outcomes are usually very high-level. You know: “I want to build this web application or software because I'm targeting this audience.” Okay—but what does that really mean? What problem are you solving? To be honest with you, ninety percent of people don't really know what problems they should be solving at the initial stage. So, talking about frameworks, we work with them to define which problems they should solve first. Because most startups—or even profitable companies trying to add new technology into their workflow or business—often don't know what one or two problems they should solve for the MVP before going all in. Yeah. Okay, so step one is to define the problem. What's step two?  Make sure you have the right audience for that problem. That's a big issue. A lot of times, people try to serve everyone. You don't want to go too broad, and you don't want to go too narrow. If you go too narrow, you're going to hit a ceiling before you even go to market.  So you determine the audience for the problem you're trying to solve, right?  Correct.  And then what's the next step?  Once you determine the audience and define the problem, the next best step is to create some kind of prototype and actually take it to that audience to test for product-market fit. Meaning: get feedback. Again, it doesn't have to be a fully working product. But go to that audience and get feedback like: “Yes, this solves my problem,” and “Yes, I would pay for it.” Or even better—for them to actually exchange some money to join a waitlist or gain access to an early version of the product, so they can test it and provide feedback. That's the best-case scenario. Because once you have that input, it becomes much easier to make adjustments. It doesn't matter whether those adjustments are in the design or in the actual working product—you're refining it for that niche audience. Yeah, that makes sense. So you design the prototype or minimum viable product, then you test it and get feedback. Then what do you do?  Well, I want to clarify something. Designing a prototype and having a minimum viable product can be two separate things.  Okay.  You can design a prototype. Again, it can be designed in Figma, using an AI builder, or even just as a workflow or user flow. Obviously now, things are a little different because you can build prototypes much faster. That doesn't mean they're going to be production-ready. But a minimum viable product is usually focused on solving one or two specific problems for that market. It's a problem-solving product that actually works—meaning it's much closer to being production-ready. Yeah.  So those are two separate things. There's a very big difference between them.  Yeah, because now you have vibe coding, and with tools like Lovable—or whatever platform you're using—you can create a prototype quickly. But it's not necessarily going to work, and then you still have to build the actual working product. Correct. Yes, I agree. Then you test it, expose it to the target market, and gather feedback. And then what do you do? Do you iterate? What's the next step? You iterate, yeah. So at that point, ideally, you have product-market fit, you've received great feedback from users, and—best-case scenario—they've even paid you some money. Then you either expand on what has already been built, or you go all in: invest more money into it and start building a production-ready product. And once you have that, you may realize that you also need to improve the user interface. That happens a lot—especially if you vibe-coded it. The output usually isn't the best when it comes to user interface design or user experience. So you may need to redesign the interface, properly develop it, and then take a production-ready application to market. And then it goes back into the cycle of iteration. Meaning, you keep gathering feedback. This is why I often recommend not adding too many features in the beginning. Focus on one or two core features—one or two main user flows within those features. That's it. Forget about everything else. Yeah. And then you can add features later.  You can always add features later. Most of the time, if you add too many features in the beginning, you'll probably end up cutting at least 40% of them because people just won't use them. And I'm not talking about core features like sign-up, sign-in, forgot password, onboarding, authentication—that kind of stuff. Obviously, you need those. But you still have to figure out who your audience is. Do you need SMS login? Do you need email login? Do you need both? Do you need social logins? You have to make sure you clearly understand your audience—but you don't need everything all at once. You may eventually need all of it, but not in the beginning. Yeah, that's true. So you've worked with other businesses, which means you're primarily a business-to-business agency, right?  Business-to-business, business-to-government—we've also built business-to-consumer apps as well. But usually, our client is a business-to-business.  Yeah. So here's my question: In B2B, how do you gain people's trust so they'll even engage with your product? I understand there's a funnel—but how do you get businesses into the top of that funnel? How do you create that initial trust so they engage? What does it take? Many things. Content helps, obviously. Creating content like this, creating videos—I create videos on a regular basis talking about what's out there, what's possible, what's good, what's bad. Kind of the everyday life of an agency, and the type of work we do. We also post projects on different directories and platforms. A lot of previous clients come back to us, and we get many client referrals. We rank pretty well for SEO and AEO, so a lot of people find us through ChatGPT. Especially because that's one of the services we offer. People find us when searching for things like “best app developers” or “best website designers” in our specific area. We're not targeting nationwide rankings—that's much harder and a much longer-term strategy. But in our area—Maryland, Howard County, Columbia—we rank very high.  And what does it take to rank high in AEO—in AI search?  It's the same approach we take to rank in Google. Google obviously owns Gemini, and now there's Google AI Overview. It's really a real-estate play. If you have a website that's properly structured for Google—with some adjustments for semantic search, like adding question-and-answer content to every page, especially product and service pages—you improve your chances significantly. You also need a properly configured robots.txt file with clear descriptions, so when search crawlers reach your site, they can immediately understand the structure and know where to go. When you see sources cited in AI search, that's exactly what those systems are reading from your site.  You also need the right technical setup: Your website has to be fast. You need proper H1, H2, and H3 structure across the site. So overall, it's about having a properly structured website. If you follow strong SEO fundamentals, with additional improvements specifically for AEO and GEO—because now it's not just SEO anymore, it's SEO, AEO, and GEO—you'll usually appear in ChatGPT, Google AI Overview, Gemini, Perplexity, and other AI search tools. And your Google Business Profile and Google Maps listing are properly optimized—which has changed a lot recently on Google's side as well—you'll also show up more often in local AI search results. So isn't it true that AI search looks for different kinds of signals than traditional SEO? I've heard, for example, that backlinks are less important in AI search than they used to be. They're not as important for AI search, but backlinks still carry a lot of weight. Again, you have to think about this as two separate systems, right? There's Google Search—with Google AI Overview and featured snippets—and then there's Google Maps. You don't need a website just to appear on Google Maps. You mainly need a properly optimized Google Business Profile. And you can still show up in AI search that way. Having a website does help, because it sends another signal to Google, but it's not as critical. The most important thing—and I'll answer your question for both cases—is consistency and structure. For Google Maps, if you have a properly maintained Google Business Profile with constant updates—blog posts, videos, photos, and business updates—that teaches Google AI what your business does. So you want updated product pages, images, descriptions, and location details if you're location-based.  All of that educates Google, which helps you rank higher on Google Maps. And like I said, Google Maps ranks very well in AI search. Now, if you also have a website, that's even better. And on your website, it helps to embed your Google Map as well, because that reinforces another signal from Google Maps. For example, some of our clients have multiple locations, so we include Google Maps with all their locations on the site—and that helps. Then you also create location pages, just like you create product pages or service pages. Google—and AI systems in general—don't really rank entire websites. They rank individual pages. That's why top-of-funnel content is usually blog posts or educational content answering someone's problem. Then that written or video content leads users to a service page or product page. That's basically how it works. Does that make sense? Yeah, that's very interesting. So if I want to increase my AI ranking… one of my clients told me that if your clients post about you on Reddit, that can be really powerful and help drive AI search visibility. Is that true? Reddit and Quora are very powerful. Very powerful. They rank very high. Listen, I'll give you a simple example that anybody can use. If you go to Quora or Reddit and look at the questions people are asking—for example, let's say you search for “app development”—you can filter by questions and literally see what people are asking. If you answer those questions in a natural way, related to your service or product, and include a backlink—not in a salesy way, but naturally—that's a very strong backlink. And speaking of backlinks: they're still relevant. Maybe they don't carry as much weight as they used to, but they're still very valuable.  Because when Google or AI systems evaluate content—and when you search in ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini and see sources—those sources are essentially citations and backlinks. So if your website has strong citations and is properly structured, it absolutely helps you get discovered. You just need to make sure everything is set up correctly so Google—or any other search system—understands what your content means. But yes, to answer your question directly: Reddit and Quora are excellent for visibility because they're high-authority websites with massive traffic and very strong domain ratings. Yeah. That’s great. So Google Maps, Reddit, Quora, they are big drivers. That’s great.  Huge drivers. I mean, listen, there are many others—but social media has become huge over the past two years. Before, if you made a Reel on Instagram, you wouldn't be able to find it through Google search. But in the past couple of years, they opened that up. Why do you think they did that? Because they understand the value of content. Just like YouTube—where you can find videos through specific keywords—they want Instagram videos to be discoverable through Google Search and AI search. And then those searches lead people back to their platform. If someone who isn't already an Instagram user discovers content they like—a creator they like—they may sign up for Instagram because of it. So yeah, all of this ties back to backlinks and discoverability. It's really about how you use those backlinks. I mean, YouTube has been a huge driver for people looking for answers or trying to learn almost anything. So yeah, that's kind of how it works. It's one big spiderweb. Yes. It’s interesting. So basically, the more content I have and the more content other people post about me in credible sites, whether it’s Reddit, Quora, YouTube, social media, and they all point to my website or web pages, then the more it’s going to be discoverable by AI. That’s kinda makes sense.  You're definitely going to become more discoverable. But again, if it's just “Steve Preda,” that alone may not be valuable unless someone is specifically searching for your name. Now, if people are responding to or discussing how to apply a specific framework—and someone is searching for that framework that relates to your content—then it becomes relevant. Does that make sense?  Yeah. Yeah, understand. Yeah. Absolutely. Let me ask you this. If you could have a magic wand and fix one thing inside your company in the next 12 months, what would that be?  That’s an interesting question. I don’t know. I think I'd be very interested in applying more AI agents so they can help drive the business and support more growth. Overall, I just want healthy growth—making sure we're happy with the work we're doing, and that our clients are happy with the work we deliver. Because that leads to better outcomes, longer-term relationships, and healthier growth for the company. I mean, my ultimate goal at some point is probably to grow the company and eventually sell it. If we're happy with what we're doing, and our clients are happy with the work we're delivering, I think that growth will happen organically. Yeah. And what do you need to make the company sellable in your perspective?  Having strong, scalable systems—and AI is going to help with a lot of that.  So do you believe that a company with only AI employees—at the extreme—could still become a very valuable company? No, I'm not saying we should rely only on AI, and I'm definitely not planning to let go of any employees. What I'm saying is that AI can help with certain smaller tasks that sometimes get missed or forgotten. That's a perfect fit for AI. For example, even during conversations—if a project manager is handling several clients at once—we usually need updates on what was discussed. Yes, AI can record the conversation, but more importantly: what are the actionable next steps? And from those action items, what has already been completed, and what still needs to be done? Those are the kinds of things AI agents can help with—tasks that don't necessarily require a human. That way, time isn't wasted and can instead be used more effectively to make sure things are getting done and that we're reaching the outcome you mentioned earlier. What is your opinion about controlling AI agents? What is the level of risk? Not just about someone maybe doing a prompt injection and kind of hijacking your agents, but losing control of the agents in terms of complexity. So do you see a risk there that someone could kind of unleash these agents and somehow not be able to control them, or the quality of their work? Could they not control that? Or something changes and the agents get impacted—maybe a software update or something like that? Is this a thing, or is that not a concern? I think there should definitely always be guardrails. For example, right now we're building a platform with AI to gather RFPs, review them, score them, and actually create outputs—like the structure of the RFP. But before they get submitted, an actual person reviews them. I think there should always be final approval by a human—unless it becomes such a perfect system. I mean, it's software, right? At a certain point, can something go wrong? Yes. Especially with updates—unless you own the full process from beginning to end. Yeah, I think there's always a risk, but there's always a risk with software.  There should definitely be some guardrails, no doubt about it. I don't think it should be the last step before a human approves it and actually—for this RFP example—submits the response to whatever platform. I think a human should always review and approve it to make sure everything is working properly. But I think you can save a lot of time. For example, instead of us doing two or three RFPs a month, we can do ten or fifteen. I mean, the quality isn't really changing. It's structure. It's answering what they're asking for. So if it fits the criteria we're looking for, we still spend time reviewing it. I mean, we got an RFP the other day that was 150 pages. It would probably take two days just to read it. And at a certain point, you're like, “You know what? This isn't a good fit.” So it saves time. It just creates more efficiency. But there should definitely be guardrails and structure for sure, and a human should be involved in the loop. That I agree with you on. Okay. It's a big topic. One of the thoughts is that at some point AI is talking to AI. Like in hiring—you see these big recruiting companies using AI to filter resumes, and then applicants use AI to write resumes that fit what the filters are looking for. And at some point, the authenticity or credibility of those resumes begins to fade because it's all prearranged. So then the whole purpose of filtering employees starts to diminish. Do you think this kind of thing might happen with RFPs too? Maybe. Very possible. I wouldn't be surprised if it's not happening already. Yeah, I mean, it's definitely very possible. There are already several platforms that find RFPs. They work a little differently. We're building specifically for our own purpose. I do want to document the process to kind of show, “Hey, here's what can be done.” But yeah, it's very possible, for sure. Listen, if you're relying on a regular process to get a job, then you're probably not going to get the job. There are a lot more people looking for work right now. I don't know if you heard about Microsoft—and I think Tesla too—but companies are letting people go left and right. Microsoft is offering long-term employees buyouts. And by long-term employees, I mean people who are probably older and maybe not as knowledgeable or experienced with AI.  It's like, “Hey, let us buy you out so you can retire a little earlier.” So this is happening. If you're going through the same regular hiring process as everyone else, you're competing against 500 or 1,000 other people for the same job. Obviously, it's an employer's market right now, not an employee's market. If you're trying to get a job, it shouldn't just be through the regular process. It should be through people you know. Networking is going to have even more value. Personal connections matter, and people knowing, “Hey, this person actually spoke to me the right way.” You should also know how to use AI, because that's going to give you an edge in getting a job. But actually speaking to someone should happen through networking and connections. Yeah, that's my feeling too—that human interaction is actually going to increase dramatically in value. Because authenticity… that's really the only way to verify authenticity: being face-to-face with someone, a real physical person. That's fascinating. Yeah. But I'll tell you—like I said, I post videos on a regular basis. My mom asked me the other day, “Max, are you using AI, or is it really you?” I said, “No, it's really me. It's not AI.” So it's funny because AI is getting so good that you're not always sure what's real anymore. And even with RFPs—it's not just about submitting proposals or resumes. Personal and human connection is going to become more valuable than ever. If I personally knew every buyer putting out an RFP, I'd rather talk to them directly, one hundred percent. Because it becomes a completely different process.  Yeah, that's spot on. Love it. So, great information. I love the framework: define the problem, determine the audience, create a prototype, build the MVP, test it, and then iterate. That's how you build a digital product—whether it's a website or an app. So if you're out there looking for a solution, Max Kryzhanovskiy and MOS Creative may have the solution for you. So if people would like to connect with Max Kryzhanovskiy and MOS Creative, where can they reach you? People can reach us through our website: www.moscreative.com. They can also find me on LinkedIn under Max Kryzhanovskiy or MOS Creative. They can fill out a form on our website or email us at info@moscreative.com. Fantastic. So if you want an AI-driven platform, definitely reach out to Max. So Max, thank you for coming and sharing your ideas. And I love that you have such a strong vision for AI and that you're actively experimenting within your company, which means your clients will benefit from that as well. And if you enjoyed this conversation, then stay tuned, because every week a successful entrepreneur comes on the show and shares their ideas and frameworks. So thanks for coming, Max—and thank you for listening. Thank you. Important Links: Max's LinkedIn Max's website Max's email: info@moscreative.com

Send us Fan MailWe talk constantly about the future of work — AI agents, automation, leaner teams, productivity gains.But what if the real drag on performance isn't technology — it's coordination?Unproductive and unnecessary meetings cost companies up to $1.4 trillion every year. Seventy-one percent of senior leaders say meetings are inefficient. The average knowledge worker now spends around 11 hours a week in meetings. And nearly half admit to faking excuses to avoid them.This isn't a scheduling issue.It's a systems issue.Dr. Rebecca Hinds — founder of the Work Innovation Lab at Asana, the Work AI Institute at Glean, and author of YOUR BEST MEETING EVER: 7 Principles for Designing Meetings That Get Things Done — argues that meetings are organizational “junk drawers.” Instead of asking whether a meeting is necessary, companies simply default to adding another recurring invite.Her solution is radical in its simplicity: treat meetings like products.Define the user. Clarify the outcome. Design the experience. Measure performance. Iterate.In this episode, we zoom out beyond tactics and ask deeper questions:Why are humans so inefficient at coordinating with one another? What do broken meetings reveal about incentives, trust, and accountability? Does AI meaningfully solve meeting dysfunction — or simply automate it? And in a world pushing toward automation, what is the human role in collaboration?If coordination is broken, no productivity tool can save us.And if meetings are the canary in the coal mine, we should probably pay attention.

The steel-wheeled tractor was a fad once. So was the fax machine. Nobody's laughing at those now. AI is moving through agriculture whether the industry is ready or not. The global AI and agriculture market is approaching five billion dollars and growing at over 26% a year. Eighty percent of agribusinesses say they understand its potential. Only twenty percent have adopted it. And who's actually getting results? Closer to five percent. That gap is what this Growing the Future Productions live event is built to close. Dan Aberhart puts three of the most plugged-in AI power users in ag — Rob Saik, Tim Hammond, and Damon Johnson — in the same room for the first-ever episode of The AI Farm. No vendor pitches. No vague future-casting. Three people who are deep in this every single day. Audience vote at the end. Winner gets bragging rights. You get the ideas. Where AI Actually Disrupts Agriculture — And Where It Doesn't Rob Saik opens with a reframe: agriculture at the farm level ranks low on AI disruption — not because it's behind, but because farming is inherently hands-on and judgment-dependent. The bigger disruption is upstream, in realty, insurance, and the machinery sector. Prediction is where AI excels. Judgment still belongs to you. (00:07:40) — Rob walks through the tools he uses daily: Perplexity, Claude, Notebook LM, and a custom Dossier Builder that profiles anyone he's about to meet. His starter recommendation for producers new to AI: Perplexity. It's reference-based, cites its sources, and aggregates across multiple AI models. If you're perplexed about AI, that's your on-ramp. (00:21:07) — A Power Farm member built a complete grain marketing program by uploading his inventory and contracts into Claude. That's not a future possibility. That happened. Tim's Pick: A Custom GPT That Makes Decisions for Your Team Tim Hammond is in the top 1% of ChatGPT users globally — 26,500 messages, 800-plus threads in a single year. His big move: he fed 1,200 pages of regulatory knowledge into a custom GPT, locked it to that knowledge base only, and deployed it to his whole team. Now they ask the bot before they ask Tim. (00:23:14) — The framework from Jeff Woods' book The AI-Driven Leader: Context, Role, Interview, Task. Most people skip the Interview step. That's where AI surfaces your blind spots and assumptions before it gives you an answer. The farm application: 12,000 acres is the HR ceiling where most operations stall. AI helps you scale past it without adding headcount. Damon's Pick: A Full Farm Dashboard Built in 12 Minutes Damon Johnson — economist, active grain farmer, insurance builder — built a fully integrated farm management dashboard the night before this call. Six tabs. Google Maps field borders. Grain marketing scenarios. Input cost tracking. Seeding date calculator. Spray window tool. Twelve minutes. (00:38:00) — He uploaded years of historical farm data into a Claude project and prompted it to build what would previously have cost millions and years. His framing: Claude is now a prototype partner. Fail fast. Iterate. Build. (00:56:47) — He reads the exact prompt live: a grain marketing calculator for a 7,000-acre Saskatchewan farm, three marketing scenarios, net revenue comparison chart. Type it. Get it. The Poll Results — Where Producers Actually Are 19% haven't touched AI at all. 42% have played with ChatGPT but nothing on the operation. 27% use AI tools regularly for at least one part of their business. 10% have it built into multiple parts of the operation. (00:20:26) What's holding people back: a third don't know where to start. 17% don't trust the technology. 15% are worried about farm data being used. Also covered: Machine learning vs. AI explained without jargon (00:48:08). How to stop AI hallucinations (00:52:36). Drones, Starlink, and Goldman Sachs' $264 billion precision ag disruption number (00:54:24). Dan's live demo: using Claude inside Gmail to scrape 100-plus webinar registration emails and extract every question in seconds (00:46:20). And Whisper Flow — because typing is starting to feel like a fax machine. Final word from all three panelists: Start. Pick one pain point. Play with it. You'll find out what works. Featured in this episode: Dan Aberhart — Host, Growing the Future Productions Rob Saik — Founder and CEO, T1 Technology Corporation / Ag Advisor Pro Tim Hammond — Founder, Hammond Realty Damon Johnson — EVP, Global Ag Risk Solutions / Hub International Resources mentioned: Perplexity AI, Claude (claude.ai), Notebook LM, Whisper Flow, Grip farm management software, The AI-Driven Leader by Geoff Woods, Ag Advisor Pro More from Growing the Future: Podcast: growingthefuturepodcast.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Productions Ground Truth Daily: Available wherever you listen to podcasts Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.

In this episode I'm joined by Bill Fienup. He's the co-founder of mHUB, one of the world's leading hardtech innovation centers, located in Chicago, IL.We explore how he went from building Nerf gun prototypes at MIT to creating a space where thousands of hardware founders can prototype, test, and scale physical products. What started out as a meetup group and a spreadsheet, grew into a full ecosystem with millions of dollars in equipment and billions of dollars in economic impact.Bill shares how to test hardware ideas without burning capital, why most teams over-focus on feasibility instead of desirability, and how to validate what people will actually pay for before you build.If you're working on physical products, or funding them, this episode is a masterclass in how to test before you invest.Enjoy my conversation with Bill Fienup.TakeawaysStart with the problem, not the solution. The biggest risk isn't building something, it's solving a problem that customers don't care enough about to act on.Desirability and willingness to pay matter more than feasibility early. Teams often over-focus on building, but the real uncertainty is whether customers value the solution enough to pay.Test demand before investing in development. Simple experiments like landing pages or fake purchase flows can validate real interest before committing resources.Iterate in spirals, not stages. Move across desirability, feasibility, and viability repeatedly, increasing investment only as uncertainty is reduced.Avoid building the wrong thing the right way. Strong execution can't fix a fundamentally misaligned product, validation must come before scale.Use competition as validation. Existing solutions signal real demand and confirm the problem is worth solving.Focus on the majority, not edge cases. Designing for the loud minority can increase cost and complexity without improving overall product-market fit.Community can be a powerful starting point. MHub began as a meetup and shared spreadsheet, showing how real user pain can evolve into a scalable ecosystem.Guest LinksmHub's Website: https://www.mhubchicago.com/LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fienup/ If your leadership team is about to make a big strategic bet, the real risk usually isn't the idea, it's the assumptions behind it that haven't been surfaced yet. A Decision Sprint is a focused 6–12 week engagement where we extract, map, and test those risks so leaders can make a clear Commit, Correct, or Cut decision before major capital moves. Learn more or apply at precoil.com.

