Codie A. Sanchez

Investing millions in Main St businesses & teaching you how to own the rest | HoldCo, VC fund, Founder

On a mission to create financially free and free-thinking humans.I founded a advisory and investment company called Contrarian Thinking that helps owners buy and scale businesses.Our newsletter has over 1M+ weekly readers, here → contrarianthinking.biz/liOur community has taught 9,000+ members biz buying, biz growing, and doing deals. We value experience over degrees.Betting on yourself over building someone else's dream.Main Street over Wall Street.My mission is less suits, more boots. Meaning: we the people holding the power… and the purse strings.🔗Join 1M+ others who get our free newsletter: contrarianthinking.biz/li🔗YouTube: @CodieSanchezCT🔗Instagram: @codiesanchez🔗Twitter: @Codie_Sanchez🔗Weekly business-buying newsletter Main Street Minute: contrarianthinking.biz/minute-li

Founder

We help free minds and build bank accounts.

The best advice that no one follows:

- Wake up at 5:45am.
- Marriage done well is a huge superpower.
- Trust God.
- Be careful what you read, it becomes the way you think.
- No going out on a school night.
- If you have to drink to hang out with someone, you probably shouldn't be buds.

Feel free to share if you agree ♻️

Investing millions in Main St businesses & teaching you how to own the rest | HoldCo, VC, Founder | NYT best-selling author

I have no energy for hate. Love you, wish you well, or hope you heal. That's it.

You will make 10x more money if you present ideas like this to your clients or leaders.

Underrated superpower:

Just dumb enough to believe in yourself, just smart enough to execute.

You don’t have anxiety because you think you CAN’T do it.

You have anxiety because deep down you know you CAN be doing bigger things.

People overestimate business plans and “genius.” They underestimate irrational inability to quit.

Dumber people than you have done it.

Let's get after it 💥

Follow for more & repost if you need this to be your new mantra.

You don’t get lucky.

You make your luck.

There are 3 ways to increase your odds of luck:

1. Do, repeatedly. Try, then iterate.
2. Be consistent. Resist the urge to give up.
3. Gain knowledge. Invest in yourself.

Knowledge without action is worthless. So is acting without knowing what you’re doing.

Say you want to buy a business.

You could get the best advice in the world from the smartest people in acquisitions… But if you don’t act, you’ll never buy one.

OR

Your could have all the drive in the world, the right mindset… But ruin yourself financially because you didn’t learn the right tactics.

13 other unreasonably simple habits to change your life:

1. Waking up at 5:45am solves 99.9% of daily issues.

2. Grab your to-do list. Do the thing you want to do least, first.

3. Stop all 60 min meetings, make them 45 minutes. Tighter meetings, more time.

4. No social media, email, or text when you wake up. Write something, read something, or create something before you get sucked in.

5. Do the $1,000/hr Test. Group work in 3 buckets based on return: $10, $100, $1,000. Offload one low ROI task per day.

6. Change one meeting a week to a walking call. Watch how excited the other meeting member becomes.

7. Add a How vs Won't check-in. When you say, "that WON'T work." Instead ask, "How could that work?"

8. Be the dumbest one in your friend group, then move on when you’re not. As they say, if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.

9. Take a picture of your net worth. What gets measured gets managed. Check finances daily.

10. Always the stairs, never the elevator. Pick the hard option. See how much stronger you are than you think.

11. Never write to-dos in stone. You're 10x more productive if you reprioritize daily.

12. Meditate. 10 minutes a day. For a twofer - do it in the sauna. Sometimes hacking culture gets it right.

13. Get intimidated. Everything you want is on the other side of fear. Do something every day that scares you a little bit.

Life is the small things repeated daily.

Change one daily habit, and beautiful things start to happen...

So pick one.

↓↓↓

Also...build the habit of getting ownership, not income. 

Come to MSM Live to learn how: https://lnkd.in/gf6hPHdF

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Harsh truth:

Running a company is simply a game of prioritizing problems.

Here’s how to become the Chief Problem Solver in your business:

Want to know Elon Musk's "secret" to running Tesla, SpaceX, and 3+ other billion-dollar companies?

According to Marc Andreessen, it's simple:

"He shows up every week, identifies the biggest problem, fixes it, and does that 52 weeks in a row."

Most companies hide from problems:

• They reframe them as "challenges"
• They create layers of abstraction
• They delegate them into oblivion

But problems aren't biohazards—they're your biggest opportunities.

Bigger the problem? Bigger the potential.

There’s a reason SpaceX is able to send a 400-foot skyscraper into the sky knowing it might explode.

Because they want to know exactly what breaks, when, and why.

Every failure incapacitates dozens of future problems.

This approach works because running a company is simply prioritizing problems.

Your earnings directly reflect what you solve...

Big problems pay better.

Another great example of this is Brad Jacobs.

He built 7 billion-dollar companies in logistics, waste, and warehousing - industries most people find boring until they see his bank account.

Here’s how he evaluates risk vs reward on different deal sizes:

• Small, low-risk deals: exist but limited reward
• Small, high-risk deals: limited reward with high risk (avoid)
• Big, low-risk deals: unicorns (don't exist)
• Big, high-risk deals with solvable problems: "the bingo quadrant"

One of my favorite lines from his book is:

"If you want to win, you have to rearrange your brain to lean into those big, hairy problems and figure out how to cut off the hair and de-risk."

