Discover
Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs’ Podcast
Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs’ Podcast
Author: Shannon Jean & Dave Hamilton
Subscribed: 97Played: 4,482Subscribe
Share
© DealsOnTheWeb, LLC 2026
Description
Two long-time small-business owners, Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean, come to you each week to talk through the trials, success, pitfalls and tips it takes to successfully run a small business in today’s world. Hear real-world folks talk about real-world problems, letting you know not only what it takes to get it done but that you’re not alone in doing it!
801 Episodes
Reverse
In this episode of Business Brain, we show you how a voice conversation with Claude on a road trip turned into a custom ticketing system that was built in about twelve hours. Dave was stuck copying and pasting between Claude Code and a chat window, so he asked for a better way. The answer was a mini swarm of three agents: an overseer you talk to, a fresh coder agent for each task, and a reviewer that checks the work without inheriting the coder’s mistakes. There’s a three-round limit so it can’t burn through your tokens. The big lesson is to keep asking your AI whether this is the most efficient way to do it, because it won’t bring that up on its own.
Then Shannon shares a hard-learned GrokBot tip. If you delete a bot conversation from your X DMs, you delete the bot itself. That leads into a must-hear reminder: the more you depend on AI agents, the more you need to back them up, and a free private GitHub repo makes that easy. Build the custom tools now, protect what you’ve built, and keep living that Charmed Life.
00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs’ Podcast #803 for Casual FridAI, November 6th, 2026
November 6th: Love Your Lawyer Day (also National Nacho Day!)
00:01:19 Building Your own Mini-Swarm of Agents
00:14:13 SPONSOR: Stio. Ski season’s almost here. Gear up now, the way the locals do. Go to https://stio.com/businessbrain for 20% off your order.
00:15:50 SPONSOR: NordLayer AI Scout helps organizations understand, govern, and protect AI usage by making AI activity visible across the entire workforce – web and desktop. https://nordlayer.com/ai-scout/businessbrain
00:17:24 Don’t delete your Grok Bot DMs
00:19:17 Backing up your agents
A-A-ron-Backup Grok Bot to a Github Repo
00:21:00 Muse vs. Grok Bot vs. Instinct
00:21:51 Business Brain 803 Outtro
This Episode’s Big Takeway: Ask your AI: Am I working with you the most efficient way?
Check out Business Brain Blueprints
Tell Your Friends!
Business Blueprints
Review Business Brain
Subscribe to the show
[email protected]
Call/Text: (567) 274-6977
X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow
LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain
Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain
The post FridAI – Back Up Your Bots + Agent Mini-Swarms – Business Brain 803 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.
In this episode of Business Brain, we tackle the rule that’s slowly choking your business: the lowest common denominator rule. When a customer complains or an employee slips up, you want to write a new policy right away. Don’t. Solve the problem and move on, and only build a procedure when the same issue keeps coming back. We get into why piled-up rules turn into a list of steps nobody follows, why a ten-step shipping process will never give you consistent results, and why you should audit your procedures twice a year so they stay useful.
Then we take on a question every business owner faces sooner or later: should you talk about politics in your business? Unless politics is your business, our answer is no. The same thinking applies to any divisive topic, AI included. A single social post loses all your nuance, and you can drive away half your audience before you ever see how they react. Keep your platform focused on great service and great products, save the hot takes for a real conversation, and keep living that Charmed Life.
00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs’ Podcast #802 for Wednesday, November 4th, 2026
November 4th: Use Your Common Sense Day
00:01:30 Not making LCD Rules
Don’t make a rule the first time something happens
Two Tokens Method of Customer Service
00:07:38 SPONSOR: Stio. Ski season’s almost here. Gear up now, the way the locals do. Go to https://stio.com/businessbrain for 20% off your order.
00:09:16 SPONSOR: NordLayer AI Scout helps organizations understand, govern, and protect AI usage by making AI activity visible across the entire workforce – web and desktop. https://nordlayer.com/ai-scout/businessbrain
00:10:50 Should we talk about the government?
00:17:25 What about AI?
00:22:55 Business Brain 802 Outtro
This Episode’s Big Takeway: Only make rules for systemic problems
Check out Business Brain Blueprints
Tell Your Friends!
Business Blueprints
Review Business Brain
Subscribe to the show
[email protected]
Call/Text: (567) 274-6977
X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow
LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain
Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain
The post Don’t Make L-C-D Rules – Business Brain 802 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.
In this FridAI episode of Business Brain, we open with a tip for anyone running scheduled AI agents: they inherit whatever model created them, so they may be quietly running on an outdated or pricier model. Then we unpack Black October and the PHP vulnerability that sent Dave scrambling, and how he had Claude Code compile a patched PHP for an aging server in a couple of hours. The lesson is that AI didn’t bring doomsday, it just changed the tools on both sides of the same old cat-and-mouse game. Shannon also shares how connecting an AI agent to his Mac’s Messages archive made over 400,000 texts instantly searchable, surfacing a message he’d been hunting for years.
The main event is the skill Dave built to produce our podcasts end to end, from cover art layout to a homemade MCP connector for Auphonic to publishing in WordPress. We talk about why skills are worth learning now, why you still need to know the manual workflow before you hand it off, and the trap of loving optimization so much you stop doing the actual work. Our big takeaway: connecting your agents to all of your data is what unlocks everything else, and that’s how we keep living the Charmed Life. Find the Apple data skill in the show notes at businessbrain.show and the full blueprint at businessbrain.show/blueprints.
