LinkedIn

If you are sitting there right now and thinking - what's all this AI agent business and how do I build one?

Then this is the post you're looking for.

Grab your calendar, and circle in Friday 19th September and we will literally hold your hand and build one with you at Stone & Chalk.

And the best bit?

(Other than getting to it live face-to-face with my good self).

Is that the ToothFairyAI team will sling you a month's free subscription so you can keep on tinkering, playing, and building with your new hard-won knowledge.

See you there 👋

Had our poker game with high school friends today.

It’s booked years in advance every quarter.

It’s very easy to drop the ball on social when you’re juggling business, young kids, and living further away.

But we regularly do it between Traralgon, Rowville, Berwick, and Kangaroo Ground and the fact it’s in the calendar so consistently means we’re pretty good at honouring it and planning around it.

I do a horrible job of sharing what client work I'm doing.

Someone asked the other day and referenced a post I made and I thought "geeee Marshy get your noggin into gear" - so here's some of the projects I've been running with clients lately:


👾 Building interactive value-based assets for outbound sales and marketing efforts.
I've been building outbound marketing support for a couple of SaaS and have a few more in the pipeline. There isn't really a name for this yet, but I'll review customer CRM data, build a profile of who the ideal client is, enrich it with scraped competitor and market data, and then feed it into LLMs. From that new data I can generate lead magnets like interactive calculators, create new reasons for getting in touch with customers, and create better entry points for starting conversations.

I've been billing this with a set up fee + performance incentives. This approach doesn't really have a good name or shortcut for understanding what's possible. I've just been spinning up demos and proof of concepts for suitable founders and going from there.

  
🧑🏼‍🏫 Coaching founders and emerging business owners through accelerator programs.
I love the energy that comes from founders and I give that energy back. I've been running practical early go-to-market workshops and then delivering hands-on 1:1 coaching with some of the cohorts. I've got a soft-spot for technical founders who start by telling me that they need to amend their product "one more time" and finish with comments like:

 "It's really good to get that, get that direction... And I'm glad it's not start with Facebook ads or anything like that because it's, it's much more practical and actually much more engaging with the people that [need] it."
 

🗓️ Monthly advisory retainers.
 Some clients just want me to share the answers/troubleshoot things and repeat. So I've got a monthly retainer set up where they can drop times in Mondays/Fridays and ask unlimited questions as needed.
  
  
🧚🏽‍♀️ Buddying up with ToothFairy AI.
I've been actively connecting good-fit customers to these agent builders and believe the tech is a breath of fresh air in a sea of AI hype. The agents they produce cover a lot of areas (compliance, QA, research, network administration, governance + more) but more importantly they're tightly controlled and trained only on the data that's ringfenced and allowed.

--

I'm having fun and if any of the above piques your interest I'm happy to share more.

I'm also at a point in the year where I'm wondering if I keep doing the different things with fractional consulting or consolidate into a team and do something bigger. Lots of opportunities on both fronts!

Have a great weekend-a-bobble 👋

📸 from a session I did with some of the Farmers2Founders crew last week. I think I must have said something really boring to Carl Hockey and for that I apologise 🤣

There's people talking about AI, and then there's founders shipping fast and accumulating clients serious about leveraging this tech.

ToothFairyAI have largely been flying under the radar and that changes for you if you decide to come to their live event in Melbourne in collaboration with Groq.

Here's the deets:

https://lnkd.in/gitDkU7z

I'll see you there 👋

#ai #melbourne #cloud

Covering:

- How people hack the press to boost SEO

- A neat hack for producing your website

- Building a lead generation machine presentation

+

information about tomorrow's webinar - building a funnel with AI in 2025 💫

I think part of the fun of these has been:

1. Picking a topic with no idea how it's going to finish,
2. Making it work by the time it's presented
3. Getting great feedback

If you've thought funnels are easy you're wrong.
If you thought AI will do all of the work for you you're also wrong.

What I will show you is how to leverage the living cr*p out of AI to give your funnel the best chance of success.

The other fun part has been creating these ridiculous thumbnails.

Was talking to a friend about navigating recent ADHD diganosis and was helping them understand the difference between knowing and not knowing you have the traits as it presents in the workplace.

old view
Why can't I do this [repetitious thing I've mastered] - it's so simple. This is stupid. What is wrong with me? I've done this 100X and can't do it anymore. Why am I not performing in this job any more? I don't want to leave jobs again. This looks terrible on my resume. What is going to happen next time? I have to go home and tell my... why do other people not seem bothered.

^^ that conversation track takes place in about 2 seconds and is on all of the time

--

new view
My brain goes really fast and requires novelty, stimulation, and challenge. I'm not great at repetitive tasks. I can put systems and guardrails in place for this, but also accept that things can and will slip, and I am human.

I need a long break.

I'm back, what needs to happen now? Oh lol, 16 tabs are open. *close*
Back to doing the thing.

*comes up for air when 45min timer goes off*

Oh wow, I know I want to keep pushing on this but understand I need another long break. Btw I am killing it, good job me.

--

Things are still fallible, but what's changed for me is acceptance of that and realising that's because it's the way my brain is built.

Not only that - but over time I've very actively cultivated work and projects that are challenging, novel, and stimulating and designed a business that accommodates these traits much better.