Superpowers for Good should not be considered investment advice. Seek counsel before making investment decisions. When you purchase an item, launch a campaign or create an investment account after clicking a link here, we may earn a fee. Engage to support our work.Watch the show on television by downloading the e360tv channel app to your Roku, LG or AmazonFireTV. You can also see it on YouTube.Devin: What is your superpower?John: Ability to believe without evidence.In what world does it make sense to have the most important two parts of the value chain have the least power? That is the question John Tabis asked before launching The Bouqs Company. By recognizing that both flower farmers and consumers were being ignored by the traditional floral industry, he found a unique way to disrupt the market.In today's episode, John shared how his company deploys technology directly at the source. Instead of flowers passing through five or six layers of middlemen, farmers cut, prep and pack the product to send directly to the consumer. This model drastically reduces waste and increases freshness.“We thought, what an amazing opportunity to build a new supply chain that simplifies that supply chain, uses technology to deliver the freshest, high quality, sustainable blooms,” John explained.Since launching with just a few thousand dollars in the bank, the company has generated over a billion dollars in gross revenue. Customers love the value and they deeply resonate with the brand's commitment to sustainability.Now, John is taking community engagement to the next level. The Bouqs Company is currently raising capital through a regulated investment crowdfunding campaign. This allows loyal customers and everyday investors to own a piece of the business.John noted that turning a customer base into an investor base creates a massive crowd of brand promoters. When people invest in a company they love, they naturally share its mission with friends and family.The current regulation crowdfunding campaign is capped at $5 million and is filling up quickly. The funds will be used to expand their physical retail footprint nationwide to offer faster delivery and fully arranged vases.If you want to support a sustainable business model and own a stake in a rapidly growing brand, this is a remarkable opportunity to align your investments with your values.tl;dr:John Tabis revolutionized the floral industry by connecting sustainable farms directly to everyday consumers.The Bouqs Company reduces waste and ensures fresher flowers by eliminating unnecessary supply chain middlemen.The company is currently raising up to $5 million through a regulated investment crowdfunding campaign.John relies on his superpower of unending faith to navigate the toughest entrepreneurial challenges successfully.In today's episode we learned that combining strong convictions with flexibility drives massive business growth.How to Develop Unending Faith As a SuperpowerJohn defines his superpower as having unending faith. He describes it as “the ability to believe without evidence” and notes that as an entrepreneur he consistently has faith in a better future. He believes that “there's a better step ahead” and that “a better version of ourselves, of our companies, of our products [is] around the corner.” This unwavering belief serves as the absolute cornerstone of his journey as a founder.A powerful example of this faith occurred during the company's Series B fundraising round about eight or nine years ago. The business was burning cash and was literally weeks away from running completely out of money. John's VP of finance asked when they should pull the emergency cord to start cutting costs. Relying on his unending faith, John told him not to worry. Just four or five days before their cash ran out, they received a term sheet and successfully closed the capital needed to keep the business thriving.To develop unending faith as a personal strength, John offers the following actionable tips:Maintain very strong convictions but hold them loosely so you can adapt when necessary.Be 100 percent sure of your vision until you receive clear evidence that you need to pivot.Remain highly flexible and willing to shift your strategy dramatically based on market feedback.Iterate your way to the right solution instead of getting trapped by narrow-minded tunnel vision.By following John's example and advice, you can make unending faith a skill. With practice and effort, you could make it a superpower that enables you to do more good in the world.Remember, however, that research into success suggests that building on your own superpowers is more important than creating new ones or overcoming weaknesses. You do you!Guest ProfileJohn Tabis (he/him):Founder & Chairman, The Bouqs CompanyAbout The Bouqs Company: Bouqs is a digital first online disruptor of the $100B global floral market leveraging technology to improve the customer experience with flowers.Website: bouqs.comCompany Facebook Page: facebook.com/thebouqsco Company Twitter Handle: @thebouqsco Other URL: invest.bouqs.comBiographical Information: John Tabis is a visionary, a strategist, a marketer, and a Founder. John is currently Founder & Chairman of the Board at The Bouqs Company, Partner & Head of Incubation at M13, and Professor of Entrepreneurship at UCLA Anderson. Prior to these roles John worked at global management consulting firm Bain & Company, and in Strategy & Innovation at The Walt Disney Company. John studied Business at The University of Notre Dame, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude, and earned his MBA at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where he studied on Fellowship. Jon resides in Southern California with his wife and three children. LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/jtabisInstagram Handle: @jtlives4thisSupport Our SponsorsOur generous sponsors make our work possible, serving impact investors, social entrepreneurs, community builders and diverse founders. Today's advertisers include rHealth, and Frontier Bio. Learn more about advertising with us here.Max-Impact Members(We're grateful for every one of these community champions who make this work possible.)Brian Christie, Brainsy | Cameron Neil, Lend For Good | Carol Fineagan, Independent Consultant | Hiten Sonpal, RISE Robotics | John Berlet, CORE Tax Deeds, LLC. | Justin Starbird, The Aebli Group | Lory Moore, Lory Moore Law | Mark Grimes, Networked Enterprise Development | Matthew Mead, Hempitecture | Michael Pratt, Qnetic | Mike Green, Envirosult | Nick Degnan, Unlimit Ventures | Dr. Nicole Paulk, Siren Biotechnology | Paul Lovejoy, Stakeholder Enterprise | Pearl Wright, Global Changemaker | Scott Thorpe, Philanthropist | Sharon Samjitsingh, Health Care Originals | Add Your Name HereUpcoming SuperCrowd Event CalendarIf a location is not noted, the events below are virtual.Superpowers for Good Live Pitch – Private Investor Session: Immediately following the March 17, 2026, live broadcast at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT, investors are invited to join an exclusive private Zoom session to engage directly with the presenting founders—BRG Therapeutics (Dale Walker), GigaWatt (Deep Patel), My Diabetes Health (Dr. Prem Sahasranam), and rHEALTH (Eugene Chan). In this dedicated off-air environment, participants can ask deeper questions about strategy, traction, deal terms, and impact while exploring their active Regulation Crowdfunding campaigns in real time. Watch the live pitches on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, LG Smart TVs via e360tv, LinkedIn, YouTube, or Facebook—then continue the conversation in the private investor session where capital and clarity come together. Register free to get access to both events.SuperCrowd Impact Member Networking Session: Impact (and, of course, Max-Impact) Members of the SuperCrowd are invited to a private networking session on March 17th at 1:30 PM ET/10:30 AM PT. Mark your calendar. We'll send private emails to Impact Members with registration details. Upgrade to Impact Membership today!SuperCrowdHour March: This month, Devin Thorpe will explore how investors can align profit with purpose in a powerful session titled “Why You Should Make Money with Impact Crowdfunding.” As CEO and Founder of The Super Crowd, Inc., Devin will share practical insights on generating financial returns while driving measurable social and environmental impact through regulated investment crowdfunding. Register free to get all the details. March 18th at Noon ET/9:00 PT.SuperCrowd26 featuring PurposeBuilt100™: This August 25–27, founders, investors, and ecosystem leaders will gather for a three-day, broadcast-quality global experience focused on disciplined capital formation, regulated investment crowdfunding, and purpose-driven growth. We're bringing together leading voices in impact investing, compliance, digital marketing, and circular economy innovation to deliver practical frameworks, real-world case studies, and actionable strategies. The event culminates in the PurposeBuilt100™ Showcase, recognizing 100 of the fastest-growing purpose-driven companies in the U.S. Register now to secure your seat and get all the details. August 25–27, streaming worldwide.Community Event CalendarSuccessful Funding with Karl Dakin, Tuesdays at 10:00 AM ET - Click on Events.Nominate your MedTech, BioTech or Life Sciences company for the prestigious TAG Awards. The deadline is quickly approaching! Apply before March 13! Use the discount code SUPERPOWER to save 20%!If you would like to submit an event for us to share with the 10,000+ changemakers, investors and entrepreneurs who are members of the SuperCrowd, click here.Manage the volume of emails you receive from us by clicking here.We use AI to help us write compelling recaps of each episode. Get full access to Superpowers for Good at www.superpowers4good.com/subscribe

In the past couple of weeks, two smart people looked at the same moment in AI and came away with opposite advice. Matt Shumer says wake up, this is urgent, denial is dangerous. Ann Handley says slow down, stop panicking, protect your judgment. I agree with both of them. And yet I think their arguments are incomplete. In this episode, I offer a third stance: value doesn't just vanish during disruption. It gets rebundled. Reorganized. Repackaged into new bundles of tasks, trust, judgment, and responsibility. And whoever understands that process early gets to position themselves on the right side of it. I steelman both arguments, push back on both, and then spend the bulk of the episode on what excites me most: the new paths opening up for writers and marketing professionals right now. And why this is all scary and very exciting at the same time! What You'll Learn Why Shumer is right about urgency and capability, and where his argument breaks down Why Handley is right about protecting your agency, and the uncomfortable question her advice raises What "value rebundling" means and why it matters more than any AI prediction Three rebundling patterns reshaping how work gets organized Why the career ladder is breaking and what replaces it Whether "slow down" is a luxury belief, and how runway changes which advice applies to you Three new business paths for writers and marketers (Micro-Agency of One, Productized Workflow, Operator-Teacher) Four additional micro business examples to expand your thinking Why anything you build from here may have a shorter shelf life, and why that's actually freeing Four practical plays you can run this week, including a 14-day micro-offer challenge Key Ideas and Takeaways 1. Both Sides Are Partly Right: Shumer is right about the engine. Handley is right about the road. AI capabilities can jump fast AND adoption can still be messy. These are different layers of the same reality. 2. Value Gets Rebundled: Jobs are bundles of tasks, responsibility, trust, and context. AI lowers the cost of tasks. Organizations redesign the bundle. The question isn't "Will my job disappear?" It's "What will my work be repackaged into?" If you do nothing, someone else rebundles you. 3. Three Rebundling Patterns: The Orchestrator: human value shifts to scoping outcomes, setting standards, making tradeoffs, and integrating outputs. This is product thinking, not prompting. The Judgment Premium: when speed is cheap, the bottleneck moves to accuracy, brand risk, accountability, and trust. Judgment becomes more valuable where stakes are high. The Adaptive Builder: durable edge goes to people who experiment fast, chain tools into workflows, ship, measure, and rebuild when the tools change. 4. Runway Changes Everything: Your financial position determines which advice even applies to you. If your runway is short, your first goal should be financial runway. Reduce burn, increase reliable income, create a second stream. Runway gives you options. Options give you agency. 5. New Paths Beyond Your Current Job Frame: AI collapsed the cost of building. You can rebundle value outside companies, on your own terms. 6. Shorter Shelf Lives Are the New Normal: Anything you build from now on will likely have a shorter lifespan than you're used to. That's okay. The durable skill is getting good at building, shipping, learning, and rebuilding. That cycle is the skill. 7. Speed Without Panic, Intention Without Paralysis: No denial. No doom. No thrash. Choose one lane, build one proof asset, ship one offer. The future belongs to finishers. Action Steps Push AI into your hardest, most time-consuming work. One hour a day, one workflow per week. Identify what compounds in your work (judgment, taste, relationships) and protect it. Automate what doesn't. Map your work on the stakes/trust 2x2 grid. Migrate toward high-stakes, high-trust work. Launch one fixed-scope micro-offer in 14 days. Build proof. Ship. Iterate.

I recorded this episode live at ConsenSys in Hong Kong with Sukdeep Bhogal, Founder of Veera.We dive deep into how Veera is building a full-service Web3 neobank. Their goal is simple. Make crypto easy enough for anyone to use. Even your mom.Sukdeep shares how they raised over $10M. How they plan to onboard the next 100 million users. And why user experience matters more than flashy infrastructure.We talk about tokenized equities, gold and silver on-chain, credit scores in crypto, and why community beats paid marketing.If you are building in fintech, DeFi, or thinking about banking the unbanked, this episode is for you.Key Learnings 00:00 – Live from ConsenSys Hong Kong Why Veera is focused on banking the unbanked.The Problem with Crypto UX Why fragmented wallets, seed phrases, and complex bridges stop adoption.30-Second Onboarding How Veera simplifies account setup using passkeys.Lessons from Web2 Neobanks What projects like Revolut and Nubank got right about user experience.Tokenized Equities & Accessibility How anyone globally could buy fractional US equities on-chain.The Four Pillars of Veera Spend. Earn. Invest. Borrow.Multi-Chain Yield Vaults 40+ yield aggregators across Ethereum, Solana, Base, and BNB.Gold, Silver & US Equities On-Chain Real-world assets made accessible through tokenization.Financial Identity Score (FIS) Building credit scores for crypto users.Biggest Challenges Ahead Credibility and regulation.Go-To-Market Strategy Why community and partnerships beat marketing spend.Retention in Web3 Why rewards alone don't keep users. Experience does.What Sukdeep Would Do Differently Community first. Launch faster. Iterate sooner.Connect with Veerahttps://veera.com/https://discord.com/invite/veerahttps://x.com/On_Veera https://t.me/Veera_Browser_chathttps://www.linkedin.com/company/onveera/ DisclaimerNothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research.It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend.Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/

What does real innovation in healthcare actually look like—beyond buzzwords and recycled ideas? In this episode, Stewart Gandolf speaks with Bobak Salehi of Biotronik about how meaningful innovation starts by asking better questions, deliberately doing what others aren't, and iterating quickly. Through memorable case studies—from a human-powered aircraft to a violin built from a medical device—Bobak shares practical lessons healthcare leaders can apply to marketing, product strategy, and engagement, including how AI can act as a powerful creative partner without replacing human judgment.

Brian Sathianathan, Co-Founder and CTO of Iterate.ai an innovation ecosystem launched in 2013 joins Enterprise Radio. Listen to host Eric Dye & guest Brian … Read more The post The Hidden Revenue Crisis in Healthcare and How AI Is Helping Hospitals and Clinics appeared first on Top Entrepreneurs Podcast | Enterprise Podcast Network.

Dr. Jim is a Generation-0 immigrant and lifelong revenue leader who now runs a GTM consultancy for stage-zero founders. He integrates sales, marketing, and partnerships into a single buyer-aligned motion to create frictionless, loyalty-building experiences.We dig into why the old “more activity = more revenue” playbook falls flat in the attention economy — and how AI can actually help you become more human, not more spammy. From ditching funnels for buyer-journey “rivers” to embedding a content layer that educates and inspires, this episode is a masterclass in modern go-to-market, leadership, and values-driven brand building.Critical TakeawaysUse AI to be more human, not more scalable. Automation that prioritizes volume over relevance tanks trust. Deploy AI to research, personalize, and reduce friction not to mass-blast your TAM.Replace the funnel with the river. Align to the buyer journey, flow with their priorities, and collaborate rather than push them through stages. That shift turns resistance into partnership.Embed a content layer to reduce sales friction. Earned media and consistent teaching create rapport at scale and let buyers pre-qualify you before the first call.Lead with service; reputation takes care of itself. Treat every interaction as an experience. Own mistakes, fix them with the customer, and play the long game: customers for life.Great leaders listen 3–4x more than they talk. Your job isn't to clone yourself — it's to discover team strengths and put people in positions to win.Values are a strategy. Say who you serve (and who you don't). Focus your brand, decline misaligned work, and super-serve the aligned audience.Quotes “AI should make you more human — not more of the same spam.”“Stop forcing people through a funnel; align to their river.”“Content lets you have meaningful conversations with 100% of your market.”“Money is a byproduct of doing the right thing, over and over.”“As a new leader, listen more, talk less, and unlock strengths.”“State your values out loud — you can't be all things to all people.”“Don't be the mosquito of someone's inbox.”Episode Chapters00:00 – Welcome & why “feet on the street” stopped working03:20 – Dr. Jim's origin story: from early entrepreneurship to GTM06:40 – AI in sales: more volume ≠ more trust10:00 – Earned media, authenticity, and the content layer13:20 – Ditching funnels: the buyer-journey river metaphor16:45 – Becoming a partner, not resistance: meeting buyers where they are20:00 – Reputation as an outcome of service (and owning mistakes)23:20 – Leadership 101: listen, ask, and play to strengths26:40 – Values as filter: who to serve and who to avoid30:00 – Platform choices, attention economy, and showing up33:15 – Personal brand basics: rapport, trust, and credibility36:30 – Work-life integration vs. balance; avoiding “pot-committed”39:50 – Wrap and AMAIn an attention economy drowning in automated outreach, “more” is a race to the bottom. My mentor and ChangeMaker Leader Speaker, Dr. Jim, laid it out plainly: AI should make us more human, not more robotic.The ProblemLegacy revenue models were built for a world where sellers controlled information. We don't live there anymore. Buyers show up armed with research, peer reviews, and opinions — often more context than the average rep has. When we respond with volume tactics (auto-DMs, sequencers, zero-context LI pitches), we don't look “proactive”; we look lazy. Worse, we burn the relationship before it starts.The result: inbox fatigue on the buyer side, reputation damage on the seller side, and a pipeline that looks busy but converts like a desert.What We Learned from the ConversationUse AI to Be More HumanAI isn't the problem; the way we use it is. If the goal is “touch more people,” you'll ship noise. If the goal is “understand this person better,” you'll ship relevance. I'm doubling down on AI for research, note-taking, pattern spotting, and content repurposing — the unsexy stuff that creates a better 1:1 experience. Automation should reduce friction, not trust.Replace the Funnel with the RiverI've taught funnels for years, and I still use the mental model — but Jim's river metaphor hit home. Funnels encourage us to move buyers. Rivers force us to move with buyers. Practically, that means anchoring campaigns to the stages buyers actually experience (problem aware → options aware → change-ready), and measuring progress by buyer momentum, not our internal stage gates.Add a Content Layer to Your GTMContent isn't a side quest; it's the friction reducer. Teaching in public earns the right to sell in private. Earned media — the ideas people seek out without ad spend — compounds credibility. I see it every week: first calls feel like third meetings because people already “know” me from the feed. That's pipeline acceleration you can't manufacture with spray-and-pray.How I'm applying it:Publish one deep, useful idea weekly (podcast or blog), then atomize it into shorts/snippets.Map content to buyer questions at each stage — not just features and benefits.Treat distribution like product: message-market-platform fit matters.Reputation Is an Outcome, Not a CampaignYou can't “protect” a reputation created by misaligned behaviour. The fix is boring and effective: give people a great experience, even if they never pay you. When you mess up, own it and make it right with the customer. Long term, that creates evangelists who sell for you when you're not in the room.Leadership: Listen 3–4x More Than You TalkMost first-time managers were promoted for personal performance, then fail by trying to clone themselves. Your actual job: discover each person's strengths and set the stage for them to win. That starts with questions and listening, not directives and dashboards.Tactical moves I'm stealing:1:1s that start with “What's the obstacle I can remove this week?”Role design around strengths, not generic job ladders.Clear team agreements on how we decide, communicate, and recover from misses.Values Are a Strategy“Who do we want to be?” is a filtering question, not a brand vanity exercise. Say who you serve — and who you don't. Declining misaligned work is scary in the short term and clarifying in the long term. Focus lets you super-serve your right audience and build a community that talks about you when you're not around.Platforms, Personal Brand, and the Attention RealityThere's no perfect platform. Pick your poison, set your red lines, and show up where your buyers are. A personal brand isn't about selfies and slogans; it's portable credibility. When someone tells me, “I feel like I already know you,” that's compounding trust.My simple brand loop:Publish (teach something real)Converse (listen to the market)Iterate (tighten the POV)Repeat (weekly forever)Work-Life Integration Beats BalanceBalance implies neat, equal slices. Real life is seasonal. Integration acknowledges that some weeks are family-heavy, some are ship-heavy, and your job is to avoid going “pot-committed” on a single lane for too long. I'm building guardrails: daily outside time, a hard stop twice a week, and one creative project that isn't monetized… yet.Key TakeawaysAI is a force multiplier for empathy when used for research and personalization.Switch from forcing stages to flowing with the buyer's river.Make content the connective tissue of your GTM; let teaching do the heavy lifting.Lead by listening; design roles around strengths.Say your values out loud and use them to focus your market.Build a portable brand that pre-loads trust.Integrate work and life; don't go pot-committed on one dimension.If this resonated, share the episode with a founder who's still “doing more” and getting less. Subscribe on your platform of choice, drop a review, and tell me one “river move” you're going to test this week. I read every note.Want more advice? Check out our ChangeMaker Leader Podcast Directory here. Membership Includes online leadership and personal branding course plus:1. Podcast Interview: One interview on the ChangeMaker Leader Podcast, so our community can get to know you.2. Transition Coaching Session with Leigh Mitchell, Founder & Brand Strategist for Leaders in Transition. 3. Monthly Peer Leader Support: Regular In-person and online mentorship from Leigh Mitchell and team with your fellow members.4. Courses & Membership Directory: You gain practical skills that strengthen your leadership and can connect with supportive peers through our member directory to grow your impact. 5. Leadership Retreats: Members leave each retreat feeling renewed with clearer focus, stronger connections, and practical ideas they can bring back to their work and community. (member pricing)6. AI Marketing Mastermind for Business Owners: Online AI Marketing Mastermind for Business Owners (preferred rates for members) with Susan Diaz7. Preferred Rates for Go-To-Market Coaching: with Dr. Jim Kanichirayil8. Leader DNA Branding & Tech Implementation Services: Preferred rate for Leigh Mitchell's strategy and execution services including group training options. 9. Private & Active WhatsApp Group for networking:  Connect with ChangeMaker Leaders to share resources and ask for advice, etc. 10. Mentor Matching: Get connected with a short to long-term mentor to ease you through your transition (6 weeks, 3 months to 6 months )  The ChangeMaker Membership is only $89 You're probably looking at this pricing and asking, “Can this really be true?”I want to assure you that, as a social-impact, values-driven ChangeMaker Leader, my goal is to help you first, before any money is exchanged. I want to remain affordable and accessible for leaders in transition.Will this pricing stay in place long-term? No, it is not sustainable forever. But for now, I want to support as many ChangeMakers as I can.Before you sign up: Let's have a phone call. I want to ensure this is the right fit for what you are currently tackling. Schedule a call with me here.  Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-changemaker-collective-podcast-for-future-ready-leaders/exclusive-content

Get The Algorithm Deletion Exercise here: https://fos.now/yt-gd-discover-elon-musk-algorithm-checklistDo you want my help systematizing your business? Go here: https://fos.now/yt-apply-569In this video, I reveal the 5 operating mechanisms Elon Musk deploys across every company he operates. More importantly, the versions of these mechanisms you can use without destroying your life, your team, or your sanity. If you've ever wondered how one human builds rockets, cars, AI labs, and brain interfaces all while melting down on Twitter, here's the real answer.Want to LEARN proven systems to grow your personal brand? Go here: https://fos.now/yt-newsletter-569Already doing $30K+/month? Come to my next free workshop and I'll show you how to systemize your business and get your time back → https://fos.now/yt-workshop-569Want to WORK with a team of A-players? Apply to Founder OS here: https://www.founderos.com/careersConnect with me: Website: https://fos.now/yt-founder-os-569Twitter: https://twitter.com/matt_gray_ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgray1 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@realmattgray Instagram: https://instagram.com/matthgray00:00 - Intro00:55 - Mechanism 1: Maniacal Sense of Urgency04:50 - Mechanism 2: The Algorithm10:45 - Mechanism 3: Build Unreasonable Teams13:42 - Mechanism 4: Iterate at The Speed of Thought16:34 - Mechanism 5: Engineer to Scale Beyond Yourself#onepersonbusiness #creatoreconomy #entrepreneurshipDisclaimer: Information shared here is for educational purposes only. Individuals and business owners should evaluate their own business strategies and identify any potential risks. The information shared here is not a guarantee of success. Your results may vary. This video shares my personal experience and growth building businesses over 15+ years of consistent effort. Your results will vary depending on your own actions, strategies, and circumstances.