This is exactly what your job is as a CEO.

It’s simple: hire the smartest people in the world... and solve the problems they can't figure out.

That's it. That's the whole job.

Not avoiding problems, but identifying and selecting the right ones to solve.

Becoming a Chief Problem Solver requires you to create your own weekly problem-solving loop:

1. Identify your single biggest constraint
2. Focus all resources on solving it
3. Measure the result
4. Repeat next week

1 problem. 1 solution. 52 weeks in a row.

The best entrepreneurs don't just "think differently" about problems. They actively build muscles for problem identification and execution.

Then they do it again and again.
Fair warning though, this isn't glamorous work. It means:

• Living inside friction
• Facing uncomfortable truths
• Fixing things no one else wants to touch

But it's where all the leverage is.

If your business is stuck, your unlock is often solving ONE big problem.

Maybe you know exactly what it is, but don't know how to solve it. Or maybe you're not sure what the problem is yet...

P.S. If you want to see how we think about solving these problems for our own businesses, you might want to check this out: https://lnkd.in/enaBvipE

A reminder to myself and you this Saturday...

It’s really just you against the mirror. You vs you. No one else can win at a game of one. I know it’s hard not to get distracted, race horses wear blinders for a reason. Your lane you’re game. LFG.

Underrated quality of awful leaders:

They try to please everyone & lead by committee.

The hardest parts about leadership:

• Telling truths people don’t want to hear
• Watching decisions people will regret
• But you can’t force mentorship
• No one cares about your business as much as you do
• Micromanaging means YOU hired wrong

Doesn't mean you have to be a jerk.

But often trying to please everyone is the worst thing you can do for your people.

What do you think?

Wall Street has one rule:

Never start what you can buy.

Here’s everything you need to know about buying a biz in 2025: 

While 90% of startups fail, 80% of acquisitions survive the first year.

88% of people worth $30M+ have done at lease one acquisition.

That means the best way to get rich isn’t to start a business like they love to tell us.

The best way to wealth with the highest degree of certainty is through acquisitions.

Right now, the average small business owner in the US is 67 years old. When you’ve run a business for 10+ years, you're bound to be exhausted.

These owners are motivated to sell by what I call the 7 D's:

• Departure
• Divorce
• Disease
• Disagreement
• Distress
• Death
• Dullness

They’re desperate to exit the game but don't know how. 

Most people think they need millions in capital to buy a businesses.

But they don't realize 60% of all business sales involve seller financing.

Instead of going to a bank for a loan, the seller becomes your bank.

You put some money down, and they get paid over time from the business profits.

There are 3 reasons why a seller would agree to this:

1. Cash

Let’s say the bank offered the seller $750,000 for their biz but you offered the seller $1.15 million paid over time.

They’ll make an extra $400,000 by being the bank.

2. Taxes

Lump sum payments hit the seller with massive tax bills.

Installment payments spread over 10 years means lower tax brackets and potentially hundreds of thousands saved.

3. Speed

Bank loans take 3-9 months to close. Seller financing can close in 2-3 weeks.

Now which businesses to target? 

Ones under $10 million in revenue with at least 15% profit margins.

Blue-collar service businesses fit this bill - HVAC, landscaping, cleaning services.

They're cash-flowing, recession-resistant, and boring enough that private equity ignores them. 

BUT, before searching anywhere, create what I call a deal box. Define exactly:

• How much cash flow you need annually
• Maximum purchase price
• Geographic preferences
• Industry focus
• Must-haves and can't-stands

If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you’ll never find it.

Next up, how to find businesses to buy? 

1. Venmo Challenge

Pull your payment history and filter out friends and big companies. What's left are small businesses you already pay - cleaning services, handymen, landscapers.

2. Personal P&L Review.

Open your credit card statements and look at small businesses you spend with. These are owners you can reach out to.

3. The 9-5 Strategy:

One of our community members bought her coworker's $1.5M business with full seller financing after he decided to retire to go skiing with his wife.

↓ ↓ ↓

As a thank you for sticking around to the end, I want you give my "Deal Clarity Workbook."

It helps you figure out what business is right for you.

Grab it here: https://lnkd.in/enPdVi_D

What I wish I was told before I had success.

The “Hate Us ‘Cuz They Ain’t Us” Curve:

When you first start out, they tell you...

You’re lame.
You’re crazy.
That’ll never work.
Oh, she’s a one-hit wonder.
She probably has a rich dad.
Or slept her way there.

THEN, we hit the top of the curve. Your success is obvious. And things start to change... They say…

Oh yeah, I know her.
Hey, long time no talk!
Love to meet up and pick your brain.
How did you do that?

And the grand finale...
They ask you for a job.

If success is your goal, expect people to talk a lot of crap for a long time. Let them. Because one day, you’ll just get to point at the scoreboard.

↓↓↓

FYI 

If you're ready to step out of your comfort zone this year and buy a business, come to my live event this week. 

I'll teach you how (over 3 days): https://lnkd.in/eEye_qd6

The richest people in the world don't just build companies...they buy them.