00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs’ Podcast #801 for Casual FridAI, October 30th, 2026
October 30th: National Candy Corn Day
00:01:42 Update the model on your scheduled agents
00:03:52 Black October thanks to AI
00:08:48 Connecting Grok Bot to your iMessages
Messages in the cloud
Shannon’s Grok Bot iMessage skill
00:12:42 SPONSOR: NordLayer AI Scout helps organizations understand, govern, and protect AI usage by making AI activity visible across the entire workforce – web and desktop. https://nordlayer.com/ai-scout/businessbrain
00:14:14 SPONSOR: Hims. With Wegovy® at Hims, lose up to 20% of your body weight when combined with diet and exercise. Visit https://hims.com/businessbrain to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you.
00:15:50 Dave built a skill
00:25:08 Teach the idiot intern
00:27:52 Business Brain 801 Outtro
This Episode’s Big Takeway: Connect your agents to all your messages and data
Check out Business Brain Blueprints
Tell Your Friends!
Business Blueprints
Review Business Brain
Subscribe to the show
[email protected]
Call/Text: (567) 274-6977
X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow
LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain
Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain
The post FridAI – GrokBot and iMessages + Skills – Business Brain 801 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.
In this episode of Business Brain, we hit episode 800 and kick things off with a couple of quick-hit tips. Dave makes the case for handing your kids the phone to order takeout, a low-stakes, high-pressure rep that builds lifelong confidence talking to strangers. Then we dig into leaving Zoom open all day so it can transcribe any meeting, even Google Meet or Teams calls, plus why greeting every attendee by name helps AI note-takers like Wispr Flow sort out who said what. We also get into the Stream Deck and Keyboard Maestro setup that launches a clean workday with one button.
The main event is Efficiency Day, Dave’s raw idea for building a team habit around surfacing the friction everyone has quietly accepted. We workshop how to make it work: one person shares their workflow per staff meeting, screen recordings get passed around in Slack, and feedback stays focused on making things faster and easier, not on doing it someone else’s way. Get it wrong and people clam up. Get it right and every workflow keeps getting better, which is exactly how we keep living the Charmed Life. Grab the full Efficiency Day blueprint at businessbrain.show/blueprints.
00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs’ Podcast #800 for Wednesday, October 28th, 2026
October 28th: National Chocolate Day
00:01:58 Tips: Parents, have your kids call for Chinese food
Or Room service
Or whatever
00:04:24 Tips: Leave Zoom open all day to capture/transcript all your calls
WisperFlow
Granola
Keyboard Maestro
Elgato Stream Deck
00:10:54 SPONSOR: NordLayer AI Scout helps organizations understand, govern, and protect AI usage by making AI activity visible across the entire workforce – web and desktop. https://nordlayer.com/ai-scout/businessbrain
00:12:25 SPONSOR: Hims. With Wegovy® at Hims, lose up to 20% of your body weight when combined with diet and exercise. Visit https://hims.com/businessbrain to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you.
00:14:03 Have an Efficiency Day to iterate every workflow in your company
00:22:42 Business Brain 800 Outtro
This Episode’s Big Takeway: Creating an environment where everyone helps each other with their workflows
Check out Business Brain Blueprints
Tell Your Friends!
Business Blueprints
Review Business Brain
Subscribe to the show
[email protected]
Call/Text: (567) 274-6977
X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow
LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain
Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain
The post Scheduled Nitpicking – Business Brain 800 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.
In this episode of Business Brain, we look at a future where most internet traffic is agents talking to agents, and what that means for you. When your customer’s AI agent hits a roadblock trying to book or buy from you, it simply goes somewhere else. Dave shares how he had Claude build an MCP connector for his company’s backend in about 30 minutes while he sat through a conference session. We break down why agents are becoming store-agnostic, why Amazon is resisting while Shopify and Salesforce are opening the doors, and why the time to make your business agent-ready is now.
Then we turn to the single move that could level up your entire AI world: a chief of staff agent. Shannon explains how his GrokBot chief of staff spins up specialized helpers like a DM manager and a YouTube desk, while Dave compares notes on building his own inside Claude. We also cover Project Mini-Me, an app that watches your screen and listens all day, with a clear-eyed warning about what you should block from it. Hand off the busywork, choose how you spend your time, and keep living that Charmed Life.
00:00:00 Business Brain – The Entrepreneurs’ Podcast #799 for Casual FridAI, October 23rd, 2026
October 23rd: National Slap Your Coworker Day
00:01:36 Agents talking to agents
Instinct
Muse
Grok Bot
Somos Salsa
Shopify is well-poised to let your agent buy (amazon is not)
00:11:41 SPONSOR: Perplexity Computer. Start your free trial of Perplexity Computer today at https://PPLX.ai/brain and experience the next phase of AI. #ad
00:13:07 SPONSOR: NordLayer AI Scout helps organizations understand, govern, and protect AI usage by making AI activity visible across the entire workforce – web and desktop. https://nordlayer.com/ai-scout/businessbrain
00:14:38 Build yourself a Chief-of-Staff agent
Start with your Chief of Staff first
00:18:52 Be very aware what you share with new ambient capture apps like minimi
Project minimi
00:21:53 Managing Your Chief-of-Staff
00:24:31 Business Brain 799 Outtro
This Episode’s Big Takeway: Prepare your business for agents…and get yourself a Chief-of-Staff agent
Check out Business Brain Blueprints
Tell Your Friends!
Business Blueprints
Review Business Brain
Subscribe to the show
[email protected]
Call/Text: (567) 274-6977
X/Twitter: @ShannonJean & @DaveHamilton, & @BizBrainShow
LinkedIn: Shannon Jean, Dave Hamilton, & Business Brain
Facebook: Dave Hamilton, Shannon Jean, & Business Brain
The post FridAI – Agents talking to Agents – Business Brain 799 appeared first on Business Brain - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast.