External ways this has presented itself:

- creating big fast value calls to flex the brain - even if it leads to no extra business (it largely didn't) even having my brain spit growth ideas at someone for 15 minutes is bloody good fun

- running webinars fast - I love the challenge of thinking and compiling a story and making something interesting to other people and breaking it down for them in a playful format. That's not the only way to learn (or even optimal) but the feedback I get from clients is like this:

"that was a good session. It was a fast pace and I think that's a good thing for this cohort."

- working in and around the "startup ecoystem" - founders are trying to solve a 1,000 problems at once and in the early stages they're trying to just see what sticks, over time I've cultivated a lot of IP and knowledge, and best-practice in this space and it's not by accident. It's because my brain LOVES handling 346 of those problems at once, has seen 74 different areas where this has presented before to clients, and knows that 14 different pathways have a likelihood of being successful, if only we can persuade founder personality type 59 to stop focusing on the 578 other ways they're considering to solve that problem. That shit is exhausting for a neurotypical but that same shit sets my mind on fire 🔥

(continued)

I want to talk to anyone frustrated by building lots of lots PowerPoint decks, and want to put there money where their mouth is and have this problem solved for them.

Working with a partner who has built a functioning agent that plugs into your Microsoft suite, respects IT control layers and sovereignty as needed, and gets it solved with a PPT-specific agent.

This isn't a Mickey Mouse workflow and will be going to market later in the year with more information, but if this is costing you more than:

$30k+ each year

Then I have first-dibs access to a solution from an enterprise-level operator who will fix this problem for (with me holding your hand all of the way - lucky you).

Note - I didn't say - fix your deck, help you with graphs or other individualised stuff - this is for companies who are doing this at painful volumes.

📸 this is my "death to PPT agony" face (ironically on the call with the partner)

#AI #ppt #consulting

I hate that "AI-induced psychosis" is a headline and that posts like that are going viral on social media.

Here's what actually happened:

- A doctor mentioned AI can amplify existing vulnerabilities (true)
- Social twisted it into "AI-induced psychosis" (false)
- Lots of sharing without interrogation

I can speak confidently about this because 20+ years ago - I had psychosis.

I was hospitalised and thought the TV was talking to me.

Did the TV do that? Hard no.

The real issues aren't the technology - they're loneliness, inequality, and societal problems that existed long before LLMs.

I'm a HUGE fan of making big tech accountable - but make sure you pick the right battles.

I also cover:

- Ran a packed webinar on one-shotting landing pages
- Discovered a clever hack for free AI API calls (vibe coders you're welcome)
- Speaking at DigiMarCon - Digital Marketing, Media and Advertising Conferences & Exhibitions Melbourne this Wednesday on scaling client growth with AI

Some light weekend watching for those of you scrolling on a Sunday.

https://lnkd.in/ggWS2MW9

Covering off:
- how to find good landing pages
- how to create a one-shot landing page prompt
- how to ingest a lot of information to create a better prompt
- how to set it up with automation for personalised landing pages, VSLs, or other neat things

Next one in two Wednesdays - on building a funnel with AI - because I'm doing two speaking things already this Wednesday 😇

What's more weird?

1. Posting weird and wonderful stories on LinkedIn in a consistent fashion for years

2. Scrolling on a "business" platform for 10-20 minutes a day and never posting

📸 getting my think on for a happy friday

#AskingForAFriend

Yesterday I showed some people how to build a one-shot super-prompt for building landing pages.

I then emailed it along with the slides, the recording, and the prompt to those faithful people who both attended or signed up.

Gee I wish I could pass it on to you.

But I hate those comment "IM A SAUSAGE"-style engagement traps.

Anyone got better ideas for doing this without looking like a tech-bro-influencer-bell-end?

🔔↖

This snap was taken 4 years ago. I was running a webinar for Startup Gippsland out of the back-shed.
 
I was in a back shed because we were in lockdown in Melbourne.
I was living in a small house and possess a large "phone" voice that wasn't conducive to a harmonious living arrangement with my (now) ex-wife.
 
I did a weird double-take seeing it because shortly after this was taken I:

> Separated and moved out
> Grew a beard
> Grieved the end of a 7 year old relationship
 
It was a very challenging time, and yet it was the one of the best things that could have happened to me.
 
Because now I have:
+ 5+ years of sobriety
+ A board position with a cause I deeply care about
+ A new spouse
+ Toddler twin boys
+ A business that enables me to do more webinars (I just did another today!)
 
One of the things you learn about the low-points is how you respond to them and what you're capable of.
 
I know I'm capable of great things.
 
But the more important lesson is knowing that it does get better - no matter how long things get, and no matter how low they seem.
 
It feels nice to look back at things at a moment in time, but it feels even better knowing the journey I've been on and knowing whatever lays ahead - there's been painful and valuable lessons learned along the way that have led to that growth.

(Oh and I feel the need to point out the divorce had NOTHING to do with my loud phone voice - at least that I'm aware of 🤣 - and hope they're well today too)

What's a one-shot? I laughed when I first heard it in a professional context.

The last time I'd heard it before that was one-shotting nubs on de_dust2 (IYKYK).

But in the world of AI prompts - a one-shot is getting the outcome you want from one go.

This doesn't suit every use case, and doesn't suit every LLM, but knowing how to maximise your chances of success with this is going to save you a lot of time with prototyping, proof of concepting, and even -

Dare I say it -

Landing pages.

Tomorrows' webinar will be covering how to one-shot a landing page and why it can be useful.