Here’s how you can too (without their millions): 

Three reasons why buying beats building a business from scratch:

- 45% of new businesses fail within 5 years
- Most entrepreneurs make only $67k/year
- First 3-4 years are unprofitable

Compare that to when you buy...

You inherit customers, systems, and profits from day one.

"But Codie, I genuinely can’t afford one."

That’s what I thought too when I started. 

There are 3 ways to buy any business (without needing millions):

1. Experience
2. Sweat equity
3. Money

You only need ONE of these three to pull off a deal.

1. Experience

This is perfect for people who know the industry inside and out.

Maybe you've been a plumber for 20 years and want to buy a plumbing company.

Sellers value genuine knowledge over $$ because they know you won't destroy what they built.

2. Sweat Equity

If you’re thinking about working in the business and growing it, this is for you.

Many retiring owners care more about their legacy than maximizing the sale price.

They want someone who'll take care of their employees and customers, not just squeeze the biz for cash.

3. Money

This doesn't have to mean YOUR money.

I've bought plenty of businesses with 0-15% down using other people's money. You can:

- Use SBA loans (government-backed with low rates)
- Get investors to fund the deal
- Or structure seller financing

Seller financing often works as a win-win too. 

Banks tend to lowball business valuations and charge high interest rates.

But when sellers finance you directly, they get a premium price AND earn interest on the loan.

They make MORE money by cutting out the bank.

Just make sure you show what’s in it for them:

- Higher purchase price (ex. 15%+ premium)
- Tax advantages (spread over time vs lump sum)
- Faster close (30 days vs 120 days)

A win-win.

So what businesses should you target?

A few strategies I use: 

1. SOWS method:

- Stale: Revenue hasn't grown in 3+ years
- Old: Been around 5+ years
- Weak: Competitors are terrible
- Simple: You can explain it to an 8-year-old

2. The Venmo Method

Look at your personal P&L:

- Who do you pay every month?
- Who are your competitors?
- What vendors do you use?

These are the businesses you should buy.

Instead of paying to get your problem solved, why don’t you get paid to solve it for other people? 

Right now, boomers own $5-10 trillion worth of businesses.

And when these owners retire…

It’s either we buy these businesses, or BlackRock does.

I’d rather see more of us own our local than have PE swallow everything up.

If you want to learn how to buy a biz, you should come to my masterclass today. 

It's completely free & solely focused on teaching you how to buy a biz for a little as $0. 

Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/e86jsivr

How to be unrecognizable in 90 days:

1. Be obsessed

Every outsized outcome I’ve seen came from people who genuinely enjoy the pressure. Not motivated people. Obsessed people. It’s almost impossible to compete with someone who treats the thing you dread as fun.

2. Clean out your closet

Get rid of anything that doesn’t fit the person you’re becoming. Cluttered space creates cluttered thinking, and cluttered thinkers don’t make money. Changing how you show up physically is one of the fastest ways to change how you behave.

3. Clarify your ONE thing

Not five ideas. One. Put a number on it and give yourself 90 days to get there. You have to prove to yourself that you keep your word.

4. Tell a better story about yourself

Not a vision board. Write down the words. If your life were a book, what’s supposed to happen next? What goes wrong and how do you react to it? When challenges show up, it’s much easier to keep going if you already decided they were part of the plot.

5. Start a not-to-do list

Becoming elite means cutting distractions aggressively and doing fewer things better.

6. Eliminate distractions

Most distraction is optional so make it harder to waste time and easier to focus. Small changes here create outsized results.

7. Outwork people

If you wake up earlier, protect the first part of your day, and eliminate distractions, you will get ahead faster than you think. Because most people just aren’t willing to work hard.

8. Move in silence

When you’re actually changing your life, you don’t need an audience. Do cool shit. Then talk after the result.

Do this for 90 days and your life will look different.

Because you WILL be different.

Is talking about vanity superficial? Maybe.

Is it effective? Absolutely.

Being well-dressed and well-groomed is a massive edge in any negotiation. It’s hard to push back on someone who looks like they’ve already won. Own your 2026 look.

I asked my mom & dad for advice recently from raising me and my brother...

This is what they told me, maybe you’ll find it useful too:

1. Your kids are not your friends. They’re yours to safeguard and support, but set rules. Biggest problem with most kids in our generation, their parents wanted to be liked not respected.

2. Psy ops are underrated. My mom had this line for whenever I got into trouble. She’d say, “When I ask you a question like this, I already know the answer. I am giving you a chance to come clean...” At which point I’d sing like a canary because I’m a scaredy cat. I found out today she rarely knew the answers. Brilliant and maniacal.

3. Always on the same page. My mom and dad rarely fought in front of my brother and I. They would never go back on the word of the other. United front to deal with us mini terrorists.

4. Make time. My dad had this silly line that is actually not silly: “You can make money, you can make a cake, but you can’t make time.” So they made allllll the time for us.

5. Four chairs. We have these four chairs in our living room, no tv. Growing up, we’d sit and debate and talk for hours. Politics. Opinions. Our days. Only thing not allowed was an opinion you couldn’t defend unemotionally. We still do this today.

6. Mi Sangre mi siempre. They’d always say, blood comes first. They meant it. I hired my brother, my dad, my mom, my cousin at times. We stick together and we may fight like hell but never in front of others.