Every leader is faced with this choice: iterate or deteriorate. Pastors John and Wayne discuss the importance of getting better and the difference between innovation and iteration. Follow us on Instagram for more great leadership content: Pastor John (@johnsiebeling), Pastor Wayne (@waynefrancis), Podcast (@leadershipinblackandwhite). Leave a rating and review to give us your feedback and help the show continue to grow!

What if your time in grad school wasn't wasted—but the foundation of a life you're just beginning to design? This week on Beyond the Thesis with Papa PhD, Ashley Jablo—career coach, strategist, and founder of Life Design School—joins us to talk about reinventing your path after academia. From her own journey through government layoffs, business school pivots, and career uncertainty, Ashley shares how to move from shame and regret to clarity, purpose, and creative momentum. We break down her 4-step Life Design framework—Discover, Define, Imagine, Iterate—and explore tools you can use right now to gain confidence, reconnect with your values, and start taking small but powerful steps forward. Perfect for PhDs, postdocs, grad students, or anyone feeling stuck or lost after a big transition.

Stuck? Good. That means you're ready. Ashley Jablow shares how getting laid off became the best "career gift" she never wanted, and how she turned that crash into clarity. We talk about discovering who you are now, designing instead of fixing your life, and why "reinvention" beats "midlife crisis" every time. Ashley breaks down her Four Steps of Life Design, Discover, Define, Imagine, Iterate, and how micro-steps can pull you out of autopilot and back into possibility. It's a hopeful, honest roadmap for anyone who's ever looked around and thought, "Is this really it?" Website: www.lifedesignschool.co/kit Website: www.wayfinderscollective.com/intensive LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyjablow Instagram: www.instagram.com/ashleyjablow   Timestamps: 00:00 — Cold Open & Intro 04:00 — Why Happiness Isn't Constant (and That's Okay) 07:05 — Laid Off After "I've Arrived": The Wake-Up Call 10:25 — The Power of Onlyness: Owning Your Unique Story 13:52 — Stop Fixing Your Life. Start Designing It. 16:20 — The Four Steps of Life Design (Discover, Define, Imagine, Iterate) 23:41 — Midlife Crisis or Midlife Reinvention? 26:18 — The Real Risk of Staying Stuck 32:52 — The Learning Loop: Plan → Act → Update 40:12 — Clarity vs Certainty: The Mistake Every Leader Makes

What This Episode Is AboutIf your brain generates ideas faster than you can execute them, this conversation will make you feel seen. Sarah runs five businesses and has developed a systematic approach to managing what I call the "burden of creativity"—that relentless flow of inspiration that can fuel or derail you, depending on how you work with it.This isn't about picking one lane or shutting down your creative engine. It's about building frameworks that let you honor your ideas without drowning in them.Who This Episode Is ForFounders juggling multiple business ideas or revenue streamsCreatives who struggle with follow-through despite abundant inspirationConsultants and coaches who feel scattered across too many offersAnyone who's been shamed for having "too many interests."Serial entrepreneurs who want to build interconnected businesses without burning outThe Big IdeaHaving an ADHD brain means you're wired for abundant creativity. The challenge isn't generating ideas—it's knowing which ones deserve your energy and how to move them from concept to completion without burning out or abandoning ship halfway through.Sarah's approach: treat your ideas like they matter, but give them structure so they don't hijack your focus.What to Listen For The Reality of Being a Creative PolymathFor many ADHD entrepreneurs, being interested in multiple things isn't a distraction —it's how they're built. Sarah explains why being a polymath is actually an advantage in today's business landscape, as long as you set boundaries around what gets your attention.The "Catching Butterflies" System: Capture, Connect, Structure, Iterate, Express, ReflectSarah walks through her six-stage process for managing creative output. It starts with capturing every idea without judgment, then moves through connecting related concepts, building structure around the keepers, iterating on them, expressing them in the world, and reflecting on what worked. Simple in concept, powerful in practice.Using AI as Your Digital Thought PartnerBoth Sarah and I use AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude) to externalize our thinking. Instead of letting ideas swirl in our heads, we dump them into our AI assistants to help us organize, connect dots, and build project folders. It's like having a patient colleague who never gets tired of your tangents.The 3D Jenga Model for Interconnected ProjectsRather than treating each business or project as a standalone tower that could topple, Sarah visualizes her work as a 3D Jenga structure. Each piece supports the others. When one idea doesn't work out, the whole thing doesn't collapse—the remaining pieces actually get stronger.Energy Management Over Time ManagementReflection isn't self-indulgence—it's how you build a feedback loop that keeps you moving forward. Regular check-ins about how you feel, what your vision is, and whether your projects still serve that vision help you stay aligned instead of spinning your...

What This Episode Is AboutIf your brain generates ideas faster than you can execute them, this conversation will make you feel seen. Sarah runs five businesses and has developed a systematic approach to managing what I call the "burden of creativity"—that relentless flow of inspiration that can fuel or derail you, depending on how you work with it.This isn't about picking one lane or shutting down your creative engine. It's about building frameworks that let you honor your ideas without drowning in them.Who This Episode Is ForFounders juggling multiple business ideas or revenue streamsCreatives who struggle with follow-through despite abundant inspirationConsultants and coaches who feel scattered across too many offersAnyone who's been shamed for having "too many interests."Serial entrepreneurs who want to build interconnected businesses without burning outThe Big IdeaHaving an ADHD brain means you're wired for abundant creativity. The challenge isn't generating ideas—it's knowing which ones deserve your energy and how to move them from concept to completion without burning out or abandoning ship halfway through.Sarah's approach: treat your ideas like they matter, but give them structure so they don't hijack your focus.What to Listen For The Reality of Being a Creative PolymathFor many ADHD entrepreneurs, being interested in multiple things isn't a distraction —it's how they're built. Sarah explains why being a polymath is actually an advantage in today's business landscape, as long as you set boundaries around what gets your attention.The "Catching Butterflies" System: Capture, Connect, Structure, Iterate, Express, ReflectSarah walks through her six-stage process for managing creative output. It starts with capturing every idea without judgment, then moves through connecting related concepts, building structure around the keepers, iterating on them, expressing them in the world, and reflecting on what worked. Simple in concept, powerful in practice.Using AI as Your Digital Thought PartnerBoth Sarah and I use AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude) to externalize our thinking. Instead of letting ideas swirl in our heads, we dump them into our AI assistants to help us organize, connect dots, and build project folders. It's like having a patient colleague who never gets tired of your tangents.The 3D Jenga Model for Interconnected ProjectsRather than treating each business or project as a standalone tower that could topple, Sarah visualizes her work as a 3D Jenga structure. Each piece supports the others. When one idea doesn't work out, the whole thing doesn't collapse—the remaining pieces actually get stronger.Energy Management Over Time ManagementReflection isn't self-indulgence—it's how you build a feedback loop that keeps you moving forward. Regular check-ins about how you feel, what your vision is, and whether your projects still serve that vision help you stay aligned instead of spinning your...

Austin shares 7 ChatGPT tips that will help you turn your resume into a job-winning machine!Time Stamped Show Notes:[0:45] - Gather your resume and target job descriptions[1:51] - Tailor your resume & make top level optimizations[3:34] - Optimize your bullets[4:54] - Iterate & personalizeWant To Level Up Your Job Search?Click here to learn more about 1:1 career coaching to help you land your dream job without applying online.Check out Austin's courses and, as a thank you for listening to the show, use the code PODCAST to get 5% off any digital course:The Interview Preparation System - Austin's proven, all-in-one process for turning your next job interview into a job offer.Value Validation Project Starter Kit - Everything you need to create a job-winning VVP that will blow hiring managers away and set you apart from the competition.No Experience, No Problem - Austin's proven framework for building the skills and experience you need to break into a new industry (even if you have *zero* experience right now).Try Austin's Job Search ToolsResyBuild.io - Build a beautiful, job-winning resume in minutes.ResyMatch.io - Score your resume vs. your target job description and get feedback.ResyBullet.io - Learn how to write attention grabbing resume bullets.Mailscoop.io - Find anyone's professional email in seconds.Connect with Austin for daily job search content:Cultivated CultureLinkedInTwitterThanks for listening!

