Greg Isenberg

CEO of Late Checkout, a holding company for community-based businesses

I'm the CEO/Co-Founder of Late Checkout, a holding company with a portfolio of internet businesses. 

Previously, I was the Head of Product Strategy at WeWork, an Advisor at TikTok and an Advisor at Reddit. I was the Founder/CEO of Islands, a messaging/community app that was acquired by WeWork.  I was the Founder/CEO of 5by, a leading video discovery app which got acquired by StumbleUpon.  I helped build one of the internet's most popular financial education communities Wall Street Survivor (acquired). 

I've helped build communities and technology products for brands like Microsoft, FedEX, NASCAR, TechCrunch and Wordpress. 

I've been featured on places like Vanity Fair, Forbes, Mashable, Fortune Magazine, L.A Times and have won Webby Awards.

I share my thoughts on Twitter @gregisenberg (say hello).

LINKS to some of my companies in my holdco🔗

gregisenberg.com (my guides, podcast, sign up to my weekly newsletter for updates)
latecheckout.agency (product design agency that works with executives from Dropbox to Nike to Shopify)
boringmarketing.com (agency to get you ranked on google)
boringads.com (agency that creates profitable ad campaigns)

CEO & Co-Founder 

Late Checkout is a holding company that builds, acquires and incubates cash-flowing businesses that are powered by internet audiences and communities.

Learn more about our businesses at https://latecheckout.studio and work with us.

Apple JUST quietly announced something that’s a lot BIGGER than it looks: "the Mini Apps Partner Program"

Apple is admitting that the future of software is embedded, lightweight, vertical mini-apps distributed inside bigger app

For founders who want to make $$ building apps:

1. Apple just legitimized the “superapp” model for the West.

China has WeChat mini-programs. India has PhonePe Switch. The West has… nothing. Apple just opened the door. You can now run HTML/JS mini-apps inside a native host and earn 85% on qualifying purchases. That’s Apple-sanctioned platform piggybacking.

2. Distribution arbitrage becomes real again.

You don’t need to convince users to download your app. Just partner with a host app and drop in a mini-app. This is a cheat code for early traction. Think: travel apps hosting niche tools, fitness apps hosting mini workouts, marketplaces hosting micro-utilities.

3. Apple is creating a new economy layer: “embedded SaaS.”

Imagine: CRM mini-apps inside vertical tools. Math solver mini-apps inside education apps. Calendar mini-apps inside productivity apps. The TAM for tools that don’t need standalone installs just went vertical.

4. Developers get an 85% revenue share.

This is Apple basically saying: “We want this ecosystem to grow, and we’re willing to cut our take rate.” When Apple lowers its cut, I pay attention because they see a platform shift coming.

5. AI makes this 10× more important.

LLM-powered micro-apps (calculators, planners, agents, coaches, niche utilities) are tiny by design. They’re perfect mini-apps. Apple just created infrastructure for AI-native micro utilities to live inside bigger apps with built-in commerce.

6. Host apps become new “distribution landlords.”

If you own an app with traffic, you become a platform. You can host mini-apps, take a cut, and build a developer ecosystem around you.

 It’s a new monetization model for existing apps with audiences.

7. This unlocks a wave of second-order opportunities.

- Agencies helping apps become mini-app hosts
- Mini-app dev shops
- “Shopify for mini-apps” toolkits
- Mini-app marketplaces
- Analytics for mini-app performance
- Discovery engines for mini-apps
- For more startup ideas/trends... sign up to https://ideabrowser.com 

TLDR;

Apple just turned every high-traffic app into a potential superapp and every indie developer into a potential platform partner.

The App Store is becoming modular, composable, and layered. The next decade of consumer apps will look less like standalone products and more like ecosystems stitched together with mini-apps.

This is quietly one of the biggest distribution unlocks in years.