7. Once you decide, you don’t quit. We could play any sport or instrument BUT if we committed we had to play the full year all out. No 3 lessons and quit. Taught us to choose thoughtfully and keep going even when it hurt.

8. Always call. They still pick up the phone nearly every time it’s family. My dad in a meeting will pause to answer my mom. My husband taught me this too, and I try to do the same. If they’re your first priority this is an easy way to prove it.

9. You’re not a princess, you’re a president. My dad always used to say that line. He told me this week that I lived up to it. Gutted me. He taught us we didn’t need to be saved, instead we could save ourselves and help others.

10. Hug often and seriously. If you’ve ever hugged my parents, they mean it when they do it. Such a simple, free gesture. My mom always gives you a hug and says vaya con dios… go with God. How can you not do big things with parents that hold you like that?

Just some Lessons from the Road from parents I happen to think are some of the best in the world.

Moms and dads everywhere, I’m in awe of you.

Hardest job I’ve ever seen.

*This is one of my favorite pics of me and my dad. Doesn’t get old.

Harsh truth on scaling businesses: 

Your goal as CEO is to build a team that runs your entire company better than you.

5 other lessons I’ve learned the hard way from 15+ years of being an owner:

1. Operating Systems Win

The difference between McDonald's and your local burger joint isn't the food.

It's that any 16-year-old can run McDonald's because of their systems.

If your business needs you to be the hero every day, you own a job, not a business.

No systems = Everything breaks when you aren’t there

The most effective systems I’ve seen all had the same four features.

I call it the PEIC framework:

1. Proven (battle tested)
2. Explicit Processes
3. Implementation
4. Continuous Improvement

Apply them across your core functions and your business will pretty much run on autopilot:

2. Your Revenue Is A Reflection Of Your Vision Distributed

Every time you say your employees don’t care about your business, you're admitting you failed at distributing your vision.

When your team can't see where you're going, they can't help you get there.

Your business needs two guiding metrics. 

At Contrarian Thinking, we call them “Oars.”

One needs to be quantitative and one qualitative. These act as our north stars to drive prioritization and resource allocation. 

Our left oar? Revenue. Our right? Followers. 

Everything flows downstream from those two numbers. 

3. Successful People Make Quick Decisions

Not only that but they move fast, in the right direction.

It always sounds simple but it comes down to knowing exactly what you want and having systems to execute on it.

That’s where planning in layers comes in:

Annual → Quarterly → Monthly → Weekly

Once you're clear on direction, decisions become obvious.

All that’s left is to track:

- What team
- What goal
- Who
- Percentage Done
- Status

 Keep an eye on all five and you’ll always have a pulse on what’s going on in your biz.

4. Successful People Hang Out With Other Successful People

Your success as an owner is determined by who you surround yourself with.

If you're the smartest person in your business, you're doing something wrong.

Your goal should be to build a team that runs your company better than you do.

5. Find 1-1 Mentors To Hold Your Hands

I used to turn my nose at masterminds.

But then I realized my only other option was to figure sh*t out with years of expensive mistakes.

That’s why I have coaches for everything now.

Most wealthy people got rich by paying for shortcuts whenever they saw one.

There’s no shame in stealing someone else’s 10,000 hours.

Time is the only thing you can't buy more of.

Get in rooms with people who've already solved what you're facing.

↓↓↓

I'm running a masterclass this week on how to grow any business faster. 

Sign up here to reserve your seat: https://lnkd.in/eJcGFHnN

Only 6% of Americans own a business.

And of that, less than 1% ever hit $1,000,000 in revenue.

After investing in businesses for 15 years, here are three reasons why 99% of businesses never scale past 7-figures: 

1. Organizational Challenges

There are a ton of sub-catagories here but today we’re going to unpack “Executive Vision.”

Most owners think their problems stem from poor strategy, when it’s typically poor execution.

You can have the best plan in the world, but if your team can’t understand it... you're not going anywhere. 

You need to have a clear vision that every person in your business believes in and wants to fight for.

The best CEOs think in years, then translate this vision in plain english to their team.

Make it stupid simple: everybody needs to know where the biz is going, what their contribution is, and why they are important.

When done right, it creates a flywheel:

• Executive vision gets translated into specific quarterly goals
• Goals become daily/weekly metrics on dashboards
• Dashboards drive structured team communication
• Communication reinforces the culture you're building 
(…which makes scaling almost inevitable).

When you nail this sequence, your team starts executing your vision without you having to micromanage every decision. 

2. Finances & Future Casting

The worst thing you can do is manage your business like a personal checking account.

Sadly, that’s what 99% of owners do.

They look at what's in the bank today and make decisions based on that number.

There’s a reason why that never ends well… 

Because revenue is vanity and cash flow is sanity. That’s not just to make a cute rhyme.

If your business lost all revenue tomorrow, how long would you survive?

You need to know this number.

That’s why we tell all our owners to have a rolling 90-day view of expected cash inflows & outflows.

With this data, you know:

• When to hire
• When to invest
• When to hold back on a big purchase

Scaling a business is hard enough, keep a little sanity in your life by keeping a pulse on collections, obligations, and cash reserves. 

