Valentine Boyev

CEO at Halo Lab ✦ Helped 500+ companies to raise 💲revenue and investments through digital design and marketing → $500M+ in client total funding

With a passion for creating unique and scalable digital products, I help brands achieve their goals and enhance their online presence.

Key Achievements:

✅ $500m+ in client total funding

✅ 500+ happy clients

✅ 99+ international awards

✅ 120+ glowing reviews


I specialize in:

⤷  Web Design Services: Creating eye-catching and user-friendly websites that grab attention and drive results.

⤷  Website Development: Building strong, reliable websites that fit your business perfectly.

⤷  User Experience Design: Making sure your users have a smooth and enjoyable experience.

⤷  Brand Design: Crafting unique brand identities that really pop.

⤷  Conversion Optimization: Helping turn your visitors into loyal customers.

⤷  Digital Web Solutions: Providing all the web solutions you need in one place.

⤷  Website Redesign for Results: Giving your old website a makeover to boost performance and engagement.

———————————————————————————

My Journey

My career began 15 years ago as a UI/UX designer, driven by a passion for creativity and beauty. For me, design is more than a job—it’s a way of life, an ever-exciting, fantastic world.

I believe in thinking outside the box and continuously renewing my knowledge. This mindset has guided me in helping people fall in love with brands and assisting agencies in winning new business.

———————————————————————————

Halo Lab

Another passion I discovered is mentoring young designers at Halo Lab, where I help them become true professionals. Sharing my knowledge not only helps others but also fuels my own learning journey.

———————————————————————————

Have a BIG idea in mind?

Contact me directly: inquiry@halo-lab.com

Co-Founder & CEO

Halo Lab is a full-stack design & development team.

We created digital projects almost every day since 2013.

We work with a diverse range of innovative startups and established companies. We've launched over 350 projects, helping our clients secure a total of $370M in funding. 

Some of our standout projects include:

- Kinetik: A healthcare platform with over 3,500 integrated providers.
- Bookclub24: A German online library for book collectors.
- Raven.gg: A leading brand in custom esports clothing design.
- Mighty Buildings: Pioneers in sustainable 3D-printed houses.

“How much does it cost to design a website?”

Classic answer: “It depends.”

But that’s not helpful, especially when you’re trying to plan budgets and justify ROI to your board or investors.

So let’s break it down.

1. Landing page.
$1000–$5,000
A single conversion-focused page - ideal for campaigns or product launches.
Quick, simple, measurable. But every word and visual must work perfectly together.

2. Small business website.
$5,000 – $15,000
Usually 4–6 pages (Home, Services, About, Contact, maybe a Blog).
You get custom branding, a consistent UI, and a trustworthy structure that helps people understand and act.

3. eCommerce website.
$25,000 – $100,000
Product pages, filters, checkout flow, mobile optimization.
At this range, you’re investing in UX that prevents drop-offs and builds trust.

4. SaaS website.
$75,000 – $300,000
A good SaaS site tells your story, guides visitors to demos, and aligns with your product UI.

5. Enterprise website.
$20,000–$100,000+
Think of this as a digital ecosystem - dozens of templates, multilingual layouts, case studies, and complex integrations.

A website isn’t an expense. 
It’s your digital sales team that works 24/7.
And like any high-performer, it needs training, systems, and strategy behind it.

So the next time someone asks, “How much does it cost to design a website?”
The better question is “How much revenue am I losing by not investing in a site that converts?”

You can calculate the cost of your project on our website using the smart calculator - https://lnkd.in/dZMaFF5E

♻️ Share this to help others estimate better.
🔔 Follow Valentine Boyev for more updates!

CEO @ Halo Lab ✦ Leading a 130+ design-driven B2B software company → 500+ products shipped & scaled

Website design cost

Most MVPs are built to present.

Very few are built to produce.

That’s the difference between a demo and a business.

An MVP doesn’t have to be the smallest version of your product.
An MVP is the smallest collection of components required to provide value.

→ What is the one thing a user will need to do repeatedly?
→ What elements do you need to incorporate into your design so that it runs immediately, independent of any human activity?
→ When is the moment that you will take all of the variables and make one conclusion -insight, application, analysis, and improvements?

When you look at it through this lens, the MVP is a live vehicle.
The intended result is:

1. One workflow: the only way users will need to interact with your product.
2. A single loop that will continue to serve you every time you iterate.
3. The least amount of interference to provide that measure.
4. The most convenient manner to interact with it.
5. One measure of success, not an explanation.
6. Nothing else supports those goals.

This sets the stage for how you build early traction.
You don’t do that by shipping less of your product.
You do that by shipping the right product.

Build the smallest collection of components that can generate value for others and is therefore your MVP.
That is the difference between a demo and a business.

🔔 Follow Valentine Boyev for more updates!

