Field Notes · 35 principles
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Short principles behind how I work.
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00 Start here What this is and how to use it. 01 AI is not the strategy It's a tool inside the strategy. Most people get this backwards. 02 The founder should not be the operating system If every decision needs you, you don't have a system. You have a queue. 03 Human-led, AI-powered A human sets direction. AI does the lifting. A human owns the result. 04 Process before automation Automate a mess and you get a faster mess. 05 Do less, better Most businesses are busy. Few are focused. 06 Your system prompt is not a business system A clever prompt is not the same as a working operation. 07 Shadow AI is the new shadow IT Your team is already using AI. The question is whether you know how. 08 If you can't check it, don't automate it Trust comes from being able to verify, not from hope. 09 The 10/80/10 rule Ten percent direction, eighty percent execution, ten percent judgement. 10 Small businesses need practical AI, not theatre You don't need a lab. You need one slow job done faster. 11 Tools don't fix unclear work If the work is fuzzy, a new tool just adds a new place to be fuzzy. 12 AI can write the words. It can't give you a point of view The model fills the page. You still have to mean something. 13 Build the rhythm before you build the robot A habit that runs by hand is ready to automate. A wish is not. 14 Useful beats impressive Nobody pays for the demo. They pay for the result. 15 Actual intelligence beats artificial output AI is only worth having when it sharpens real thinking, not when it replaces it. 16 Cognitive surrender is the real risk The risk isn't using AI. It's letting it think until nobody remembers why. 17 Make the customer the hero Marketing should make the buyer feel capable, not the supplier look clever. 18 The human control layer is the product Everyone has the model. The judgement wrapped around it is the product. 19 A business brain beats a chatbot Context, workflow and memory turn a clever tool into something that runs work. 20 Retained insight beats one-off output If the work doesn't make the system better next time, it's just disposable. 21 The first automation should be boring Start with repeatable admin pain, not the flashy demo. 22 Your dashboard is not a decision Data needs an owner and an action, or it's just decoration. 23 The work has to survive a Friday A system that only works when you're at your desk isn't a system. 24 Top draw is not polished slop Quality means useful, specific and trusted. Not shiny and overproduced. 25 Brand is trust made visible Brand is the visible part of your standards. It lowers risk before the first conversation. 26 Marketing is not shouting louder More noise is not a strategy. Good marketing creates recognition and movement. 27 Sales follow-up is part of the system The sale often drifts after the meeting. Follow-up has to carry the quality of the conversation. 28 Security businesses sell confidence, not kit Security buyers are not really buying kit. They are buying confidence near their risk. 29 A CRM is not a filing cabinet A CRM only matters if it helps the right opportunities move. Storage is not a sales system. 30 The customer should never have to decode you If the buyer has to work out what you mean, you have already made the sale harder. 31 Your website is a sales conversation before the sales conversation Your website is already selling before anyone books a call. Design it that way. 32 Proof beats promise Claims are cheap. Proof reduces doubt and gives buyers a reason to trust the decision. 33 The handover is where systems go to die Most systems fail between people, where context gets lost and the founder becomes the glue. 34 Good AI starts with good taste AI can generate options. Human taste decides what belongs and what meets the standard.