Some hints towards why it is:

- you can train your prompt on pages you like
- you can train the prompt on different direct response copy frameworks
- you can automate the generation of the code to match say - your paid ads or individual VSLs

Link to this and future webinars:
https://lnkd.in/gCsQG2cF

Let's get weird for a second... I've been journalling and brain-dumping since I was 17.

There are digital archives going back.

I was cheeky enough to self-publish a memoir at 29 (!?) and the paper trail of online written thoughts goes deep.

The newsletter covers AI coaching tools and some people claiming they can replace human coaches.

But it doesn't work as sold...

AI tells you what you want to hear mixed with what seems normal.

That's not the same thing.

I have tested this and more in my newsletter.

Is anyone else using coaches? Are they leaning into AI as well?

My coach - not yet.

When I coach others - transcripts and edited notes.

On my Wednesday webinar I smashed 3x live demos of things you can do with data, APIs, LLMs, and marketing tasks.

I did this over a webinar to illustrate what’s possible right now.

- paid ad competitor analysis
- content repurposing
- LinkedIn outreach

Things didn’t run 100% smoothly and that’s not important.

My goals are to cycle through these at pace, build an audience fast, and showcase just how much you can do with multiple tools strung together.

See the whole dance on YT now and next one is this Wednesday of course:

https://lnkd.in/greVeWq4

I got linked to the Clay NYT article 3 times yesterday.

And that's one of the reasons GTM engineers hit the top of my AI adoption tier list in my webinar yesterday.

There's a range of AI adoption right now and those leaning into the capabilities, embracing what's possible, and taking a systematic approach to what's working and what's not working are getting outsized gains.

Then there's laggers -
Organisations that are cautious, gatekeeping, or handing over full-decision making capability on adoption exclusively to IT.

And if your only references to AI are what Copilot, Salesforce, Meta, or ChatGPT tells you then you're not doing any better than normies and boomers.

Full recording up later and was fun to get it going.

I'll be doing Marshy's Webinar Wednesdays on rotating topics on AI, growth, and marketing as much as I can.

That was fun. #GenerateSummit dusted and the mind and energy are full.

Some highlights:

- The art director and copywriter aren’t the lead dream team any more, grab the culture nerd and savant with the iPhone

- Attribution is a zero-sum game, measure with geo-lifting (glad to hear this for my old mega clients)

- Hearing a lot of honesty and understanding from other B2B marketers about what works, what doesn’t work, and what’s frustrating - I enjoyed all of the off-session chats

Thanks to axel sukianto, Kayla Medica, and the whole Generate - The B2B Marketing Community in ANZ team + volunteers for making it all possible and run do smoothly.

🙏

Officially in the expensive epicentre for the rest of the week. Calendar near full and off to #GenerateSummit to see a whole bunch of the Generate - The B2B Marketing Community in ANZ.

Bloody looking forward to it TBH.

And feel for my beloved G who is watching the lurgy-riddled boys back at home base.

I'm very grateful to have such an awesome young family.

I don't travel for BD and learning much so will relish the opportunity and make the most of it.

Looking forward to making lots of new work friends.

✈️💨 🔥 💪🍃🛬

LFG 😘

📸 snap of me practicing my selfie game in my former home city

What are 3 things you can do with AI and marketing that you didn't know?
(That aren't generative spew.)

Well find out tomorrow with the inaugural Marshy's Webinar Wednesday.

I'll be covering demos of:

> Content repurposing in your/a brand's voice

> Competitor Paid Ads analysis

> LinkedIn outreach

There'll be a plug at the end, slides will be shared, session will be recorded and there's Q&A for anyone coming to the live version (won't be recorded).

I'm piloting this series to deliver grounded, hype-free sessions from a practitioner who describes himself as a power-user (but not a tool - I just want to make that really clear).

Because this is the pilot session (and I had to move the original time) just DM me your email address so I can add you to the calendar invite - this isn't gatekeeping it's just me doing things in "le pov MVP-mode" while we get this goodness going.

🎥 of the initial slides below with me appreciating them, by jeepers, I hope I can appreciate the rest of them in time 🤣

"Early founders think marketing is a shortcut to revenue".
 
I'm still thinking about this mention from another (older) founder last week.
 
Discussion was flying around in @generate community about what an early growth hire does.
 
The reality is that marketing is NOT a shortcut to revenue.
 
Adding marketing adds many layers of complexity to the sell:

> Who do you target
> Where do you target them
> How do you measure returns
 
And most importantly - who do we hire to help with this?
 
The reason "growth" exists instead of marketing is because a hybrid skill set is needed.
 
A growth person understands the problem being solved can change.
 
They understand the market can change too.
 
Not only this - they'll actively gather data at pace to prove what's impactful one way or another.
 
A traditional marketer doesn't do this.
 
And yes - this is the bucket an agency goes in too.
 
Agencies are amazing at blowing up and growing companies that have a clear problem and market and fit.
 
They're even better at spraying money down the toilet if the above isn't solved.
 
A traditional marketing hire isn't much better for seed stage.
 
They can scale and add a lot of necessary knowledge to growing and executing in channels.
 
But they don't know growth like their livelihoods depend on it.
 
An early stage growth person knows how to roll-up the sleeves and get the data to get the job done.
 
Pick up the phone?
Sure.

Lead prospect discovery?
No problem.

Building an audience and showing them what your startup solves?
Bring it.
 
This still isn't a shortcut to revenue, but it's the shortest path.
 
The job of the growth person is to find all the pieces that convert, that can scale into marketing that enables revenue.
 
