Targeted ICP and Funnel Turned Luck Into Predictable Revenue
Three months ago, a Make More Money student’s pipeline was referrals and luck. Last week, they sent me this message. They’re a solo developer specializing in Webflow. They did around $250K in revenue last year, but the model was brittle. Every project came from referrals or agency subcontracting. No system. No funnel. Their marketing strategy was, in their words, “throwing spaghetti at the wall.” Their ICP was too broad. They’d take any project from anyone who used Webflow or wanted to. Startups, agencies, enterprise… didn’t matter. If the the inquiry said “Webflow,” they’d quote it. The first thing we did was narrow. We identified a gap nobody was filling. We refined the value proposition until it was easy to describe in a sentence. My student built a prospect list targeting VPs and marketing directors at companies that fit a very specific scenario. They went from sending 6 outreach messages a week to 20. We mapped the funnel. They stopped treating pipeline like something you turn on when you need it and started treating it like something that runs every day regardless. Last week, they landed a $90K project. That was double the largest project they’ve ever signed—and it was a smaller scope that most of their previous projects. CEO bought in. Stakeholders bought in. Nobody negotiated. Their exact words: “The pricing sheet on it breaks my brain. The client feels good about the price, I’m paying my team exceptionally well, and I’m taking in an amazing amount of owner comp + profit.” That’s the sentence that tells you it’s working. Not “I won the project.” Everybody wins projects. The real test is whether the client feels good, the team gets paid well, and the owner takes home real money. All three. At the same time. Nothing changed about their skills. Nothing changed about their talent. We just changed the conversation they were having before the price ever came up. *** I built a 33-step roadmap that shows agency owners exactly which positioning moves to make at each stage of growth. DM me MAP and I'll send it to you.
Performance Now Measured by Weekly Surface Area Growth
The way we measure performance is changing. Now, it's how much is each person's surface area growing week over week? This will be the biggest challenge for people and managers. How are you measuring your team's output right now?
Know When to Stop Fixing Unwilling Employees
You are a manager now. You cannot fix someone who does not want to be fixed. Know when to cut your losses. THE HARSH REALITY:
Prioritize End‑to‑End Process Redesign Over Quick Automation
Rushing S/4HANA implementation? Automating old processes speeds things up now but costs more long-term. Focus on end-to-end process improvement for real benefits, not just faster old ways. #S4HANA #SAP #DigitalTransformation https://t.co/ivIup3tf3s
Replace Cascading OKRs with a Strategic Solar System
Don’t cascade OKRs. Build a Solar System Many teams cascade OKRs. But this often creates silos and false alignment. Wednesday 18 March 17:00 – 18:00 GMT Link: https://luma.com/cteiwnl4 In this session, you will learn: • Why cascading OKRs creates silos and false alignment • How the OKR...
Ask for Decision Steps, Not Vague Processes
Never ask: "What's your decision-making process?" Instead ask: "What steps does your company need to take to make a confident yes or no decision?" Same intent. Completely different depth of response. Then DON'T take their answer at face value.
Stop Overworking the Easy, Prioritize Deep Work
Novice runners tend to go too hard on the easy days and too easy on the hard days. Same thing occurs in the office. We spend too much time, energy and effort on emails, meetings, etc. We don't block off enough...
Simple Free Hacks: Stop Scrolling, Start Focusing
“I can’t focus for long periods of time.” Notifications off: Free Close extra tabs: Free 45-minute timer: Free One task at a time: Free Hans Zimmer music: Free Phone in another room: Free How about you stop scrolling and start working?
Treat Discovery as a Service, Not a Blocker
Discovery isn't a phase in your process. It's a service you offer your organisation. Imagine you get a feature request from a stakeholder 😬 They want it built. "Just a small thing." Won't take long. Will be great. Most PMs respond with: • "No"...
Blind Spots: Organizations Miss External Warning Signs
“Some orgs. are sailing along happily, not realizing that some woes are around the corner—despite warning signs that are clear to people outside. People inside the org. are unable to smell the rotting fish for all sorts of reasons.” 🔎 https://t.co/TR9SgSUXwm #changemanagement https://t.co/rMByOhtuHz
Diagram Requests in Reviews Eliminate 90% of Bugs
/plan-ceo-review and /plan-eng-review skills basically gets you 90% of the way to done most of the time the secret in plan-eng-review is that you can always ask for a diagram, and the act of creating the diagram (user flow, data flow,...
Multiply Builders by Agents to Scale Teams 100x
The formula is simple: # of builders × # of agents That's your team's real size. Operate it correctly and you 50 to 100x your team. The companies winning right now are thinking in terms of builders and the agents underneath...
