ethan

offline mode ! @latecheckoutplz @gregisenberg @jrdnmix

@IAmAaronWill me gusta

Built an Instagram lead qualifier for a client. 1. Scrapes profiles from target pages 2. Qualifies on location + background 3. Writes personalised DM openers 4. Outputs to Google Sheets Can get through 1k leads in 10 minutes. Simple.

@JamesonCamp crazy times we are living in

Anthropic just shipped native computer use Every “computer use agent” startup is having a real bad morning right now. This is the cycle. And it never stops. You build a wrapper. You raise money. You get some traction. Then the model provider ships your entire product as a feature update on a random Tuesday. OpenAI did it with code interpreter. Google did it with grounding. Now Anthropic is doing it with computer use. The playbook is always the same. Find a gap in the base model. Build a tool around it. Pray they don’t close the gap. The only AI companies that survive are the ones building something the model literally cannot do on its own. Vertical workflows. Proprietary data loops. Deep integrations that take 6 months to rip out. Everything else gets eaten.

@tigerjvideo agree, not a huge fan of AI UGC but like everything else that has to do with AI, it will probably end up becoming the norm makes IRL events/attendee generated content a huge moat

2 main thoughts: 1. This will kill UGC as a medium. Nobody will trust anything. 2. This is an evil business model. Fake people selling fake products to cortisol spiked 9to5ers. Hijacking trust & raping the social contract.

@boringmarketer trust + relationships = community

moats to build: - distribution - data - judgement - infrastructure - speed - brand - trust - quality - ROI - insight - relationships

@andrewgmonroe huge unlock

"you don't help people build moats, you help them build movements" this is what a client of ours said the other day, and honestly it completely changed the way I view our business we help online education businesses launch IRL events, and i have always viewed events as a moat defense against competition, AI, market saturation, trust recession, etc very fear oriented. but that really isn't the function of events... we don't help creators launch events to protect their business we help them launch events to spread their message, build affinity & trust with their audience, strengthen their community, strengthen their positioning, and yes, make a fuck ton of money all things that are energized, expansive, inclusive, and exciting. things that align wayyy more with movements rather than moats so, today i declare that we are no longer in the moat building business we are in the movement building business

@maciekl_ super important reminder

If you're in info, pls don't get caught in the glue-eating biz-opp bubble (AMZ FBA, dropshipping, etc) Info-marketing isn't only biz-opp You can make insane bread with online experts in static markets Just navigate to Udemy for your expert validation & you'll see all the opportunities out there for you I saw a drawing coach with 125,844 positive ratings selling a $29.99 drawing course That's $3.7M cash collected on customers who gave a review ONLY (this excludes all buyers who didn't give a review) Ofc Udemy takes fees, etc but you don't sell on Udemy You use Udemy for the validation to see what courses people are buying Then you find the perfect expert & scale them through cold traffic There are so many niches there Drawing, pet training, NLP, biz leadership, esoteric practices... the list goes on Broaden your horizons

@juliapintar hell yea

the playkit dinner series: 12+ course omakase sushi with the best in consumer tech in sf excellent people, friends and conversations. can't wait for the next one nyc soon!

@marieforleo not rushing to the desk every morning has been a huge unlock for me! thanks marie

Try this before you open your email: put both feet on the floor, take one slow breath in, and one slow breath out. 🧘‍♀️ That tiny pause changes the tone of your entire morning. Instead of reacting, you’re choosing. Instead of rushing, you’re grounding. And that shift? It carries into every decision you make after that. 💖

@andrewgmonroe money and value creation go hand in hand

@EthanSimons and the best part is you can engineer your events for value creation AND make a f*** ton of money

In-person events in a wider business context are pretty much 100% a marketing play. Bring potential customers together, get a ton of sponsors involved, sell from stage, book demos and calls. If an attendee doesn't ROI, it's a waste. it's about value extraction. In-person events in the coaching/info/community space, on the other hand, are about value creation. Masterminds. Workshops. Implementation. Learning. Progress. That's why we chose to go all-in on this space Value creation > Value extraction