The MVP You Actually Need

Most leaders will agree that "good UX matters."

But few can prove it in financial terms.

That’s where growth is slowly leaking.

When design is measurable, it is also scalable.
When it is scaleable, it is a competitive advantage.

This is what the math shows:

✦ Each $1 spent on UX returns between $2 and $100. (Forrester)

✦ A load time faster by 0.1 seconds can boost conversion up to 10%. (Deloitte)

✦ 18% of customers abandon the website because the site is hard to use. Baymard Institute)

✦ Companies with design maturity outperform similar companies by 2x in revenue and shareholder returns. (McKinsey Design Index)

So why measure your UX ROI?
Because if you do not measure it, design becomes "subjective."

When you measure it, you have a lever to influence:

1. Conversion rates and average order value.
2. Operational efficiency and support costs.
3. Customer lifetime value and churn.

Here’s how leading companies do it:

1. Benchmark experience metrics – funnel conversion, time-to-task, support volume.
2. Make UX optimizations – simplify flows, reduce friction, increase clarity.
3. Measure the delta – either revenue, savings or time.
4. Quantify into dollars.

UX isn't about how good your product looks.
It's about how much it earns.
When organizations measure that, UX is no longer subjective.

♻️ Share this to help others measure UX ROI.
🔔 Follow Valentine Boyev for more updates!

A few months ago, one of our partners came up with a challenge.

"We’ve raised our Series A, we have product-market fit, but we’re stuck in endless design-dev loops. Can we ship an MVP that investors can demo this quarter, not next?”

We delivered it in 42 days.
Here’s what actually made it possible.

1. 10-day strategy sprint.
We used a pre-built discovery framework with templates for personas, flows, and decisions on technology stacks.
We only focused on the unknowns and skipped documenting the things that the team has already validated.
The result was a 70% faster alignment phase while maintaining context.

2. Parallel design & development.
In traditional teams, design "hands off" to devs, and that is where weeks go to die.
We run parallel pipelines: The dev team starts building the architecture and reusable components in parallel.
We do design QA in a sprint and not at the end.
The result: Reduced the cycle from design → dev delay from 3 weeks to 10 days.

3. Reusable design systems.

4. Senior leads keep hands-on.
Every project has a lead designer, tech lead, and PM who stay involved daily, not just at kickoff.
You speed delivery up by removing the invisible friction between discovery, design, and dev.

At Halo Lab — Your Digital Partner, we build like product teams.

If you’re a founder racing toward your next funding milestone, DM me.

🔔 Follow Valentine Boyev for more updates!

Leonard Rodman, M.Sc.

IT System Administrator | AI Implementation Analyst | Agile Project Manager | 40k followers & 11M views/14mo | ChatGPT, Midjourney, Runway and more!

I’m an AI Consultant and Technical SaaS Deployment Manager with 20+ years of experience helping organizations transform the way they work through AI, automation, and agile delivery.
I specialize in testing, comparing, and implementing AI systems at both enterprise and SMB levels, making advanced technology practical, scalable, and impactful. From API automation and IT systems administration to cloud SaaS deployment and Agile project leadership, I’ve delivered solutions that improve efficiency, reduce costs, and unlock measurable ROI.
Beyond my consulting work, I serve as a mentor at 1871’s AI Innovation Lab and contribute to the OpenAI Forum, where I collaborate with global experts on AI adoption and governance. I’m passionate about bridging technical expertise with real-world business outcomes, ensuring AI is deployed not just as a tool, but as a strategic advantage.
🔹 Core Specialties:
• AI Strategy & Deployment (LLMs, ChatGPT, enterprise SaaS AI tools)
• API Automation & Systems Integration
• SaaS Deployment & IT Systems Administration
• Agile Project & Change Management (PMP®, CSM®, CSPO®)
• Learning Experience Platforms & EdTech Solutions

My mission is to help organizations cut through the hype and harness AI responsibly, so teams spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time creating value.

LMS Lead Administrator

I will be launching a new Docebo LMS for Impact Networking this year. I'm so excited to join an amazing team!
Assisting with finalizing a LMS vendor agreement
Strategizing about LMS rollout
Developing UAT strategies with the L&D team
Coordinating with UXUI and Graphic Design to develop a branded look and feel
Coordinating with Managed IT Ops to develop a SAML-based SSO for MS Azure
Analytics with Microsoft PowerBI
Investigating Microsoft Power Virtual Agents for e-Learning and KB access

Leonard Rodman, M.Sc. PMP® CSM® CSPO®

2026 doesn’t need a huge glow-up.

It needs tiny, boring habits that compound so hard you can’t ignore them.

That’s the Atomic Habits cheat code:

Stop obsessing over goals.
Build an environment where the right behavior is the default.
Make it obvious.
Make it easy.
Make it satisfying.
Make it part of who you are.