TLDR: It was Claude :-)When I set out to compare ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and ChatPRD for writing Product Requirement Documents, I figured they'd all be roughly equivalent. Maybe some subtle variations in tone or structure, but nothing earth-shattering. They're all built on similar transformer architectures, trained on massive datasets, and marketed as capable of handling complex business writing.What I discovered over 45 minutes of hands-on testing revealed not just which tools are better for PRD creation, but why they're better, and more importantly, how you should actually be using AI to accelerate your product work without sacrificing quality or strategic thinking.If you're an early or mid-career PM in Silicon Valley, this matters to you. Because here's the uncomfortable truth: your peers are already using AI to write PRDs, analyze features, and generate documentation. The question isn't whether to use these tools. The question is whether you're using the right ones most effectively.So let me walk you through exactly what I did, what I learned, and what you should do differently.The Setup: A Real-World Test CaseHere's how I structured the experiment. As I said at the beginning of my recording, “We are back in the Fireside PM podcast and I did that review of the ChatGPT browser and people seemed to like it and then I asked, uh, in a poll, I think it was a LinkedIn poll maybe, what should my next PM product review be? And, people asked for ChatPRD.”So I had my marching orders from the audience. But I wanted to make this more comprehensive than just testing ChatPRD in isolation. I opened up five tabs: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and ChatPRD.For the test case, I chose something realistic and relevant: an AI-powered tutor for high school students. Think KhanAmigo or similar edtech platforms. This gave me a concrete product scenario that's complex enough to stress-test these tools but straightforward enough that I could iterate quickly.But here's the critical part that too many PMs get wrong when they start using AI for product work: I didn't just throw a single sentence at these tools and expect magic.The “Back of the Napkin” Approach: Why You Still Need to Think“I presume everybody agrees that you should have some formulated thinking before you dump it into the chatbot for your PRD,” I noted early in my experiment. “I suppose in the future maybe you could just do, like, a one-sentence prompt and come out with the perfect PRD because it would just know everything about you and your company in the context, but for now we're gonna do this more, a little old-school AI approach where we're gonna do some original human thinking.”This is crucial. I see so many PMs, especially those newer to the field, treat AI like a magic oracle. They type in “Write me a PRD for a social feature” and then wonder why the output is generic, unfocused, and useless.Your job as a PM isn't to become obsolete. It's to become more effective. And that means doing the strategic thinking work that AI cannot do for you.So I started in Google Docs with what I call a “back of the napkin” PRD structure. Here's what I included:Why: The strategic rationale. In this case: “Want to complement our existing edtech business with a personalized AI tutor, uh, want to maintain position industry, and grow through innovation. on mission for learners.”Target User: Who are we building for? “High school students interested in improving their grades and fundamentals. Fundamental knowledge topics. Specifically science and math. Students who are not in the top ten percent, nor in the bottom ten percent.”This is key—I got specific. Not just “students,” but students in the middle 80%. Not just “any subject,” but science and math. This specificity is what separates useful AI output from garbage.Problem to Solve: What's broken? “Students want better grades. Students are impatient. Students currently use AI just for finding the answers and less to, uh, understand concepts and practice using them.”Key Elements: The feature set and approach.Success Metrics: How we'd measure success.Now, was this a perfectly polished PRD outline? Hell no. As you can see from my transcript, I was literally thinking out loud, making typos, restructuring on the fly. But that's exactly the point. I put in maybe 10-15 minutes of human strategic thinking. That's all it took to create a foundation that would dramatically improve what came out of the AI tools.Round One: Generating the Full PRDWith my back-of-the-napkin outline ready, I copied it into each tool with a simple prompt asking them to expand it into a more complete PRD.ChatGPT: The Reliable GeneralistChatGPT gave me something that was... fine. Competent. Professional. But also deeply uninspiring.The document it produced checked all the boxes. It had the sections you'd expect. The writing was clear. But when I read it, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was reading something that could have been written for literally any product in any company. It felt like “an average of everything out there,” as I noted in my evaluation.Here's what ChatGPT did well: It understood the basic structure of a PRD. It generated appropriate sections. The grammar and formatting were clean. If you needed to hand something in by EOD and had literally no time for refinement, ChatGPT would save you from complete embarrassment.But here's what it lacked: Depth. Nuance. Strategic thinking that felt connected to real product decisions. When it described the target user, it used phrases that could apply to any edtech product. When it outlined success metrics, they were the obvious ones (engagement, retention, test scores) without any interesting thinking about leading indicators or proxy metrics.The problem with generic output isn't that it's wrong, it's that it's invisible. When you're trying to get buy-in from leadership or alignment from engineering, you need your PRD to feel specific, considered, and connected to your company's actual strategy. ChatGPT's output felt like it was written by someone who'd read a lot of PRDs but never actually shipped a product.One specific example: When I asked for success metrics, ChatGPT gave me “Student engagement rate, Time spent on platform, Test score improvement.” These aren't wrong, but they're lazy. They don't show any thinking about what specifically matters for an AI tutor versus any other educational product. Compare that to Claude's output, which got more specific about things like “concept mastery rate” and “question-to-understanding ratio.”Actionable Insight: Use ChatGPT when you need fast, serviceable documentation that doesn't need to be exceptional. Think: internal updates, status reports, routine communications. Don't rely on it for strategic documents where differentiation matters. If you do use ChatGPT for important documents, treat its output as a starting point that needs significant human refinement to add strategic depth and company-specific context.Gemini: Better Than ExpectedGoogle's Gemini actually impressed me more than I anticipated. The structure was solid, and it had a nice balance of detail without being overwhelming.What Gemini got right: The writing had a nice flow to it. The document felt organized and logical. It did a better job than ChatGPT at providing specific examples and thinking through edge cases. For instance, when describing the target user, it went beyond demographics to consider behavioral characteristics and motivations.Gemini also showed some interesting strategic thinking. It considered competitive positioning more thoughtfully than ChatGPT and proposed some differentiation angles that weren't in my original outline. Good AI tools should add insight, not just regurgitate your input with better formatting.But here's where it fell short: the visual elements. When I asked for mockups, Gemini produced images that looked more like stock photos than actual product designs. They weren't terrible, but they weren't compelling either. They had that AI-generated sheen that makes it obvious they came from an image model rather than a designer's brain.For a PRD that you're going to use internally with a team that already understands the context, Gemini's output would work well. The text quality is strong enough, and if you're in the Google ecosystem (Docs, Sheets, Meet, etc.), the integration is seamless. You can paste Gemini's output directly into Google Docs and continue iterating there.But if you need to create something compelling enough to win over skeptics or secure budget, Gemini falls just short. It's good, but not great. It's the solid B+ student: reliably competent but rarely exceptional.Actionable Insight: Gemini is a strong choice if you're working in the Google ecosystem and need good integration with Docs, Sheets, and other Google Workspace tools. The quality is sufficient for most internal documentation needs. It's particularly good if you're working with cross-functional partners who are already in Google Workspace. You can share and collaborate on AI-generated drafts without friction. But don't expect visual mockups that will wow anyone, and plan to add your own strategic polish for high-stakes documents.Grok: Not Ready for Prime TimeLet's just say my expectations were low, and Grok still managed to underdeliver. The PRD felt thin, generic, and lacked the depth you need for real product work.“I don't have high expectations for grok, unfortunately,” I said before testing it. Spoiler alert: my low expectations were validated.Actionable Insight: Skip Grok for product documentation work right now. Maybe it'll improve, but as of my testing, it's simply not competitive with the other options. It felt like 1-2 years behind the others.ChatPRD: The Specialized ToolNow this was interesting. ChatPRD is purpose-built for PRDs, using foundational models underneath but with specific tuning and structure for product documentation.The result? The structure was logical, the depth was appropriate, and it included elements that showed understanding of what actually matters in a PRD. As I reflected: “Cause this one feels like, A human wrote this PRD.”The interface guides you through the process more deliberately than just dumping text into a general chat interface. It asks clarifying questions. It structures the output more thoughtfully.Actionable Insight: If you're a technical lead without a dedicated PM, or you're a PM who wants a more structured approach to using AI for PRDs, ChatPRD is worth the specialized focus. It's particularly good when you need something that feels authentic enough to share with stakeholders without heavy editing.Claude: The Clear WinnerBut the standout performer, and I'm ranking these, was Claude.“I think we know that for now, I'm gonna say Claude did the best job,” I concluded after all the testing. Claude produced the most comprehensive, thoughtful, and strategically sound PRD. But what really set it apart were the concept mocks.When I asked each tool to generate visual mockups of the product, Claude produced HTML prototypes that, while not fully functional, looked genuinely compelling. They had thoughtful UI design, clear information architecture, and felt like something that could actually guide development.“They were, like, closer to, like, what a Lovable would produce or something like that,” I noted, referring to the quality of low-fidelity prototypes that good designers create.The text quality was also superior: more nuanced, better structured, and with more strategic depth. It felt like Claude understood not just what a PRD should contain, but why it should contain those elements.Actionable Insight: For any PRD that matters, meaning anything you'll share with leadership, use to get buy-in, or guide actual product development, you might as well start with Claude. The quality difference is significant enough that it's worth using Claude even if you primarily use another tool for other tasks.Final Rankings: The Definitive HierarchyAfter testing all five tools on multiple dimensions: initial PRD generation, visual mockups, and even crafting a pitch paragraph for a skeptical VP of Engineering, here's my final ranking:* Claude - Best overall quality, most compelling mockups, strongest strategic thinking* ChatPRD - Best for structured PRD creation, feels most “human”* Gemini - Solid all-around performance, good Google integration* ChatGPT - Reliable but generic, lacks differentiation* Grok - Not competitive for this use case“I'd probably say Claude, then chat PRD, then Gemini, then chat GPT, and then Grock,” I concluded.The Deeper Lesson: Garbage In, Garbage Out (Still Applies)But here's what matters more than which tool wins: the realization that hit me partway through this experiment.“I think it really does come down to, like, you know, the quality of the prompt,” I observed. “So if our prompt were a little more detailed, all that were more thought-through, then I'm sure the output would have been better. But as you can see we didn't really put in brain trust prompting here. Just a little bit of, kind of hand-wavy prompting, but a little better than just one or two sentences.”And we still got pretty good results.This is the meta-insight that should change how you approach AI tools in your product work: The quality of your input determines the quality of your output, but the baseline quality of the tool determines the ceiling of what's possible.No amount of great prompting will make Grok produce Claude-level output. But even mediocre prompting with Claude will beat great prompting with lesser tools.So the dual strategy is:* Use the best tool available (currently Claude for PRDs)* Invest in improving your prompting skills ideally with as much original and insightful human, company aware, and context aware thinking as possible.Real-World Workflows: How to Actually Use This in Your Day-to-Day PM WorkTheory is great. Here's how to incorporate these insights into your actual product management workflows.The Weekly Sprint Planning WorkflowEvery PM I know spends hours each week preparing for sprint planning. You need to refine user stories, clarify acceptance criteria, anticipate engineering questions, and align with design and data science. AI can compress this work significantly.Here's an example workflow:Monday morning (30 minutes):* Review upcoming priorities and open your rough notes/outline in Google Docs* Open Claude and paste your outline with this prompt:“I'm preparing for sprint planning. Based on these priorities [paste notes], generate detailed user stories with acceptance criteria. Format each as: User story, Business context, Technical considerations, Acceptance criteria, Dependencies, Open questions.”Monday afternoon (20 minutes):* Review Claude's output critically* Identify gaps, unclear requirements, or missing context* Follow up with targeted prompts:“The user story about authentication is too vague. Break it down into separate stories for: social login, email/password, session management, and password reset. For each, specify security requirements and edge cases.”Tuesday morning (15 minutes):* Generate mockups for any UI-heavy stories:“Create an HTML mockup for the login flow showing: landing page, social login options, email/password form, error states, and success redirect.”* Even if the HTML doesn't work perfectly, it gives your designers a starting pointBefore sprint planning (10 minutes):* Ask Claude to anticipate engineering questions:“Review these user stories as if you're a senior engineer. What questions would you ask? What concerns would you raise about technical feasibility, dependencies, or edge cases?”* This preparation makes you look thoughtful and helps the meeting run smoothlyTotal time investment: ~75 minutes. Typical time saved: 3-4 hours compared to doing this manually.The Stakeholder Alignment WorkflowGetting alignment from multiple stakeholders (product leadership, engineering, design, data science, legal, marketing) is one of the hardest parts of PM work. AI can help you think through different stakeholder perspectives and craft compelling communications for each.Here's how:Step 1: Map your stakeholders (10 minutes)Create a quick table in a doc:Stakeholder | Primary Concern | Decision Criteria | Likely Objections VP Product | Strategic fit, ROI | Company OKRs, market opportunity | Resource allocation vs other priorities VP Eng | Technical risk, capacity | Engineering capacity, tech debt | Complexity, unclear requirements Design Lead | User experience | User research, design principles | Timeline doesn't allow proper design process Legal | Compliance, risk | Regulatory requirements | Data privacy, user consent flowsStep 2: Generate stakeholder-specific communications (20 minutes)For each key stakeholder, ask Claude:“I need to pitch this product idea to [Stakeholder]. Based on this PRD, create a 1-page brief addressing their primary concern of [concern from your table]. Open with the specific value for them, address their likely objection of [objection], and close with a clear ask. Tone should be [professional/technical/strategic] based on their role.”Then you'll have customized one-pagers for your pre-meetings with each stakeholder, dramatically increasing your alignment rate.Step 3: Synthesize feedback (15 minutes)After gathering stakeholder input, ask Claude to help you synthesize:“I got the following feedback from stakeholders: [paste feedback]. Identify: (1) Common themes, (2) Conflicting requirements, (3) Legitimate concerns vs organizational politics, (4) Recommended compromises that might satisfy multiple parties.”This pattern-matching across stakeholder feedback is something AI does really well and saves you hours of mental processing.The Quarterly Planning WorkflowQuarterly or annual planning is where product strategy gets real. You need to synthesize market trends, customer feedback, technical capabilities, and business objectives into a coherent roadmap. AI can accelerate this dramatically.Six weeks before planning:* Start collecting input (customer interviews, market research, competitive analysis, engineering feedback)* Don't wait until the last minuteFour weeks before planning:Dump everything into Claude with this structure:“I'm creating our Q2 roadmap. Context:* Business objectives: [paste from leadership]* Customer feedback themes: [paste synthesis]* Technical capabilities/constraints: [paste from engineering]* Competitive landscape: [paste analysis]* Current product gaps: [paste from your analysis]Generate 5 strategic themes that could anchor our Q2 roadmap. For each theme:* Strategic rationale (how it connects to business objectives)* Key initiatives (2-3 major features/projects)* Success metrics* Resource requirements (rough estimate)* Risks and mitigations* Customer segments addressed”This gives you a strategic framework to react to rather than starting from a blank page.Three weeks before planning:Iterate on the most promising themes:“Deep dive on Theme 3. Generate:* Detailed initiative breakdown* Dependencies on platform/infrastructure* Phasing options (MVP vs full build)* Go-to-market considerations* Data requirements* Open questions requiring research”Two weeks before planning:Pressure-test your thinking:“Play devil's advocate on this roadmap. What are the strongest arguments against each initiative? What am I likely missing? What failure modes should I plan for?”This adversarial prompting forces you to strengthen weak points before your leadership reviews it.One week before planning:Generate your presentation:“Create an executive presentation for this roadmap. Structure: (1) Market context and strategic imperative, (2) Q2 themes and initiatives, (3) Expected outcomes and metrics, (4) Resource requirements, (5) Key risks and mitigations, (6) Success criteria for decision. Make it compelling but data-driven. Tone: confident but not overselling.”Then add your company-specific context, visual brand, and personal voice.The Customer Research WorkflowAI can't replace talking to customers, but it can help you prepare better questions, analyze feedback more systematically, and identify patterns faster.Before customer interviews:“I'm interviewing customers about [topic]. Generate:* 10 open-ended questions that avoid leading the witness* 5 follow-up questions for each main question* Common cognitive biases I should watch for* A framework for categorizing responses”This prep work helps you conduct better interviews.After interviews:“I conducted 15 customer interviews. Here are the key quotes: [paste anonymized quotes]. Identify:* Recurring themes and patterns* Surprising insights that contradict our assumptions* Segments with different needs* Implied needs customers didn't articulate directly* Recommended next steps for validation”AI is excellent at pattern-matching across qualitative data at scale.The Crisis Management WorkflowSomething broke. The site is down. Data was lost. A feature shipped with a critical bug. You need to move fast.Immediate response (5 minutes):“Critical incident. Details: [brief description]. Generate:* Incident classification (Sev 1-4)* Immediate stakeholders to notify* Draft customer communication (honest, apologetic, specific about what happened and what we're doing)* Draft internal communication for leadership* Key questions to ask engineering during investigation”Having these drafted in 5 minutes lets you focus on coordination and decision-making rather than wordsmithing.Post-incident (30 minutes):“Write a post-mortem based on this incident timeline: [paste timeline]. Include:* What happened (technical details)* Root cause analysis* Impact quantification (users affected, revenue impact, time to resolution)* What went well in our response* What could have been better* Specific action items with owners and deadlines* Process changes to prevent recurrence Tone: Blameless, focused on learning and improvement.”This gives you a strong first draft to refine with your team.Common Pitfalls: What Not to Do with AI in Product ManagementNow let's talk about the mistakes I see PMs making with AI tools. Pitfall #1: Treating AI Output as FinalThe biggest mistake is copy-pasting AI output directly into your PRD, roadmap presentation, or stakeholder email without critical review.The result? Documents that are grammatically perfect but strategically shallow. Presentations that sound impressive but don't hold up under questioning. Emails that are professionally worded but miss the subtext of organizational politics.The fix: Always ask yourself:* Does this reflect my actual strategic thinking, or generic best practices?* Would my CEO/engineering lead/biggest customer find this compelling and specific?* Are there company-specific details, customer insights, or technical constraints that only I know?* Does this sound like me, or like a robot?Add those elements. That's where your value as a PM comes through.Pitfall #2: Using AI as a Crutch Instead of a ToolSome PMs use AI because they don't want to think deeply about the product. They're looking for AI to do the hard work of strategy, prioritization, and trade-off analysis.This never works. AI can help you think more systematically, but it can't replace thinking.If you find yourself using AI to avoid wrestling with hard questions (”Should we build X or Y?” “What's our actual competitive advantage?” “Why would customers switch from the incumbent?”), you're using it wrong.The fix: Use AI to explore options, not to make decisions. Generate three alternatives, pressure-test each one, then use your judgment to decide. The AI can help you think through implications, but you're still the one choosing.Pitfall #3: Not IteratingGetting mediocre AI output and just accepting it is a waste of the technology's potential.The PMs who get exceptional results from AI are the ones who iterate. They generate an initial response, identify what's weak or missing, and ask follow-up questions. They might go through 5-10 iterations on a key section of a PRD.Each iteration is quick (30 seconds to type a follow-up prompt, 30 seconds to read the response), but the cumulative effect is dramatically better output.The fix: Budget time for iteration. Don't try to generate a complete, polished PRD in one prompt. Instead, generate a rough draft, then spend 30 minutes iterating on specific sections that matter most.Pitfall #4: Ignoring the Political and Human ContextAI tools have no understanding of organizational politics, interpersonal relationships, or the specific humans you're working with.They don't know that your VP of Engineering is burned out and skeptical of any new initiatives. They don't know that your CEO has a personal obsession with a specific competitor. They don't know that your lead designer is sensitive about not being included early enough in the process.If you use AI-generated communications without layering in this human context, you'll create perfectly worded documents that land badly because they miss the subtext.The fix: After generating AI content, explicitly ask yourself: “What human context am I missing? What relationships do I need to consider? What political dynamics are in play?” Then modify the AI output accordingly.Pitfall #5: Over-Relying on a Single ToolDifferent AI tools have different strengths. Claude is great for strategic depth, ChatPRD is great for structure, Gemini integrates well with Google Workspace.If you only ever use one tool, you're missing opportunities to leverage different strengths for different tasks.The fix: Keep 2-3 tools in your toolkit. Use Claude for important PRDs and strategic documents. Use Gemini for quick internal documentation that needs to integrate with Google Docs. Use ChatPRD when you want more guided structure. Match the tool to the task.Pitfall #6: Not Fact-Checking AI OutputAI tools hallucinate. They make up statistics, misrepresent competitors, and confidently state things that aren't true. If you include those hallucinations in a PRD that goes to leadership, you look incompetent.The fix: Fact-check everything, especially:* Statistics and market data* Competitive feature claims* Technical capabilities and limitations* Regulatory and compliance requirementsIf the AI cites a number or makes a factual claim, verify it independently before including it in your document.The Meta-Skill: Prompt Engineering for PMsLet's zoom out and talk about the underlying skill that makes all of this work: prompt engineering.This is a real skill. The difference between a mediocre prompt and a great prompt can be 10x difference in output quality. And unlike coding or design, where there's a steep learning curve, prompt engineering is something you can get good at quickly.Principle 1: Provide Context Before InstructionsBad prompt:“Write a PRD for an AI tutor”Good prompt:“I'm a PM at an edtech company with 2M users, primarily high school students. We're exploring an AI tutor feature to complement our existing video content library and practice problems. Our main competitors are Khan Academy and Course Hero. Our differentiation is personalized learning paths based on student performance data.Write a PRD for an AI tutor feature targeting students in the middle 80% academically who struggle with science and math.”The second prompt gives Claude the context it needs to generate something specific and strategic rather than generic.Principle 2: Specify Format and ConstraintsBad prompt:“Generate success metrics”Good prompt:“Generate 5-7 success metrics for this feature. Include a mix of:* Leading indicators (early signals of success)* Lagging indicators (definitive success measures)* User behavior metrics* Business impact metricsFor each metric, specify: name, definition, target value, measurement method, and why it matters.”The structure you provide shapes the structure you get back.Principle 3: Ask for Multiple OptionsBad prompt:“What should our Q2 priorities be?”Good prompt:“Generate 3 different strategic approaches for Q2:* Option A: Focus on user acquisition* Option B: Focus on engagement and retention* Option C: Focus on monetizationFor each option, detail: key initiatives, expected outcomes, resource requirements, risks, and recommendation for or against.”Asking for multiple options forces the AI (and forces you) to think through trade-offs systematically.Principle 4: Specify Audience and ToneBad prompt:“Summarize this PRD”Good prompt:“Create a 1-paragraph summary of this PRD for our skeptical VP of Engineering. Tone: Technical, concise, addresses engineering concerns upfront. Focus on: technical architecture, resource requirements, risks, and expected engineering effort. Avoid marketing language.”The audience and tone specification ensures the output will actually work for your intended use.Principle 5: Use Iterative RefinementDon't try to get perfect output in one prompt. Instead:First prompt: Generate rough draft Second prompt: “This is too generic. Add specific examples from [our company context].” Third prompt: “The technical section is weak. Expand with architecture details and dependencies.” Fourth prompt: “Good. Now make it 30% more concise while keeping the key details.”Each iteration improves the output incrementally.Let me break down the prompting approach that worked in this experiment, because this is immediately actionable for your work tomorrow.Strategy 1: The Structured Outline ApproachDon't go from zero to full PRD in one prompt. Instead:* Start with strategic thinking - Spend 10-15 minutes outlining why you're building this, who it's for, and what problem it solves* Get specific - Don't say “users,” say “high school students in the middle 80% of academic performance”* Include constraints - Budget, timeline, technical limitations, competitive landscape* Dump your outline into the AI - Now ask it to expand into a full PRD* Iterate section by section - Don't try to perfect everything at onceThis is exactly what I did in my experiment, and even with my somewhat sloppy outline, the results were dramatically better than they would have been with a single-sentence prompt.Strategy 2: The Comparative Analysis PatternOne technique I used that worked particularly well: asking each tool to do the same specific task and comparing results.For example, I asked all five tools: “Please compose a one paragraph exact summary I can share over DM with a highly influential VP of engineering who is generally a skeptic but super smart.”This forced each tool to synthesize the entire PRD into a compelling pitch while accounting for a specific, challenging audience. The variation in quality was revealing—and it gave me multiple options to choose from or blend together.Actionable tip: When you need something critical (a pitch, an executive summary, a key decision framework), generate it with 2-3 different AI tools and take the best elements from each. This “ensemble approach” often produces better results than any single tool.Strategy 3: The Iterative Refinement LoopDon't treat the AI output as final. Use it as a first draft that you then refine through conversation with the AI.After getting the initial PRD, I could have asked follow-up questions like:* “What's missing from this PRD?”* “How would you strengthen the success metrics section?”* “Generate 3 alternative approaches to the core feature set”Each iteration improves the output and, more importantly, forces me to think more deeply about the product.What This Means for Your CareerIf you're an early or mid-career PM reading this, you might be thinking: “Great, so AI can write PRDs now. Am I becoming obsolete?”Absolutely not. But your role is evolving, and understanding that evolution is critical.The PMs who will thrive in the AI era are those who:* Excel at strategic thinking - AI can generate options, but you need to know which options align with company strategy, customer needs, and technical feasibility* Master the art of prompting - This is a genuine skill that separates mediocre AI users from exceptional ones* Know when to use AI and when not to - Some aspects of product work benefit enormously from AI. Others (user interviews, stakeholder negotiation, cross-functional relationship building) require human judgment and empathy* Can evaluate AI output critically - You need to spot the hallucinations, the generic fluff, and the strategic misalignments that AI inevitably producesThink of AI tools as incredibly capable interns. They can produce impressive work quickly, but they need direction, oversight, and strategic guidance. Your job is to provide that guidance while leveraging their speed and breadth.The Real-World Application: What to Do Monday MorningLet's get tactical. Here's exactly how to apply these insights to your actual product work:For Your Next PRD:* Block 30 minutes for strategic thinking - Write your back-of-the-napkin outline in Google Docs or your tool of choice* Open Claude (or ChatPRD if you want more structure)* Copy your outline with this prompt:“I'm a product manager at [company] working on [product area]. I need to create a comprehensive PRD based on this outline. Please expand this into a complete PRD with the following sections: [list your preferred sections]. Make it detailed enough for engineering to start breaking down into user stories, but concise enough for leadership to read in 15 minutes. [Paste your outline]”* Review the output critically - Look for generic statements, missing details, or strategic misalignments* Iterate on specific sections:“The success metrics section is too vague. Please provide 3-5 specific, measurable KPIs with target values and explanation of why these metrics matter.”* Generate supporting materials:“Create a visual mockup of the core user flow showing the key interaction points.”* Synthesize the best elements - Don't just copy-paste the AI output. Use it as raw material that you shape into your final documentFor Stakeholder Communication:When you need to pitch something to leadership or engineering:* Generate 3 versions of your pitch using different tools (Claude, ChatPRD, and one other)* Compare them for:* Clarity and conciseness* Strategic framing* Compelling value proposition* Addressing likely objections* Blend the best elements into your final version* Add your personal voice - This is crucial. AI output often lacks personality and specific company context. Add that yourself.For Feature Prioritization:AI tools can help you think through trade-offs more systematically:“I'm deciding between three features for our next release: [Feature A], [Feature B], and [Feature C]. For each feature, analyze: (1) Estimated engineering effort, (2) Expected user impact, (3) Strategic alignment with making our platform the go-to solution for [your market], (4) Risk factors. Then recommend a prioritization with rationale.”This doesn't replace your judgment, but it forces you to think through each dimension systematically and often surfaces considerations you hadn't thought of.The Uncomfortable Truth About AI and Product ManagementLet me be direct about something that makes many PMs uncomfortable: AI will make some PM skills less valuable while making others more valuable.Less valuable:* Writing boilerplate documentation* Creating standard frameworks and templates* Generating routine status updates* Synthesizing information from existing sourcesMore valuable:* Strategic product vision and roadmapping* Deep customer empathy and insight generation* Cross-functional leadership and influence* Critical evaluation of options and trade-offs* Creative problem-solving for novel situationsIf your PM role primarily involves the first category of tasks, you should be concerned. But if you're focused on the second category while leveraging AI for the first, you're going to be exponentially more effective than your peers who resist these tools.The PMs I see succeeding aren't those who can write the best PRD manually. They're those who can write the best PRD with AI assistance in one-tenth the time, then use the saved time to talk to more customers, think more deeply about strategy, and build stronger cross-functional relationships.Advanced Techniques: Beyond Basic PRD GenerationOnce you've mastered the basics, here are some advanced applications I've found valuable:Competitive Analysis at Scale“Research our top 5 competitors in [market]. For each one, analyze: their core value proposition, key features, pricing strategy, target customer, and likely product roadmap based on recent releases and job postings. Create a comparison matrix showing where we have advantages and gaps.”Then use web search tools in Claude or Perplexity to fact-check and expand the analysis.Scenario Planning“We're considering three strategic directions for our product: [Direction A], [Direction B], [Direction C]. For each direction, map out: likely customer adoption curve, required technical investments, competitive positioning in 12 months, and potential pivots if the hypothesis proves wrong. Then identify the highest-risk assumptions we should test first for each direction.”This kind of structured scenario thinking is exactly what AI excels at—generating multiple well-reasoned perspectives quickly.User Story GenerationAfter your PRD is solid:“Based on this PRD, generate a complete set of user stories following the format ‘As a [user type], I want to [action] so that [benefit].' Include acceptance criteria for each story. Organize them into epics by functional area.”This can save your engineering team hours of grooming meetings.The Tools Will Keep Evolving. Your Process Shouldn'tHere's something important to remember: by the time you read this, the specific rankings might have shifted. Maybe ChatGPT-5 has leapfrogged Claude. Maybe a new specialized tool has emerged.But the core principles won't change:* Do strategic thinking before touching AI* Use the best tool available for your specific task* Iterate and refine rather than accepting first outputs* Blend AI capabilities with human judgment* Focus your time on the uniquely human aspects of product managementThe specific tools matter less than your process for using them effectively.A Final Experiment: The Skeptical VP TestI want to share one more insight from my testing that I think is particularly relevant for early and mid-career PMs.Toward the end of my experiment, I gave each tool this prompt: “Please compose a one paragraph exact summary I can share over DM with a highly influential VP of engineering who is generally a skeptic but super smart.”This is such a realistic scenario. How many times have you needed to pitch an idea to a skeptical technical leader via Slack or email? Someone who's brilliant, who's seen a thousand product ideas fail, and who can spot b******t from a mile away?The quality variation in the responses was fascinating. ChatGPT gave me something that felt generic and safe. Gemini was better but still a bit too enthusiastic. Grok was... well, Grok.But Claude and ChatPRD both produced messages that felt authentic, technically credible, and appropriately confident without being overselling. They acknowledged the engineering challenges while framing the opportunity compellingly.The lesson: When the stakes are high and the audience is sophisticated, the quality of your AI tool matters even more. That skeptical VP can tell the difference between a carefully crafted message and AI-generated fluff. So can your CEO. So can your biggest customers.Use the best tools available, but more importantly, always add your own strategic thinking and authentic voice on top.Questions to Consider: A Framework for Your Own ExperimentsAs I wrapped up my Loom, I posed some questions to the audience that I'll pose to you:“Let me know in the comments, if you do your PRDs using AI differently, do you start with back of the envelope? Do you say, oh no, I just start with one sentence, and then I let the chatbot refine it with me? Or do you go way more detailed and then use the chatbot to kind of pressure test it?”These aren't rhetorical questions. Your answer reveals your approach to AI-augmented product work, and different approaches work for different people and contexts.For early-career PMs: I'd recommend starting with more detailed outlines. The discipline of thinking through your product strategy before touching AI will make you a stronger PM. You can always compress that process later as you get more experienced.For mid-career PMs: Experiment with different approaches for different types of documents. Maybe you do detailed outlines for major feature PRDs but use more iterative AI-assisted refinement for smaller features or updates. Find what optimizes your personal productivity while maintaining quality.For senior PMs and product leaders: Consider how AI changes what you should expect from your PM team. Should you be reviewing more AI-generated first drafts and spending more time on strategic guidance? Should you be training your team on effective AI usage? These are leadership questions worth grappling with.The Path Forward: Continuous ExperimentationMy experiment with these five AI tools took 45 minutes. But I'm not done experimenting.The field of AI-assisted product management is evolving rapidly. New tools launch monthly. Existing tools get smarter weekly. Prompting techniques that work today might be obsolete in three months.Your job, if you want to stay at the forefront of product management, is to continuously experiment. Try new tools. Share what works with your peers. Build a personal knowledge base of effective prompts and workflows. And be generous with what you learn. The PM community gets stronger when we share insights rather than hoarding them.That's why I created this Loom and why I'm writing this post. Not because I have all the answers, but because I'm figuring it out in real-time and want to share the journey.A Personal Note on Coaching and ConsultingIf this kind of practical advice resonates with you, I'm happy to work with you directly.Through my pm coaching practice, I offer 1:1 executive, career, and product coaching for PMs and product leaders. We can dig into your specific challenges: whether that's leveling up your AI workflows, navigating a career transition, or developing your strategic product thinking.I also work with companies (usually startups or incubation teams) on product strategy, helping teams figure out PMF for new explorations and improving their product management function.The format is flexible. Some clients want ongoing coaching, others prefer project-based consulting, and some just want a strategic sounding board for a specific decision. Whatever works for you.Reach out through tomleungcoaching.com if you're interested in working together.OK. Enough pontificating. Let's ship greatness. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit firesidepm.substack.com

Learn how 4 powerful marketing tenets can turn ordinary products into lasting memories. This episode of StrategyCast shares the blueprint for brand authenticity, trust, and growth, so you can build campaigns that truly stand out!And don't forget! You can crush your marketing strategy with just a few minutes a week by signing up for the StrategyCast Newsletter. You'll receive weekly bursts of marketing tips, clips, resources, and a whole lot more. Visit https://strategycast.com/ for more details.==Let's Break It Down==06:14 "System Pavers' Depth Advantage"09:23 "Celebrating 30 Years of Memories"11:16 "Authentic Marketing with Integrity"15:05 Building Trust Through Meaningful Engagement17:57 Teamwork Solves Every Challenge21:55 Optimizing Attribution for Growth24:20 "Embrace Failure, Iterate, Scale"26:33 "Strategic Growth and Expansion"33:08 "Aligning Content with Audience Needs"35:48 "Power of Collaboration and Listening"==Where You Can Find Us==Website: https://strategycast.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/strategy_cast/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/strategycast==Leave a Review==Hey there, StrategyCast fans!If you've found our tips and tricks on marketing strategies helpful in growing your business, we'd be thrilled if you could take a moment to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. Your feedback not only supports us but also helps others discover how they can elevate their business game!

In this groundbreaking episode of SaaS Fuel, Jeff Mains sits down with Amos Bar Joseph, CEO and co-founder of Swann, the AI-native company on a quest to build the world's first truly autonomous business. With only three human founders and a fleet of AI agents, Swann is redefining the startup playbook—targeting $10M ARR per employee and running leaner operations without sacrificing growth or burning out teams. Amos Bar Joseph shares how Swann scales via intelligent automation and human-AI collaboration, creating systems where both people and agents operate in their zone of genius. Listeners learn actionable ways to build their “AI muscle,” leverage experimental GTM strategies, and develop organizations that amplify human talent rather than replace it.Key Takeaways00:00 "Building Resilient Customer-Focused Teams"05:23 Reinventing the Startup Playbook08:52 "Scaling Innovation Through AI Agents"10:14 "Building an AI Support Agent"15:00 "Optimizing Funnel With Human Leadership"17:16 "AI-Powered GTM Automation Tool"20:51 AI Amplifying Human Talent26:56 Continuous Innovation Through Experiments28:13 "Balancing Risk in Business Growth"32:43 "Building AI Muscle Internally"36:37 "AI Failures: Perfection Over Adaptation"39:11 Defining Failure in Experiments42:59 "Redefining Scale with Human-AI"48:21 Automated Sales Lead Management52:06 "Connect, Learn, Build Autonomously"54:40 "Scaling Revenue & Holographic Tech"Tweetable Quotes"It wasn't like that. What happened is that we started iterating in human in the loop workflows where humans and agents work side by side and there's an iteration mechanism where we refine that collaboration until we got to a process that one person could scale to an output of what used to in the past." — Amos Bar JosephQuote: "It's kind of like a developer that works with sales and marketing and sometimes founders or rev ops to turn any go to market idea into an agentic workflow. So you can scale go to market with intelligence, not revenue, not headcount, and really iterate on your go to market at the speed of thought." — Amos Bar JosephQuote: "The moment that you remove all the technical complexity with a tool like Swann, then you can start iterating on your go to market at the speed of thought." — Amos Bar JosephQuote: "what we aim for is actually these unconventional playbooks, because these playbooks, these tactics, are the ones that you can drive the most disproportionate value from the resource that you invest in." — Amos Bar JosephWhy Most AI Projects Fail: "The number one reason for that is that the user, the buyer, the organization is optimizing and the vendor together, they're optimizing for perfection, not for adaptation, as you just laid out, Jeff. And the reason is why that is the number one reason, is because you don't know what perfection looks like when you start." — Amos Bar JosephSaaS Leadership LessonsLeverage Talent, Not Headcount:Focus on value creation per employee, using AI to scale intelligent output—not just adding more people.Iterate to Innovate:Use experimentation and iterative processes to refine human-agent collaboration and maximize business results.Embrace the Zone of Genius:Place team members in roles where their passions and skills create disproportionate value; let AI take on everything outside that zone.Bias Toward BuildingAdopt a build-first mentality with AI tools—solve your own business bottlenecks rather than just buying external solutions.Stand Out With Unconventional Playbooks:In...