One Core Metric Drives Alignment as Companies Scale
As companies scale, they add more metrics. Then metrics for the metrics. Eventually, people forget what matters. Great companies focus on ONE number that aligns everyone. Fewer metrics. More meaning. #Strategy #Leadership #Metrics #BusinessStrategy #growthhacking https://t.co/Nq2uoUOUnl
Optimal Organization: Less Depth, More Clarity
Organize one level too deep and you're disorganized again. Just enough, even a little less than you may think is optimal, is usually the sweet spot.
Leaders Must Prioritize Dedicated Time for Managerial Culture
Strategic Questions Leaders Must Answer About Middle Managers https://t.co/eZsbM2ddLv Reality check: most #managers don’t have a single hour in the week explicitly devoted to #culture. They have meetings, tasks, fire drills. Culture becomes what gets squeezed into the margins. https://t.co/k8nXsQMc24
Tie Project Changes to Business Value, Not Tech
Ensure project success by tying changes to business value, not just tech. Start by addressing identified pain points and bottlenecks to boost effectiveness and efficiency. #BusinessValue #ProjectManagement https://t.co/0JEGLhuWkE
GStack Automates Role‑specific Review Tracking for Startups
New innovation: Just as at a well-run startup, there are CEO, engineering manager and design reviews, GStack now helps you keep track of what reviews are run, figures out what is appropriate (e.g. CEO doesn't have to look at infra...
Productivity Now Means Orchestrating AI, Not Coding Faster
We measure productivity wrong. Lines of code written, tickets closed, hours logged, typing speed. All metrics built for a world where humans do the work themselves. That world is ending. When everyone on your team has an agentic workforce of...
Audit Your Day: Stop Firefighting, Build Scalable Engines
There's a specific kind of exhaustion that comes from being busy on the wrong things. Being stuck in tasks that don't compound is one of the worst things that can happen to a founder/CEO. Before I stepped down as CEO, I tracked...
Operational Chaos Is Fueling Founder Anxiety
Most founders would never admit this, but they've had panic attacks or anxiety episodes because they're stuck to the business. How much is the ops chaos costing you?
Avoiding Tough Talks Costs $7,500 and Days
Every tough conversation you avoid costs your company $7,500 and 8 lost work days. That's not my opinion. That's VitalSmarts research across thousands of organizations. Now multiply that by how many conversations your leadership team dodged this month. The most successful companies I...
Solve One Problem, Reuse It—Skip Massive Systems
People think building systems is hard. The truth? It is. So stop building big ones. Fix one recurring problem. Write it down. Reuse it.
Never Stop Marketing, Even When Business Is Full
The single biggest mistake agency owners make for their pipeline: They stop marketing when they get busy. My favorite restaurant in the world is Royal Sushi Omakase in Philadelphia. (If you ask me, it’s the best restaurant in the world.) It has...
OpenViktor Undermines $2K/Month AI Startup Model
This just killed half the "AI productivity" startups charging monthly fees. OpenViktor does everything a real hire does: → organizational memory → 3,000+ tool integrations → daily reports, code generation, app building No $2,000/month SaaS. No waitlist. No BS. PH Link: https://t.co/LrjYP8hMqw
Productivity Isn't Pretty; It's Messy, Focused, Uncomfortable
We’ve all been there… organizing, rearranging, tweaking systems, making everything look ✨perfect✨… but nothing actually gets done. It feels productive. It looks productive. But sometimes, it’s just procrastination dressed like it has its life together. Real productivity isn’t pretty. It’s messy, focused, and sometimes...
Align Requirements with Process Gaps to Unlock Value
Many businesses overlook that broken or inefficient processes, missing information, or bottlenecks directly impact value. Aligning requirements with these needs helps prioritize effectively and drive real business results. #BusinessValue #ProcessImprovement https://t.co/s0wXpiHCBP
AI Labs Overlook Managers: Tools Lag Behind Coding Focus
I get why AI labs are so focused on software development (it helps them get recursive improvement, and also they are coders so they think coding is the most vital thing), but there are 9.5x more managers than there are...
OpenAI Urged to Ditch Side‑quests, Focus on coreOpenAI Urged to Ditch Side‑quests, Focus on Core.
Fidji Simo has asked OpenAI staff to stop getting distracted by "side quests" and to focus on nailing their core business products as they are getting increasingly outflanked by Anthropic. Sam tried to run OpenAI like a VC by making lots...
Middle Managers Need Leadership Support When Culture Meets Performance
How Middle Managers Can Avoid Becoming the Forgotten Middle (or Turn It Around) https://t.co/IRwvSOkfCK They should answer: “When culture and performance collide, do you feel supported to choose culture? And can you think of a time when leadership backed you...
Productivity Talk Shifts From Urgency to Alignment
The words we use about productivity reveal how our thinking is evolving. In this year’s A–Z episodes with Erik Fisher of Beyond The To-Do List, I noticed a shift in vocabulary: Less urgency. More alignment. Listen to Part 1 here: https://t.co/VEeHjbdZ2Q https://t.co/JE7Hskt5yB
Motorola's Pivot to New Markets Revived $60B Business
Motorola invented the mobile phone. Then the iPhone nearly bankrupted them. Here's how they came back as a $60 billion company - by doing something completely different:
Spine Swarm Lets Anyone Run AI Agents, No Code
Damn... OpenClaw got everyone hyped on real agent armies, but yeah it's dev-mode only. Spine Swarm just flipped the script: zero code, zero terminal hell, just type what you want and a whole squad of agents goes to work on a...