Here are a few happiness habits for 2026 that actually stick.

Start with identity, not motivation.
Not “I’m going to work out.”
“I’m the kind of person who moves every day.”
“I’m the kind of person who protects my peace.”
“I’m the kind of person who finishes what I start.”

Then prove it with laughably small wins.

Two-minute morning win.
Before you touch your phone:

Drink water.
Open a window.
10 deep breaths.
Write one sentence: “Today would feel like a win if…”

That’s it.

It’s not productivity.

It’s control.

Design your space like you’re not a superhero.
Put the good stuff in your face.

Fruit on the counter.
Book on the pillow.
Shoes by the door.
Journal on the desk.
Notifications off by default.

If the environment is trash, your habits will be trash.

Make the habit easier than the alternative.
Want to read more?

Put a book where you usually doomscroll.
Want to walk more?

Make it a “phone call walk.”
Want to be calmer?

Create a 60-second shutdown ritual at night:
charger across the room, lights dim, one stretch, bed.

Stack habits so you don’t “find time.”
After I make coffee, I write 3 lines.
After I brush my teeth, I do 10 squats.
After I sit in my car, I take 5 slow breaths.

No new schedule.

Just better defaults.

Track the right thing: consistency.
Happiness doesn’t come from intensity.

It comes from showing up.

Don’t break the chain.
And if you do, never miss twice.

Finally, reward the behavior immediately.
Not later. Now.

Check a box.
Text a friend “Day 6 done.”
Put a dollar in a fun jar.
Make the brain associate the habit with a tiny hit of satisfaction.

Because your brain doesn’t care about 12 months from now.

It cares about tonight.

If you want a happier 2026, don’t chase “more.”

Chase better systems.

Boring routines.
Cleaner inputs.
More movement.
More sunlight.
More real conversations.
Less sludge.

That’s the whole game.

Repost, like, and follow if you want more posts like this.

Leonard Rodman, M.Sc. PMP® LSSBB® CSM® CSPO®

AI Consultant and Influencer | API Automation Developer/Engineer | DM me for promotions

ai is only replacing people who are bad at their jobs
so if you're bad at what you do, find something you're good at stat

Hot take?
Not really.

AI isn't walking into your company like a Terminator.
It's walking in like an intern that never sleeps.
It takes the repetitive stuff.
The sloppy stuff.
The "good enough" stuff.

If your job is:
Copying and pasting
Formatting slides
Summarizing meetings
Writing generic emails
Answering the same tickets
Making reports nobody reads

Yeah.
That layer is getting shaved off.

But here's the part nobody wants to admit:
Most people aren't being replaced by AI.
They're being replaced by someone who uses AI.

Because the new baseline isn't "I can do the task."
It's "I can do the task faster, cleaner, with better judgment, and with fewer mistakes."

So what's the move?

Stop trying to out-type the machine.
Start building the stuff the machine can't fake:

Taste
Prioritization
Strategy
Context
Relationships
Decision-making under uncertainty
Knowing what not to do

And if you're sitting there thinking,
"Okay but I'm not great at my current role..."

Good.
That's clarity.

Pick a lane where you're naturally dangerous.
Lean into it.
Use AI as your multiplier, not your replacement.

Because the people who get cooked in 2026 aren't the ones with "no AI skills."
It's the ones with no edge.

Repost if someone on your team needs to hear this.
Like if you're done pretending busy work is job security.
Follow for more.

AI Consultant and Influencer | API Automation Developer/Engineer | DM or email promotions@rodman.ai for collabs

ai art will never replace real art.
not because it is bad.

not because it is fake.

not because it lacks talent.
but because art is not the output.
art is the residue of being human.
it is obsession.

taste.

failure.

context.

history.

the quiet decade it took to figure out what you actually like.
ai can generate infinite images.

but it cannot care which one matters.
it does not have a childhood.

or a cultural wound.

or a reason it keeps coming back to the same idea over and over.
it does not get bored and pivot.

it does not rebel against its influences.

it does not wake up embarrassed by yesterday’s work.
artists do.
ai is incredible at execution.

artists are incredible at intention.
one scales.

the other means something.
ai will flood the world with visuals.

real art will still be the rare thing that stops you.
the difference has never been tools.

it has always been taste.
and taste is earned.

AI agents are becoming a commodity.
The differentiator is the OS that ships them.

Because “we built an agent” is not the hard part anymore.

The hard part is:

Getting to production fast
Not in 6 months
In weeks

Making it safe to scale
With monitoring
Observability
Billing controls
Security and compliance

And turning agents into revenue
Not just “cost savings” in a deck

That’s why Vida caught my attention.

Vida is an AI Agent Operating System built for ROAI and speed-to-market.