CEO of Late Checkout, a portfolio of internet companies

2026 AI predictions

1. SaaS and agents merge completely in 2026. Every SaaS product becomes an agent platform, and every agent platform builds SaaS features. The ones that don't adapt die or get bought for pennies. 

2.  Google continues to crush in 2026. OpenAI feels the heat. Doubles down into becoming a social company, lots of features that you'd think a Meta would create

3. Infinite-context entertainment kills pilot season. Netflix lets you continue cancelled shows just for yourself. AI generates new episodes of The Office or Friends dynamically based on your mood.

4. Micro-companies explode in volume and weirdness. Tiny AI-augmented businesses serving tiny online tribes become a real career path.

5. Personalized nutrient cocktails created by generative AI replace traditional OTC wellness. 

6. AI agents get their own wallets. Agents transact with each other using crypto for data, API calls, and compute. T

7. The return of the invite-only web. To escape the bot-flooded “dead internet,” the best platforms become gated and reputation-scored. T

8. Search is replaced by answer synthesis. Browsers read 50 sources and give you the conclusion. 

9. Hardware returns with a vengeance. Browser-based AI feels limiting, so AI pins, earbuds, and ambient devices take off. The smartphone’s decline becomes visible.

10. Google, Apple, and OpenAI accidentally build the new internet. Instead of browsing websites, people live inside model environments.

11. Personalized education unbundles the university. 

12. The first agent-driven media companies appear. Daily shows, newsletters, and entire channels run autonomously, with one human editor.

13. Local LLMs become the new privacy shield. A major hack scares the world and everyone shifts to on-device models that never touch the cloud.

14. The rise of analog status. “Analog” becomes the ultimate flex. Film cameras, handwritten notes, and acoustic instruments explode in value

15. Prediction markets replace user research. Companies test product ideas on 10,000 AI personas/know the outcome before writing code.

16. Software becomes disposable. Apps are generated, used for 72 hours, and deleted. 

17. A major university drops its computer science degree. It’s replaced by “agent systems,” “model psychology,” and “human interface architecture.”

18. Infinite apps replace the App Store. Micro-apps are generated inside ChatGPT or Gemini and traditional downloads collapse.

19. The first sovereign AI trade war begins. Nations ban the export of foundation models and treat foreign AI use as espionage.

20. Blue-collar trades become safe havens. Electricians, plumbers, and HVAC techs see wages skyrocket as white-collar automation accelerates.

21. The fastest wealth creation path in 2026 is spotting assets mispriced because people underestimate AI’s speed. 

22. 2026 should be an interesting year for AI. What do you think?

Note: grab a startup idea, a trend, and some prompts from ideabrowser.com and happy building.

dear founders,

build like the clock’s running out. the window is open but it won’t stay. for the first time in history, you have free distribution from social platforms and infinite leverage from AI tools. you can reach millions without permission.

the internet is handing out unfair advantages to anyone bold enough to use them so...

ship before you understand it. launch "ugly". talk to users every day. build what you wish existed. best ideas are the most obvious painful. go niche. no, go superniche. vertical is your moat.

clarity comes from commits. half your roadmap might be ego, delete it. make ugly things until they work. share prototypes that break.

kill what doesn’t grow. use AI as leverage, not decoration. test ten things before breakfast. delete your roadmap. double down on what works. design for clarity, not cleverness. brand before code. write daily. post your lessons.

find your first hundred users manually. distribution is the new product. attention is the new funding. taste is the new code. build small cults. scale later. automate boring things. keep the human parts human. study why things spread. study why things die. 

pricing is positioning. aesthetics are trust. make people feel something. ignore haters. build in weird corners of the internet. break things publicly. pivot loudly. consistency compounds. only raise VC if you dream of going IPO one day. otherwise, cash-flow is your BFF.

your network is distribution. your story is marketing. your design is psychology. ship like it’s day one. iterate like you’re behind. stay obsessed. learn faster. think longer. risk embarrassment. make noise. build the thing that keeps you up at night. money follows obsession. stay in motion. stay loud. stay building. distribution is an art form now.
 