Always‑On AI Automates Workflows, Builds Software, Learns Continuously
Adaptive just dropped a game-changer: an always-on AI computer that automates your workflows, builds software, and encodes what it learns for future tasks. No more manual grinding just drag files, give instructions, and let it handle Square updates, sales reports, everything. This...
AI Success Hinges on Organizational Redesign, Not Engineers
I am not sure "Forward Deployed AI Engineers" are going to deliver on what a lot of companies are hoping for. They are useful, yes, but AI applications are far less of a technical issue, and much more about rethinking...
Stop Blaming Time—Use Free Tools to Prioritize
“I'm too busy, I don’t have time.” 24 hours: Free A calendar: Free A notebook: Free Phone timer: Free One clear priority: Free 60 focused minutes: Free How about you stop blaming time and start using it?
Run AI in the Cloud, Not Just on Laptop
Hot take: If your AI only works when your laptop is open, it's just a fancy calculator. I moved my daily competitor tracking tasks to MuleRun. It comes with a 24/7 cloud VM. It finishes the work while I'm sleeping. Saving...
Systems, Not Time Management, Enable Work-Life Balance
I run a pub. I have a one-year-old. And I don’t work 24/7. It’s not time management. It’s systems.
Master Upward Management: Tips for Middle Managers
#TimTalk - How should a middle manager manage upward? with Gary Cookson https://t.co/EHLT2Lyxs5 via @DLAIgnite #SocialSelling #DigitalSelling #Sales #SalesLeader #Leadership #Culture #Marketing #Success #Mindset #Entrepreneur #Management #HumanResources #HR https://t.co/LeIEnpKLPB
Managing AI Agents: A New Skill for Beginners
Having a team of AI agents requires some management skill. If you have never managed before, you should recognize a learning opportunity. #MegAndAmyShow #MakeEveryDayCount #InventTheFuture https://t.co/r9PCOKxxvN
Use AI to Redesign Your Org, Not Just Emails
Most leaders are asking: “How can AI speed up my email?” The better question: “How should AI reshape my entire org chart?” Task-level thinking produces incremental improvements. Structural thinking produces transformational ones. We do the structural thinking inside the AI Business Lab® Mastermind....
Poor Leadership Stalls Team Effectiveness and Success
“Many managers are poor at the paramount #leadership tasks—like instilling effectiveness in their teams, inspiring & energizing staff, holding people to account, dealing with stakeholder antics, etc. They impede their team/org. success.” 🔗 https://t.co/ysdPb3UXGz #management https://t.co/BehrKWxUii
All Goal‑setting Frameworks Share Identical Pyramid Structure
OKRs, OSTs, Lean Value Trees... none of them matter. They all solve the same problem: how do you make sure everything your team does actually connects to your goal. And they all use the same structure to do it: •...
Prioritize Core Work, Protect Time From Distractions
Your calendar should reflect what truly matters. Not everyone else’s urgencies. ⏳ Too often, we fill our days with meetings, requests, and “just one more thing” until the work that actually matters gets buried. Real productivity begins when you clearly define...
Simplify Productivity with the COD Framework
If productivity feels overwhelming, it’s usually because the system is too complicated. The truth is, a great productivity system should simplify your life, not add more stress to it. That’s where COD (Collect, Organise, Do) comes in. A simple framework that helps you: ✔...
Test Succession to Build a Self‑Running Business
My cohost Jack talking about how to Build a Business That Runs Itself: Test Succession. Don’t miss the relentless growth podcast.
Growth Stalls without Structure; Time to Build Foundations
You only just started😁 The real work begins when you realize the business you built can’t grow without structure.
Simplify Productivity: Prioritize, Schedule, Execute, Track
Productivity 101: - Decide what actually matters - Break it into simple & clear tasks - Plan your week (before it starts) - Put work blocks on your calendar - Do the work (even if you don’t feel like it) - Track what actually gets done Don’t...
Leverage One Trusted Partner, Not a Large Team
You don't need a massive team. You just need 1 or 2 people you trust who already have their own team.
AI‑Driven Bossware Undermines Productivity, Needs Downtime
In the @nytimes, @loracorkelley reports on the rise of “bossware,” technology managers use to monitor employees. The phenomenon has been around for years but is now being super-charged by AI. It can take many forms, including monitoring keyboard strokes and even pauses. As...
Delegation Transfers Authority, Not Just Tasks, Through Shared Understanding
Effective delegation is not a transfer of tasks. It is a transfer of decision-making authority guided by shared understanding.