Crawl-walk-run deployments
A framework that plugs into your stack
And gets real agents live quickly

Plus white-label and reseller options.

So if you’re a SaaS business trying to add a new product line
Or an MSP, BPO, or call center looking for a new margin engine
Vida is built to be a money maker, not just a cost saver.

Also - omnichannel is not an add-on here.

Inbound and outbound via:
Phone
Text
Email
Webchat

At real scale too - tens of thousands of calls and texts daily, and hundreds of millions of AI agent interactions supported.

If your “agent strategy” currently ends at a demo…

Maybe it’s time to start thinking like an operator.
Check it out today at [https://lnkd.in/gQYcBHUc)

RAM is getting expensive again.

And no, it’s not “because gamers are buying too many RGB sticks.”

It’s because RAM is now competing with AI for the same factory attention.

Memory makers are prioritizing higher-margin server DRAM and HBM (the fancy memory feeding AI accelerators).

That squeezes the “regular” stuff your PC uses.

So your build budget quietly flips.

GPU used to be the villain.

Now it’s RAM.

Here’s the part people miss:

A lot of the scary forecasts are about contract pricing (the big OEM deals).

Retail follows later.

Sometimes fast.

Sometimes with whiplash.

So will it stabilize?

Yes.

But “stabilize” does not mean “go back to 2024 prices.”

My read:

Near term (Q1–first half 2026): still ugly
Capacity is tight, and pricing power is with suppliers
Late 2026: more likely to flatten than crash
2027+: real relief needs new capacity, and that takes time to come online

Translation for normal humans:

If you’re building in the next 30 to 90 days, don’t assume RAM will be cheaper next month.

If you can wait, you’re betting on supply catching up and demand not spiking again.

And if you’re a business buying laptops or servers, this is why “just add more memory” suddenly became a budget meeting.

Repost if you’re building a PC in 2026.
Like and follow if you want more takes that save you money.

L&D is getting squeezed.
Hard.

Not by “lack of content”.

By the question every exec is asking now:

What changed in the business because you trained people?

That’s why this 2026 L&D Trend Report from Powtoon hits different.

It isn’t another survey that tells you what people say they’ll do.
Powtoon analyzed 3,000+ public LinkedIn conversations (Oct to Dec 2025).

Real threads.
Real frustration.
Real breakthroughs.

Then they used AI-assisted analysis + expert review + human curation to synthesize it into 6 data-backed trends shaping 2026.

The stuff I keep seeing across enterprise AI work is all in here:

AI shifting from “faster content” to “measurable impact”

ROI pressure turning L&D into a performance function

Hyper-human learning design because generic training is officially dead

If you lead learning, enablement, HR, or internal comms, this is signal.

If you don’t, but you care about how knowledge moves inside big orgs, this is still a must-read.

Download the report here: [https://lnkd.in/gqdjKer8)
#L&D #LearningAndDevelopment #InternalComms #AIForLearning #Enablement #HR #WorkplaceLearning
In partnership with Powtoon

Making friends as an adult is weirdly brutal.

Not because you forgot how to be friendly.

Because adult life is designed to delete friendship by default.

Work eats your weekdays.
Partners and kids eat your weekends.
Moves break your routines.
And everyone’s calendar becomes a polite way of saying “no.”

Then you look up and realize:

You’re not lonely.

You’re under-booked on real connection.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth.

You don’t “meet friends.”
You build them.
On purpose.
With reps.

Friendship is proximity + repetition + shared vulnerability.

So if you want more new friends this year, stop treating it like a magical accident.

Treat it like a system.

Pick one “third place” and show up every week.
Same day. Same time.
Run club. Pickup basketball. Yoga. Trivia. Volunteering. Book club. Coworking spot. Church. Whatever.

Not because it’s your passion.

Because it’s your pipeline.

Then do the part most adults avoid:

Make the first move.

Not “we should hang sometime.”

Actual specifics.

“Want to grab coffee after next week’s class?”
“I’m trying a new spot Saturday at 10 - want in?”
“I’m headed to that meetup Thursday - come with?”

Yes, it’s awkward.

So is being 42 with zero people you can call on a Tuesday.

Also, stop waiting for instant chemistry.

Adult friendship is slow-cooked.

You don’t need a soulmate friend.
You need a bench.

3-5 people you see regularly.
Who know your name.
Who’d notice if you disappeared.

One more thing:

If you’re always “too busy,” you’re not busy.

You’re over-optimized.

This year, trade a little efficiency for a lot more life.

Repost, like, and follow if you want more posts like this.

AI is already shaping buying decisions.
And most brands are flying blind inside it.

[https://lnkd.in/gyyzu7ZA]

Not “SEO is dead.”

More like:

SEO is only half the map now.

Because your buyers are not just Googling.
They’re asking ChatGPT.
Gemini.
Perplexity.
And they’re getting answers that quietly decide who makes the shortlist.

