with the help of an AI. I would record my thoughts and stories, have an AI transcribe and structure them, and then I would come in and add my personal voice and polish. It allowed me to write a book in a fraction of the time it would have taken me otherwise. The key is to use the AI for the heavy lifting, but always maintain your authentic voice.
6. The Code Accelerator: Supercharging Your Dev Team
My background is in engineering, and the impact of AI on software development is nothing short of staggering. Tools like GitHub Copilot are now table stakes. The best engineering teams I see are using AI to write unit tests, debug code, and even suggest architectural improvements.
One of our portfolio companies, a small team of five engineers, is out-shipping teams ten times their size. Their secret? They've built a suite of internal AI tools that automates their entire CI/CD pipeline. They can go from idea to production in a matter of hours, not weeks. This is the new benchmark for engineering velocity.
7. The 24/7 Customer Support Agent
Customers expect instant answers. But hiring a global, 24/7 support team is expensive. The startups that are winning in customer service are using AI-powered chatbots to provide instant, first-line support.
And I'm not talking about those dumb, frustrating chatbots of the past. The new generation of AI agents can understand context, access knowledge bases, and solve the vast majority of customer issues without human intervention. This frees up your human support agents to focus on the most complex and high-value customer interactions. It's a win-win: customers get faster answers, and you reduce your support costs.
8. The Sales Rep's Secret Weapon
Sales is a game of numbers, but it's also about relationships. The best salespeople are using AI to automate the tedious parts of their job so they can focus on building connections. They use AI to research prospects, personalize outreach emails, and even analyze sales calls to identify what's working and what's not.
I saw one sales team that increased their outbound meeting booking rate by 300% using an AI-powered sales assistant. It would automatically identify the right person to contact at a target company, find their email address, and then draft a highly personalized email based on their LinkedIn profile and recent company news. The sales reps just had to review and hit send.
9. The Market Intelligence Analyst
The competitive landscape is constantly changing. The startups that stay ahead are the ones that can spot trends before they become mainstream. They use AI to monitor competitors, track industry news, and analyze customer sentiment on social media.
Instead of manually reading dozens of articles and reports every day, they have an AI that scans the entire web and delivers a personalized daily briefing with the most important insights. It's like having a team of market research analysts working for you around the clock.
10. The Personal Development Coach
Finally, the most surprising pattern I saw was that the top founders are using AI for their own personal growth. They use it to summarize books and articles, learn new skills, and even get feedback on their communication style.
One founder I know uses an AI to practice his board presentations. He records himself giving the presentation, and the AI gives him feedback on his pacing, tone, and clarity. He told me it's been more effective than any human coach he's ever hired.
The Takeaway: Stop Being Busy, Start Being Productive
Look, the robots are not coming for your job. But founders who use AI effectively will absolutely replace those who don't. The 80-hour workweek is a relic of a bygone era. It's a recipe for burnout, not a path to success. The new playbook is about leverage. It's about using AI to amplify your unique talents and automate everything else.
Don't just dabble in AI. Don't just use it for fun little experiments. Pick one of these ten patterns and go all-in. Integrate it deeply into your workflow. The initial setup might take some time, but the long-term payoff is massive. Stop being the busiest person you know. Start being the most effective. Your company—and your health—will thank you for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the most common pushback you get on this?
People often push back by citing exceptions or edge cases. And they're usually right that exceptions exist. But building a strategy around exceptions rather than patterns is a losing game for most founders.
How can I apply this thinking to my own situation?
Start by identifying the core principle behind the opinion, not the specific example. Then ask yourself: does this principle apply to my context? If yes, test it in a small, low-risk way before going all in.
What experience informs this perspective?
This perspective comes from over a decade of building companies in Silicon Valley, two successful exits (RemoteTeam to Gusto, MovieLaLa to Gfycat), and investing in 200+ startups including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. I write about what I've lived.