That's a moutful but I will die on this hill.
 
I have seen it hundreds of times and am cut from agency cloth - so I know all the inside BS and games they play too (peace to my agency homies I still got you 🫶🏻)
 
📸 from the weekend, I threw down a classic progressive house mix on the weekend with my 2 y.o. boy learning what bass, middle, and treble do. DM me for a link to the mix 🎧

The latest edition covers:

- how to sell socially versus how not to sell

- reflections back to myself that are hard to hear

- productised agency blueprint (might delete later)

Enjoy your readin' 👋

I caught up with an old friend earlier in the week and we talked about career and life direction.

We have both been blessed with amazing opportunities over the years and now our lives look pretty different.

She's studying her PhD in design theory and I'm Dad Mode 2,000 and consulting and coaching lots of interesting companies.

One thing I shared with her is something I would call the Edge, Beast Mode, or just going full ham.

That dark energy you draw from as a high performer that you know when you set your mind to it nothing is going to get in your way.

Something I've been frustrated by in more recent years is not having "it".

I've softened, my life's more balanced, and I don't even know if I want "it" - I love my life, and the people I have around me.

But I do know that edge is there, ready to uncoil and spring out at something with tremendous force.

I don't know when or if that thing will materialise and I'm quite happy doing what I'm doing and grateful.

But there's something highly energising about looking at something and knowing "it doesn't have to be this way".

📸 from this morning, it's really cold and our famliy has been beset by RSV.
Before this week I didn't know what it was, and if you don't - keep it that way - it's like having a bulldog clip attached to your nostrils and breathing and coughing through sandy gravel

Who do I work with? I got asked this yesterday do let’s reduce, reuse, and recycle ♻️

- Seed-stage, post-seed tech companies with a B2B focus and mid-to-high touch sales process

- are about to hire or have made an unsuccessful sales/marketing/growth hire or investment in an agency

- usually led by a technical founder (they’re more open to help)

I come on fractionally either on a project with a very specific outcome that we negotiate and agree to, or to clean up a systemic mess to get their business back in shape to make that next successful hire.

Things I love doing:

- rolling up the sleeves and generating momentum

- bringing in junior or mid talent who can be shaped into long-term leaders or team players

- setting up automated workflows that leverage what AI is actually capable of right now

What I have been told:

> you break down hard-to-understand concepts and make it simple Marshy

> you turned things around with that client and you could see their whole energy change

> you can’t say that! (but did anyway)

Why I’m not down for a long-term relationship:

- 95%+ of salaried roles underpay me and price me out of more interesting opportunities

- I am neurodivergent and get bored by one thing

- I really, really want to be paid long-term via performance-based incentives like commission and equity

🎥 from LaunchVic Startup Gala last week - it was fkn sick ☺️

There's a tension between old and new worlds in AI.

> Individuals are witnessing more and more capability - while enterprises are slow on the take because: complexity

> You can farm marketing data at lightspeed to understand what works now - but is that valid marketing strategy?

> A great example of old illustration meeting generative video

This is the LinkedIn version of my newsletter that went out to inboxes last week 👋

Free advice - yay or nay?
Because I got read the riot act last night.

By Claude.

Over the last month I've been doing uploads and downloads each working day updating a project focused on self-reflection.

One of the project's key instructions:
 
You are my expert personal and business growth coach with access to nearly 10 years of my personal and business journals. Your role is to maximize self-awareness, identify patterns, and accelerate my personal and business growth through systematic execution.
 
I was driving home last night and did a download by testing voice for the first time.
 
And it unloaded at me.
 
It said:
 
👏 You have a recurring revenue goal of $20k per month but you keep training potential clients to solve problems with you
👏 Your positioning yourself as a helpful friend instead of a paid expert
👏 You created a competitor
 
🤣
 
That's a fun message to receive while driving back to Kangaroo Ground through roadworks and post-MCG football traffic.
 
But it's giving me what I asked it for - uncovering patterns to maximise my growth.
 
Do I need to stop giving away free advice or do I say GFY Claude and give out some more freebies to everyone next week?
 
I write about this kind of stuff weekly in something that's subscribable.

Just met Sawyer Kisken and nerded out on attribution, measurement, and growth marketing.

He's built Roadway - a way to stich together the measurement story in a way that makes sense for higher volume, no-touch/low-touch software conversions.

I don't go deep on measurement as much anymore, but scored brownie points for dropping Avinash Kaushik's name - the OG measurement nerd IMHO.

I’m in bed with diverticulitis. And here’s a damning example of why marketing is rapidly becoming a game of zero clicks.

(Yes I will get back to rest).

My search:
“Low residue diet”

On a mobile phone.

Followed by more scrolls than a bakery to get to anything clickable.

If you’re a brand or marketer that’s not paying attention to this you will need to find a new job soon.

It’s a good thing you’re on LinkedIn already - scroll away and start looking!

something that's bothered me as a content creator (newsletter, blogs, webinars, podcasts, my exceptionally high-calibre LInkedIn posts) is that they're often "one and done".

meaning I put thoughtful effort into it - because its something I enjoy doing and believe it brings value - and then it disappears into the algorithm void

this has always put me off creating more as I don't have a team behind me, and the economics of remote freelancers has never worked effectively for me either (there's a ramping up cost, teaching cost, and lack of immediate ROI outside of just their rate)

but the capabilities of AI workflows is getting better and better, and I'm right in there building them and creating value for my clients

with all of the above in mind, I'm going to dogfood my own webinar series, creatively named:

marshy's webinar wednesdays

here's how they'll work*:

- run most weeks
- 30 seats
- slides + recording available afterwards
- (non-recorded) free Q&A for live attendees at the end

the time/effort/energy required to do it is high, but by practicing what I preach I'm pretty sure I can net this out into more channels and showcase what's possible

first one is this week and sling me a comment if you'd like the link 🔗

The number one skill for staying up-to-date with AI and marketing isn't consuming the "right" kind of content - it's learning how to filter it like ruthless killer.

