10 AI tools I actually keep open. Most aren't ChatGPT. Hi there, ChatGPT is the default. It's not the answer to every question. On a normal workday I have at least 4 AI tools open. None of them is just ChatGPT. Here's where each wins: Claude — writing, analysis, anything where I need a clean first draft. Better prose than ChatGPT. Stays in voice. Cursor or Claude Code — coding. ChatGPT is fine for one-off scripts. For actual codebases, you want a tool that has the whole repo in context....
9 days ago • 1 min read
The same Business Brain system I install by hand — now a build-it-yourself playbook. $397 until the walkthrough videos ship. Hi Reader, For the past couple of months I have been installing Claude for Small Business setups by hand — the 4-layer Business Brain, the connectors, the skills that draft customer replies and Monday-morning reports in the owner’s actual voice. Done-for-you, $4,500 and up. Today I published the playbook I use to do it. Not a lite version — the same system, written out...
15 days ago • 1 min read
Should you build a custom AI agent? Is your industry about to be disrupted? Is it ethical to use AI on client work? Quick answers. Hi there, Format change-up this week. Three questions I keep getting, three answers. 1. "Should we build a custom AI agent for our business?" Almost certainly not yet. Custom agents are expensive to build, expensive to maintain, and almost always replace something a ChatGPT prompt could do for $20/month. The exceptions: you have a workflow that runs hundreds of...
30 days ago • 2 min read
A client built custom infrastructure for something ChatGPT does in 4 seconds. Hi there, Got a story for you. A founder I know spent $43,000 building a custom AI agent for their business. Six months of dev time, a contracted AI engineer, a vector database, "agent orchestration framework," the works. You know what the agent did? It categorized customer support emails into eight buckets and routed them to the right person. That's it. I tested the same task in ChatGPT — paste an email, ask which...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Three of the points will surprise you. Most teams miss all three. Hi there, Your team shipped code an AI wrote. Did they check it? Not "does it work." That's table stakes. I mean: did anyone check whether it'll get you sued, breached, or shut down? I just built a 20-point security checklist specifically for codebases where AI did the writing. Cursor, Claude Code, Lovable, Replit, Bolt — doesn't matter which tool. The mistakes rhyme. Three of the points that surprise people the most: 1. API...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
I've watched all five hire me — usually too late. Hi there, Five types of business owners using AI. I've watched all five hire me — usually one rung too late. There are patterns. Five, specifically. 1. The Tourist. Tried ChatGPT once. Said "neat" and went back to email. No system, no curiosity, no urgency. 2. The Tinkerer. Has 14 AI tools. Uses three. Can't articulate which one made them money this month. Mistakes activity for progress. 3. The Embedded Operator. Picked one tool, made it part...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
