When I first met Seth Godin at a Conference years ago he talked about Tribes. The audience included some of the top marketing and media experts in the world. That was my ideal client base. They loved him, clapped and agreed, and many could not execute human. It's not easy when you must deliver results to the CFO, VC, or the PE. I'm out of the industry. Are the "Just send more emails" days over or is it worse?
This resonates a lot. I’m working on a marketing app right now that uses AI to help small businesses connect with their customers and get more reviews and testimonials but with a very intentional boundary: AI is the assistant, not the replacement.
In fact, I’m actively considering limiting features like mass messaging or automated alerts, effectively forcing SMBs to talk more to their customers and clients one-on-one.
AI can be a powerful tool, but it sucks as a human replacement.
This reminds me of Drift. Years ago.
They called it Conversational Marketing.
Same with Gong. Sales Intelligence.
We used all these platforms.
And what I learned is this:
🛠️ It’s not the tool. It’s the human using it.
My virtual sales company was innovative. We reached 7-figures. All owned. No investors. No “professional” experts. No hired guns.
What actually moved the needle? Clarity. Focus. Quality.
That thinking got us results. But I’m not in that world anymore.
I stopped trying to get Drift, Gong, LinkedIn—or any of them—to behave. I stopped believing the right platform would change the outcome.
Because choosing between them is like arguing over flathead vs chainsaw.
🔁 Now I’m building something new. We’re migrating the entire infrastructure to Microsoft.
✅ This ends my relationship with the Google Ad Network Platform. ✅ It feels like freedom. ✅ Like a return to source.
Funny thing is, I dumped Microsoft for Salesforce years ago. Then when they hijacked my data rates, I left them for Close.
We’re cutting Notion too. I’m not a college student. I don’t need content dashboards.
SharePoint—when used by someone who actually knows what they’re doing—is a different game.
Why this shift?
Because one of our Founders is a real IT expert. Not a marketer. And he refuses to support a Google-for-Business backbone.
So what’s the right tool for the job?
👉 Ask someone who knows how it works.
As for AI?
My job is to train it to think better. Then use it for skill, scale, and power.
Most importantly.
Realize that OpenAI is now funded by the SoftBank.
It's always the humans!!! Thank you for taking the time to comment, Larry.
When I first met Seth Godin at a Conference years ago he talked about Tribes. The audience included some of the top marketing and media experts in the world. That was my ideal client base. They loved him, clapped and agreed, and many could not execute human. It's not easy when you must deliver results to the CFO, VC, or the PE. I'm out of the industry. Are the "Just send more emails" days over or is it worse?
This resonates a lot. I’m working on a marketing app right now that uses AI to help small businesses connect with their customers and get more reviews and testimonials but with a very intentional boundary: AI is the assistant, not the replacement.
In fact, I’m actively considering limiting features like mass messaging or automated alerts, effectively forcing SMBs to talk more to their customers and clients one-on-one.
AI can be a powerful tool, but it sucks as a human replacement.