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Colleen's first week at a new AI consulting contract is off to a great start. She's building automations for marketing ops and customer success, self-hosted n8n on Hetzner to cut costs, and got her YouTube shorts roasted by her 12-year-old. Joe sent two contracts, wrote a flagship mobile framework comparison article, and learned some lessons from his first round of cold outbound emails.Chapters00:00 Olympics and Curling05:50 Customer Success and AI11:09 Workflow Automation and Cost Reduction17:05 Selling AI Automations28:04 YouTube Shorts and Content Creation56:09 Upcoming Solo Trip and Secret Project Teaser

Joe opens an email that confirms his biggest fear. Colleen comes back from a founder retreat with a new strategy: do everything. We talk about losing clients to AI, pivoting to strategy, and why working more isn't the answer.Takeaways:Impact of AI on BusinessChallenges in SaaS GrowthMarketing Automation Tools Real human contentExploring new opportunitiesChapters:00:00 Introduction and Client Email07:20 Marketing Automation Tools16:51 Challenges in SaaS Growth23:24 Super Bowl Ads and Business Trends29:11 Expanding Speaking Engagements and Market Reach35:04 The Myth of Working More for Better Results41:32 Starting a New Consulting Venture

Colleen landed a six-month part-time AI consulting contract and two go-to-market coaching clients. All within a week of reaching out to her network.Joe spent 50 hours building his own Substack clone before realizing the code wasn't the important part. Strategy was. He threw it all away and finally made peace with where his content lives.Topics coveredUsing your network when you need work (and putting your ego aside to do it)Shadowing an AI head to learn what companies actually need from AI enablementWhy marketing services are a harder sell than technical services to founder-led companiesThe mental drain of coaching calls and keeping scope containedJoe's rebrand from "the Hotwire Native guy" to mobile apps for Rails businessesBuilding a productized service vs. getting too comfortable with a long contractUsing Claude as a business partner for strategy and copy iterationWhy solo consultants can adapt faster than agencies in the AI eraThe domain name problem when your last name is hard to spellWork retreats and the mental freedom of being away from home responsibilities

AI is eating into the value of "just coding", so what do you do about it? Colleen and Joe talk through how they're each adapting: AI-enabled services, getting more strategic with clients, and actually understanding what non-tech businesses need (not just what they say they want). Plus: cold outreach experiments, product ideas, and some financial housekeeping.Takeaways:When coding becomes commoditized, strategy becomes the differentiatorCold outreach isn't deadThe best opportunities come from understanding the business problem, not just the technical oneChapters:00:00 Adapting to AI eating our lunch06:33 Cold outreach and building in public16:25 What non-tech businesses actually need from us

Colleen Schnettler and Joe Masilotti didn't wait for anyone to greenlight their careers. Together they talk about building wealth on your own terms: finding leverage, compounding your skills, and designing careers that don't require a boss's approval. For developers, freelancers, and anyone plotting their escape from the org chart.