How Founders Are Leveraging AI to Scale Smarter and Move Faster

AI, Founders, and the Future of Work: A Recap of Our June Founders Only Member Call

June’s Founders Only member call wasn’t your typical status update. It was a tactical, no-fluff deep dive into the future of entrepreneurship, led by none other than Jake Schincariol, a wizard in the world of AI systems and automations. What unfolded was part AI masterclass, part war-room strategy session. If you missed it, here’s the full breakdown.

Denver Debrief + Upcoming Events

We kicked things off with a look back at the Denver retreat. From mountain views to snake-wrangling, the event delivered more than just scenery. The insights were deep, the bonds were real, and the AI conversation from Jake sparked something electric.

Looking ahead, our next in-person event is locked for November 7th in Austin. Seats are limited to just 30 members, and we’re curating the experience intentionally. If you’re on the fence, don’t wait, this one will sell out fast! 

Also, if you haven’t yet, jump into the Slack group. The community there is active and generous with asks, offers, and tactical advice.

The Main Event: Jake’s AI Breakdown

Jake walked through a real-time demonstration on how founders can cut costs, increase efficiency, and automate operations using tools that are widely available, but rarely used well.

Key Takeaways from Jake’s AI Playbook

1. AI Is Replacing Roles, Not Replacing You

Jake opened with this mic-drop: “Your humans are my opportunity.” In short, AI is making a growing number of junior roles obsolete. If you’re still hiring out data collection, basic copywriting, or early-stage design, you're probably lighting money on fire.

2. Think in Systems, Not Prompts

Most people ask ChatGPT surface-level questions. Jake challenged us to go deeper, using system prompts to define goals, return formats, constraints, and tone. That structure turns AI from a novelty into a scalable asset.

Jake’s example prompt for a DTC brand with a tight budget? Spot on:

“Act like a senior performance creative strategist... give me three punchy Meta ad concepts under 30 seconds... avoid the word ‘game-changer,’ don’t sound like AI, and give me hooks that sell without looking like ads.”

You can’t half-write prompts and expect full results. Precision is leverage.

3. Build Custom GPTs That Know Your Business

Jake showed us how to build tailored GPTs trained on your SOPs, brand voice, and internal docs. This means the outputs aren’t generic, they’re custom-built to think like your team.

One founder used it to analyze cash flow spreadsheets and produce 12-week projections, executive summaries, and next steps, all from a single upload. What used to take a month and a few thousand dollars in consulting fees? Now takes five minutes and no meetings.

4. Automate the Mundane with Smart Workflows

Using tools like Make.com, GumLoop, or AnyThing, Jake walked through how to automate tasks like:

1. Cold outreach and follow-ups
2. Flight tracking and trip planning
3. CRM updates and admin cleanups
4. Weekly competitor tracking and synthesis

He also dropped a Gmail inbox manager that sorts emails into urgent actions, networking ops, and admin, all powered by Claude and a few no-code tools.

5. The Rise of AI Agents

AI agents are task-driven tools that can run autonomously in the background. Think:

1. A sales follow-up agent that notices when a customer hasn’t re-engaged in 7 days
2. A competitor-watcher that scrapes Particle and public filings weekly
3. A personal inbox concierge that organizes your entire email load

Agents can handle the repetitive and time-consuming parts of the business, freeing founders to focus on judgment, not data entry.

SEO and AI: What Founders Need to Know

Jake highlighted Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), the art of ranking inside AI models like ChatGPT and Perplexity. With 60% of Gen Z using AI to make purchasing decisions, if your product doesn’t show up there, you’re invisible.

Action step: submit your product data directly to ChatGPT’s data partner. Jake dropped the link in Slack, go grab it if you haven’t.

The Tool Stack You Should Be Using (But Probably Aren’t)

Jake ran through the most effective AI tools by category:

Privacy, Cost, and the Real Risks

Jake didn’t sugarcoat the risks. If you’re uploading sensitive info to a hosted LLM like ChatGPT or Gemini, treat it like you're publishing it on social media. Want privacy? Run local models on your server and keep sensitive client data in-house.

Also, AI tools can quietly bleed you dry if you’re not watching usage. Be smart with tokens. Use lightweight models like GPT-3.5 or Gemini Flash for simple tasks, and save the heavy models for high-leverage work.

Final Thoughts

Jake dropped two truths that stuck:

1. AI won’t replace founders who are using it. But it will replace those who aren’t.
2. You don’t need to become a prompt engineer, you need to become a systems thinker.

The founders who win in this next chapter are the ones who use these tools like an exoskeleton. Not to take the work off their plate, but to multiply what they can accomplish in a day.

If you haven’t already, scan the tools QR code in Slack. Build your first agent. Test a custom GPT. Start small, but start.

We’ll see you at the Austin event in November.

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