๐Ÿ’ฐ How Did Justin Welsh Build a $10M+ Solo Business?


This weekโ€™s Founder Finds includes:

๐Ÿ’ฐ An interview with Justin Welsh
โ˜๏ธ Cloudflareโ€™s AI coding platform
๐Ÿš€ Why ignore common VC advice
โš–๏ธ How not to be defined by your job
๐Ÿ’ก Disruption vs. incremental progress
โžก๏ธ And moreโ€ฆ



๐Ÿชถ Remember This

Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.



๐Ÿค“ Fav Finds

Tools, tweets and more from Trends Pro Members


๐Ÿ’ฐ $10M+ Solo Business shared by Paul Metcalfe
An interview with Justin Welsh about building a million-dollar one-person business


โ˜๏ธ VibeSDK shared by Elia Zane
Cloudflareโ€™s AI coding tool that lets you deploy your own vibe coding platform


๐Ÿš€ Ignoring Common VC Advice shared by Shushant Lakhyani
How Gamma reached $50M ARR by raising little and staying lean



๐Ÿงฟ HeadsUp of the Week

Pipedrive is split testing their CTA from ‘Try it free’ to ‘Try 14 days free.’

Small change, massive psychology shift.

Advantages of 14 days?

Concrete details are more persuasive than abstract promises.

  • ‘Try it free’ = vague commitment, easy to ignore
  • ‘Try 14 days free’ = specific timeframe, creates urgency

This is conversion optimization 101, but most companies still get it wrong.

Spotted by HeadsUp competitor monitoring from Trends.vc



๐Ÿ† Trends Pro Member Wins

๐Ÿงฟ Dru Riley added missed alert estimations to HeadsUp


๐ŸŽ™๏ธ Sam McKay recorded a podcast on Microsoft Fabric


๐Ÿฆพ Alexandre Kantjas is hosting a workshop on AI agents


๐Ÿ’ฟ Darren Travel released a new music album


๐Ÿ’ป Elie Steinbock made a tutorial on running multiple coding agents locally



๐Ÿ“˜ Read This

Could “Being Disruptive” Sabotage Your Startup’s Success?

Donโ€™t try to change the world. Focus on building a profitable business instead:

  • Most people don’t like big changes. Focus on solving their specific problems.
  • It’s okay to have smaller goals. They are easier to reach and can still be very rewarding.
  • Make things that are valuable, not disruptive. It’s okay to make small improvements instead of trying to change the world.



๐Ÿฆ Tweet of the Week



๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Tools of the Week

๐Ÿ’ฒ Reply.io โ€” Automate sales outreach


๐ŸŽž๏ธ Zubtitle โ€” Edit social media videos fast


๐Ÿ“Š Julius AI โ€” Analyze your data with computational AI



๐Ÿ’ฌ Join the Conversation

Hereโ€™s what Trends Pro Members are talking aboutโ€ฆ



๐Ÿ‘€ Watch This

Does Your Life Have Meaning Outside of Work?

If you feel like your job defines you, try to find meaning in life beyond your job:

  • Many people tie their identity to their work, often due to a lack of other sources of meaning like religion and community.
  • A “dream job” is not the only path to happiness. A “good enough” job can provide the means and time to pursue other fulfilling activities outside of work.
  • To diversify your identity beyond work, think about your values and how you spend your time. Ask yourself: What would you do if you couldn’t do your current job?



๐Ÿข Trends Tribe

1-on-1 live meetups for Trends Pro Members.

  • Make real connections
  • Solve problems faster
  • Help each other grow

Next meetup: October 20



The Most Popular Link From Last Week:
โœจ Awesome Mac Apps


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    ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

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    ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

    ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

    ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

    ๐Ÿ’ฒย 100k+ Startup Discountsย โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.


    Brought to you by the team behind HeadsUp

    ๐Ÿ’ญ What 11 Things Could Have Saved You Years of Struggle?


    This weekโ€™s Founder Finds includes:

    ๐Ÿฅฑ Why youโ€™re so tired
    ๐Ÿ” An AI SEO playbook
    ๐Ÿ’ญ 11 pieces of life advice
    โœจ A curated list of Mac apps
    ๐Ÿค– Cursor instructions for GPT-5
    โžก๏ธ And moreโ€ฆ



    ๐Ÿชถ Remember This

    Each try brings you closer to success.