3. Avatar Defintion

When owners say people can’t afford their product…

99% of the time, it's not a pricing problem. It's an avatar problem.

Most businesses chase anyone with a pulse and a credit card.

As a result, they end up selling snow to Eskimos instead of hot chocolate to skiers. 

Compare that with owners who get obsessed with ONE specific customer type.

And I’m not just talking about demographics…I mean knowing their pain points, what podcast they listen to, where they go on vacation…

I have yet to find a business that can’t scale to $10M focusing on one person.

↓ ↓ ↓

Come to my masterclass to learn how to scale your business farther than you may think you can push it.

More info here: https://lnkd.in/eJcGFHnN

Everyone should be obsessed with chasing their first $500k.

Capitalism has pulled more people out of poverty than any system ever created.

Stop pretending it’s evil.

↓↓↓

And one of the most important skills to learn to hit your first $500k? 

Sales. 

Read this to learn why now is the perfect time to get great at sales: https://lnkd.in/eqESyABe

The #1 killer of businesses is bad cashflow.

15 other harsh business truths for you:

1. The greatest muscle you can build is urgency. Bureaucracy is business poison.

2. Decrease the time between having an idea and getting it done. Everything changes.

3. Never sacrifice reputation in the name of business. You can always start another company. You can never create a new reputation.

4. Long-term games and long-term people compound. Resist shiny objects.

5. Hire smart people, pay them well, set them up for success... Then leave them the hell alone.

6. “There’s nothing worse than being sick, fat, tired and trying to run your business.” - Dana White

7. The highest ROI investment founders & owners can make is in themselves. Health shapes mindset. Mindset shapes action.

8. You're better off learning negotiation than financial modeling. Business is less spreadsheets than words.

9. The best business of all time has only you, a computer, and the send button.

10. Every additional employee increases complexity. Hiring is a last resort.

11. The best advice comes from those just a couple steps ahead of you. These people still vividly remember the problems you're facing today.

12. Sell painkillers, not vitamins. There's more money in needs than wants.

13. No discounts. Compete on value, not price. Any biz with $$$ can enter your market and bleed you out. Differentiate beyond commodity.

14. A happy customer is the most powerful marketing. Prioritize reviews. Humans are social animals.

15. If no one thinks you’re crazy, you’re too late. If everyone thinks your idea is good? Even worse. Outsized returns lie in non-conformism.

↓ ↓ ↓

Come to my masterclass tomorrow to learn how to grow your revenue & profit. 

It's 90 minutes + fully remote. 

Details here: https://lnkd.in/eJcGFHnN

CEO & Founder x2 | Wiley Author 2026 | Building Enterprise AI Agent Capability

AI Teacher, Speaker, Consultant, Executive Workshops Host

I work with executives who are navigating real pressure around AI. Revenue expectations. Headcount questions. Speed. Risk. And the growing gap between what is possible and what is actually being delivered.

Before tools like ChatGPT made AI mainstream, I was implementing AI inside large organizations. In one deployment, AI driven initiatives exceeded a 90 million dollar annual sales pipeline target in just three months, reaching 115 million. 

That experience shaped the AI Impact Alignment™ process. It forces hard choices. What matters. What does not. What should be automated now. What should remain human. And how leaders stay in control while moving faster.

Today, I advise leadership teams, speak to executive audiences, and teach organizations how to make AI decisions that hold up under scrutiny. 

If AI feels both unavoidable and unclear inside your organization, you are asking the right questions.
________________________________________________________________

Partnerships@theashleygross.com for Brand partnerships and sponsorships

Ashley@aiworkforcealliance.com for AI strategy consulting, AI agents, and business process automation

Ashley@aiworkforceacademy.io for Speaking engagements, conferences, company offsites, and universities

Ashley Gross

Well, it’s a construction zone, but it’s my construction zone.

Since the beginning of 2024, my ‘office’ has been one wall of my bedroom. 

Bootstrapping two businesses meant every spare dollar went into growing my team, serving clients, and keeping my own needs at the very bottom of the list.
This year, I decided I had waited long enough.

I’m still a long way from the big goals I have for myself and both companies, but I’m finally allowing myself a small upgrade: a dedicated home office.
In about two weeks, this work-in-progress space will become a full room just for building what is next: a podcast studio, meeting area, and office all in one.

It might not look like much yet, but to me it represents years of sacrifice, a bet on myself, and a reminder that it is okay for founders to invest in their own environment too.

What is one “small” upgrade you have made that changed how you work?

The long work trips are hard. Missing bedtime stories still stings, but I’m also really proud of the life we’re building.

I found a voice memo my son recorded, telling me how proud he is of me for working so hard. 

It now lives on my phone as my little courage button for big flights, big meetings, and anything that makes my stomach flip. (Like these moments below)

It’s a good reminder that our kids often see our effort and love more clearly than we do. 💓 

Parents, what helps you stay grounded on the tough days?

While this may not be the healthiest version of self care.. it’s still my personal preference. 

TGIF and I hope you get to unwind. ✌️

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A Lot of People Don’t Like AI Content

(Are you one of them?)

Teams often hesitate to use AI for content because they worry it won’t feel authentic or that it will replace humans entirely.

