It's Q4, so Eric and Neil run through their business and marketing highlights and lowlights for the year. Eric's win was hiring AI-native people after learning he couldn't train everyone, and Neil's was the lowest churn in a long time. Neil explains bankruptcy clawbacks, where the lawyers always win, with FTX legal fees near $700M, and how tariffs and war cut client budgets. Eric's team now makes and manages bots, including one that shortlists recruits every day. On marketing, YouTube is bringing enterprise leads, Neil found out he did 12.7M views in 30 days, and Gavin Baker reports 80% of token spend has flipped to open-weight models. Eric covers outbound, wedges and Higgsfield's weekly launches, and Neil explains why he wants the chill life. A candid look back at the year.
Key takeaways
◾Hire adaptable, AI-native people instead of trying to train everyone
◾Let bots handle evaluation work like recruiting shortlists
◾Test lots of ideas cheaply, then back the ones with traction
Chapters
00:00 Q4 business highlights
00:44 Eric's lowlight: thinking he could train people
01:28 Neil's lowest churn in years
02:32 Bankruptcy clawbacks and legal drama
03:29 Lawyers always win: FTX's $700M in fees
04:43 Tariffs, war and budgets
06:20 Optimistic about 2027?
07:05 Payment plans for groceries
08:31 We make and manage bots
09:13 Recruiters who say they can't build it
10:00 Marketing highlights
10:47 Enterprise leads who found us on YouTube
11:32 Ad Age's performance marketing agency of the year
13:33 Neil's 12.7M views in 30 days
14:38 A slow speaking summer, two months at home
15:37 Neil only buys companies at a good deal
16:21 Best returns with the least stress
17:14 Outbound, wedges and 15-minute standups
18:39 Skillsdojo: pair engineers with marketers
19:43 Crank out 100 ideas, double down on winners
20:48 Gavin Baker: 80% of token spend flipped
21:46 Higgsfield ships a new feature every week
22:28 Neil does better in services than tech
23:42 Think like a capital allocator
25:08 Neil just wants the chill life
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