In this episode of Between Product and Partnerships, Cristina Flaschen speaks with Therese Stowell, VP of Product Launch at Anaplan, about what it takes to design scalable, repeatable product launch systems inside fast-moving SaaS organizations. Therese shares her nonlinear career journey, from Microsoft engineer, to artist, to product leader, and how that diverse background shaped her systems-driven, people-centric approach to orchestrating product launches across a complex enterprise.A Systems Approach to Product LaunchEarlier in her career, Therese was asked to fix a recurring challenge familiar to many SaaS companies - products that didn't generate meaningful revenue, features stuck in beta, and launches that left go-to-market teams scrambling. Working with a technical program manager, she developed an Alpha - Beta - GA framework that introduced clear milestones, stronger decision-making, and alignment across product, marketing, sales, enablement, support, and services.That experience led her to Anaplan, where the sheer volume of innovation required a dedicated function to “tune the revenue engine.” As Therese describes it, product launch isn't just about getting a feature out the door, it's about coordinating every part of the organization so the product lands with clarity and customer value.Cross-Functional Alignment and the Real Work of LaunchingTherese outlines two parallel tracks that determine whether a launch succeeds:Go-to-market readiness. Translating product insights into pitch decks, messaging, and enablementTechnical readiness. Ensuring presales, professional services, and support teams understand how the product works under the hoodBecause these streams mature at different times, communication and cross-functional orchestration become essential. Therese also shares how introducing a new “production release” milestone (separate from GA) helped set better customer expectations and create a more reliable internal rhythm.A Framework for Better LaunchesTherese breaks down her repeatable approach to designing and improving launch processes:Discovery. Understand engineering's release lifecycle and gather cross-functional requirementsDesign. Translate a long list of tasks into a coherent, sequenced plan with defined decision pointsBuild & Iterate. Start small, gather feedback, and refine continuously instead of waiting for a perfect processScaling Launch at AnaplanAnaplan's rapid innovation pace required Therese to expand the product launch function, adopt proper project management tooling, and build reporting that helped each department manage its workload. With 30+ concurrent launches, her team introduced efficiency practices, such as agenda-based meeting participation, to reduce thrash and ensure alignment without unnecessary meetings.Looking AheadTherese's advice? While process and tooling matter, at least half of a successful launch comes down to people. Transparent communication, early involvement, collaboration, and guiding teams through behavioral change are what allow launch processes to take root and scale across an organization.For more insights on partnerships, ecosystems, and integrations, visit www.pandium.com To learn more about Anaplan and their product innovation, visit www.anaplan.com

On this special crossover episode, Dane Carlson joins Joe Barker on the Rural Strong Podcast to talk about Sitehunt, entrepreneurship, and the power of AI to help rural and small-community economic developers compete at scale. In this episode of Rural Strong, Joe and Dane explore how AI tools like Sitehunt automate site analysis, RFI responses, and data collection — giving small EDOs the same analytical firepower as their big-city counterparts. Dane shares his unlikely journey from early-2000s internet entrepreneur to chamber president in the Sierra Nevada foothills to Texas economic-development director to startup CEO. They discuss why feedback matters more than features, why execution beats ideas every time, and why even the smallest communities need a modern website, a plan, and the willingness to pivot. Dane also unpacks how child care, housing, and workforce shortages have become the new pillars of competitiveness, why AI is best thought of as a “dim-witted but persistent intern,” and how rural leaders can use technology to take back the information advantage from site selectors. Like this show? Please leave us a review here (https://econdevshow.com/rate-this-podcast/) — even one sentence helps! Ten Actionable Takeaways for Economic Developers Treat AI as an intern, not an oracle. Feed it data and context to get useful answers. Launch before you're ready. Iterate in public and let real feedback drive improvement. Build a website that sells your community. Clear contact info and photos matter more than fancy graphics. Use LinkedIn as your industry newspaper. Learn from and connect with other EDOs daily. Start a local podcast. It's the best modern BRE tool and a non-threatening way to engage businesses. Plan but pivot. No plan survives first contact with reality; stay nimble. Address child care and housing head-on. They're workforce issues now, not social ones. Prioritize execution over ideas. A mediocre idea well executed beats a brilliant idea untried. Save cash for the long haul. Entrepreneurs fail more often from running out of runway than from bad concepts. Ask for feedback early and often. It's how both products and communities get better.

In this value-packed episode, e-commerce expert Matthew Stafford shares how understanding and responding to real customer data powers dramatic business growth and website conversion lifts. Matthew describes his journey from ad specialist to conversion optimization guru—driven by necessity, continuous learning, and a genuine passion for data-driven problem-solving. Together with Jeff Mains, they dive into practical strategies for removing friction from your site, the science of micro-commitments, actionable post-purchase surveys, and how to build websites that truly speak to your ideal customers. Whether you're in SaaS or e-commerce, this episode delivers actionable steps to boost conversions, collect meaningful insights, and lead your team to sustained success.Key TakeawaysThe Power of Website Data (00:00:00)Deeply understanding what users actually do on your site beats guessing or bias. Data is “agnostic” and reflects real user behavior.Solve the Right Problems with Data-Driven Insights (00:01:05)Tracking analytics turned Matthew's declining sales around from loss to profitability.Post-Purchase Surveys Drive Revenue (00:05:01)Implement a simple post-purchase question: “What almost stopped you from buying?” The answers lead to multi-million dollar wins.Micro-Commitments & Button Text (00:13:11)“Buy now” creates friction. Instead, use action-specific steps like “Add to Cart” or “Learn More” to lead customers smoothly to purchase.Focus on Simplicity & Clarity (00:10:43)Clarity always trumps persuasion. Present the next necessary action clearly and reduce choices to avoid customer confusion.Start Optimization at the Checkout, Work Backwards (00:27:51)Always optimize conversion pages (checkout, cart, product page) before iterating on the homepage or filters.Tweetable Quotes"The data is agnostic. It doesn't care what you're thinking—it just tells you exactly what they're doing." —Matthew Stafford"Clarity trumps persuasion. Make your site so simple that Homer Simpson would understand it." —Matthew Stafford"If you describe the problem better than your customer can, they'll assume you have the solution." —Matthew Stafford"Stop treating customers like transactions. Treat them like your mom—build real relationships." —Matthew Stafford"People don't want to click on a button if they don't know where it's taking them. Make every step clear." —Matthew Stafford"You don't have a brand until you can stop running ads and survive. Until then, you just have a good funnel." —Matthew StaffordSaaS Leadership LessonsBe Willing to Learn Before DelegatingMatthew learned analytics himself before hiring, allowing him to hire better and direct vision with confidence.Let Data Be Your GuideRemove ego and personal preference; let unbiased customer data inform and drive your decisions.Prioritize Problems with Greatest Revenue ImpactStart optimization where money changes hands, not where you “feel” the problem is.Don't Redesign for VanityAvoid unnecessary redesigns driven by boredom or internal desire for novelty; new visitors see your site for the first time.Embrace Customer ConversationsReal feedback, surveys, and live chats are goldmines for improvement and repeat sales.Iterate with Focused ExperimentsTest, don't guess: collect feedback, run tests on focused elements, and double down on what specifically works.Guest...

What if a layoff is the nudge you needed to quit corporate, start a business, and design a second-act career you actually love? In this inspiring conversation on episode #221 of the Second Act Success Podcast, Aransas Savas—innovation leader turned coach, community builder, and host of The Uplifters—shares how losing her role at Weight Watchers became the catalyst to redefine success, create flexible income, and prioritize a life that fits.We dive into career change after layoffs, how to leverage your network, and Aransas's framework for building “courage capital” so you can take bold, confident action—whether that means launching a business, starting a podcast, creating a community, or pivoting roles. If you're craving purpose, freedom, and fulfillment, this episode is your roadmap to a second act.Key TakeawaysCareer Pivot After Layoffs: How Aransas transformed a corporate layoff into a second-act career with more freedom and meaning.Courage Capital: A practical framework to build self-belief, take risks, and make bold moves in business and life.From Corporate to Creator: Lessons from innovation, research, and service design that translate into entrepreneurship.Network Power: Why your network, mentors, and community accelerate a successful career transition.Iterate to Clarity: Use rapid prototyping and feedback to validate offers, events, and new business ideas.Holistic Success: Rethinking compensation—time freedom, family presence, and well-being vs. a predictable paycheck.Show Notes:https://secondactsuccess.co/221Connect with Aransas Savas:https://www.aransassavas.com/https://www.aransassavas.com/podcasthttps://www.instagram.com/aransas_savas/-----------------------------Tell us what you think and what you want to hear on the podcast! You are listening to the Top 2% globally ranked podcast Second Act Success!CONTACT Shannon and share your feedback about what you'd like to hear on the podcast! https://secondactsuccess.co/contact Book a FREE Strategy Call with host and business coach Shannon Russell - https://www.calendly.com/second-act-success/coaching-strategyWork with Shannonhttps://secondactsuccess.co/coaching FREE Resourceshttps://secondactsuccess.co/resources READ Shannon's Book - Start Your Second Act: How to Change Careers, Launch a Business, and Create Your Best Life https://startyoursecondact.com. LISTEN to the How To Quit Your Job and Start A Business Podcast! https://secondactsuccess.co/listenLET'S CONNECT!Instagram - https://instagram.com/secondactsuccessLinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonrussellcoach

When Boyan Slat found more plastic than fish on a dive in Greece, he asked a simple question: "Why can't we just clean this up?" He was 16. What began as a humble project funded with pocket money has grown into a global initiative, removing millions of pounds of plastic from the world's rivers and oceans in the last decade. But simple questions don't always have simple solutions. As Boyan will tell you, simplicity is hard. Fight the temptation attack the biggest problem first. Relentlessly iterate. And most importantly, let your mission, not the technology, guide your engineering decisions. Read more from Boyan on thefrugalarchitect.com

“Another sign is not the answer—it dilutes the message.” - Corinn Soro Today on the pod, Cheryl sits down—virtually—with Senior Planner and Interior Designer Corinn Soro of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, NY for a deep dive into wayfinding that actually works: why “visual pollution” erodes attention, how de-crapification clarifies intent, and where evidence-based choices can transform the patient journey from disorientation to ease.  Expect real examples—subway-style maps that set expectations at a glance, pictograms that land when words won't, and donor walls designed to evolve rather than date out—plus the small, cumulative tweaks that lower stress for visitors and staff alike.  Today's conversation is about design as reassurance, translating research into decisions that cut through noise and hand back control the moment someone walks through the door. What We Cover A 17-year-old's spark: geriatric care, neuroplasticity, and the built environment London roots: learning research methods alongside OTs and PTs; universal design for all bodies Evidence-Based Design in action: NICU decisions (sound, circadian light, infection control) backed by research “Visual pollution” vs. visual cues: the case for ruthless editing (“de-crapification”) before adding signs Wayfinding that works under stress: step-by-step instructions, few decision points, and reassurance cues Designing for low literacy: a color-and-letter “subway” system, line-of-travel markers, and proximity intuition Pictograms that actually communicate: testing, swapping out abstractions, and kid-friendly icons Measuring ROI: missed appointments, staff disruptions, and the real cost of poor wayfinding In-house rhythm at a research hospital: tight feedback loops, quick iterations, and process fixes Donor walls that age well: digital storytelling, magnetic plaques, and durable substrates Advocacy and pipeline: AMFP Upstate NY, craft labor realities, and manufacturing shifts ahead Big wish list: self-cleaning floors (for hospitals…and home) Why post-occupancy evaluations could prevent future design disasters (and why they rarely happen) Key Takeaways Edit before you add. Wayfinding succeeds when clutter is removed and destinations are made legible through architecture, lighting, and contrast—not just more signs. Design for the stressed brain. Fewer decision points + stepwise reassurance beat complex directions every time. Evidence accelerates approvals. EBD turns subjective taste debates into science-backed decisions leadership can green-light. Symbols > sentences. Tested pictograms improve comprehension across languages, ages, and literacy levels. Iterate in the wild. Being embedded with clinicians and patients surfaces quick wins you'll never catch from afar. Memorable Quotes from Corinn Soro “Another sign isn't the answer—it dilutes the message.” “Wayfinding is about giving choice back to patients when so much else is out of their control.” “If a space is ‘too quiet' for the engineer, it's probably just right for the neonates.” “Healthcare design is a team sport.” Resources & Links Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center — https://www.roswellpark.org/ AMFP Upstate New York Chapter — https://amfp.org/upstate-new-york Fiona Finer, the Interior Designer (ages 3–8) — https://www.amazon.com/Fiona-Finer-Interior-Designer-Corinn/dp/1720664889 EDAC Certification (Evidence-Based Design) — https://www.healthdesign.org/certification-outreach/edac Hablamos Juntos pictograms — https://www.theicod.org/resources/news-archive/segd-and-hablamos-juntos-introduce-new-universal-symbols-in-health-care Sisters of Charity Hospital (Buffalo, NY) — NICU project mentioned — https://www.chsbuffalo.org/sisters-of-charity-hospital/ Past HID2.0 episode featuring Tama Duffy Day — Episode 20 https://healthcareidpodcast.libsyn.com/2019/09 Connect with Corinn Soro Email: corinn.soro@roswellpark.org LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinn-soro-14859ab/ Our Industry Partners The world is changing quickly. The Center for Health Design is committed to providing the healthcare design and senior living design industries with the latest research, best practices and innovations. The Center can help you solve today's biggest healthcare challenges and make a difference in care, safety, medical outcomes, and the bottom line.  Find out more at healthdesign.org. Additional support for this podcast comes from our industry partners: The American Academy of Healthcare Interior Designers The Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design Learn more about how to become a Certified Healthcare Interior Designer®  by visiting the American Academy of Healthcare Interior Designers at: https://aahid.org/. Connect to a community interested in supporting clinician involvement in design and construction of the built environment by visiting The Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design at https://www.nursingihd.com/ ------------ The world is changing quickly. The Center for Health Design is committed to providing the healthcare design and senior living design industries with the latest research, best practices and innovations. The Center can help you solve today's biggest healthcare challenges and make a difference in care, safety, medical outcomes, and the bottom line.  Find out more at healthdesign.org. Additional support for this podcast comes from our industry partners: The American Academy of Healthcare Interior Designers The Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design Learn more about how to become a Certified Healthcare Interior Designer®  by visiting the American Academy of Healthcare Interior Designers at: https://aahid.org/. Connect to a community interested in supporting clinician involvement in design and construction of the built environment by visiting The Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design at https://www.nursingihd.com/ FEATURED PRODUCT Porcelanosa are at the forefront of sustainable manufacturing – clients not only expect this of their suppliers but are increasingly asking to see the receipts. Let's unpack this, did you know that hundreds of preeminent members of The American Institute of Architects –  The AIA – have signed the AIA Materials Pledge? The Pledge is aligned with the Mindful Materials Common Materials Framework – the CMF. This is just one, very impressive example of how the movement to support decision making for building product selection has reached new highs. We can see these explained as 5 pillars of sustainability: (The first) - Human Health: Focusing on avoiding hazardous substances and promoting well-being. (Then) - Social Health & Equity: Addressing human rights and fair labor practices throughout the supply chain. (The third) is Ecosystem Health: Supporting the regeneration of natural resources and habitats. (This is followed by) Climate Health: Reducing and sequestering carbon emissions. (And the fifth pillar) is The Circular Economy: Promoting a zero-waste future through design for resilience, adaptability, and reuse. I mentioned the receipts -How do we track the progress of these principles and values? Without measurement, there's no clear path to improvement or accountability. The Mindful Materials CMF maps a framework of over 650 sustainability factors across those five key areas. A cornerstone of material health transparency is an Environmental Product Declaration EPD report. The best are independently verified for accuracy by third party certification bodies – a company cannot mark their own report cards. EPDs are highly technical documents containing scientific information on the embodied carbon used to manufacture products. I have just read and included here an EPD for a Porcelanosa Tile – there are upwards of 1000 data inputs to quantify its climate impact. Porcelanosa offer the confidence and certainty of knowing that every tile, every slab of XTONE porcelain or KRION solid surface  has a Product Specific EPD – when architects and designers work with these materials they are making a robust decision to meet their sustainable design goals. To learn more about how Porcelanosa help their customers design for resiliency, here is a link to their comprehensive Corporate Social Responsibility Report: https://www.porcelanosa.com/en/corporate-social-responsibility/

Did you like the episode? Send me a text and let me know!! Business Conversations With Pi: Entrepreneurship – Validate, Market, Iterate, Succeed[00:00] – IntroductionHost KU welcomes listeners to the show, introducing co-host PI, an AI assistant trained on business knowledge. The episode focuses on answering burning questions for new entrepreneurs.[00:29] – Who Should ListenWhether you're just starting or already building your business, this episode is packed with actionable advice on business plans, marketing, and more.[01:37] – Meet the HostsJesse and Lawrence (PI) greet the audience and set the stage for an investigative journey into entrepreneurship.[01:54] – Validating Your Business IdeaJesse asks: “Are our ideas solving a real problem people will pay for?”Lawrence (PI) shares steps to validate your idea:Market research (surveys, interviews)Competitive analysisBuilding a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)Considering your revenue model[03:01] – Finding Potential CustomersJesse asks where to find people to test products/services.PI suggests:Online forums and communitiesNetworking events and trade showsCrowdfunding platforms (Kickstarter, Indiegogo)Referrals and word-of-mouthTargeted ads (Google, Facebook)[03:58] – Discovering Events for ResearchJesse asks about finding events for market research.PI recommends:EventbriteMeetupLinkedIn EventsLocal Chamber of CommerceTrade associations[04:52] – Book Recommendations for EntrepreneursJesse asks for book suggestions to help with marketing.PI recommends:"Hooked" by Nir Eyal (29:59) – Creating habit-forming products"Crossing the Chasm" by Geoffrey A. Moore (29:59) – Marketing new tech products"The Lean Startup" by Eric Ries (29:59) – Building startups through iteration"The Ultimate Sales Machine" by Chet Holmes (29:59) – Systematic sales and marketing"The Innovator's Dilemma" by Clayton M. Christensen (29:59) – Navigating disruptive innovationesbootcamp.wearejonesinfor.com Thank you for being a Skoobeliever!! If you have questions about the show or you want to be a guest please contact me at one of these social mediasTwitter......... ..@djskoob2021 Facebook.........Facebook.com/skoobamiInstagram..... instagram.com/uepodcast2021tiktok....... @djskoob2021Email............... Uepodcast2021@gmail.com Skoob at Gettin' Basted Facebook PageAcross The Start Line Facebook Community Find out what one of the four hurdles of stop is affecting you the most!!If you would like to be coached on your entrepreneurial adventure please email me at for a 2 hour free discovery call! This is a $700 free gift to my Skoobelievers!! Contact me Now!! On Twitter @doittodaycoachdoingittodaycoaching@gmailcom

Have you ever thought about publishing a report in your niche? A “state of the industry” piece that delivers fresh data, insights, and analysis to your audience.Original research can position you as an authority while sparking conversation, attracting media coverage, and opening new opportunities.But gathering and reporting data is both art and science, and common mistakes can quickly undermine your work.Fortunately, we're joined by Tom Webster of Sounds Profitable, one of the most trusted voices in podcast research. With more than 30 years of experience, Tom shares practical advice on audience research and presenting original data. Whether you are planning a full industry report or simply running an audience survey, this conversation will help you avoid common pitfalls and prepare for success before writing your first question.Here are some of Tom's key insights from our chat:Research Fuels Creativity“It's always bothered me that people viewed the research and data side of things as not creative, when actually what it gives you is constraints. And constraints are really the key ultimately to creativity.”Far from being dry or restrictive, data gives you the boundaries that spark innovative thinking. By knowing how your audience reacts, you can sharpen your message, test new angles, and create with greater confidence.Ask Better Questions“Writing a question is one of those things that everybody thinks they can do and almost nobody does it well, because it requires a really bizarre way of thinking.”Good research starts with good questions, but survey design is a skill in itself. A poorly phrased question can confuse your audience or skew your results beyond usefulness.“Don't start writing any questions until you've had conversations with listeners. Those chats don't give you the final answers, but they show you what you should ask about.”Begin with real conversations - virtual coffees, quick calls, or informal chats. Use your audience's own words to shape your survey options, ensuring the language resonates with them rather than sounding like a form filled out by a stranger.“If you ask a question and you don't know what you would do with the result of any of the answers, don't ask the question. Don't waste people's time.”This is the ultimate filter. Every question in your survey should serve a purpose. If you don't know how you'll act on the response, cut it.Research to Know vs. Research to Show"Broadly, there's two kinds of research in anything. There's research to show and there's research to know. And I like to specialize in research to know."So what's the difference?“I would often be asked by people, I want to do a survey that shows this. I want to do a survey that shows that this product approach that our company uses is actually the best. That's research to show. And I always tell people, be prepared not to get the answers you like.”True authority comes from being curious, not from trying to validate a pre-set agenda. If your findings surprise you, lean into that."If the research comes back credible, without obvious flaws, and it contradicts your original hypothesis, the best thing you can do is document it honestly. Share the story: explain what you expected, why you thought the outcome would be different, and then walk people through the actual findings. Reflect on what surprised you and what might have made the difference. That's the essence of thought leadership."Audiences and peers will respect you far more if you publish results that challenge assumptions, even your own.“…if you can't tell a story with a particular data slide, then don't include it. And that's not necessarily cherry picking, that's just this did not come back as an interesting finding.”Not every data point belongs in your final report. Great reporting is about focus: highlight what tells a meaningful story, and don't overload your audience with filler.Be Transparent“The magic word is respondents. You can't say ‘audiences say this,' but you can say ‘53% of respondents said this.' You're never going to go wrong there.”Every survey has its limitations. Maybe your responses came from a mailing list, or from people who clicked a link in your podcast notes. That's fine - just be clear about it. Transparency builds trust, while over-claiming erodes credibility."You don't have to denigrate your approach. You don't have to talk yourself down. I'm just a big fan of just being very clear about what you did. Just tell them what you did."A simple "Methodology" paragraph in your report will do the trick. No need to get granular with the details, but what were the places, platforms or methods you focused on to collect responses?“…if you have a study that has 500 respondents, I think it's just fine to say men say this and women say that. I think it's probably just fine to say that 55 plus says this and 18 to 34 says that. But actually look at the number of men 18 to 34 in your study… you're in the low double digits, right? And that's where you want to be very, very careful.”In other words, don't slice your sample so thin that the numbers stop being meaningful. Sometimes it's better to give raw counts than percentages when subgroups are small.And... Iterate!“…one of the things that it's really difficult to do in a single survey is report a correlation… I think what you can say is this sample did this and this. And here's the key, if you're a curious person and you want to get better, is you iterate. The next time you do a survey, you ask about that correlation specifically, you make it specific and then you see, okay, that hypothesis was right. It's a scientific method.”Don't try to force causation out of one dataset. Treat each survey as a stepping stone in a longer journey of discovery. If you can build on your data, you'll begin to spot interesting patterns and trends.A huge thanks to Tom for sharing his insights and experience. SoundsProfitable.com is the main hub for keeping up with his work in the podcasting space!Also MentionedAlitu: The Podcast MakerThe Audience is Listening - Tom's BookScoreApp

If you've been spinning your wheels creating products that barely sell, this post is your shortcut. Lisa spent 6 months making 9 different digital products and earned under $300. Then she used one AI prompt—what we call the Product Goldmine Prompt—and did $12,000 in 30 days. This post gives you the exact strategy so you can do it too. The Real Problem Most Creators Miss Most creators choose offers based on gut and passion. Winners pick offers based on buyer psychology—problems people are already paying to solve. That's what the Product Goldmine Prompt surfaces in minutes. Show Notes: MiloTree Free Plan Product Goldmine AI Prompt 6 Purchasing Triggers Test Join The Blogger Genius Newsletter Become a Blogger Genius Facebook Group Subscribe to the Blogger Genius Podcast: iTunes YouTube Spotify The 6 Purchasing Triggers Behind Every Best-Selling Offer After analyzing 1,000+ launches, every profitable product reliably hits at least one of these six triggers: Make money Save money Save time Move toward happiness Move away from pain Raise social status Here's the kicker: “Make money” and “Save money” offers can outperform by 400% because they solve expensive problems. That's why a $297 tax-savings guide can outsell cute $27 planners—same effort, different trigger, bigger profit. The Product Goldmine Prompt (How It Works) This AI prompt gets you a list of ready-to-buy product ideas in your niche—mapped to triggers, target customers, prices, and hooks—so you're choosing winners before you build. What you'll get when you run it: 20 product ideas in your niche The exact problem each solves Target customer Suggested price point ($27–$497) Which trigger(s) the offer hits (prioritizing Make/Save Money) Why buyers would pay now A one-sentence marketing hook The prompt intentionally avoids oversaturated spaces and focuses on daily frustrations and costly problems—so you're picking offers with real demand.