A common question I receive:
"How do you stay up to date? What courses should I take?"

They're asking the wrong question.

Here's a better one:
"How do I filter through massive amounts of information and only take in what's going to help?"

Here's how I do it:

(Bonus points if you picture me looking like Josh Hartnett in the lift with Alexis Bledel at the end of Sin City)

Newsletters

Set a Gmail rule to put anything with "unsubscribe" in the body to go to a separate folder

I agonised over doing this "what if I miss something" but the reality is if its urgent/important they will find a way to get to you and you'll be okay

Skim through things in batches (few times a week is fine)

Be generous with your subscribing for anything that piques your curiosity - but unsubscribe even faster and more judiciously

Example - MKT1 newsletter is frequently referred to as a go-to in my field - I killed it, too Silicon-Valley-esque and not serving my day-to-day - be brutal

Communities

The bar is high - most free communities are hot garbage and the influx of Skool communities (inc. some paid) are either people engagement farming, or consultants upselling

I'm selective but once I'm in one, I'm in - and give freely and skim for knowledge (and thank people when they drop it on me) looking at you Generate and Pavilion 🫶🏻

YouTube

The school of YouTube is my #1 information source right now

I can binge podcasts, and a lot of leaders in my niches are going HARD on long-form content that lets me swat up on AI, APIs, marketing, no-code, workflows, outbound, prospecting, scraping and automation

Just my humble opinion - but Nick Saraev is walking the talk and producing content out there of an extraordinarily high quality, and wouldn't be surprised if people are talking about him like they do Hormozi in 5-10 years time

I resisted paying for YT premium and then bit the bullet - offline listening + no ads + a watch later list and I am golden

Secret weapon - Reader by Readwise

Reader is a "read-it-later" app for nearly anything web-based, you can bookmark articles, links, posts, YouTube videos, and then highlight and clip the good stuff

It becomes like a personal knowledge database, and because I was a heavy user of Pocket before migrating I have... (checking)

995 high quality pieces of content in there

The tool keeps getting better, and when I need examples/evidence for something I'm writing it's the first spot I check

Reddit for niche intelligence

I'm a weirdo and rabbit hole things like you can't believe, and so am regularly diving into subreddits for the latest and greatest information

There's not one sub that outperforms others (and the main ones are whingey ignores) but special shoutouts tor r/ClaudeAI, r/amazingmarvin, r/n8n, r/vibecoding, and r/slaythespire

look character limit 👀

I'll tell you what I'm sick of:

> Housing prices in this country AND

> The levels of income and hoops you have to jump through to be approved for a home loan

So earlier in the year I decided to do something different.

A couple of weeks ago I wrapped on a project where the money-load was tied directly to hitting specific targets.

I negotiated hard.
Consulted with my spouse.
De-risked as much as I could at home while pushing for a high reward outcome.

And guess what?

It didn't pay off.

Does that mean I shouldn't have done it?
No.

The market is changing, and here's why I'd do outcome-based consulting again:

- There's a ceiling as a freelancer and I'm at it - I'm not interested in trading hours when I can make it positively rain and want to share in the win-win upside

- Skin in the game makes the stakes higher - I want to work with true partners rather than be a gun for hire

- I want to be able to tell the business owner they are full of sh*t when they need to hear it - not kowtow to their ego to protect my cushy fractional income

I'm not going to "bet the house" every time I play, I but I don't see any other way to get one unless there's something I'm not seeing.

Anyone else playing with this approach and backing themselves? I'm all ears.

Because it's open season against service providers who think they can charge fat retainers and not be responsible for their client's success.

📸 me absolutely "slumming it" on the way to garbage bin as I wait to buy our house

I caught up with Dave King last week and it was good to spitball what's happening in AI.
 
A few thoughts worth sharing:
 
> Consulting is really interesting right now.
The big groups were early winners in profiting of AI, but I'm seeing a lot of value to be gained with broad knowledge + tech literacy + and being willing to get your hands dirty. The output you can generate as an individual compared to 6 months ago is immense
 
> There's still a yawning gap between this and enterprise solutions.
Large companies are stuck between a willingness to test and prototype, < insert yawning chasm here >, and leverage capabilities across a department or organisation for real and measurable impact
 
> Have you got that old startup idea list?
It might be time to dust off the Markdown file and have another look, it's a hell of a lot easier to build than it used to be
 
For example - 18 months ago I was prototyping and exploring an ADHD desktop companion that nudged you when you went off-task, now you can grab open-source tools like Pickle by Glass and set up some notification triggers based on these behaviours happening.
 
Fun times 💫

Have you ever been to a business event, hear a voice that makes you CRINGE, and want to curl under the table into the foetal position and go back to a warm blanket, some snacks, and a lactose-free hot chocolate?

Well...

Let me tell you about the time I was in Krabi, Thailand.