Zen Media put together a free AI visibility report that shows:
The real prompts your ICP is asking (think 1,000 of them)
Where your brand shows up
Where you disappear
And the themes you need to own before your competitors do

This is the new reputation layer.
And it’s happening whether you’re watching it or not.

If you don’t know how your brand shows up in AI answers, you’re already behind. Use the link to get the free AI visibility report and see what buyers are actually seeing.

If my AI starts showing ads…

…it stops being my assistant.

And becomes a talking billboard.

That’s the part people are missing.

AI isn’t like a website with a banner on the side.

AI is the place you go when you’re uncertain.

When you’re vulnerable.

When you’re deciding.

What laptop to buy.

How to handle a messy work situation.

What to say in a hard conversation.

Sometimes, what to do with your life.

Now imagine that same moment…

…but with a revenue model attached.

Because the second ads enter the chat, incentives change.

Not because the team is evil.

Because physics.

The “best answer” and the “best monetization” are not the same KPI.

Even if ads are “clearly labeled.”

Even if they’re “separated from the response.”

Even if they “don’t influence the answer.”

The pressure always moves in one direction:

More inventory.

More targeting.

More testing.

More subtle placement.

More “helpful suggestions” that just happen to have a sponsor.

And the darkest part?

Conversational context is the highest-intent data ever created.

Search tells you what you want.

Chat tells you why you want it.

So yeah.

I hate this timeline.

Because I want AI to be the first tool in history that gets better without turning you into the product.

If you agree, repost this.

Hit like.

Follow for more takes you’re not supposed to say out loud.

Most compliance companies whisper.
Delve is drop-kicking features into the timeline.

they have been showing up everywhere lately.

often mentioned next to companies like Vanta and Drata.

not because they are louder.

but because they are moving faster.

that made me curious.

so i dug in.

they are in the middle of launching five new features.
not quietly.
not buried in changelogs.

intentionally.

i booked a demo to understand what was actually driving it.

what stood out was the strategy.

frequent product launches.
paired with a content engine that explains why each feature exists.

not marketing for the sake of noise.
but momentum built through repetition and clarity.

feature.
story.
distribution.
again.

it feels less like hype.
and more like a system that compounds. 
https://delve.co

People hear “charity” and think “checkbook.”

But some of the most powerful charity costs exactly $0.

In 2026, money isn’t the bottleneck.

Attention is.
Time is.
Follow-through is.
Basic human decency is.

Here are ways to be genuinely charitable this year without spending a dime.

Give your presence.
Put your phone down.
Look someone in the eye.
Ask a real question.
Stay long enough to hear the answer.

That’s rare now.
Which makes it valuable.

Give your skills.
You don’t need cash to help a nonprofit.

Write one email template for a volunteer coordinator.
Fix a resume for someone job hunting.
Teach someone how to use spreadsheets.
Proofread a grant paragraph.
Help a small org set up a calendar, a signup form, a simple CRM.

Most organizations are drowning in “we could do more if we had systems.”

You can be the system.

Give your network.
Introduce two people who should know each other.

Not the fake “let’s connect sometime” thing.

An actual intro.

“Hey, you two should talk.
One of you needs X.
The other does X.”

That single message can change someone’s year.

Give public praise.
If someone did good work, say it where it counts.

Shout them out to their manager.
Leave a thoughtful LinkedIn comment.
Write a short note of appreciation.

Recognition is fuel.
A lot of people are running on fumes.

Give your reliability.
Want to be rare?

Be the person who shows up when you say you will.
Answers the text.
Follows through.
Doesn’t ghost.

Consistency is charity in adult life.

Give your listening.
A lot of people don’t need advice.

They need someone who can sit in discomfort without trying to fix them.

No solutions.
No one-upping.
No “at least.”

Just: “That sounds heavy. I’m here.”

Give your time in ways that actually help.
Volunteer locally, even a couple hours.

Food bank sorting.
Park cleanup.
Animal shelter support.
Community hotline training.
Mutual aid groups.

Not glamorous.

But real.

Give your attention to the overlooked.
The new person at work.
The quiet neighbor.
The older relative.
The friend who fell off the map.

Most people aren’t asking for help because they don’t want to be a burden.

Be the one who notices.

And here’s the spicy part:

Being charitable isn’t about being “nice.”

It’s about using what you already have.

Your time.
Your competence.
Your steadiness.
Your voice.
Your care.

In 2026, you can make a meaningful dent in someone’s life…

Without spending a cent.

Repost, like, and follow if you want more posts like this.

ChatGPT was my main tool.

But not anymore! Because I found this All-in-one AI tool

Earlier,
By the time I finished one task, I had 6–7 tabs open.
Then someone introduced me to ChatLLM by Abacus AI, and my whole workflow moved into one place.