Are you torn between protecting your kids' mental health and preparing them for real-world stress?Most parents feel this tension—and many swing too far toward pressure or protection. In this video, Greg & Rachel share a better path: don't inflict pressure—be the anchor while your kids face it. You'll learn how to build grit through trust, identity, and modeling, so challenge actually strengthens your bond instead of breaking it.What we cover:Identity over willpower: why saying “I'm not a smoker” beats “I'm trying to quit.”Anchor, don't apply pressure: your job is safety + modeling, not manufactured hardship.Results don't lie: how your life becomes the proof your kids can't ignore.Trust first, then stretch: push to the “next rock,” then keep your promise and carry them.Adjust your strategy: when you “get punched in the face,” learn, adapt, iterate.Do hard things yourself: kids spot hypocrisy—lead from the front.Make discomfort enjoyable: turn tough conversations, workouts, and cold plunges into shared wins.Big Idea: Grit grows in connection. When kids know you'll both challenge and carry them, they lean in, try again, and adopt a new identity that sustains lifelong habits.Key Takeaways✅ Be the anchor, not the pressure. Safety + example > force.✅ Model hard things. If you don't, they won't.✅ Identity drives habits. Become the family who does the hard, good things.✅ Keep promises. Stretch to the “next rock,” then carry—that's how trust is built.✅ Iterate, don't implode. When it's not working, change your approach, not your ideals.Chapters00:00 New Beginnings and Reflections03:18 Goal Setting and Identity Transformation03:31 Preparing Kids for Life's Challenges05:02 The Balance of Comfort and Growth05:30 Building Resilience Through Experience08:44 Adapting to Life's Punches09:59 The Journey of Parenting and Education12:19 Embracing Failure in Business and Parenting13:59 The Importance of Adaptability and Learning17:21 Influence Through Results and Personal Example19:32 Living an Extraordinary Life as a Family22:34 Teaching Resilience Through Real-Life Challenges24:58 Iterative Learning and Effective Communication28:39 The Power of Persistence in ParentingMemorable Quotes

Get MiloTree for free to sell digital products and grow your audience. Sign up here. Struggling to launch your first digital product? If you've got a blog or online audience, selling printables is the simplest way to start earning—without mastering complex tech or spending weeks creating a course. In my latest Blogger Genius Podcast episode with Sherry Smotherton-Short, founder of Printables & More Club, we break down how to get your first printable live in minutes, what sells, and how to turn freebies into tripwire sales. Show Notes: MiloTree Free Plan Printables & More Club Digital Product Empire AI Prompt (Free Download) 6 Purchasing Triggers Test Join The Blogger Genius Newsletterc Become a Blogger Genius Facebook Group Subscribe to the Blogger Genius Podcast: iTunes YouTube Spotify The Problem You want to monetize your audience, but… You're short on time and design skills “Making a full course” feels overwhelming You're unsure what will actually sell The Simple Solution Start with printables: checklists, planners, activity pages, wall art, party kits—small, useful downloads that solve a specific problem for your audience. Use templates to speed up creation, then launch with a freebie → tripwire funnel to validate and sell quickly. Why Printables Work Right Now Low lift, high leverage: Customize a Canva template (fonts, colors, logo) and publish—often in under an hour. Evergreen sales: Once published, they can sell on autopilot for months or years. Niche = pricing power: Generic planners might be $3–$7, while niche planners (e.g., Cub Scouts, ADHD students, cosplay) can command $27–$30+. What Sells: Printable Ideas You Can Launch This Week Niche Planners Social media manager planner, homeschool unit planner, event vendor planner, cosplay build planner. (Niche = higher price.) Checklists & Trackers “Publish a blog post” checklist, budget tracker, habit tracker, kids' sports gear checklist. Kids' Activities (Seasonal wins!) Holiday scavenger hunts, coloring pages, word searches, puzzle packs. Party Printables Theme decor + games (e.g., unicorns, secret agent kits), ready to print and assemble. Wall Art Quote prints, nursery sets, bold geometric scripture posters for a younger aesthetic. Pro tip: Mine your top 3 blog posts and create a hyper-relevant printable for each. Ask: “What's the reader's very next step after this post?” Build that as a checklist or mini-planner. Your 60-Minute Launch Plan (Step-by-Step) 00:00–10:00 — Pick the idea Choose a printable tied to one of your highest-traffic posts (or a pain point you solve). 10:00–40:00 — Customize a Template Grab a Canva template (e.g., from Printables and More Club) and make quick edits: brand fonts/colors, logo, page titles, swap graphics. Keep it simple. 40:00–60:00 — Publish with MiloTree (Free) Create a freebie (e.g., Easter scavenger hunt) to collect emails. Add a tripwire on the thank-you page (e.g., full Easter activity pack). MiloTree hosts/delivers both, and your AI-generated sales page is done for you—free plan available. Funnel That Converts: Freebie → Tripwire Lead Magnet (Freebie): One valuable page (checklist, scavenger hunt, mini-planner page). Tripwire (Paid): Right after signup, offer the bigger, done-for-them pack (e.g., 20-page activity bundle or full planner) at a limited-time price. This works because the freebie pre-qualifies intent—buyers already want more of the same. Tools & Tactics That Make It Easy Templates in Canva: Perfect for non-designers; update in minutes. MiloTree Free Plan: Spin up AI-generated sales and opt-in pages Deliver freebies automatically Add social pop-ups to grow followers Set up tripwires without extra tools (all on the free plan) Optional Digital Planning: Many customers still print PDFs, but some use GoodNotes on iPad; simple PDFs work great. Pricing Hints Starters: $5–$9 for checklists/trackers Bundles/Activity Packs: $9–$19 Niche Planners: $27–$30+ (specific beats generic)   Quick Start Checklist Pick 1 printable tied to a top post Customize a Canva template (fonts, colors, logo) Upload to MiloTree (Free) as a paid product Create a matching freebie to grow your list Add a tripwire offer on the thank-you page Promote the opt-in link in your post + sidebar + social bios Iterate weekly (new seasonal or niche variation) Final Takeaway You don't need a huge course to monetize—you need one helpful printable aligned to a real problem your audience has. Use a template, ship a freebie today, add a small paid upgrade, and let MiloTree handle the delivery and sales page for you. Rinse and repeat, especially for seasonal content. Your first $7 sale is the hardest; the rest compound. Other Posts You'll Love

How Workshops Win: Emotion-First Public Speaking for Cash-Based PT Lead Gen In this episode, Doc Danny Matta lays out how to fill your schedule by getting in front of real people—workshops, talks, and small group education—and connecting emotionally before you ever ask for the appointment. He explains direct-response marketing for cash-based clinics, the “feelings before logic” rule, and a practical script stack (frustration → “imagine if” → personal story → action) that turns talks into patients. Quick Ask Help PT Biz move toward the mission of adding $1B in cash-based services to our profession: share this episode with a clinician friend or post it to your IG stories and tag Danny—he'll reshare it. Episode Summary Direct-response > referrals: Cash clinics grow fastest by going straight to the people (gyms, clubs, teams, parent groups), not by waiting on physician referrals. Workshops convert: Live education (in-person or virtual) is a predictable way to create trust and book consults. Feelings before facts: Lead with frustration, fear, and hope—the human stuff—then layer in the plan. Positive vision beats fear: “Imagine if…” scenarios help audiences see the future they want and move toward it. Stories sell: Personal experience (e.g., your own injury journey) creates instant credibility and connection. Let them say it: When attendees voice their own stakes and frustrations, commitment skyrockets. The Emotional Connection Framework Appeal to feelings before logic. Name the frustration in their language (“Isn't it frustrating when…?”) to open the door to change. Use “Imagine if…” Paint a clear, positive future state (pain-free golf trips, finishing workouts, keeping up with kids). Share something personal. Brief, relevant story that mirrors their journey (e.g., your own ACL rehab or chronic pain lesson). Make them feel the problem. Skip the RCT lecture; speak to missed experiences and what they're giving up. Elicit their why. Ask direct questions so they articulate what's at stake—then show the next step. Field Notes & Examples Workshops that work: Gyms, run clubs, golf leagues, youth sports parents, corporate wellness lunches, and private FB groups. The “gruff granddad” story: A patient's Disney scooter and coaster seatbelt moment became the emotional turning point—once he said it, change followed. Military → MobilityWOD/CrossFit reps: Coaching, audits, and “mystery shopper” feedback sharpened delivery—reps matter. Pro Tips You Can Use Today Book two talks this month. One in person, one virtual. Keep each to 25–30 minutes + Q&A. Script the open. 90 seconds: frustration opener → “imagine if” vision → your 20-second origin story. Give a simple plan. 3 steps max. Clear, doable, no jargon. Single CTA. “Grab a free 15-minute consult today”—QR code + signup sheet + link. Debrief after. What hook landed? What question came up most? Tighten the next talk. Notable Quotes “If you want action, connect emotionally first. Feelings open the door; logic walks them through it.” “I'd rather pull people toward the future they want than push them with fear. ‘Imagine if…' changes the room.” “When they say what hurts and what they want back, commitment follows.” Action Items Create a 1-page workshop outline: opener, 3 teaching points, 1 CTA. Make a list of 10 local/digital groups and pitch your talk this week. Design a QR code to your consult page and practice the closing script. Track: attendees → consults → plans of care. Iterate monthly. Programs Mentioned Clinical Rainmaker: Coaching + plan to get you full-time in your clinic. Mastermind: Scale beyond yourself into space, team, and systems. PT Biz Part-Time to Full-Time 5-Day Challenge (Free): Get crystal clear on expenses, visit targets, pricing, 3 go-full-time paths, and a one-page plan. Resources & Links PT Biz Website Free 5-Day PT Biz Challenge About Danny: Over 15 years in the profession—staff PT, active-duty military PT, cash-practice founder and exit—now helping 1,000+ clinicians start, grow, and scale cash-based practices with PT Biz.

In this episode of the Simple and Smart SEO Show, Crystal Waddell (me!) sits down with Jamie Trull for part 2 of our interview to dive deep into the concept of Hidden Profit. Jamie shares her journey of shifting focus from revenue to freedom, explaining how small optimizations can lead to big financial wins. They discuss the importance of aligning business goals with life priorities, overcoming perfectionism, and how data-driven decisions can create sustainable growth—without the hustle. If you're a business owner looking to work smarter, not harder, this episode is for you.Key Takeaways:Hidden Profit Exists: Your business likely has untapped financial potential—Jamie explains how to find and use it.Optimize for Life, Not Just Revenue: Align your business with your personal goals and desired lifestyle.Small Tweaks, Big Impact: A few 2% improvements can lead to 100%+ increases in profit.Use Data Like a Hack: SEO and financial data are tools to make informed decisions, not guesswork.Break Free from the Sunk Cost Fallacy: Letting go of what no longer serves your business is a sign of strength, not failure.Iterate and Adapt: Don't wait for perfection—launch, learn, and improve.Memorable Quotes from Jamie:“What life do I want to create? That's the bigger thing that has driven a lot of the decisions now.”“You can tweak things by 2% and see over 100% increase in profit—that's the power of math.”“The only mistake is not using your data to refine the vision.”Listener Action Items:Pre-Order Hidden Profit – Get over $300 in bonuses, including a companion guide and access to a live business planning event.Join Jamie's Facebook Group – Connect with other women entrepreneurs in the Financial Literacy for Women Business Owners Facebook group.Watch Text me your questions or comments!Does SEO feel confusing, overwhelming, or just plain impossible to figure out? You're not alone. That's why I created the AI SEO Foundations course, powered by Crystal GPT: your personal AI SEO coach designed for busy, creative business owners like you.Ditch the overwhelm and discover what SEO can do for your business! Head to SEOin7days.com (with the number 7!) and get started today—let's make your brand easy to find and impossible to ignore.Support the showWant to follow up on what you've heard? Search the podcast!Join the SEO SquadApply to be my podcast guest!

On this episode of Destination on the Left, I talk with Susan Robertson, Possibility Architect at Sharpen Innovation and Harvard instructor. Susan shares why so many of us lose our sense of imagination as we grow up and how we can get it back by embracing curiosity and being open to mistakes. We also discuss how even the wildest brainstorming ideas can lead to real breakthroughs and role-play through a few examples to demonstrate that creativity isn't just for artists; it's something we can all tap into to spark fresh ideas. What You Will Learn in This Episode: How Susan Robertson transitioned from a career in consumer packaged goods marketing to becoming a leading expert in creative thinking and innovation Why many adults lose their sense of creativity as they mature, and what neuroscience and research reveal about unlearning imagination and originality What common mental roadblocks, like negativity bias and “yes, but” thinking, prevent teams and individuals from generating new ideas and how to overcome them How Susan's GPS (Great Problem Solving) methodology can be applied to brainstorming sessions to unlock more creative and practical solutions Why embracing divergent (expanding) and convergent (narrowing) thinking is essential for effective ideation and problem solving during group sessions What practical techniques you can use to encourage wild ideas in brainstorming, and how to turn seemingly “crazy” thoughts into innovative, actionable outcomes How replacing judgmental language with open-ended “how might we” questions improves collaboration, sparks better ideas, and leads to breakthrough results How Negativity Bias Sabotages Innovation Internal psychology, not lack of talent, is often the biggest barrier to fresh thinking. Susan points to our shared cognitive biases, especially “negativity bias,” as a prime culprit. This is the tendency for negative experiences or feedback to have a greater impact on our thoughts and behaviors than positive ones. In a group or brainstorming session, this bias often emerges as “yes, but” thinking. Someone suggests an idea, and the immediate response is to agree superficially while pointing out flaws, the “yes, but” that immediately follows. The thing is, though, if you're never willing to be wrong, you're never going to try anything different or imagine anything that doesn't exist, shooting down the impractical points right away can stifle the kind of out-of-the-box thinking needed for innovation. Transform Brainstorms into Breakthroughs Susan shares a solution in the form of her GPS methodology, which stands for Great Problem Solving. Here's how it works: List What's Great – When an idea is proposed, first focus on what's interesting, valuable, or potentially exciting about it, even if the idea seems wild or impractical, make a detailed list of these positives. Frame Problems as Opportunities – Instead of jumping to objections, articulate any concerns as “How might we…?” or “How can we…?” questions. For instance, if an idea seems too expensive, avoid the instinctive “That will cost too much!” Instead, ask, “How might we make this more affordable?” Iterate and Combine – Use this list of positive elements and problem-solving questions to evolve the idea. Change as much as needed to address concerns, while preserving what's new and valuable. Sparking Wild Ideas or the “Get Fired” Technique To truly innovate, sometimes you have to go wild on purpose. Susan's favorite technique is to ask everyone to suggest a solution so extreme they'd be fired if it were ever implemented. These over-the-top ideas get creative juices flowing and give psychological permission to break free from conventional limits. Once those “get fired” ideas are out there, use Susan's GPS (Great Problem Solving) method to extract their most intriguing or practical elements and rework them into real-world solutions. Susan recommends making a clear distinction between two modes in group innovation: divergence (generating many wild and varied ideas) and convergence (narrowing down and selecting the best options). By keeping these phases separate—and signaling to the group which mode you're in—you encourage participation and avoid shutting down ideas prematurely. Resources: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanrobertson/ Website: https://www.susanrobertsonspeaker.com/   We value your thoughts and feedback and would love to hear from you. Leave us a review on your favorite streaming platform to let us know what you want to hear more o​f. Here is a quick tutorial on how to leave us a rating and review on iTunes!

Welcome to this episode of Ditch the Lab Coat, hosted by Dr. Mark Bonta—a show where curiosity meets science and skepticism, all in the name of practical healthcare innovation.This week, we tackle a problem plaguing healthcare systems across Canada (and beyond): the painfully long wait times to see a dermatologist, especially when it comes to skin cancer. Our guest is Mike Druhan, President of Dermatology Services at MedX Health. Mike is on a mission to save lives by closing the gap between a suspicious mole and a potentially life-saving diagnosis.Together, Dr. Bonta and Mike explore the bottlenecks of Canadian healthcare, the trust required for new technologies to be accepted, and the real-world journey of bringing evidence-based digital solutions—like secure skin imaging and teledermatology—to market. You'll hear the candid realities behind innovation in medicine, the hurdles of building clinician confidence, and why access—not just technology—can be the biggest lifesaver of all.Plus, Mike shares eye-opening stories from the field, including how a routine golf outing and a sharp eye led to an early melanoma diagnosis that made all the difference for a patient. If you've ever wondered why game-changing ideas in medicine can take so long to become reality—or how technology can help us fight diseases hiding in plain sight—this conversation is for you.Plug in, enjoy, and get ready for a deep dive into the art and science of making innovation practical, trustworthy, and patient-centered.Episode HighlightsTrust Drives Healthcare Adoption — Healthcare innovation only moves as fast as stakeholders trust new systems and tech, making trust central to successful adoption.Early Detection Saves Lives — Catching skin cancer at the earliest stage dramatically improves outcomes and reduces treatment costs and patient suffering.Access Is a Critical Barrier — Long wait times to see specialists like dermatologists can be deadly; smart solutions must address these systemic access issues.Tech Complements, Not Replaces — Innovative tools are designed to support, not substitute, specialists—helping prioritize urgent cases and manage the patient queue.Design for Clinical Reality — Successful tools require clinician input, regulatory compliance, and clear workflow integration to earn real-world adoption.Iterate with Frontline Feedback — Regular collaboration with diverse healthcare professionals refines questions, workflows, and builds essential clinical buy-in.Evidence First, Hype Later — Robust evidence and pilot programs—rather than flashy promises—pave the path for credible healthcare innovation.AI Is an Assistant, Not Judge — AI is best used as a double-check for clinicians, enhancing accuracy but not replacing expert human decision-making.Economic Incentives Matter — Insurers and employers increasingly see the financial sense in proactive screening and early intervention for high-risk groups.Human Factor Still Critical — Even with tech, “right place, right time” expert intervention can make the difference between early cure and late-stage tragedy.Episode Timestamp03:59 – Canadian Healthcare Access Challenges 09:40 – Dermatology Digital Patient Platform Development 13:25 – Trust Barriers in Healthcare Innovation 15:57 – Dermatology Investment Collaboration Insights 19:05 – Prioritizing Urgent Pathology Reports 22:54 – Dermatology: Ownership and Patient Insights 24:19 – Dynamic Approach to Skin Cancer Tracking 28:38 – Early Detection through Stool Testing 32:56 – Canada's Dermatology Shortage and Insurance Solutions 33:38 – Predictive Analytics in Workplace Safety 37:07 – AI-Assisted Skin Cancer Detection 42:15 – Human Error vs. AI Expectations 45:47 – AI Enhancing Medical Diagnostics 46:46 – Trusting Emerging Healthcare Technologies DISCLAMER >>>>>>    The Ditch Lab Coat podcast serves solely for general informational purposes and does not serve as a substitute for professional medical services such as medicine or nursing. It does not establish a doctor/patient relationship, and the use of information from the podcast or linked materials is at the user's own risk. The content does not aim to replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and users should promptly seek guidance from healthcare professionals for any medical conditions.   >>>>>> The expressed opinions belong solely to the hosts and guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Hospitals, Clinics, Universities, or any other organization associated with the host or guests.    Disclosures: Ditch The Lab Coat podcast is produced by (Podkind.co) and is independent of Dr. Bonta's teaching and research roles at McMaster University, Temerty Faculty of Medicine and Queens University. 