I'd completed a running workout, had our gear packed and was wearing a "BLERCH" t-shirt by Matthew Inman.

It decries:
"I do not believe in the wall, I believe in THE BLERCH"

Then, cuting through my humidity and post-workout fugue:
"Is that about OUR wall?"

What the actual F?

I turn around and its an American tourist asking me whether this amusing in-joke about running in t-shirt form is about her world, her politics, and her CRAP.

I politely explained that no - it's a t-shirt from a comic artist I like and that's all and moved on.

But do you know what reminded me of this jarring experience?

The appearance of an AI mascot in the Western Bulldogs supporter FB group.

Our boys are red, white, and blue.

The AI decided to super impose that schtick onto an American Flag and create a mascot called Barkus Montempelli.

What a horrific, jarring, and godawful use case for AI and it reminds of that unwelcome voice at a work event and that unwelcome American tourist in Thailand.

In the bin you go 🚮

📸 of me slaying the Two Bays Trail Run in 2020 on the left, and offensive AI mascot on the right

--

you can find more takes like this in my newsletter

Watch me fit 3 A's into a video about AI in under 60 seconds.
 
Or just read this...
 
ADHD - this flavour neurodiversity helps think laterally, connecting disparate concepts together in a way that's intuitive to you - but is wild magic to neurotypicals

Aphantasia - is the inability to visualise things in your mind's eye, this comes in handy for thinking about and connecting abstract concepts in tech because a lot of it is stuff we can't see

Abstraction - is the ability to zoom into and zoom out of different kinds of concepts on different levels, this is incredibly handy for the interconnected nature of software, builds, workflows, APIs, and data patterns
 
These all come in handy when engaging with and thinking about AI's capabilities - it's a weird technology that benefits from being able to conceptualise, prototype, and remix things with your existing data.
 
--
 
follow my newsletter for more like this

Here's a fun life hack when exploring working with a senior leader:

Ask them to tell you something they felt strongly about a year ago, and that they've changed their mind on today.

-

There's no right or wrong answers to this question, but in looking at the nuance and the way they answer it - you can get a strong sense of what they're like to work with and whether you will gel.

Well I changed my mind on something friends.

For 59 editions I covered AI in my newsletter and grew progressively more frustrated by the doom and gloom.

Once I read more about energy consumption, water consumption, and data warehouses with pollution that literally deletes small US towns into oblivion...

It was really hard to muster the energy to contribute anything to this weird tide of change.

And so about a year ago I stopped writing about it.

Did I stop using it?
No.

Do I still think it creates very real problems for the planet?
Yes.

So pumped out a new edition this week and opened with a quote from Robert Greene's 48 Laws of Power:

"If the world is like a giant scheming court and we are trapped inside it, there is no use in trying to opt out of the game.

That will only render you powerless, and powerlessness will make you miserable.

Instead of struggling against the inevitable, instead of arguing and whining and feeling guilty, it is far better to excel at power.

In fact, the better you are at dealing with power, the better friend, lover, husband, wife, and person you become."

Make no mistake - AI is a power game on multiple levels and it's better to be aware of what is happening than trying to stay out of it.

#ai #newsletter

This is me Melbourning hard.

It was snapped moments before being hit for six by a virus last week.

But don’t let that deter you.

If we haven’t caught up in a while and you want to do a CBD meet over the next few weeks then let’s have my people talk to your people.

Things I’m looking for:

- interesting conversations
- business owners with a hunch about AI they want to talk out
- reconnects with old colleagues, acquaintances, and mortal nemeses

Keep calm and tarry on ☔️

me -

(as a 20-something after hearing parents talk about toddlers keeping you awake at night and how hard it is in the workplace):

"blah, blah, blah - I'm off to see The Chemical Brothers on the weekend yewww!"
 
me -

as an older parent with toddler twins getting exposure to the exact same content:
 
OH MY GOD.
 
I feel SEEEEEEN 🫶🏻
 
This post was brought to you by the Adenovirus, sleep regression, and the post-midnight wakeups on days beginning with M, T, and F.

What does getting into the weeds of growth look like?

We got into the nitty gritty of it with Alan Jones earlier this year on his Pick My Brain podcast with DayOne.fm - We’re for founders and startup operators.
 
It covers -
>> why hiring and job searching are evergreen problems

>> how UseVerb plays in this space

>> what we think about in looking at super-sticky users versus passers by

>> the importance of persistence and why it's fun working with Paul Deuchar

>> some of the problems and solving that comes up with scaling and experimentation
 
As things were recorded earlier in the year, its interesting hearing the takes on problems versus now.

I'm moving onto new consulting projects over the coming months, but still believe in the problem and am cheering for UseVerb from afar.
 
You listen to the pod in your usual podcast channels or here's the YT link:

https://lnkd.in/gtMjqPMk

What does getting into the weeds of growth look like?"
""
"We got into the nitty gritty of it with Alan Jones earlier this year on his Pick My Brain podcast with DayOne.fm - We’re for founders and startup operators."
" "
"It covers -"
">> why hiring and job searching are evergreen problems"
""
">> how UseVerb plays in this space"
""
">> what we think about in looking at super-sticky users versus passers by"
""
">> the importance of persistence and why it's fun working with Paul Deuchar"
""
">> some of the problems and solving that comes up with scaling and experimentation"
" "
"As things were recorded earlier in the year, its interesting hearing the takes on problems versus now."
""
"I'm moving onto new consulting projects over the coming months, but still believe in the problem and am cheering for UseVerb from afar."
" "
"You listen to the pod in your usual podcast channels or here's the YT link:"
""
"https://lnkd.in/gtMjqPMk

5 years sober today.