    ๐Ÿค“ Fav Finds

    Tools, tweets and more from Trends Pro Members


    โœจ Awesome Mac Apps shared by Elia Zane
    A curated list of great macOS software


    ๐Ÿ” AI SEO Playbook shared by Ben Fisher
    How to optimize your content for AI search


    ๐Ÿค– GPT-5 Cursor Instructions shared by Alper Tunga
    Custom Cursor Agent instructions optimized for GPT-5



    ๐Ÿงฟ HeadsUp of the Week

    Notion just quietly launched ‘Agents’ that can actually DO tasks for you.

    This is the first major productivity tool to go fully autonomous.

    Agents can manage your projects, update databases and handle workflows while you sleep.

    The shift from ‘AI assistant’ to ‘AI employee’ is happening faster than we expected.

    Spotted by HeadsUp competitor monitoring from Trends.vc



    ๐Ÿ† Trends Pro Member Wins

    ๐Ÿงฟ Dru Riley added backlink, keyword and domain authority tracking for competitors to HeadsUp


    ๐ŸŒฑ Jason A Erickson hit 5,000 monthly organic search visits with Simply Lawn Directory


    ๐ŸŽ“ Paul Martin collected 50 resources for learning Web3


    ๐Ÿ–ฅ๏ธ Yuyu launched What Is My Screen Size on Product Hunt


    ๐Ÿš€ Paul Metcalfe launched Founder



    ๐Ÿ”ง Try This

    What 11 Things Could Have Saved You Years of Struggle?

    One bad thing can ruin your entire month. But hereโ€™s how good and bad can coexist:

    • Replace perfection with interest
    • Build competence to eliminate fear
    • Remember your choices belong only to you



    ๐Ÿฆ Tweet of the Week



    ๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Tools of the Week

    ๐Ÿ–ผ๏ธ Aragon AI โ€” Use AI to do a photo shoot


    ๐ŸŽฌ Zebracat โ€” Create marketing videos with AI


    ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ’ป CodeFast โ€” Learn to code in weeks, not months



    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Join the Conversation

    Hereโ€™s what Trends Pro Members are talking aboutโ€ฆ



    โ” Ask Yourself

    Why Are You So Tired?

    Hereโ€™s why nowadays everybodyโ€™s so tired:

    • Modern life is chemically draining: Screens block sleep chemicals (melatonin), while work demands and decisions build up brain toxins that need proper sleep to clear out.
    • Our brains weren’t built for this: We make lots of decisions daily vs our ancestors’ simple choices. Each decision creates chemical buildup (glutamate) that exhausts us, even without physical work.
    • We fight natural rhythms: Everyone has a natural sleep pattern (chronotype), but modern schedules force a one-size-fits-all approach. Plus, we block tiredness signals with caffeine, leading to harder crashes.



    ๐Ÿข Trends Tribe

    1-on-1 live meetups for Trends Pro Members.

    • Make real connections
    • Solve problems faster
    • Help each other grow

    Next meetup: October 20



    ๐Ÿ‘‹ New Trends Pro Members



    The Most Popular Link From Last Week:
    ๐Ÿš€ Where to Launch to Get Your First Customers?


    Get Weekly Reports

    Join 54,000+ founders and investors


      ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

      Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…

      ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

      ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

      ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

      ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

      ๐Ÿ’ฒย 100k+ Startup Discountsย โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.


      Brought to you by the team behind HeadsUp

      AI Impact on Work: Most Affected Jobs, AI Tools to Master, Staying Competitive

      โ€œAt the heart of capitalism is creative destruction.โ€ย  โ€” Joseph A. Schumpeter

      Get Full Access to Trends Pro


      โ“ What You’ll Learn

      • Why is AI more than task automation?
      • What jobs are most affected by AI?
      • How to remain a valuable employee in the AI era?
      • What AI tools to master to stay competitive against AI tools?


      โญ Why does the impact of AI on jobs matter?

      AI tools are โ€œintelligent unitsโ€ that go beyond task automation. They can create original work: market analysis, risk assessment, investment insights and more. This helps employees focus on more complex and creative aspects of their jobs.

      But people are concerned about job displacement.

      With so much uncertainty, weโ€™re diving into how AI impacts the future of jobs.


      ๐Ÿค– What jobs are most affected by AI?

      Customer Service Agents
      AI chatbots can resolve standard customer queries and complaints without call center staff.

      Digital Marketers
      AI can create, manage and optimize marketing strategies involving social media, search engines, email, content creation and online advertising.

      Salespeople
      AI can manage customer inquiries through chatbots, analyze consumer behavior, qualify leads, do cold outreach and predict future buying trends to optimize sales strategies.


      ๐Ÿš€ How can you survive the adoption of AI?