AI makes it easy to make things; the hard part is making things that matter. build like the world’s ending in a year but your idea has to outlive it 

we’re living in a window of maximum leverage and minimum permission

im rooting for you.

best,

greg isenberg

just another founder rooting for you

note: find startup ideas at ideabrowser.com to get your creative juices flowing

We’re about to see the largest boom in micro-companies in history. 

1 person to 10-people businesses that generate real cash, serve tiny but passionate communities, and operate with leverage (organic social, AI etc) that used to require mega teams

Once people realize they can earn a meaningful living by building something tiny and strange that fits a community they actually understand, everything shifts like ambition, lifestyle, career arcs, even how people think about “success.”

Some people will build two or three of these.
Some will build twenty.
Some will build one that accidentally becomes big.

You can literally feel the shift happening.

Just an increasing number of people quietly opting out of the traditional paths and choosing to build a life around small companies that actually work.

There’s a whole new generation of founders who are going to buy businesses and turn them into holding companies with software and AI: 

how they’ll do it:

step 1: acquire niche business at an attractive price
step 2: create internet distribution to scale customer base
step 3: build AI-assisted software to increase margins/make product more attractive 
step 4: recycle cash-flow to buy more businesses

HOW TO WIN IN THE AI AGE 

You are competing against people who copy what exists and let AI remake it.

Most design, writing and product work comes from AI copying existing references in generic mode, which is why the internet feels like an endless conveyor belt of bland.

The moment you push past that baseline and force the model to do something uncomfortable, you separate yourself from the entire curve. Giving it original ideas + references outside your niche. 

The people who win are the ones who insist on originality in a world that keeps asking for “good enough.” 

The reason this matters is because default effort produces default outcomes, and default outcomes disappear instantly in a feed that never stops moving. 

I bet these default startups have more and more friction standing out going further as AI makes startup making more like a machine.

People can FEEL the difference between something generated and something directed, between something assembled and something authored. AI will happily produce the average case forever, but it will never choose to take the creative risk that changes how something feels. And that's where the alpha is!!!

Anyone can generate. Almost no one curates, edits, reworks, reshapes, interrogates, or pushes until the thing becomes unmistakably theirs. 

The edge is in the taste you bring to the model, the choices you make that the average user will never even see, and the willingness to throw away nine versions to get to the tenth that feels alive.

In a world where everyone has access to the same tools, the only real advantage is the person who refuses to behave like a default setting.

These 15 techniques pretty much 10x the quality/output of ANYTHING you vibe code with Gemini 3 etc

Nectar Hard Seltzer

www.nectarhardseltzer.com 
We're an aspiring k-pop group that sells Asian-flavored sparkling alcohol juice to fund our dreams.

Watch us build in public: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRF2EGxB/

Watch our award-winning* podcast:
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRFjL8QW/






(*according to our mothers)

Co-Founder / CMO

The Nations

Director of Business Strategy & Project Development

Lowly

General Project Manager

TH3RD BRAIN

I work a hybrid role of project manager, digital adviser/marketer, operations, and seeking new business opportunities for the company.

Our roster includes ZHU, Krewella, Gallant, Nombe, Emmit Fenn, Thutmose, and more.

Artist Manager

I handled all secretarial duties and assisted in project managing the careers of three international touring artists and my direct superior (the general manager of the company).

Intern Assistant

Co-founder / CMO @ 하드Nectar Hard Seltzer (We are raising, DM me if interested)

Jeremy K.

I’m happy to share that I've been working as a Co-Founder at Core Of The Heart - one of the fastest-growing Christian movements in the world. 

We're hiring: https://lnkd.in/gNiqCAfH

In just 1.5 years, God has grown this community from 0 to over 3 million people worldwide. 

On average, our media engine is clearing 50M+ organic views per month.