@levikov i'm so lucky this showed up on my TL

The person who figures out how to sell identity to people who hate themselves is going to be worth more than every info product guru on earth combined and nobody is framing the opportunity correctly… Every purchase over $50 is an identity purchase. Nobody buys a $200 skincare routine because they ran the clinical data. They buy it because they want to be the type of person who has a $200 skincare routine. The product is proof of who they're becoming This applies to everything. A trading course isn't education. It's a costume change. The buyer wakes up Monday morning and they're "a trader" now. A fitness program isn't a workout plan. It's permission to call yourself disciplined. A paid community isn't access to information. It's a membership card to an identity they couldn't get into before The markets printing the hardest right now all exploit this at the core: Carnivore diet stuff converts 4-5x higher than generic fitness. Not because the product is better. Because the buyer's identity is welded to the philosophy. Returning the product means abandoning who they decided to be. The psychology won't let them Looksmaxxing went from incel niche to mainstream in 18 months because it gave young men an identity framework. You're not buying jawline gum. You're buying entry into a transformation arc where you're the protagonist "Clean living" products aimed at women 35-55 charge 3-5x more than identical products without the belief layer. Because buying "organic" isn't a product decision. It's a statement about what kind of mother you are The deeper play nobody's running yet: most identity products are selling TO an existing identity. "You're a trader, here's trader stuff." That's level one Level two is CREATING the identity and then selling everything inside it. You don't sell a course about making money online. You create an archetype, build an entire worldview around it, and then everything from the $47 ebook to the $5,000 mastermind is just gear for playing that character Every religion understood this. Every luxury brand understands this. Every political movement understands this. The info product industry is still selling features and benefits like it's 2014 the products with the lowest refund rates on earth are the ones where returning the product means killing a version of yourself. build that and you never have to "sell" again something to think about

@coreyganim cool that there are options

This is Perplexity's answer to the "local AI agent" movement. What it is: → A Mac mini that runs Perplexity 24/7 at your house → Works across your local files, apps, and browser sessions → Always on, always working in the background How it differs from current Perplexity: → Today: cloud-based, you ask it questions when you need answers → Personal Computer: local, persistent, works autonomously without you prompting it How it differs from OpenClaw: → OpenClaw: open-source, highly customizable, you control everything (skills, prompts, integrations) → Personal Computer: turnkey hardware solution, less customization, "it just works" approach Who this is for: Non-technical users who want agent capabilities without any setup. The AI agent space is splitting into two camps: 1. DIY frameworks (OpenClaw, Claude Code) 2. Turnkey appliances (Perplexity Personal Computer, Rabbit R1) Both will win. Different users, different needs.

@davesob @noahkagan lol i laughed

@noahkagan Now I can accomplish nothing at enterprise scale

Sometimes I feel like AI is built for people with ADHD. Do 10x things at once but still accomplish almost nothing. 😆

Recently one of our event partners had lunch with a founder from his community. She flew all day for the lunch and it took 1-2 hours. When asked why she went through the effort, she responded "I just needed to make sure you were real" Will this become more common? I wonder

@perplexity_ai mac mini stonks go brrrrrrr

Announcing Personal Computer. Personal Computer is an always on, local merge with Perplexity Computer that works for you 24/7. It's personal, secure, and works across your files, apps, and sessions through a continuously running Mac mini.

@andrewgmonroe 100%

How do you build trust with your audience in a world where everyone is perfect? I know it sounds kind of ridiculous, but that is where we are headed. Every creator, entrepreneur, or brand now has the ability to show up perfectly online - AI generated content - AI generated bio - Pictures touched up with AI - Products/services built or automated with AI - Vibe coded websites that used to cost 5-6 figures to build - AI agents that run the business Perfection. But if everyone can do this, how does one stand out? How does a market know who to trust? The answer is live events. Because the only way to prove to an audience that you are 100% who you say you are is to show up for them in person Shake their hand, hear their story, deliver real value, and create a space for them to connect with others Step into the arena with them while everyone hides behind their screens & their polished brand And the truth is, not everyone can do this, and not everyone is willing to do this It's scary to be authentic in a perfect world. It's scary to step into the arena with real people in real life. But those that do will establish a special kind of trust with their audience that can't be replicated online, created with AI, or outsourced. A true moat.

IRL > URL

@visualtargets @writeinlight @starter_story yeah there's a lot of factors at play but this is definitely what happens

@EthanSimons @writeinlight @starter_story A bit of both. The reason most startups fail is not a big enough buffer in order to keep focused on it. Most close & owner of business goes back to a job of some kind. The reason most side hussles stay that way is not enough focus, and owner of hussle is distracted by a job.

This is why you should start your own business.

@writeinlight @starter_story not him, but you either have to have a huge safety net or be unbelievable delusional that it'll work out eventually

@starter_story How did you not give up in between the years? Just wondering

@JamesonCamp when i first learned about this it blew my mind. never underestimate internet marketers

I have driven millions of dollars from Facebook groups and 40k+ email subs… This is plaud doing great Grey hat marketing What they do is have an account post a question - feels organic a real Then the other accounts or real accounts they have paid, go and comment that the answer to their problems happens to be plaud I’ve run this playbook. It’s a good one. You can find it on Reddit as well. The problem is, once you know how it’s done. It’s very hard to unsee it.