      The first thing that you can do is use AI tools. This is the reality. If you rely on yourself only, you may lose to a colleague that knows how to use AI to do tasks faster and better than you.

      But here are other ways to remain valuable and competitive:

      Customer Service Agents

      Learn AI tools to automate routine tasks so you can focus on more complex and high-value customer interactions. Find ways to communicate to offer a personal touch that AI canโ€™t match.

      AI tools for customer service agents:

      • Brainfish is an AI for self-service customer support.
      • Tidio interacts with customers as a real customer support agent.
      • Yuma offers automated AI customer service for Shopify merchants.
      • Balto offers real-time call guidance in customer support call centers.
      • Kustomer is a customer service platform with AI chatbots and assistants.

      Digital Marketers

      Build strategies that resonate with audiences based on your domain expertise and cultural knowledge. Use consumer psychology to adapt your marketing efforts to world events and trending topics.

      AI tools for digital marketers:

      • Fullstory uses AI to analyze customer behaviour.
      • Customers.ai offers in-depth visitor insights and remarketing.
      • Albert.ai is an autonomous AI agent that builds and optimizes marketing campaigns.
      • Surfer SEO uses AI to boost organic traffic, increase visibility and improve your rank in search results.
      • Brand24 uses AI to track mentions across social media, news, blogs, videos, forums, podcasts, reviews and more.

      Salespeople

      Build strong relationships with customers by focusing on trust and a personal touch. Keep in touch with your clients after sales to solve problems and make sure they remain happy with your service. Clients are real people, not mere quotas.

      AI tools for salespeople:

      • Regie.ai is an all-in-one hub for AI sales outreach.
      • Bland AI helps you build, test and scale AI phone agents.
      • Reply.io sets up outreach sequences, handles prospect replies and books meetings.
      • B2B Rocket offers AI agents that can dial your leads, engage them and book meetings.
      • Oliv is an AI sales rep that does pre-meeting research, takes live notes and updates CRM after every call.


      ๐Ÿ“ˆ What else?

      Trends PRO #0149 โ€” AI Impact on Work has more insights.

      What youโ€™ll get:

      • 12 Jobs Most Affected by AI (300% More)
      • 12 Ways to Survive The Adoption of AI Tools (300% More)
      • 60 AI Tools to Master to Stay a Valuable (300% More)
      • 12 Expert Opinions on the Future of Jobs (1,200% More)
      • 15 Data Points From AI Industry Impact Reports (1,500% More)

      With Trends Pro youโ€™ll learn:

      • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Which companies have already replaced workers with AI?
      • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What do experts say about the future of jobs?
      • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How is AI taking away your competitive advantage?
      • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Whoโ€™s had their job taken by AI?
      • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What B2B opportunities does AI open up for entrepreneurs?
      • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How many employees use AI at work?
      • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How many organizations have an AI training program?
      • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What percentage of companies plan to replace jobs with AI?
      • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What jobs will be โ€œreservedโ€ for humans for a long time?
      • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to boost employee morale when adopting AI tools?
      • And much moreโ€ฆ

      Get Weekly Reports

      Join 54,000+ founders and investors


        ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

        Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…

        ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

        ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

        ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

        ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

        ๐Ÿ’ฒย 100k+ Startup Discountsย โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.


        Brought to you by the team behind HeadsUp

        ๐Ÿฆพ How to Build Better AI Agents?


        This weekโ€™s Founder Finds includes:

        ๐ŸŽ The best AI apps of 2024
        ๐Ÿฆพ A guide to building AI agents
        ๐ŸŒ An AI agent Chrome extension
        ๐Ÿ’ก Why challenge core assumptions
        ๐ŸŒฑ How to improve all aspects of your life
        โžก๏ธ And moreโ€ฆ



        ๐Ÿชถ Remember This

        Beginning is always the hardest.



        ๐Ÿค“ Fav Finds

        Tools, tweets and more from Trends Pro Members


        ๐Ÿฆพ Building Effective Agents shared by Sam McKay
        A guide on building AI agents from Anthropic


        ๐ŸŽ a16z Apps Unwrapped shared by Grady Laksmono
        The best AI apps of 2024 according to a16z


        ๐ŸŒ Do Browser shared by Stewart Townsend
        An AI agent Chrome extension to automate complex tasks



        ๐Ÿ† Trends Pro Member Wins

        ๐Ÿ‘๏ธ Elie Steinbock made a video about app QA with computer vision


        ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ’ป Sam McKay is open sourcing Prompt Array


        ๐ŸŽจ Yuyu built a color converter


        ๐Ÿ–ผ๏ธ Shushant Lakhyani wrote a Canva guide



        ๐Ÿ“˜ Read This

        How to Improve All Aspects of Your Life?