We are building the best resources and tools to help people gain a deeper understanding of the true gospel - to unlock genuine peace and happiness. 

Our content and resources reach MILLIONS of people every single month. 

We’re looking for people with proven excellence, high standards, and a heart for the mission.

We have open roles in Content and Media, Digital Marketing, and Live Events Production.

If you’re an A-player who wants your work to matter for eternity and be a part of a fast-paced team, hit the link above. We’d love to meet you.

Building the fastest-growing, global Christian community with @JohnnyChangLive

I generate 22 million views per month on INSTAGRAM alone, for Johnny Chang. This is the EXACT formula to create a viral video:

1. Find a viral video from another creator or company that could fit your “brand”.

2. REVERSE ENGINEER IT

“But Jeremy, what does that mean???”

STUDY every part of the video:

- How did they frame the opening shot?

- What does the lighting look like?

- What song did they use in the background? 

- How loud is the song against the person talking in the video?

- What is the pacing of the different cuts in each scene?

- What are the different cameras angles did they use (close up, far away, etc etc)?

- What are the visual, audio, text elements of the “hook” of the video? (You will live and die by the first 3 seconds of your video)

- Where did they place the captions? What style did they use?

- How does the script flow? How does the story build?

- How long is the entire video?

👨‍🔬 You now have the EXACT formula for a viral video.

Take each part and make it your own aka plug in your brand, story, or message. 

Take this formula and make multiple videos with this structure. 
If done properly, you’ll immediately see your views go up.

Test and iterate off of each time you post, and I GUARANTEE you’ll get a viral hit.

DON'T SLEEP ON FACEBOOK (Meta) REELS!!
In November, we cleared ~34M+ organic views from FB Reels alone! Here is a simple "trick" that a lot of people miss:

A lot of people think that posting a reel on Instagram and then clicking that little button that "crossposts" it to Facebook is the same thing....WRONG 🙅‍♂️

Facebook Reels has its own built in algorithm. 

Instead, when you post short-form videos to Instagram, keep that button off.

Then, manually go to your Meta Business Suite and use their content uploader to get the same video onto your Facebook Reels page. 

Post at least 1 time per day and watch your views sky rocket. 

Thank me later 😎

95% of celebrity / influencer market is dead. 

Here is what is replacing it:

“Super Influencers” are the future to build a true moat. 

A “Super Influencer” is someone w/ 10+ years of expertise in a specific field.
Think of people like Dr. Daniel Amen or Peter Attia in the health space. 

Even without fame, those guys would still be transforming lives every day. Their authority comes from depth, not virality. 

They have put their 10,000 hours in to truly stand on what they say. 

In the AI/internet era, where anyone can go viral overnight, the only thing that continues to matter is trust.

Cheap headlines and 30-sec video clips, trick people
False narratives spread overnight. 
Audiences CLING onto authenticity and trust. 

How do I know this works?

I lived it. 

I once built a business in alcohol that hacked it way to more than 1 Billion views and more than $12M+ revenue in 4 years. 

But I was telling the story from the perspective of knowing nothing about the industry….that can only take you so far.

Now I am building something much more secure around Johnny Chang, an ex-gang member turned minister, who has been preaching the gospel for over 10 years. 

He is deeply studied on the original lexicon of the Bible (Koine Greek and Hebrew Aramaic) 
He went to theology school
He spent time learning directly from Jewish Rabbi’s to get to the true roots of the Bible.

And it shows across every touch point of the business and all the content we put out. 

His ability to guide his community and the trust he has built, has created the most die hard supporters I have ever seen. 

Outside of all of our systems and marketing strategies, Johnny’s depth is the real reason we were able to grow Core of the Heart Community to over 3M+ followers in only 18 months.

People are tired of the internet “experts”. 

Find and build around Super Influencers. 

Watch your efforts and impact multiply 100-fold.

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The Battle

Greg Isenberg

Jeremy K.

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Greg Isenberg's LinkedIn Performance

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