In my conversation with Charlie Hills 🦩, I asked him the biggest AI myth he encounters.

His answer?

“People think AI can create content on its own.”

Many assume AI will just replace human creativity. “Why use AI,” they ask, “when you can just write it yourself?”

But that misses the nuance.

AI is not a replacement, it is a support tool.

Charlie shared how he uses AI to:

• Experiment safely without risking brand voice

• Get past writing blocks he has never been great at

• Scale ideas across formats such as video, blogs, and posts

The upside? Companies that treat AI as an assistant and not a replacement gain speed, consistency, and creativity without losing authenticity.

AI is not a threat. It is a tool for media-first companies to generate leads and connect with buyers more effectively.

So here is the question: If AI could help your ideas reach more people without diluting your voice, would you use it?

Airtable just introduced Superagent

(and it changed how I build business plans.)

Here’s the thing: creating a business plan for a social media content agency is tricky. 

You need to understand the creator economy, research competitors, analyze services and pricing, and figure out how to stand out.

Normally, this takes hours… and most AI tools just give you a wall of text you have to untangle. 

I wanted to see if Superagent could actually handle a complex, real-world business challenge.

I started with this prompt, putting Superagent to the test:

“Analyze the creator economy and develop a business plan for a social media content agency: research successful social media agencies, evaluate service offerings (content creation, community management, strategy), analyze pricing models for creator partnerships, and create a differentiation strategy for serving brands targeting millennial audiences.”

Here’s what happened next:

→ Multiple specialized AI agents working simultaneously to tackle the problem.

Each agent focused on a specific task: market research, services, pricing, strategy, and connected everything together with full citations.

The outcome was not just a draft or a summary. 

It was a Super Report.

Here’s what made it stand out:

→ A unique URL I can send anyone

→ Interactive graphs and modules you can explore

→ Clickable research sections that actually make sense

→ Polished structure ready to share, no post-processing needed

What blew me away? This entire business plan came together in just 20 minutes.

It made me realize that research is no longer a one-off task. It is now a reusable, interactive asset.

Superagent does not just answer your question. It interrogates it, breaks it down, and delivers something you can actually use.

Honestly, this is how I want AI to work every single time.

Try it here: https://lnkd.in/e4Vbh5GJ

PS Check out the full interactive Super Report and the discount code in the comments below!

#SuperagentPartner

Brand partnership • CEO & Founder x2 | Wiley Author 2026 | Building Enterprise AI Agent Capability

Revenue Stops Where Humans Slow Down

(Leaks are costing you millions)

Every missed follow-up, delayed approval, or hidden insight is cash left on the table.

AI agents plug the gaps. Leads are followed up, deals move faster, forecasts hit the mark.

Upsell opportunities surface, churn risks get flagged, reports are automated instantly.

Teams gain hours, pipelines grow, and revenue becomes predictable without extra headcount.

AI agents amplify output and precision. They don’t replace humans.

The shift from descriptive data to prescriptive action is where ROI appears.

Which revenue problem will you patch first with AI agents?

ai-agents-revenue-problems-ashley-gross

Most teams are racing to adopt AI tools… but almost nobody is watching what those vendors quietly change in the background.

• Privacy defaults
• Data-use clauses
• New AI features that suddenly start training on your data

I’ve been building a workflow I call Vendor Change Tracking with Perplexity.

Here’s what it does:
1. Monitors a curated list of AI vendors (OpenAI, Microsoft Copilot, Notion AI, AWS/Azure AI, etc.)
2. Runs scheduled daily searches across their privacy policies, security docs, and changel ogs
3. Flags only what actually changed (data usage, logging, retention, AI features, third‑party sharing)
3. Produces an exec‑ready summary delivered to your email, Slack, or your risk register

It’s basically an AI early‑warning system for your AI stack.

If you want to see exactly how to do this for your own business or clients, join my live Perplexity Pro Research Webinar on March 18th at 4 PM EST.

Sign up here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eZguff3E

Most AI in Enablement Still Behaves Like Software

(Enablement needs operators, not more tools)

Buying AI doesn’t change performance.
Deploying agents that own outcomes does.

Sales teams don’t lose deals from lack of data.
They lose them when signals don’t turn into action.

Real advantage comes when AI watches execution, surfaces risk, and pushes decisions into daily work.

That’s when enablement stops managing content and starts running revenue motion.

Teams that do this don’t feel “more automated.”
They feel more predictable.

Which part of your enablement motion needs an agent instead of another dashboard?

ai-agents-sales-enablement-ashley-gross

Ideas Get Stuck Between Thinking And Presenting

(It slows you down and breaks your flow)

Ever had a brilliant idea, only to lose momentum trying to turn it into a deck?

I’ve been there. Brainstorm in one tool, copy notes into another, rebuild slides from scratch, then go back to tweak ideas. That workflow eats time and interrupts your creative flow.

There’s a better way.

With Gamma, your ideas go straight into slides. Connect it to Gmail, Notion, GitHub, or HubSpot, and your deck pulls in live data automatically. No copying. No rebuilding.

If you like starting in Claude, Gamma works there too. It’s just one of the ways Gamma bridges your thinking to real output.

This is what agentic workflows look like:

Thinking → Output → Presentation. One continuous loop.