👉 [http://chatllm.abacus.ai](http://chatllm.abacus.ai/)

Here’s what made the switch stick:
1. One single place for all the AI tools
ChatLLM lets me switch between GPT-5.2, Claude 4.5, Gemini 3 Pro, Grok 4.1 Fast, DeepSeek, LLaMA, and more without breaking flow.
2. Images & videos, without jumping tools
No more opening separate platforms.
Nano Banana Pro, FLUX, Seedream 4.5, Ideogram for images.
Sora 2, VEO 3.1, Kling AI v2.6, Runway, Luma for videos.
3. Full-stack apps, websites & SaaS
I type what I want and actually see it live.
From layout to colors to text, I just edit it normally.
4. Professional presentations, instantly
Simple ideas turn into clean decks with researched content, graphs, and charts.
5. A personal AI assistant that works in the background
Searches and tasks keep running even when I’m offline - you come back to progress.
6. Talking to PDFs instead of reading them
Upload a file, ask questions, get clean notes and summaries.
7. Making AI writing sound normal
Write → click “Humanize” → choose a tone.
8. Real-time web search
Answers come with sources, images, and videos - more research, less guessing.
9. Abacus AI Deep Agent for bigger builds
Mobile apps, Web apps, technical reports, dashboards, micro-SaaS, full AI workflows, and websites built from simple prompts.
10. An AI code editor that actually helps
Write, run, debug, and improve code inside Abacus AI Desktop, with proper vibe coding without the chaos.

It stopped feeling like “using AI tools.”
And started feeling like working inside one AI workspace.

If you’re paying for multiple AI subscriptions right now,

This might clean up your whole setup.

👉 [http://chatllm.abacus.ai](http://chatllm.abacus.ai/)

Nobody told me freelancing came with a side quest:
Becoming a part-time debt collector.

You land the client.
You crush the project.
You send the invoice.

And then… silence.

Now you are writing those soul-sucking emails:
“Just circling back on this invoice.”
“Hey, not sure if this hit your inbox.”
“Mind taking a look when you get a chance?”

You are not mad enough to go nuclear.
You are not chill enough to ignore it.
So you sit in that awkward middle.

Refreshing your banking app.
Rewriting the same “polite nudge” 4 times.
Feeling weird about asking for money you already earned.

And it is not just the money.
It is the emotional load.
The tiny hit to your confidence every time you chase.

“Did they hate the work?”
“Am I being annoying?”
“Are they ghosting me?”

Meanwhile your accountant is saying
“We never saw that invoice in Outlook.”

Cool.
Guess who has to resend it.
Again.

This is why I like what Mintry is doing.

Mintry is an AI assistant that takes over late-invoice follow ups for you.

It sends polite, on-time reminders.
It keeps the tone professional, not pushy.
It follows up consistently, even when you are buried in real work.

So you are not the one chasing.
You are not the “hey just checking in” guy anymore.
You just set your rules, and Mintry handles the nudges.

Result:
Less awkward inbox energy.
More predictable cashflow.
More time spent building the business instead of babysitting invoices.

If you hate chasing clients as much as you hate scope creep,
Mintry is worth a look.

🔗 Try Mintry here! https://lnkd.in/e9gdafC5

In partnership with Mintry #ad

If you’re spending $50k to $100k a year on cloud with a giant like Microsoft…

Here’s a question nobody wants to say out loud.

Would you still buy…
…if 75% of your meetings were with an AI?

Not a human.
Not “your” account team.
Not a solutions architect who’s seen your environment.
An AI.

Because let’s be honest about what those meetings usually are:
Quarterly “value reviews” that are really pipeline checks.

Licensing conversations that feel like a maze on purpose.

“Strategic roadmap” slides that could’ve been an email.

Escalations that bounce between 5 people and still don’t move.
So an AI showing up might actually be an upgrade.
Faster answers.

Better documentation.

No calendar ping pong.

No “let me circle back internally.”
But there’s a line.
If I’m paying that much, I want at least one human who:

Owns the outcome.

Can make exceptions when the contract doesn’t fit reality.

Can pull the right engineers into a room when production is on fire.

Can look me in the eye and say, “Yeah, we messed up, here’s what we’re doing.”

AI can’t be accountable.
It can only be helpful.
And those are not the same thing.
So here’s my take:
AI can run 75% of the meetings.

But the 25% that stay human better be the meetings that matter:
Escalations.

Architecture decisions.

Renewals and pricing.

Security and compliance moments.

Anything with real risk.
If the “humans” only show up to upsell…
And the AI shows up when things break…

That’s not efficiency.
That’s abandonment.
Would you buy?

And if yes, what’s the minimum human coverage you’d require at $50k, $100k, $250k a year?

Repost, like, and follow if you want more takes like this.