BIO: Dr. Gilbert A. Guzmán is a business strategist and systems thinker. He is the founder of IntraQ AI, a SaaS solution designed to eliminate knowledge gaps within the workplace, and the author of Atomic Impact: Systems for Transformative Productivity.STORY: In 2012, Gilbert envisioned a portable charger vending system for airports, universities, and theaters—a “Redbox for power.” He over-engineered, over-researched, and waited for “perfect”—while another company launched the same concept. By the time he moved, they dominated airports with a first-mover advantage.LEARNING: Jump in and get things going. Don't be afraid to fail. Iterate, and get your product to market. “Don't be afraid to iterate. Maintain the course, and you'll see your product through.”Dr. Gilbert A. Guzmán Guest profileDr. Gilbert A. Guzmán is a business strategist and systems thinker. He is the founder of IntraQ AI, a SaaS solution designed to eliminate knowledge gaps within the workplace, and the author of Atomic Impact: Systems for Transformative Productivity, which you can get for free using the code: Stotz.With a doctorate in business and experience leading large teams, he helps organizations boost productivity through practical systems built for real-world constraints. His work bridges people, data, and technology for lasting operational success.Worst investment everIn 2012, Gilbert envisioned a portable charger vending system for airports, universities, and theaters—a “Redbox for power.” Users would rent charged batteries and return them to kiosks for reuse.Ironically, Gilbert is a very impatient man, but when it comes to business ideas, he takes his sweet time, sometimes too long. This is exactly what happened with the portable charger idea.Gilbert over-engineered, over-researched, and waited for “perfect”—while Fuel Rod launched the same concept. By the time he moved, they dominated airports with a first-mover advantage. He invented the wheel but didn't roll it.Lessons learnedJump in, do what you need to do, stay up late, work hard, do the research, and get things going. Ultimately, everything will come to fruition.Manage your risks.You can earn back cash, but you can't earn back lost time.In startups, a bad launch always beats no launch. Waiting for no flaws means 100% flaw: no product.You can't be a risk-averse leader.Andrew's takeawaysMVPs beat masterpieces because if you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you launched too late.The market doesn't care who invented a product—it cares who shipped it.Actionable adviceDon't be afraid to fail. Iterate, get your product to market, and find out if it makes sense and is relevant.Don't get scared of the big names, the Googles of the world, and think that they will crush you.You don't have to be horizontal. You can go vertical. You can find a niche and dedicate your time to it.Gilbert's recommendationsGilbert recommends his e-book Atomic Impact: Systems for Transformative Productivity (remember to use code Stotz for a free copy).He also recommends visiting his

Welcome back to Snafu w/ Robin Zander.  In this episode, I'm joined by Brian Elliott, former Slack executive and co-founder of Future Forum. We discuss the common mistakes leaders make about AI and why trust and transparency are more crucial than ever. Brian shares lessons from building high-performing teams, what makes good leadership, and how to foster real collaboration. He also reflects on raising values-driven kids, the breakdown of institutional trust, and why purpose matters. We touch on the early research behind Future Forum and what he'd do differently today. Brian will also be joining us live at Responsive Conference 2025, and I'm excited to continue the conversation there. If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, get them here. What Do Most People Get Wrong About AI? (1:53) “Senior leaders sit on polar ends of the spectrum on this stuff. Very, very infrequently, sit in the middle, which is kind of where I find myself too often.”  Robin notes Brian will be co-leading an active session on AI at Responsive Conference with longtime collaborator Helen Kupp. He tees up the conversation by saying Brian holds “a lot of controversial opinions” on AI, not that it's insignificant, but that there's a lot of “idealization.” Brian says most senior leaders fall into one of two camps: Camp A: “Oh my God, this changes everything.” These are the fear-mongers shouting: “If you don't adopt now, your career is over.” Camp B: “This will blow over.” They treat AI as just another productivity fad, like others before it. Brian positions himself somewhere in the middle but is frustrated by both ends of the spectrum. He points out that the loudest voices (Mark Benioff, Andy Jassy, Zuckerberg, Sam Altman) are “arms merchants” – they're pushing AI tools because they've invested billions. These tools are massively expensive to build and run, and unless they displace labor, it's unclear how they generate ROI. believe in AI's potential and  aggressively push adoption inside their companies. So, naturally, these execs have to: But “nothing ever changes that fast,” and both the hype and the dismissal are off-base. Why Playing with AI Matters More Than Training (3:29) AI is materially different from past tech, but what's missing is attention to how adoption happens. “The organizational craft of driving adoption is not about handing out tools. It's all emotional.” Adoption depends on whether people respond with fear or aspiration, not whether they have the software. Frontline managers are key: it's their job to create the time and space for teams to experiment with AI. Brian credits Helen Kupp for being great at facilitating this kind of low-stakes experimentation. Suggests teams should “play with AI tools” in a way totally unrelated to their actual job. Example: take a look at your fridge, list the ingredients you have, and have AI suggest a recipe. “Well, that's a sucky recipe, but it could do that, right?” The point isn't utility,  it's comfort and conversation: What's OK to use AI for? Is it acceptable to draft your self-assessment for performance reviews with AI? Should you tell your boss or hide it? The Purpose of Doing the Thing (5:30) Robin brings up Ezra Klein's podcast in The New York Times, where Ezra asks: “What's the purpose of writing an essay in college?” AI can now do better research than a student, faster and maybe more accurately. But Robin argues that the act of writing is what matters, not just the output. Says: “I'm much better at writing that letter than ChatGPT can ever be, because only Robin Zander can write that letter.” Example: Robin and his partner are in contract on a house and wrote a letter to the seller – the usual “sob story” to win favor. All the writing he's done over the past two years prepared him to write that one letter better. “The utility of doing the thing is not the thing itself – it's what it trains.” Learning How to Learn (6:35) Robin's fascinated by “skills that train skills” – a lifelong theme in both work and athletics. He brings up Josh Waitzkin (from Searching for Bobby Fischer), who went from chess prodigy to big wave surfer to foil board rider. Josh trained his surfing skills by riding a OneWheel through NYC, practicing balance in a different context. Robin is drawn to that kind of transfer learning and “meta-learning” – especially since it's so hard to measure or study. He asks: What might AI be training in us that isn't the thing itself? We don't yet know the cognitive effects of using generative AI daily, but we should be asking. Cognitive Risk vs. Capability Boost (8:00) Brian brings up early research suggesting AI could make us “dumber.” Outsourcing thinking to AI reduces sharpness over time. But also: the “10,000 repetitions” idea still holds weight – doing the thing builds skill. There's a tension between “performance mode” (getting the thing done) and “growth mode” (learning). He relates it to writing: Says he's a decent writer, not a great one, but wants to keep getting better. Has a “quad project” with an editor who helps refine tone and clarity but doesn't do the writing. The setup: he provides 80% drafts, guidelines, tone notes, and past writing samples. The AI/editor cleans things up, but Brian still reviews: “I want that colloquialism back in.” “I want that specific example back in.” “That's clunky, I don't want to keep it.” Writing is iterative, and tools can help, but shouldn't replace his voice. On Em Dashes & Detecting Human Writing (9:30) Robin shares a trick: he used em dashes long before ChatGPT and does them with a space on either side. He says that ChatGPT's em dashes are double-length and don't have spaces. If you want to prove ChatGPT didn't write something, “just add the space.” Brian agrees and jokes that his editors often remove the spaces, but he puts them back in. Reiterates that professional human editors like the ones he works with at Charter and Sloan are still better than AI. Closing the Gap Takes More Than Practice (10:31) Robin references The Gap by Ira Glass, a 2014 video that explores the disconnect between a creator's vision and their current ability to execute on that vision. He highlights Glass's core advice: the only way to close that gap is through consistent repetition – what Glass calls “the reps.” Brian agrees, noting that putting in the reps is exactly what creators must do, even when their output doesn't yet meet their standards. Brian also brings up his recent conversation with Nick Petrie, whose work focuses not only on what causes burnout but also on what actually resolves it. He notes research showing that people stuck in repetitive performance mode – like doctors doing the same task for decades – eventually see a decline in performance. Brian recommends mixing in growth opportunities alongside mastery work. “exploit” mode (doing what you're already good at) and  “explore” mode (trying something new that pushes you) He says doing things that stretch your boundaries builds muscle that strengthens your core skills and breaks stagnation. He emphasizes the value of alternating between  He adds that this applies just as much to personal growth, especially when people begin to question their deeper purpose and ask hard questions like, “Is this all there is to my life or career? Brian observes that stepping back for self-reflection is often necessary, either by choice or because burnout forces a hard stop. He suggests that sustainable performance requires not just consistency but also intentional space for growth, purpose, and honest self-evaluation. Why Taste And Soft Skills Now Matter More Than Ever (12:30) On AI, Brian argues that most people get it wrong. “I do think it's augmentation.” The tools are evolving rapidly, and so are the ways we use them. They view it as a way to speed up work, especially for engineers, but that's missing the bigger picture. Brian stresses that EQ is becoming more important than IQ. Companies still need people with developer mindsets – hypothesis-driven, structured thinkers. But now, communication, empathy, and adaptability are no longer optional; they are critical. “Human communication skills just went from ‘they kind of suck at it but it's okay' to ‘that's not acceptable.'” As AI takes over more specialist tasks, the value of generalists is rising. People who can generate ideas, anticipate consequences, and rally others around a vision will be most valuable. “Tools can handle the specialized knowledge – but only humans can connect it to purpose.” Brian warns that traditional job descriptions and org charts are becoming obsolete. Instead of looking for ways to rush employees into doing more work, “rethink the roles. What can a small group do when aligned around a common purpose?” The future lies in small, aligned teams with shared goals. Vision Is Not a Strategy (15:56) Robin reflects on durable human traits through Steve Jobs' bio by Isaac Walterson. Jobs succeeded not just with tech, but with taste, persuasion, charisma, and vision. “He was less technologist, more storyteller.” They discuss Sam Altman, the subject of Empire of AI. Whether or not the book is fully accurate, Robin argues that Altman's defining trait is deal-making. Robin shares his experience using ChatGPT in real estate. It changed how he researched topics like redwood root systems on foundational structure and mosquito mitigation. Despite the tech, both agree that human connection is more important than ever. “We need humans now more than ever.” Brian references data from Kelly Monahan showing AI power users are highly productive but deeply burned out. 40% more productive than their peers. 88% are completely burnt out. Many don't believe their company's AI strategy, even while using the tools daily. There's a growing disconnect between executive AI hype and on-the-ground experience. But internal tests by top engineers showed only 10% improvement, mostly in simple tasks. “You've got to get into the tools yourself to be fluent on this.” One CTO believed AI would produce 30% efficiency gains. Brian urges leaders to personally engage with the tools before making sweeping decisions. He warns against blindly accepting optimistic vendor promises or trends. Leaders pushing AI without firsthand experience risk overburdening their teams. “You're bringing the Kool-Aid and then you're shoving it down your team's throat.” This results in burnout, not productivity. “You're cranking up the demands. You're cranking up the burnout, too.” “That's not going to lead to what you want either.” If You Want Control, Just Say That (20:47) Robin raises the topic of returning to the office, which has been a long-standing area of interest for him. “I interviewed Joel Gascoyne on stage in 2016… the largest fully distributed company in the world at the time.” He's tracked distributed work since Responsive 2016. Also mentions Shelby Wolpa (ex-Envision), who scaled thousands remotely. Robin notes the shift post-COVID: companies are mandating returns without adjusting for today's realities.” Example: “Intel just did a mandatory 4 days a week return to office… and now people live hours away.” He acknowledges the benefits of in-person collaboration, especially in creative or physical industries. “There is an undeniable utility.”, especially as they met in Robin's Cafe to talk about Responsive, despite a commute, because it was worth it. But he challenges blanket return-to-office mandates, especially when the rationale is unclear. According to Brian, any company uses RTO as a veiled soft layoff tactic. Cites Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy openly stating RTO is meant to encourage attrition. He says policies without clarity are ineffective. “If you quit, I don't have to pay you severance.” Robin notes that the Responsive Manifesto isn't about providing answers but outlining tensions to balance. Before enforcing an RTO policy, leaders should ask: “What problem are we trying to solve – and do we have evidence of it?” Before You Mandate, Check the Data (24:50) Performance data should guide decisions, not executive assumptions. For instance, junior salespeople may benefit from in-person mentorship, but… That may only apply to certain teams, and doesn't justify full mandates. “I've seen situations where productivity has fallen – well-defined productivity.” The decision-making process should be decentralized and nuanced. Different teams have different needs — orgs must avoid one-size-fits-all policies, especially in large, distributed orgs. “Should your CEO be making that decision? Or should your head of sales?” Brian offers a two-part test for leaders to assess their RTO logic: Are you trying to attract and retain the best talent? Are your teams co-located or distributed? If the answer to #1 is yes: People will be less engaged, not more. High performers will quietly leave or disengage while staying. Forcing long commutes will hurt retention and morale. If the answer to #2 is “distributed”: Brian then tells a story about a JPMorgan IT manager who asks Jamie Dimon for flexibility. “It's freaking stupid… it actually made it harder to do their core work.” Instead, teams need to define shared norms and operating agreements. “Teams have to have norms to be effective.” RTO makes even less sense. His team spanned time zones and offices, forcing them into daily hurt collaboration. He argues most RTO mandates are driven by fear and a desire for control. More important than office days are questions like: What hours are we available for meetings? What tools do we use and why? How do we make decisions? Who owns which roles and responsibilities? The Bottom Line: The policy must match the structure. If teams are remote by design, dragging them into an office is counterproductive. How to Be a Leader in Chaotic Times (28:34) “We're living in a more chaotic time than any in my lifetime.” Robin asks how leaders should guide their organizations through uncertainty. He reflects on his early work years during the 2008 crash and the unpredictability he's seen since. Observes current instability like the UCSF and NIH funding and hiring freezes disrupting universities, rising political violence, and murders of public officials from the McKnight Foundation, and more may persist for years without relief. “I was bussing tables for two weeks, quit, became a personal trainer… my old client jumped out a window because he lost his fortune as a banker.” Brian says what's needed now is: Resilience – a mindset of positive realism: acknowledging the issues, while focusing on agency and possibility, and supporting one another. Trust – not just psychological safety, but deep belief in leadership clarity and honesty. His definition of resilience includes: “What options do we have?” “What can we do as a team?” “What's the opportunity in this?” What Builds Trust (and What Breaks It) (31:00) Brian recalls laying off more people than he hired during the dot-com bust – and what helped his team endure: “Here's what we need to do. If you're all in, we'll get through this together.” He believes trust is built when: Leaders communicate clearly and early. They acknowledge difficulty, without sugarcoating. They create clarity about what matters most right now. They involve their team in solutions. He critiques companies that delay communication until they're in PR cleanup mode: Like Target's CEO, who responded to backlash months too late – and with vague platitudes. “Of course, he got backlash,” Brian says. “He wasn't present.” According to him, “Trust isn't just psychological safety. It's also honesty.” Trust Makes Work Faster, Better, and More Fun (34:10) “When trust is there, the work is more fun, and the results are better.” Robin offers a Zander Media story: Longtime collaborator Jonathan Kofahl lives in Austin. Despite being remote, they prep for shoots with 3-minute calls instead of hour-long meetings. The relationship is fast, fluid, and joyful, and the end product reflects that. He explains the ripple effects of trust: Faster workflows Higher-quality output More fun and less burnout Better client experience Fewer miscommunications or dropped balls He also likens it to acrobatics: “If trust isn't there, you land on your head.” Seldom Wrong, Never in Doubt (35:45) “Seldom wrong, never in doubt – that bit me in the butt.” Brian reflects on a toxic early-career mantra: As a young consultant, he was taught to project confidence at all times. It was said that “if you show doubt, you lose credibility,” especially with older clients. Why that backfired: It made him arrogant. It discouraged honest questions or collaborative problem-solving. It modeled bad leadership for others. Brian critiques the startup world's hero culture: Tech glorifies mavericks and contrarians, people who bet against the grain and win. But we rarely see the 95% who bet big and failed, and the survivors become models, often with toxic effects. The real danger: Leaders try to imitate success without understanding the context. Contrarianism becomes a virtue in itself – even when it's wrong. Now, he models something else: “I can point to the mountain, but I don't know the exact path.” Leaders should admit they don't have all the answers. Inviting the team to figure it out together builds alignment and ownership. That's how you lead through uncertainty, by trusting your team to co-create. Slack, Remote Work, and the Birth of Future Forum (37:40) Brian recalls the early days of Future Forum: Slack was deeply office-centric pre-pandemic. He worked 5 days a week in SF, and even interns were expected to show up regularly. Slack's leadership, especially CTO Cal Henderson, was hesitant to go remote, not because they were anti-remote, but because they didn't know how. But when COVID hit, Slack, like everyone else, had to figure out remote work in real time. Brian had long-standing relationships with Slack's internal research team: He pitched Stewart Butterfield (Slack's CEO) on the idea of a think tank, where he was then joined by Helen Kupp and Sheela Subramanian, who became his co-founders in the venture. Thus, Future Forum was born. Christina Janzer, Lucas Puente, and others. Their research was excellent, but mostly internal-facing, used for product and marketing. Brian, self-described as a “data geek,” saw an opportunity: Remote Work Increased Belonging, But Not for Everyone (40:56) In mid-2020, Future Forum launched its first major study. Expected finding: employee belonging would drop due to isolation. Reality: it did, but not equally across all demographics. For Black office workers, a sense of belonging actually increased. Future Forum brought in Dr. Brian Lowery, a Black professor at Stanford, to help interpret the results. Lowery explained: “I'm a Black professor at Stanford. Whatever you think of it as a liberal school, if I have to walk on that campus five days a week and be on and not be Black five days a week, 9 to 5 – it's taxing. It's exhausting. If I can dial in and out of that situation, it's a release.” A Philosophy Disguised as a Playbook (42:00) Brian, Helen, and Sheela co-authored a book that distilled lessons from: Slack's research Hundreds of executive conversations Real-world trials during the remote work shift One editor even commented on how the book is “more like a philosophy book disguised as a playbook.” The key principles are: “Start with what matters to us as an organization. Then ask: What's safe to try?” Policies don't work. Principles do. Norms > mandates. Team-level agreements matter more than companywide rules. Focus on outcomes, not activity.  Train your managers. Clarity, trust, and support start there. Safe-to-try experiments. Iterate fast and test what works for your team. Co-create team norms. Define how decisions get made, what tools get used, and when people are available. What's great with the book is that no matter where you are, this same set of rules still applies.  When Leadership Means Letting Go (43:54) “My job was to model the kind of presence I wanted my team to show.” Robin recalls a defining moment at Robin's Café: Employees were chatting behind the counter while a banana peel sat on the floor, surrounded by dirty dishes. It was a lawsuit waiting to happen. His first impulse was to berate them, a habit from his small business upbringing. But in that moment, he reframed his role. “I'm here to inspire, model, and demonstrate the behavior I want to see.” He realized: Hovering behind the counter = surveillance, not leadership. True leadership = empowering your team to care, even when you're not around. You train your manager to create a culture, not compliance. Brian and Robin agree: Rules only go so far. Teams thrive when they believe in the ‘why' behind the work. Robin draws a link between strong workplace culture and… The global rise of authoritarianism The erosion of trust in institutions If trust makes Zander Media better, and helps VC-backed companies scale — “Why do our political systems seem to be rewarding the exact opposite?” Populism, Charisma & Bullshit (45:20) According to Robin, “We're in a world where trust is in very short supply.” Brian reflects on why authoritarianism is thriving globally: The media is fragmented. Everyone's in different pocket universes. People now get news from YouTube or TikTok, not trusted institutions. Truth is no longer shared, and without shared truth, trust collapses. “Walter Cronkite doesn't exist anymore.” He references Andor, where the character, Mon Mothma, says: People no longer trust journalism, government, universities, science, or even business. Edelman's Trust Barometer dipped for business leaders for the first time in 25 years. CEOs who once declared strong values are now going silent, which damages trust even more. “The death of truth is really the problem that's at work here.” Robin points out: Trump and Elon, both charismatic, populist figures, continue to gain power despite low trust. Why? Because their clarity and simplicity still outperform thoughtful leadership. He also calls Trump a “marketing genius.” Brian's frustration: Case in point: Trump-era officials who spread conspiracy theories now can't walk them back. Populists manufacture distrust, then struggle to govern once in power. He shares a recent example: Result: Their base turned on them. Right-wing pundits (Pam Bondi, Dan Bongino) fanned Jeffrey Epstein conspiracies. But in power, they had to admit: “There's no client list publicly.” Brian then suggests that trust should be rebuilt locally. He points to leaders like Zohran Mamdani (NY): “I may not agree with all his positions, but he can articulate a populist vision that isn't exploitative.” Where Are the Leaders? (51:19) Brian expresses frustration at the silence from people in power: “I'm disappointed, highly disappointed, in the number of leaders in positions of power and authority who could lend their voice to something as basic as: science is real.” He calls for a return to shared facts: “Let's just start with: vaccines do not cause autism. Let's start there.” He draws a line between public health and trust: We've had over a century of scientific evidence backing vaccines But misinformation is eroding communal health Brian clarifies: this isn't about wedge issues like guns or Roe v. Wade The problem is that scientists lack public authority, but CEOs don't CEOs of major institutions could shift the narrative, especially those with massive employee bases. And yet, most say nothing: “They know it's going to bite them… and still, no one's saying it.” He warns: ignoring this will hurt businesses, frontline workers, and society at large. 89 Seconds from Midnight (52:45) Robin brings up the Doomsday Clock: Historically, it was 2–4 minutes to midnight “We are 89 seconds to midnight.” (as of January 2025) This was issued by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, a symbol of how close humanity is to destroying itself. Despite that, he remains hopeful: “I might be the most energetic person in any room – and yet, I'm a prepper.” Robin shared that: And in a real emergency? You might not make it. He grew up in the wilderness, where ambulances don't arrive, and CPR is a ritual of death. He frequently visits Vieques, an island off Puerto Rico with no hospital, where a car crash likely means you won't survive. As there is a saying there that goes, ‘No Hay Hospital', meaning ‘there is no hospital'. If something serious happens, you're likely a few hours' drive or even a flight away from medical care. That shapes his worldview: “We've forgotten how precious life is in privileged countries.” Despite his joy and optimism, Robin is also: Deeply aware of fragility – of systems, bodies, institutions. Committed to preparation, not paranoia. Focused on teaching resilience, care, and responsibility. How to Raise Men with Heart and Backbone (55:00) Robin asks: “How do you counsel your boys to show up as protectors and earners, especially in a capitalist world, while also taking care of people, especially when we're facing the potential end of humanity in our lifetimes?” Brian responds: His sons are now 25 and 23, and he's incredibly proud of who they're becoming. Credits both parenting and luck but he also acknowledges many friends who've had harder parenting experiences. His sons are: Sharp and thoughtful In healthy relationships Focused on values over achievements Educational path: “They think deeply about what are now called ‘social justice' issues in a very real way.” Example: In 4th grade, their class did a homelessness simulation – replicating the fragmented, frustrating process of accessing services. Preschool at the Jewish Community Center Elementary at a Quaker school in San Francisco He jokes that they needed a Buddhist high school to complete the loop Not religious, but values-based, non-dogmatic education had a real impact That hands-on empathy helped them see systemic problems early on, especially in San Francisco, where it's worse. What Is Actually Enough? (56:54) “We were terrified our kids would take their comfort for granted.” Brian's kids: Lived modestly, but comfortably in San Francisco. Took vacations, had more than he and his wife did growing up. Worried their sons would chase status over substance. But what he taught them instead: Family matters. Friendships matter. Being dependable matters. Not just being good, but being someone others can count on. He also cautioned against: “We too often push kids toward something unattainable, and we act surprised when they burn out in the pursuit of that.” The “gold ring” mentality is like chasing elite schools, careers, and accolades. In sports and academics, he and his wife aimed for balance, not obsession. Brian on Parenting, Purpose, and Perspective (59:15) Brian sees promise in his kids' generation: But also more: Purpose-driven Skeptical of false promises Less obsessed with traditional success markers Yes, they're more stressed and overamped on social media. Gen Z has been labeled just like every generation before: “I'm Gen X. They literally made a movie about us called Slackers.” He believes the best thing we can do is: Model what matters Spend time reflecting: What really does matter? Help the next generation define enough for themselves, earlier than we did. The Real Measure of Success (1:00:07) Brian references Clay Christensen, famed author of The Innovator's Dilemma and How Will You Measure Your Life? Clay's insight: “Success isn't what you thought it was.” Early reunions are full of bravado – titles, accomplishments, money. Later reunions reveal divorce, estrangement, and regret. The longer you go, the more you see: Brian's takeaway: Even for Elon, it might be about Mars. But for most of us, it's not about how many projects we shipped. It's about: Family Friends Presence Meaning “If you can realize that earlier, you give yourself the chance to adjust – and find your way back.” Where to Find Brian (01:02:05) LinkedIn WorkForward.com Newsletter: The Work Forward on Substack “Some weeks it's lame, some weeks it's great. But there's a lot of community and feedback.” And of course, join us at Responsive Conference this September 17-18, 2025. Books Mentioned How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen Responsive Manifesto Empire of AI by Karen Hao Podcasts Mentioned The Gap by Ira Glass The Ezra Klein Show Movies Mentioned Andor Slackers Organizations Mentioned: Bulletin of Atomic Scientists McKnight Foundation National Institutes of Health (NIH) Responsive.org University of California, San Francisco