Gamma keeps your ideas moving and makes sure they don’t get stuck as notes.

Try Gamma here → https://lnkd.in/ed_8ZD9p

#GammaPartner

Ashley Gross, CEO of AI Workforce Alliance & AI Workforce Academy with arms crossed, next to bold text: "The Agentic Era Is Here! No more copy and paste between tools," and a blue logo for Gamma AI.

I get asked all the time: what’s my advice for marketers working closer with sales teams?

My answer is simple. Don’t wait to use data.

AI and real-time sales insights let you see what just converted and why.

Use that information to start conversations with leads and guide campaigns while it’s fresh.

The faster marketing acts, the less guesswork, the higher the conversions, and the better alignment with sales.

Marketing teams, if you’re trying to work closer with sales teams, watch the video below.

Are you using fresh deal data to drive campaigns, or still relying on last quarter’s numbers?

Filling PDFs, routing the data, and getting documents signed eats up more time than we realize.

(And most teams only notice when it’s already a mess)

We spend hours moving data between forms, PDFs, and approvals.

Every extra step increases the chance for errors and slows down delivery.

Anvil is a tool that would change that.

It lets teams create dynamic webforms, automatically route data to PDFs or other systems, and collect e-signatures, all embedded inside your application’s existing workflows.

Think of it like turning manual paperwork into a smart process that just works.

Approvals happen faster, mistakes disappear, and the process scales without adding headcount.

The hidden cost isn’t the forms. It’s the hours lost, errors, and manual effort no one plans for.

If I could embed that in my workflow, I’d reclaim hours each week and free my team to focus on actual product work.

Which repetitive workflow in your team would benefit most from automation like this?

#AnvilPartner

Ashley Gross, CEO of AI Workforce Alliance & AI Workforce Academy sits on a chair, smiling softly. Text reads, "Every Extra Step Adds Risk" with a note on streamlining workflows. 

Most people still think “SEO” means ranking on Google.
But 99% of your customers aren’t starting with your website (or even Google) when they need a solution like yours.

They’re opening an AI assistant and asking:
• “What’s the best tool for X?”
• “Who should I use for Y?”
• “What’s the easiest way to do Z?”

This is where AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) comes in.
SEO helps you show up in traditional search results.
AEO helps you show up inside AI answers when someone asks an assistant for the best option and expects one clear recommendation.

My Comet workflow lets me:
1. Pull the exact questions people are asking on Reddit
2. Find patterns in what they love, hate, and do not understand
3. Turn that into emails, landing pages, and AEO‑ready content that AI is more likely to surface as the answer

If you want to see exactly how to do this for your own business or clients, join my live Perplexity Pro Research Webinar on March 18th at 4 PM EST.

Sign up here 👉  https://lnkd.in/eZguff3E

AI Agents Don’t Fail Because The Tech Is Weak

(They fail because teams deploy without clarity.)

It’s tempting to launch pilots and track activity, but activity doesn’t equal impact. 

Deals stall, pipelines leak, and adoption plateaus.

The teams that win connect AI to real revenue decisions. 

They embed it into daily workflows, measure the metrics that actually matter, and make adoption consistent across reps.

Leadership matters too. 

Clear ownership, aligned goals, and governance ensure AI doesn’t just sit in dashboards, it accelerates results.

When done right, AI stops being an experiment. 

It becomes a revenue multiplier, surfacing signals, speeding deals, and scaling performance.

Where is your AI deployment falling short today, execution, alignment, or both?

ai-agents-sales-team-ashley-gross

Is AI terrible or magical?

(Here’s the spectrum Jeremy sees)

I asked Jérémy Grandillon the AI myth he keeps correcting.

He calls it a spectrum.

Some people sit on one end:

“AI doesn’t help. I’ve tried ChatGPT. I don’t trust it.”

Others are on the other:

“I love it. I have dozens of GPTs working for me. It’s magical.”

Jeremy’s view: AI sits in the middle.

Set up right, it can feel magical.

Without context, guidance, or process alignment, it frustrates.

AI isn’t a silver bullet. It isn’t useless.

It’s a spectrum. Knowing where your process fits is what makes it powerful.

Where do you fall on the AI spectrum?

Can you describe your product in one sentence?

(This question tells you everything about your marketing)

I asked Charlie Hills 🦩 a simple question:

“If you were on the marketing team for Stanley, what would your one-line message be for people who are curious about it?”

He didn’t list functions.

He didn’t talk about features.

He went straight to positioning.

“Your AI LinkedIn content strategist.”

That answer stuck with me.

Most tools struggle because they sound like this:

“We help you write posts.”

“We help you create content.”

“We help you automate marketing.”

But that’s not memorable. And it’s not clear.

What Charlie did was define the role the tool plays for the user, not what buttons it has.

Not a scheduler.

Not a post writer.

Not another AI tool.

A strategist.

That shift changes how people understand the product instantly.

It reminded me that good marketing is not about saying more.

It is about saying the right thing in fewer words.

If your product had to be described in one sentence, would people immediately know why it exists?

I've been experimenting with something new. 

Using an AI SDR to handle the top of my sales funnel so the "what are you actually trying to do with AI?" conversation happens before we ever get on a call.

