Episode Details

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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