Icon came.
Blew up the internet.
Then died.

Omneky raised a ton.
Then became a rounding error.

Not because “AI ads” is fake.
Because ads are not a tool problem.

Ads are a system.
And the missing piece was always the same:
a real human feedback loop from people who have actually spent serious money.

That’s why Airpost is interesting.

Airpost is a hybrid AI ads machine built for performance advertisers.
Platform + service.

AI does the heavy lifting.
Experienced creative strategists do the part AI keeps hallucinating:
taste, context, iteration, and ruthless prioritization of what actually wins.

The core idea is simple (and kind of unfair):
a taxonomy for how ads work.
Strategic pattern → narrative angle → execution.
So you can find what’s working, then scale it into dozens of new swings per week.

Airpost is built by the ReadySet team.
The “we shipped an AI wrapper” crowd can’t fake that.
They’ve deployed $100M+ in ads, and it shows in the positioning.

And the proof points are spicy:
DoorDash reportedly saw Airpost ads beat internal ads by ~40% better CAC.
Cloaked ran $1M+ in spend through Airpost ads.

If you’re spending $250k+/mo on paid social, this is the real pitch:
Stop asking your team to be a content studio.
Give them an ad factory that learns.

Launching Jan 20, 2026.

#partner [https://lnkd.in/g_rr36jp)

Houseplants are the cheapest life upgrade you can make.

And they quietly fix a bunch of things you didn’t realize were broken.

They make your home feel “lived in”
without feeling cluttered.

They force you to slow down for 30 seconds a day
and that tiny pause adds up.

They give you a low-stakes responsibility
that actually feels good to keep.

They make your desk setup look 20% more intentional
even if your to-do list is on fire.

They teach you patience.

Because plants don’t care about your timeline.
They care about consistency.

You miss a watering
they sag.

You overwater
they sulk.

You move them 3 feet
they throw a tantrum.

It’s annoying.
And it’s kind of the point.

Houseplants are like a daily reminder that “optimization” isn’t the same as “health.”

Plus, they change how a room sounds.
Feels.
Looks on camera.

Your background instantly says:
this person has a pulse.

If you want one plant that gives you the most reward for the least drama:

Pothos
Snake plant
ZZ plant
Spider plant

Start with one.

Put it where you’ll see it every day.

Then let the tiny wins do their thing.

Repost if you’re team houseplant.
Like if you’ve ever accidentally loved one to death.
Follow for more small upgrades that actually stick.

Your resume is competing against AI now.

Not just other candidates.

AI.

Because the average resume in 2026 reads like it was written by the same prompt.

Polished.
Generic.
Soulless.
And instantly forgettable.

Here’s how to tune yours up so it survives the bots
and wins the humans.

Start with the uncomfortable truth:
Hiring is filtering.

AI screens.
ATS parses.
Recruiters skim.

So your resume needs two things at once:

Machine clarity.
Human conviction.

Make it pass the machine test

Single column.
Normal headings.
No text boxes.
No fancy graphics.
Simple fonts.

If a scanner can’t reliably pull your titles, dates, skills, and results, you are invisible.

Now the part that actually makes you stand out in a sea of AI

Stop describing your job.
Start proving your impact.

Every bullet should answer:

What did you change?

Not “responsible for…”
Not “worked on…”
Not “helped with…”

Changed.

Use this bullet formula:

Problem - Action - Result - Proof

Problem: what was broken or missing
Action: what you actually did
Result: the measurable outcome
Proof: a link or artifact if possible

Metrics beat adjectives.
Every time.

“Improved customer retention” is fluff.
“Cut churn from 5.2% to 3.9% in 90 days by rebuilding onboarding emails” is a receipt.

Add receipts.

A one-page “proof strip” near the top:

Portfolio
GitHub
Case study
Demo video
Writing sample
Before and after

Skills-based hiring keeps accelerating, and proof travels farther than pedigree.

Kill the AI voice

If your summary sounds like it could belong to anyone, it will.

Replace it with a clear point of view:

“I build X for Y by doing Z.”
“I’m strongest when the problem is messy and the stakes are real.”
“My edge is turning ambiguity into shipping.”

AI can write words.
It can’t write your judgment.

Customize without rewriting your life

Do not make 50 versions.

Make 1 strong base resume.
Then for each job:

Mirror 10 to 15 keywords from the posting.
Reorder bullets so the most relevant wins are first.
Swap in 2 to 3 bullets that match the role exactly.

You’re not gaming the system.
You’re communicating in the language the system is scanning for.

Finally, show you’re more than a tool-user

In 2026, “I know the tools” is table stakes.

Hiring managers want to see how you think, collaborate, and drive outcomes, especially as AI automates more of the easy work.
Business Insider

So highlight:

Cross-functional wins
Decision-making under constraints
Tradeoffs you owned
Projects you drove from zero to shipped

That’s the difference between “AI-assisted candidate”
and “person who gets things done.”