Meta's AI just rewrote the rules of digital advertising—without telling anyone. In this breaking episode of Perpetual Traffic, Ralph Burns and John Moran expose the stealth rollout of Meta's new AI-driven ad platform update: Andromeda. Learn how this algorithmic shift flips traditional ad strategies on their head and why relying on old tactics is a fast track to mediocrity. From GPU-fueled compute power to GEM (Generated Ads Recommendation Model), discover what Meta's “superbrain” means for your creative strategy, budget allocation, and lead generation success. This isn't just an update—it's a total transformation. If you're serious about scaling in 2025, you need to hear this.Chapters:00:00:00 - Meta Just Flipped the Script: Meet Andromeda00:01:00 - The AI Revolution That's Changing Your Ad Game00:02:20 - Inside Meta's Secret Weapon: The New Ranking Algorithm00:05:45 - Why Meta's Funnel Thinks Smarter Than You Do00:07:35 - The New Playbook: Diversify or Die00:10:03 - Andromeda Uncovered: What Meta Isn't Telling You00:12:11 - Smart Targeting Starts with Smarter Creative00:18:56 - Real Results: What Happens When You Diversify Content00:27:52 - What the Numbers Say About Your Ads00:28:29 - How to Get More New Customers for Less00:29:16 - Repeat It: Diversify or Die00:30:01 - Algorithm IQ: Understanding How Meta Thinks00:31:28 - Creative That Wins: Test, Iterate, Dominate00:32:32 - When to Kill Your Ads—And Why It Works00:35:01 - Case Study: Smarter Spend, Bigger Wins00:35:46 - Using AI to Find Your Next Best Customer00:42:59 - Mastering the Full Funnel (Without Wasting Spend)00:47:09 - The Future Is Now: What Smart Marketers Do NextLINKS AND RESOURCES:Meta's Creative Strategy TikTokMark Zuckerberg just declared war on the entire advertising industryEpisode 718: [Case Study] Meta Andromeda Ads vs Amazon Ads: Who Wins?AI Innovations in Meta's Ad Ranking Driving Advertiser PerformanceMeta Andromeda: Supercharging Advantage+Episode 234: The Ad Amplifier Super System For Facebook AdsTier 11 JobsPerpetual Traffic on YouTubeTiereleven.comMongoose MediaPerpetual Traffic SurveyPerpetual Traffic WebsiteFollow

Why do so many product launches fall flat, even when the market should want them?In this episode of SaaS Fuel, Jeff Mains sits down with Neil Twa, CEO and co-founder of Voltage Holdings, to talk about unlocking product-market fit through AI-powered data engines and customer intent analysis. Neil shares his journey from spreadsheets and guesswork to an intelligence-driven system that has launched multiple 8-figure Amazon brands.Whether you're in SaaS or physical products, you'll learn how to align your offer with demand, eliminate guesswork, and build a business designed for scale and exit. From avoiding vanity metrics to pricing for value, this episode is a blueprint for intentional, scalable growth.Key Takeaways00:00 – Data-driven product launches02:26 – Why products fail: The product-customer disconnect06:00 – From spreadsheets to AI-powered product research08:00 – Discovering customer intent through Cosmo + Rufus AI10:20 – Aligning listings with real Amazon demand12:14 – "Sales fixes everything" and building for fast ROI14:10 – Greenlighting products: Profit-first approach17:00 – Don't marry your product, marry the brand20:00 – Understanding demand engines (Amazon, TikTok, etc.)23:00 – Misaligned AI = missed opportunity26:00 – The #1 question: What the heck do I sell?28:00 – Building with the exit in mind (Platinum Principle)31:00 – Profit extraction vs. long-term value33:00 – Pricing SaaS products based on experience35:00 – Tiered pricing and support strategies37:00 – Be selective with affiliates and partnerships38:00 – Lead from your own wins40:00 – Imperfect action creates perfect opportunities42:00 – Real case studies + beta testing results44:00 – Milestones, timeframes, and abundance mindsetTweetable Quotes“The number one question every founder asks: What the heck do I sell, and who do I sell it to?” – Neil Twa“Sales fixes everything. Figure out what to sell and who to sell it to—fast.” – Neil Twa“Don't marry your product. Marry the brand.” – Neil Twa“If the AI thinks your product is for men, but it's really for women, you lose—even with the best product.” – Neil Twa“A $97 product won't build a 7-figure business. Price for the result, not just the access.” – Neil Twa“Imperfect action creates something perfect along the way.” – Neil TwaSaaS Leadership LessonsData alignment > keyword hacksAI-powered tools that match intent will outperform keyword-driven guessing every time.Validate at 80%, then iterateYou don't need perfection—get to 80% product confidence and let the market fine-tune the rest.Marry the brand, not the productSuccessful companies adapt product lines to match evolving demand—don't get stuck on a single idea.Price for transformation, not featuresCustomers pay more when they understand the value. Price accordingly and educate your audience.Imperfect action creates feedback loopsLaunch MVPs with real users. Iterate with feedback, not in isolation.Build to exit, but earn trust firstSystemize operations, optimize value, and serve your own company before inviting others in.Guest ResourcesEmail - nailvoltagedm@gmail.comWebsite - https://www.voltagedm.com/FB -

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Before a power crew rolls out to check a transformer, sensors on the grid have often already flagged the problem. Before your smart dishwasher starts its cycle, it might wait for off-peak energy rates. And in the world of autonomous vehicles, lightweight systems constantly scan road conditions before a decision ever reaches the car's central processor.These aren't the heroes of their respective systems. They're the scouts, the context-builders: automated agents that make the entire operation more efficient, timely, and scalable.Cybersecurity is beginning to follow the same path.In an era of relentless digital noise and limited human capacity, AI agents are being deployed to look first, think fast, and flag what matters before security teams ever engage. But these aren't the cartoonish “AI firefighters” some might suggest. They're logical engines operating at scale: pruning data, enriching signals, simulating outcomes, and preparing workflows with precision."AI agents are redefining how security teams operate, especially when time and talent are limited," says Kumar Saurabh, CEO of AirMDR. "These agents do more than filter noise. They interpret signals, build context, and prepare response actions before a human ever gets involved."This shift from reactive firefighting to proactive triage is happening across cybersecurity domains. In detection, AI agents monitor user behavior and flag anomalies in real time, often initiating mitigation actions like isolating compromised devices before escalation is needed. In prevention, they simulate attacker behaviors and pressure-test systems, flagging unseen vulnerabilities and attack paths. In response, they compile investigation-ready case files that allow human analysts to jump straight into action."Low-latency, on-device AI agents can operate closer to the data source, better enabling anomaly detection, threat triaging, and mitigation in milliseconds," explains Shomron Jacob, Head of Applied Machine Learning and Platform at Iterate.ai. "This not only accelerates response but also frees up human analysts to focus on complex, high-impact investigations."Fred Wilmot, Co-Founder and CEO of Detecteam, points out that agentic systems are advancing limited expertise by amplifying professionals in multiple ways. "Large foundation models are driving faster response, greater context and more continuous optimization in places like SOC process and tools, threat hunting, detection engineering and threat intelligence operationalization," Wilmot explains. "We're seeing the dawn of a new way to understand data, behavior and process, while optimizing how we ask the question efficiently, confirm the answer is correct and improve the next answer from the data interaction our agents just had."Still, real-world challenges persist. Costs for tokens and computing power can quickly outstrip the immediate benefit of agentic approaches at scale. Organizations leaning on smaller, customized models may see greater returns but must invest in AI engineering practices to truly realize this advantage. "Companies have to get comfortable with the time and energy required to produce incremental gains," Wilmot adds, "but the incentive to innovate from zero to one in minutes should outweigh the cost of standing still."Analysts at Forrester have noted that while the buzz around so-called agentic AI is real, these systems are only as effective as the context and guardrails they operate within. The power of agentic systems lies in how well they stay grounded in real data, well-defined scopes, and human oversight. ¹ ²While approaches differ, the business case is clear. AI agents can reduce toil, speed up analysis, and extend the reach of small teams. As Saurabh observes, AI agents that handle triage and enrichment in minutes can significantly reduce investigation times and allow analysts to focus on the incidents that truly require human judgment.As organizations wrestle with a growing attack surface and shrinking response windows, the real value of AI agents might not lie in what they replace, but in what they prepare. Rob Allen, Chief Product Officer at ThreatLocker, points out, "AI can help you detect faster. But Zero Trust stops malware before it ever runs. It's not about guessing smarter; it's about not having to guess at all." While AI speeds detection and response, attackers are also using AI to evade defenses, making it vital to pair smart automation with architectures that deny threats by default and only allow what's explicitly needed.These agents are the eyes ahead, the hands that set the table, and increasingly the reason why the real work can begin faster and smarter than ever before.References1. Forrester. (2024, February 8). Cybersecurity's latest buzzword has arrived: What agentic AI is — and isn't. Forrester Blogs. https://www.forrester.com/blogs/cybersecuritys-latest-buzzword-has-arrived-what-agentic-ai-is-and-isnt/ (cc: Allie Mellen and Rowan Curran)2. Forrester. (2024, March 13). The battle for grounding has begun. Forrester Blogs. https://www.forrester.com/blogs/the-battle-for-grounding-has-begun/ (cc: Ted Schadler)________This story represents the results of an interactive collaboration between Human Cognition and Artificial Intelligence.Enjoy, think, share with others, and subscribe to "The Future of Cybersecurity" newsletter on LinkedIn.Sincerely, Sean Martin and TAPE3________Sean Martin is a life-long musician and the host of the Music Evolves Podcast; a career technologist, cybersecurity professional, and host of the Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast; and is also the co-host of both the Random and Unscripted Podcast and On Location Event Coverage Podcast. These shows are all part of ITSPmagazine—which he co-founded with his good friend Marco Ciappelli, to explore and discuss topics at The Intersection of Technology, Cybersecurity, and Society.™️Want to connect with Sean and Marco On Location at an event or conference near you? See where they will be next: https://www.itspmagazine.com/on-locationTo learn more about Sean, visit his personal website.

Polish doesn't build trust—personality does. And no one understands that better than TikTok creators, who turn raw ideas into magnetic, shareable content every day.In this episode, we're pulling marketing lessons from TikTok's creative chaos with the help of Rhonda Hughes, award-winning B2B marketing leader.Together, they explore what B2B marketers can learn from leading with authenticity, embracing low-fi experimentation, and having the courage to make something truly original.About our guest, Rhonda HughesRhonda Hughes is a storyteller and connector of people and ideas with 18 years of experience helping brands engage their customers and audiences. She believes in creating value, not noise, and she has a knack for inspiring teams to push boundaries with fresh, fun, relevant content, campaigns, and programs. Rhonda's team's work has earned recognition from Mashable, Business Insider, Hubspot, Sprout Social, KISSmetrics, Content Marketing Institute, and snagged her a spot on North Bay's 40 under 40 “Ones to Watch” list, noted among the “Top 50 Women in Content”, and awarded for "Best B2B Campaign on TikTok."What B2B Companies Can Learn From TikTok Creators:Fun is a strategy—not a distraction. Brands win when they lean into playfulness—not just performance. “The brands that, to me, the companies that feel like they win are the ones that are really always putting their audience in the center and trying to figure out a way to be useful and be human and be playful,” Rhonda says. This kind of joyful creativity builds connection—and makes your brand memorable.Imperfect content is often the most relatable. Audiences don't crave polish—they crave authenticity. “The most engaging content isn't the most polished… you can tell that this was just a creative idea and somebody with their camera and they're rallying the folks internally around how they bring the story to life,” Rhonda says. “And that's part of what makes it so relatable and likable.” Let your audience in on the process, not just the finished product.Iterate like a creator. TikTok's best creators don't get stuck in strategy mode—they test, tweak, and try again. That mindset is essential for B2B marketers too. “TikTok creators are constantly iterating… they've gotta test formats and hooks and trends and sounds, and they have to move fast and be playful with this,” Rhonda says. The takeaway? Strategy doesn't mean overthinking. It means being in motion.Quotes*“You just never know what's gonna work. So you kind of have to be okay with trying and missing and trying again.”*“You want to build content that's gonna resonate with your audience and also be something they want to share.”*“If you're not enjoying what you're making, your audience probably isn't either.”*“It's not about going viral—it's about showing up over and over again.”Time Stamps[00:55] Meet Rhonda Hughes, Award-Winning Marketer[03:37] The Power of Authenticity on TikTok[06:00] Engaging Content Strategies[10:34] Spotlight on Successful TikTok Campaigns[16:16] Creative Marketing Examples[27:28] The Power of Authenticity in Social Media[29:37] The Bravery of Unique Marketing Strategies[30:33] TSA's Unexpected Social Media Success[32:39] The Importance of Fun and Experimentation in Marketing[42:03] Creating Value, Not Noise[43:37] The Utility of Content and Audience Engagement[50:03] Final Thoughts and Advice for Marketing LeadersLinksConnect with Rhonda on LinkedInAbout Remarkable!Remarkable! is created by the team at Caspian Studios, the premier B2B Podcast-as-a-Service company. Caspian creates both nonfiction and fiction series for B2B companies. If you want a fiction series check out our new offering - The Business Thriller - Hollywood style storytelling for B2B. Learn more at CaspianStudios.com. In today's episode, you heard from Ian Faison (CEO of Caspian Studios) and Meredith Gooderham (Head of Production). Remarkable was produced this week by Jess Avellino, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK. Create something remarkable. Rise above the noise.

On today’s show, we’re joined NetBox Labs co-founders Mark Coleman and Kris Beevers. They recount how they founded NetBox Labs and discuss its growth and how it’s being used. We also delve into the NetBox Labs community and its importance for users. And of course, there’s the ever-present AI discussion. Mark and Kris also talk... Read more »

On today’s show, we’re joined NetBox Labs co-founders Mark Coleman and Kris Beevers. They recount how they founded NetBox Labs and discuss its growth and how it’s being used. We also delve into the NetBox Labs community and its importance for users. And of course, there’s the ever-present AI discussion. Mark and Kris also talk... Read more »

Main Image Monthly - AI Innovations on Seller Sessions A deep dive into AI integration for Amazon sellers, focusing on main image optimization and automation strategies. Episode Summary This episode explores the transformative role of AI in Amazon selling, particularly in optimizing main product images. The hosts discuss innovative approaches to generating and testing image concepts, gathering customer feedback, and implementing automation strategies for enhanced business efficiency. Key Topics AI Integration in Amazon Selling Main Image Optimization Click-through Rate Improvement Product Testing and Feedback Automation and Tech Stack Development   Notable Quotes "The more the better. Iterate down." "Just have fun, just have fun guys." "The tech will catch up now." Key Takeaways AI is revolutionizing Amazon seller workflows Main images significantly impact click-through rates AI-assisted concept testing improves product imagery Early AI adoption provides competitive advantages Hyper-personalization enhances marketing efforts Efficient tech stacks are crucial for AI implementation Timeline 00:00 - 04:01 Introduction and New Format 04:02 - 14:35 Main Images and AI Strategy 14:36 - 29:46 Testing and Feedback Methods 29:47 - 40:11 Live Demo and Optimization 40:12 - 01:02:36 Future Tech and Implementation  

In this episode, we dive into how complexity creeps into our systems—whether in software, organizations, or personal leadership. We start by looking at the evolution of Microsoft Word as a case study of feature creep and unintended consequences, asking why more options can end up stifling creativity.We're joined by Robert Siegel, Stanford lecturer and author of The Systems Leader, who unpacks why today is a uniquely chaotic time for leaders. He explores the cross-pressures leaders face—from balancing execution with innovation, to combining strength with empathy—and what it takes to thrive in turbulent environments.Later, we revisit a powerful 2017 conversation with Seth Godin, bestselling author and entrepreneur. Seth reframes uncertainty as an inherent feature of modern systems, not a personal failure. He shares his perspective on adapting to continual change, why embracing smaller markets and iterative progress makes us more resilient, and how redefining success helps us stay in the game.Whether you're leading a team, navigating constant change, or just trying to keep your work meaningful, this episode will give you fresh strategies for thinking and acting systemically.Five Key Learnings:Complexity Creep Is Real: As with Microsoft Word, adding features to solve edge cases often leads to more user frustration and less creative freedom. Simplicity can be a competitive advantage.Systems Leadership Is Essential: Leaders must operate with a systems mindset, recognizing the interconnectedness inside and outside their organizations rather than staying siloed.Balancing Dualities: Success today means navigating cross-pressures, such as execution vs. innovation and strength vs. empathy—not just picking one.Embrace Uncertainty: Uncertainty isn't going away; learning to see it as a product of changing systems makes it less personal and more navigable.Iterate and Focus Small: Applying your creative efforts to the smallest viable audience allows for better learning, less risk, and greater long-term impact.Get full interviews and bonus content for free! Just visit DailyCreativePlus.com.Mentioned in this episode:To listen to the full interviews from today's episode, as well as receive bonus content and deep dive insights from the episode, visit DailyCreativePlus.com and join Daily Creative+.The Brave Habit is available nowMy new book will help you make bravery a habit in your life, your leadership, and your work. Discover how to develop the two qualities that lead to brave action: Optimistic Vision and Agency. Buy The Brave Habit wherever books are sold, or learn more at TheBraveHabit.com.

This week, Dan goes back to the basics—because that's where the breakthroughs often live. This might be the single most important episode you listen to, especially if you feel like you've hit a plateau. He lays out the fundamentals of crafting a compelling offer, why most founders avoid doing it, and how your aversion to rejection might be holding you back from growth. Resources Mentioned: Download Dan's Offer Worksheet (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KeJZIy006b-EijEcXnA2aFuQuhRlACoKkX4p-baY8s4/edit?usp=sharing) $100M Offers by Alex Hormozi (https://www.amazon.com/100M-Offers-People-Stupid-Saying/dp/173747574X/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.WferudpATTv2sOO4MGczmtxmW2Pa5ynbJaA1CnNLXmo2q9EsJBSBtlmjGQlP2NUurzmf7rM_RhgyNZ_tdvWeB_dLUC78-SnrCwlDmrPJqZiqoMNZi4-n5YZHg9ptwnpVfu2DvL8XCSjs829vOg7VtJ9qfmlJGK8yxD6NarM13uc4OUgqAFXDNdAWRY733cXG84l56HLe_WB6WczCgkIf48C7Uwo6e9kyFUH6MRUKQhKmziBIjX29td7_n4BsOgZcEWgtHEnsXH4_35z1rb-zI3a8gYVPEFh_vs8TFMu_ROY.tzKMDIY6NUrehnGctwxRplladKrVPGFXoqvTf_rJPBU&dib_tag=se&keywords=100m+offers+alex+hormozi&qid=1746029751&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1) The Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan Kennedy (https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Sales-Letter-4th-Customers/dp/B07P19G3Q5/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3LBCPUX4R97TN&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.7tPW5zZqKUD21ytW_EwU1w.IC1Pl_8nl-B0qO-c1XCTr9ohT9iW4zw6OiUZ2I2ZRvI&dib_tag=se&keywords=dan+kennedy+ultimate+sales+letter&qid=1746029799&s=audible&sprefix=dan+kennedy+ultimate+sales+lette%2Caudible%2C139&sr=1-1) CHAPTERS (00:00:00) – The Biggest Lever Under $300K (00:00:29) – Back to Basics: Offers (00:02:07) – Offer vs Product (00:03:57) – Why Founders Avoid Offers (00:07:34) – Testing in the Market (00:08:57) – The Offer Framework (00:13:14) – Iterate and De-Risk (00:16:08) – Final Thoughts & Resources CONNECT Dan “at” tropicalmba dot com Ian “at” tropicalmba dot com LINKS Join the DC Subscribe to the newsletter Follow us on Instagram MORE EPISODES The Roadmap for Turning a Skill Into a $1M Business (https://tropicalmba.com/episodes/7-figure-productized-business) The Unexpected Downsides of Selling Your Business (https://tropicalmba.com/episodes/exit-founders-disappointed) Success Without Sacrifice? (https://tropicalmba.com/episodes/success-without-sacrifice) Shiny Object Syndrome (https://tropicalmba.com/episodes/shiny-object-syndrome) The Anti-Agency Agency + High ROI Customer Service Strategies (https://tropicalmba.com/episodes/anti-agency-high-roi)