Looking back, the decision to choose a healthier life is an absolute no-brainer.

But at the time, the gravity of the decision was huge.

I had built a world for myself that was extremely social - where social meant drinking get togethers after work, fancy wine and cheese dinners, and clubbing and kick-ons with close crew.

It was through the latter I grew comfortable in my skin as an adult, became more open about sharing my story, and learned how to relate to people better after huge trauma as a child and as a student over in Perth.

The funny thing is the same substances that gave me comfort were also distorting my worldview and numbing my deepest feelings.

Feelings that needed to be experienced, so that I could heal and love myself from the trauma I had only talked about - not felt.

That’s a distinction that was impossible for me to understand 5 years ago.

It was only after I removed that coping strategy that the messy healing process really began.

There’s a myth that after stopping problematic drinking and partying that life suddenly gets better.

It doesn’t.

I got divorced during a lockdown.

My “rock bottom” was sitting in a near empty apartment with a box of doughnuts, a can of creamy soda, and Mortal Kombat movie on the television.

But the truth to the myth is there’s no longer a fog obscuring all the things you need to work through that actually matter.

I cleaned up my shit.
I got healthy.
I did my deep recovery work.

My friend Bernie said to me:

“When it starts getting better, it will be even better than you could possibly imagine.”

I remember hearing this about a year into sobriety and thinking…

What on earth is he talking about?

Well - cue up Fatboy Slim’s “Right Here, Right Now…

- 5 years of putting my health first
- Learning to love myself every day
- Finishing the Melbourne Marathon in under 4 hours
- Returning to basketball after 20+ years off and into my 5th season
- Joined the board at SANE and chair the Lived Experience Advisory Committee
- Dozens of speaking engagements ranging from local councils and tech companies through to Parliament House on World Mental Health Day
- Sharing my story on 9 News
- Finding my beautiful and loving spouse Georgie
- Creating two healthy and curious twin boys

It fills my heart more than I can express to experience all of this.

Yet the origins of all of this - good and bad - were from a scared little boy who grew up without his Dad because he couldn’t cope and took his own life.

Reconnecting with that little boy was the best thing I ever did, and I feel like the best is yet to come.

Thanks Luke, I love you ❤️

5 years sober today."
""
"Looking back, the decision to choose a healthier life is an absolute no-brainer."
""
"But at the time, the gravity of the decision was huge."
""
"I had built a world for myself that was extremely social - where social meant drinking get togethers after work, fancy wine and cheese dinners, and clubbing and kick-ons with close crew."
""
"It was through the latter I grew comfortable in my skin as an adult, became more open about sharing my story, and learned how to relate to people better after huge trauma as a child and as a student over in Perth."
""
"The funny thing is the same substances that gave me comfort were also distorting my worldview and numbing my deepest feelings. "
""
"Feelings that needed to be experienced, so that I could heal and love myself from the trauma I had only talked about - not felt."
""
"That’s a distinction that was impossible for me to understand 5 years ago."
""
"It was only after I removed that coping strategy that the messy healing process really began."
""
"There’s a myth that after stopping problematic drinking and partying that life suddenly gets better."
""
"It doesn’t."
""
"I got divorced during a lockdown."
""
"My “rock bottom” was sitting in a near empty apartment with a box of doughnuts, a can of creamy soda, and Mortal Kombat movie on the television."
""
"But the truth to the myth is there’s no longer a fog obscuring all the things you need to work through that actually matter."
""
"I cleaned up my shit."
"I got healthy."
"I did my deep recovery work."
""
"My friend Bernie said to me:"
""
"“When it starts getting better, it will be even better than you could possibly imagine.”"
""
"I remember hearing this about a year into sobriety and thinking…"
""
"What on earth is he talking about?"
""
"Well - cue up Fatboy Slim’s “Right Here, Right Now…"
""
"- 5 years of putting my health first"
"- Learning to love myself every day"
"- Finishing the Melbourne Marathon in under 4 hours "
"- Returning to basketball after 20+ years off and into my 5th season "
"- Joined the board at SANE and chair the Lived Experience Advisory Committee "
"- Dozens of speaking engagements ranging from local councils and tech companies through to Parliament House on World Mental Health Day"
"- Sharing my story on 9 News"
"- Finding my beautiful and loving spouse Georgie"
"- Creating two healthy and curious twin boys"
""
"It fills my heart more than I can express to experience all of this."
""
"Yet the origins of all of this - good and bad - were from a scared little boy who grew up without his Dad because he couldn’t cope and took his own life."
""
"Reconnecting with that little boy was the best thing I ever did, and I feel like the best is yet to come."
""
"Thanks Luke, I love you ❤️

Friend: LinkedIn is full of crap now"
""
"Nobody:"
""
"Absolutely nobody:"
""
"Me: yeah but what if I look solemn next to a kangaroo "
""
"Something, something synergies are the new data lakes."
""
"#killingit"
"#hoppingBrilliant"
"#kangaroocourt

