Founder vs. Employee Mindset

It's not sexy to say, but most of AI transformation has nothing to do with AI.

There are 10 steps in the sequence of making an internal process or external product AI-native.

Only 1 step is AI, and ironically, the other 9 steps are the far harder part.

Step 1: Identify the problem

- find the manual process worth automating. turn your brain off autopilot & turn on your "suck meter". ...

Most people can't actually explain what AI is to a friend/coworker.

Take a page from Dr. Seuss (trust me) & you'll be set.

When someone asks me "how does ChatGPT actually work?" I used to reach for words like "pre-training," "back propagation" and "transformers." And I'd watch their eyes glaze over (understandably) in real time.

So now I just say this:

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Leaders are either going FOUNDER MODE or FOMO MODE with AI right now.

Those in founder mode are returning to IC work, testing the bounds of what can be agentified, and constantly tell their peers that the company is moving too...

In case it’s helpful, I shared this AI cheat sheet with a bunch of exec friends today:

1. Start with a tight leash

Think of AI like a genius intern. High agency, high intelligence, and raw horsepower. The worst thing you can do when the genius intern joins your company is give them 5 tasks and say “go.” They’ll end up doing a C+ job at each task. Instead, you start with a very short leash, give them one low-stakes job, and offer enough feedback until you they’ve reached your standard of good & earned some trust. Then you extend the leash little-by-little, as quantity of feedback goes down, quality of work goes up, and trust grows.

2. Don’t half-ass the onboarding

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