Using Tavus, I built an AI SDR named Gloria to answer questions about our AI programs, brainstorm concrete AI use cases for your team, and qualify you for a Calendly call by gathering the details that matter (department, priority use case, timeline) without it ever feeling like a form.

On the surface, it feels like a natural conversation. Under the hood, it's a structured sales process that filters out vague "AI curiosity" and gets us straight to real problems, real solutions, and booked meetings.
This is what an AI SDR looks like in practice and it actually works.

If you've ever watched me build an agent, you already know what I'm doing in this demo. I try to break whatever I build as fast as possible. 
Break it, fix it, and make sure the same issue can't happen again. 

It is a lot better to find the gaps yourself than to let your prospects find them for you. That's why I gave Gloria a little attitude and kept my answers intentionally vague. 😅 

Want to build your own AI SDR? Drop "Gloria" in the comments and I'll send your own packaged version of her!

AI Agents Close More Deals

(They turn every signal into actionable revenue.)

AI agents rank leads, spot rep skill gaps, and forecast pipeline in real time. 

Without action, insights sit idle.

Revenue teams using AI agents see measurable impact:

→ High-value leads acted on immediately

→ Forecasts become actionable and reliable

→ Reps coached on gaps, performance improves

AI agents amplify reps. Every decision is faster. Every pipeline is more predictable.

Are your AI agents driving revenue, or just generating data?

A presentation slide by Ashley Gross, CEO of AI Workforce Alliance & AI Workforce Academy titled 'Revenue Enablement with AI Agents' shows three use cases: Pipeline Efficiency, Rep Performance, and Forecast Accuracy. Each use case includes sections on 'Scenario,' 'Challenge,' 'Action,' and 'Outcome,'

Scaling Revenue Isn’t Just About Speed

(it’s about precision.)

High-value deals, compliance checks, and sales content all demand workflows that never miss a step.

Advanced automations route opportunities to the right reps instantly. 

Risky deals are flagged in real time. 

Campaign content is personalized and delivered at scale without adding headcount.

This isn't a theory. Teams using structured workflows see measurable gains: faster pipeline coverage, fewer stalled deals, and more predictable revenue.

Workflows amplify what your reps already do best: closing deals, nurturing relationships, and acting on insights.

Tools like Make provide the framework to run these processes seamlessly, turning complex operations into repeatable, reliable revenue outcomes.

PS: If you missed Part 1 of Make Workflow Automation Ideas, check it out here: https://lnkd.in/eSBqk6xA 

Which parts of your revenue cycle could benefit from smarter, automated workflows today?

Infographic by Ashley Gross, CEO of AI Workforce Alliance & AI Workforce Academy titled "Make Workflow Automation Ideas: Sales & Revenue Teams (Part 2)" displays sectors, industries, functional areas, purposes, and success metrics for automation in sales. Key sections include B2B sales, financial services, and SaaS, highlighting automation benefits like real-time compliance and enhanced content operations. 

AI Agents Change How Sales Teams Win

(Faster cycles, stronger conversions, measurable revenue)

Teams using traditional methods still get results, but progress is slower and opportunities can slip.

AI agents surface signals instantly. Reps focus on high-value deals while follow-ups and routine tasks happen automatically.

Insights arrive in real time. Decisions are faster, pipelines stay active, and leaders can guide the team with confidence.

Coaching and feedback happen continuously. Reps improve daily instead of waiting for one-off training sessions.

Forecasting becomes predictable. Teams spot trends early, adjust strategy, and stabilize revenue.

The difference is measurable: faster deal cycles, more meetings booked, higher conversions, and stronger reps.

Where could AI agents create the biggest revenue impact for your team this quarter?

A comparative chart by Ashley Gross, CEO of AI Workforce Alliance & AI Workforce Academy titled "Traditional Sales vs AI Agents: The Revenue Difference" highlights advantages of AI in sales, like faster deals, improved conversions, and enhanced decision-making compared to traditional methods. 

Workflows Can Make Or Break Revenue Teams

(Automation turns chaos into predictable results.)

AI-powered workflows help sales teams act on leads faster, personalize outreach, and forecast revenue confidently.

Manual routing, CRM checks, and stalled deals are handled in real time. Reps focus on closing, leaders focus on strategy, nothing falls through the cracks.

Each workflow multiplies impact: faster responses, higher conversions, fewer stalled deals, and measurable pipeline results. 

From lead qualification to follow-ups and forecasting, the right workflows accelerate every stage of the sales cycle.

Invest in smart workflows and watch efficiency, alignment, and revenue grow without adding headcount. Teams become smarter, more confident, and predictable in hitting targets.

Tools like Make give your revenue team the structure to act faster, make better decisions, and scale impact.

Are your workflows driving predictable revenue, or are your reps still firefighting?

PS Stay tuned for Part 2!

Infographic by Ashley Gross, CEO of AI Workforce Alliance & AI Workforce Academy titled 'Make Workflow Automation Ideas: Sales & Revenue Teams (Part 1)'. Shows three sections: B2B & SaaS, Financial Services & B2B Services, Enterprise & Manufacturing. Includes industry examples, functional areas, automation descriptions, and success metrics for each sector. Highlights include lead enrichment, prospect intelligence, and revenue forecasting

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