Repost, like, and follow if you want more 2026 job-search playbooks.

Your streaming queue is already a second job.
Too many apps.

Too many “Top 10” lists.

Too many shows that start strong… then quietly die on episode 3.
So here’s the cheat code for 2026:
Stop hunting “the best show.”

Start matching a show to your mood.
If you want a smart thriller you can finish fast

HIS & HERS (Netflix)

Six episodes. Estranged spouses. Murder. Everyone’s lying.
If you want cold-weather, slow-burn mystery

Land of Sin (Netflix)

Nordic crime vibes, family feuds, and a missing teen.
If you want a binge with momentum

The Following (Netflix)

Serial killer. Cultish followers. Kevin Bacon hunting chaos.
If you want prestige you can brag about later

Adolescence (Netflix)

The kind of limited series critics won’t shut up about for a reason.
If you want pure blockbuster comfort

Stranger Things Season 5 (Netflix)

It’s the “group chat watch party” show again.
If you want fantasy that actually delivers

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2 (Disney+ and Hulu)
If you want post-apocalyptic dopamine

Fallout Season 2 (Prime Video)
If you want a new Western that looks expensive

The Abandons (Netflix)
If you want drama with a twisty premise

Paradise (Hulu)
If you want an “I watched a whole season in two days” medical ride

The Pitt (HBO Max)
If you want a comedy that loves Hollywood and hates it too

The Studio (Apple TV+)
Your move for a happier streaming year:
Pick one show for weekdays.

Pick one show for weekends.

Delete the rest from your brain until you finish.
What’s your first click of 2026?

AI isn’t confusing because it’s “too advanced.”

It’s confusing because everyone keeps using the same words
to mean completely different things.

I was chatting with my friend Ashley Gross recently about this

Here are the most common AI confusions I see every week:

AI vs automation
Automation follows rules.
AI guesses the next best move from patterns.

If you can fully explain the logic in a flowchart
it’s probably automation.

If it surprises you sometimes
it’s probably AI.

Model vs product
ChatGPT is a product.
GPT is a model.

One is the engine.
One is the car.

Training vs prompting
Training changes the model’s weights.
Prompting changes the model’s instructions.

If you’re not spending weeks, GPUs, and a dataset budget
you’re not “training.”

Hallucinations vs lying
Hallucinations are confident errors.
Not deception.

It’s not trying to trick you.
It’s trying to complete the pattern.

“Knows” vs predicts
AI doesn’t understand like a human.

It’s a prediction machine
that can still be insanely useful.

Memory vs context
Context is what you paste in the chat.
Memory is what it retains over time.

If you didn’t give it the info
don’t be shocked when it makes something up.

Agents vs chatbots
A chatbot talks.
An agent takes actions.

Big difference in risk.

Accuracy vs usefulness
A calculator must be right.
A brainstorm tool must be helpful.

Treat AI like an intern with infinite energy
not a database with perfect truth.

Private vs secure
“Not used for training” doesn’t automatically mean
“safe for your secrets.”

You still need policies, access control, and logging.

AGI vs good marketing
A demo can look magical
and still fail in production.

Most “breakthroughs” are
better packaging
and smarter workflows.

If you want to use AI without getting burned:

Define the job.
Decide the acceptable error rate.
Add guardrails.
Measure outcomes.

AI isn’t a miracle.

It’s a messy power tool.

Repost, like, and follow if you’re tired of AI hype
and want the stuff that actually works.

There’s a moment every January where “Happy New Year!” stops being festive…

…and starts being a cry for help.

Like:

January 1–2
Totally normal.
We’re all still metabolizing champagne.

January 3
According to Larry David… this is the line.
After this, you’re not spreading joy.
You’re forcing small talk.

January 4–7
Now it’s weird.
Not illegal.
Just weird.

January 8–15
At this point you’re basically wishing me “Happy New Year” as a personality trait.

January 16–31
No.
Now it’s not a greeting.
It’s a hostage negotiation.

If you missed the window, just say:
“Hope your year’s off to a good start.”

Clean.
Adult.
No one gets hurt.

So what’s the actual cutoff for you?

January 3?
First Monday back?
Or are you out here saying it in February like a menace?

taplio

The Battle

Valentine Boyev

Leonard Rodman, M.Sc. PMP® CSM® CSPO®

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreValentine Boyev's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreLeonard Rodman, M.Sc. PMP® CSM® CSPO®'s LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Valentine Boyev

Leonard Rodman, M.Sc. PMP® CSM® CSPO®

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

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);}Valentine Boyev's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreLeonard Rodman, M.Sc. PMP® CSM® CSPO®'s LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreValentine Boyev's LinkedIn Performance