I’m excited to announce the upcoming launch of "Lone Wolf AI League", a new premium Skool community for people determined to become the AI resource inside their company, agency, executive room, board room or marketplace. Inside Lone Wolf AI League, I will share real-world AI strategy, deal strategy, wins, losses, client conversations, consulting realities, business execution, and what it actually takes to compete in the AI economy. This post is an example of the type of content and conversations we will explore inside the community. 🐺 Last night, I came across the Reid Hoffman quote: “If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” I have seen this quote many times, but last night it brought back a wave of nostalgia because it connects directly to something I have experienced over 30 years of building software, launching companies, and surviving technology disruption. Over the last 30 years, I have built more than 100 software applications, large and small. I have started four technology companies. My first startup, in 1999, raised $100,000 in capital. At the time, that was big money to me. We spent six months building a highly specialized eCommerce SaaS model for the brand merchandising industry. We financed an $80,000 server running Windows NT 4, built on a Classic ASP stack, and later moved to .NET. We wanted to go open source, but MySQL was still in its infancy. Java felt like space-age technology. JSON was just starting to look promising. We were in the middle of a 10-year browser war, and you could not practically email a file larger than 1 MB. After a successful launch, we invested another $100,000 in servers and software. We sold SaaS eCommerce subscriptions for $2,500 per month. We thought we were building the future. Then Yahoo launched website and shopping cart capabilities for about $25 per month, and overnight, the industry shifted beneath our feet. Our model was not only under attack. It took a direct hit because customers saw price, but often did not understand the nuance between small retail websites and enterprise eCommerce.

Sometimes AI helps with productivity. Sometimes it helps with workflows. And sometimes… it helps two very proud parents create the perfect swag gift for their daughter’s first job as a nurse. In this case, Mommy was the art director — with the vision, the eye, and the “nope, that’s not quite right” authority. ❤️ And Daddy was prompting his heart out, trying to get every detail just right for a one-of-a-kind gift to celebrate a huge milestone. Not just any gift. A first job gift. A you worked for this gift. A we are so incredibly proud of you gift. That’s one of the things I love about AI. It is not always about big business use cases or fancy automation. Sometimes it is simply about helping you bring an idea to life faster… more creatively… and with a little more heart. A custom gift. A meaningful moment. A daughter stepping into her calling. And two parents smiling behind the scenes, trying to make it special. Here is the full prompt trail — images, typos, revisions, “almost there” moments, and all: https://chatgpt.com/share/69f202f5-7a30-83ea-a591-cb97fd8246b2 That is AI in real life. Because sometimes the best use of AI is not just getting something done. It is helping you show someone you love just how much they mean to you.

Welcome to the Out of The Box Series — where I test how far curiosity and AI can take you in 30, 60, or 90 minutes using today’s best no-code and low-code tools. No studio. No production team. No advance training. Just exploration to see what we can do — right out of the box. 🎧 Finished Song*: I Got Your Six Little Girl 🎬 This Episode: Suno.com – AI Song Creation 🕒 Time Limit: 90 Minutes 📂 Category: AI Music & Personal Creativity 🎶 What Is Suno? Suno is an AI music generation tool that can create songs from prompts, lyrics, and style direction. In this case, Suno did the musical composition. I uploaded my original lyrics. 🎧 Finished Song*: I Got Your Six Little Girl Because rights and ownership matter, I started with lyrics I had written myself and kept the words original. With Suno Pro, you can publish what you create, so I wanted to be thoughtful about what I uploaded and refined. 📝 Backstory In February 2020, I wrote a poem for my daughter called I Got Your Six Little Girl. It was written from the perspective of a father looking back on all the firsts: - first heartbeat - first breath - first steps - first bike ride and moments in between The poem was already written. But I cannot sing. I cannot play instruments very well. I was never in the band. So I wanted to see if I could use AI to help turn the poem into a song to give her as a graduation present. ⏳ What I Built in 90 Minutes: Within one focused session, I: 🎼 Uploaded my original lyrics into Suno 📝 Converted the poem format into a song lyric format 🎚️ Used Suno’s interface presets to guide the style 🔁 Generated multiple versions 🎧 Listened for tempo, transitions, hooks, and continuity 🎵 Created a strong working version of the song 🎧 Finished Song*: I Got Your Six Little Girl The prompt was less of a traditional instruction and more of a music style descriptor.

We just crossed 600 members in AI Bits & Pieces. Consistent growth from day one, fueled by people trying to understand what AI actually means for their work and day-to-day life—and how it can help them stand out in the workforce, business environment, or executive ranks. That’s been the goal from the start. A place for: 🔵 AI Curious — figuring out what this all is 🟢 AI Enthusiasts — using it regularly 🟠 AI Practitioners — applying it to real work 🟣 Enterprise — thinking about scale across teams What’s been interesting isn’t just the number—it’s the mix of people and the conversations starting to take shape. Members are building small things. Members are asking in-depth questions. And members are starting to connect the dots between tools and outcomes. A special shoutout to each and every member, and the people who have supported me from the beginning: @Michele Wacht @Dena Dion @Debra Schmitt @Patti Hoekstra @Mark Zayec @Matthew Sutherland @Jason Hagen @Usman Mohammed @Nick Mohler @Eduard Friesen We have some exciting updates and new offerings for the community designed to help you win the AI game in life, at work, as a business owner, or as an agency. A heartfelt thank you. Michael

I had a conversation with a friend recently that stuck with me. “I asked ChatGPT how to keep a conversation going.” 💬 What? Why? “Small talk,” they said. They’re the kind of person who shows up, listens, and pays attention. But when there’s an opening to jump into a conversation, they don’t always take it. Not because they don’t have anything to say. More because they’re not always sure where to go next. So they tried something different. 🌱 A few years ago, that probably would have sounded unusual. Now it doesn’t. What stood out wasn’t the question itself. It was what it replaced. This is the kind of thing people used to: - Ask a friend about - Talk through with a mentor - Work out over time through trial and error Now they’re opening a phone or a laptop and starting there instead. 🔄 We talked through a simple example. Someone says: “I went golfing yesterday.” ⛳ Most people go here: - “What did you shoot?” Which is fine. But it often ends quickly. Instead, ChatGPT suggested shifting the direction: - “How did you get into golf?” - “Do you play regularly?” - “What do you enjoy most about it?” Same moment. More momentum. 🏌️‍♂️ They told me the difference wasn’t dramatic. They didn’t suddenly become outgoing. They just didn’t get stuck. They stayed in conversations a little longer. Asked a few better questions. Moved past that pause where things usually stop. And that points to something bigger. 💡 People are using AI for the kinds of personal conversations. Not to replace human input. To prepare for it. They’re using it to: - Think through problems logically - Remove emotion before responding - Practice conversations before they happen - Get quick advice It is not for final answers. It is to gain clarity - and confidence. And that’s the shift. 🎯 AI isn’t just helping people produce. It’s helping them process. ✨ That's AI in Real Life.