What's the 4C's of Partner qualification?"
""
"- relevant Customers"
"- can speak with Credibility about your product"
"- have the Capability to sell, support, and deploy your product"
"- they have genuine Commitment to working with you"
""
"I learned this and about 15 other gold nuggets from a chat with partnership advisor Martin Scholz."
""
"He's got deep expertise in this space and had even been active in the AU market (he's based in Berlin)."
""
"I met him through the Pavilion community which I've been a member of for a few months now and highly recommend it to any GTM leader."
""
"There's courses, community, and plenty of things to learn - but the real magic is "off-platform" conversations you get access to like the one I had with Martin."
""
"Thanks mate and happy to buy you an espresso if you're ever down here again ☕️

Love this stat."
""
"Go and get it."
""
"Adding a few more to the list:"
""
"- reaching out to someone who is a few years ahead of you on LinkedIn and asking them for background"
""
"- politely thanking them afterwards and asking for a cheeky nudge for the role"
""
"- cold emailing the CEO and asking them to put you forward because reason X"
""
"- recording a video job application and sending it with UseVerb (soz couldn't help myself)"
""
"- sending the business leads/referrals and sending hiring manager screencaps of them "doing the work for you" (and you're welcome)"
""
"- posting about applying for job at X as an LI post and appreciating in advance any link love/engagement you can get"
""
"There's heaps more."
""
"Go and get it.

Is anyone in my network job seeking, actively applying for jobs, and open to trying something new that can help?"
""
"We're going to run some cohorts built to share:"
""
"- best practice for cover letters and resumes"
""
"- tailored advice on where to look and put your best self forward"
""
"- complementary use of our tools for standing out with video job applications"
""
"We're testing these cohorts weekly, and looking for participants this week and next while we iron things out with a new process."
""
"Interested?"
""
"reply with "video" or DM me 🙏"
""
"📸 from the archives - rolling on a 286 with EGA graphics and probably too young to be working

How's your weekend going?"
""
"I'm trying to break the back of this server-side container set up."
""
"I test (and use) a lot of software for ~growth purposes~."
""
"If it makes it into the password manager, I've done more than glance at it."
""
"In building things for UseVerb I've used 65 different tools."
""
"Only a fraction of them are stayers, but part of the growth game is piecing together different elements and seeing what sticks."
""
"We've got a new game coming next week and would love to crack this tagging challenge."
""
"I don't trust the traffic that's been coming in and I'm making the bar much higher."
""
"Server-side tagging, cookie consent management, accurate and detailed event measurement, anything else I'm missing here?"
""
"🤖 🍪 📐

In today's episode of charts you can't un-see..."
""
".seeing it all over the Internet."
""
".seeing it in analytics data."
""
".seeing it in job applications."
""
"UseVerb helps with the third one by encouraging both jobseekers to apply with video and make their best first impression (and stand out from slop)."
""
"It also helps hiring managers separate out the slop from people who really want to work for them."
""
"Tryin' to come up with a rhyme,"
"Somethin' that slows time,"
"Maybe something like slop -"
"It's UseVerb time."
""
"Okay -- I'm going to back away from the keyboard now with your carefully curated feed and take solace in the knowledge that you can't generate things as good as this.

The difference between low and high self-esteem."
""
"I was talking to a business owner."
""
"I shared some aspirations and what I’m focused on right now."
""
"He said:"
""
"“That’s cute, but when are you going to do something real”"
""
"I was crushed. "
"It stung. "
"I went home and vented to some friends on chat and thought - “F that guy”."
""
"Later."
""
"I was talking to a different business owner."
""
"I shared what I was focusing on, where the challenges are, what I’m doing to solve them, and where they could help."
""
"He yelled at me, told me the work wasn’t good, blamed others, and stopped inviting me to leadership meetings."
""
"I persevered, learned what I could, and later left the company."
""
"The difference is how much that affects me."
""
"I get to choose:"
""
"what I say to myself, "
"how I pump my tyres up,"
"what I tolerate,"
"what I stand for,"
"my why,"
"how much energy to put into something,"
"where my boundaries are,"
"what I won’t do,"
""
"and"
""
"how much love I give to myself each day."
""
"That’s the difference between low and high self-esteem."
""
"📸 me tunnelling through the discomfort

5 things I've noticed while building a growth engine at UseVerb:"
""
"🚮 Paid ads are in the worst shape I've ever seen. I don't trust 95% of the traffic coming in. I think this is mitigated in some categories (like ecommerce) where there is a LOT of conversion events to feed into the platforms. I'm seeing CPCs that make zero sense and seeing the browsing behaviour post-click screams bot traffic. People are paying for this shit?"
""
"🧠 The capabilities with AI and automation right now are bananas and will likely only get more mind-bending. I don't see how agents are going to improve online advertising - it's likely going to make things 100X worse. Which impacts the major revenue sources for Meta and Google."
""
"🗣️ Nothing beats talking to customers. They say things that quickly pop your bubble and flatline any excitement there was about product. The flip of this is when they do respond favourably (especially from a cold start) and you tell yourself "oh my gosh - I think we're cooking with something here""
""
"💙 It's really fun managing a team again, and have realised how much assumed knowledge I need to let go of and break down. This is a great reality check. I also believe any young people that are coachable, curious, and hungry right now can have a feast in the long run."
""
"🙏 Very grateful to have such a solid home base. Going full-time at something like this has come with risks attached and I love that we've found a way to make taking a swing work. It breaks my heart when the family is sick though (second week of no day care)."
""
"📸 me with my office companion Bonti at the end of a longer day

Amazing opp for an incredible organisation."
""
"Highly recommended and encourage any of my arts/education connections to forward to relevant people interested in the cross-section with mental health."
""
"💙