        Hereโ€™s how tiny changes in your day can make a big difference in your life:

        • Start with one good habit and make it a routine. Once that’s easy, add more good habits. Don’t change everything at once.
        • Find a habit that makes it easier to do other good things. If you start exercising, you might also find it easier to eat healthy and sleep better.
        • Instead of forcing yourself to make good choices, let your good habit lead the way. If you drink water when you wake up, let that help you choose a healthy breakfast.



        ๐Ÿฆ Tweet of the Week



        ๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Tools of the Week

        ๐ŸŽจ Relume โ€” Use AI for web design


        ๐Ÿ”Ž Osum โ€” Perform market research with AI


        ๐ŸŽž๏ธ โ€‹Gling.aiโ€‹ โ€” Let AI edit your videos



        ๐Ÿ’ฌ Join the Conversation

        Hereโ€™s what Trends Pro Members are talking aboutโ€ฆ



        ๐Ÿ”ง Try This

        Are You Wrong About Your Customers?

        Traditional “best practices” like $.99 pricing aren’t always optimal.

        Canva found charging $15 instead of $14.99 performed better.

        The point isโ€ฆ Challenge your core assumptions by running experiments, as market behaviors and customer preferences often change and defy conventional wisdom.



        ๐Ÿข Trends Tribe

        1-on-1 live meetups for Trends Pro Members.

        • Make real connections
        • Solve problems faster
        • Help each other grow

        Next meetup: January 20



        The Most Popular Link From Last Week:
        ๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Collection of Custom Cursor Rules


        Get Weekly Reports

        Join 54,000+ founders and investors


          ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

          Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…

          ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

          ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

          ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

          ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

          ๐Ÿ’ฒย 100k+ Startup Discountsย โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.


          Brought to you by the team behind HeadsUp

          AI Search Optimization (AEO): Replacing Google, 13x Conversions, $7.3 billion market

          “The best place to hide a dead body is page two of Google search results.”

          Get Full Access to Trends Pro

          โ“ What You’ll Learn

          • How to transform existing content for AI?
          • How to get 13x better conversion rates?
          • What’s the pay-to-play future of AI search?
          • What will be the role of voice search?
          • How do AI platform preferences differ from traditional search?


          ๐Ÿ’Ž Why It Matters

          AI search is becoming the go-to way for billions of people to shop, learn and more.


          ๐Ÿ” Problem

          AI searches are on track to overtake traditional search (Google) by 2027.


          ๐Ÿ’ก Solution

          Answer engine optimization (AEO) makes brands visible in AI-generated responses.


          ๐Ÿ Players


          ๐Ÿ”ฎ Predictions

          1. AI search will overtake traditional search by late 2027. Traditional search will drop 25% by 2026.
          2. The AEO market will reach $7.3 billion by 2031. Growing 34% annually from $886 million today.
          3. Voice will become the primary interface. Local searches will shift to voice-first as smart speakers proliferate.
          4. Platforms like ChatGPT and Claude will introduce transaction fees for purchase-intent searches. Pay-to-play for product visibility.


          โ˜๏ธ Opportunities

          1. Optimize your own content for AI search. Citations improve visibility up to 40%. Adding statistics boost another 40%.
          2. Build optimized content creation tools. Combine traditional SEO with AEO capabilities. See Frase, Copy.ai and Surfer.
          3. Launch an AEO agency. Only 22% of marketers track AI mentions. Charge $4,000-13,000/month.
          4. Target niche markets with design concessions. Build AEO tools exclusively for Shopify’s 2.3 million stores. Local businesses managing multiple locations is a great niche too. Generic AEO platforms can’t match specific features without degrading the experience for other users.
          5. Build a browser extension showing AI visibility scores. Make the Keywords Everywhere extension for the AEO age.


          ๐Ÿ”‘ Key Lessons


          ๐Ÿ˜  Haters

          “AEO is just SEO with a fancy name.”
          Lily Ray argues techniques overlap. But AI synthesis requires different strategic thinking than ranking for keywords. AEO uses different ranking factors than Google. Citation patterns and confidence scores don’t exist in traditional SEO.

          AI companies will shut down AEO like Google killed link farms.”
          It seems like they are not incentivized. They will most likely get in on the transactional actions.ย 

          โ€œAI wonโ€™t overtake Google. It has AI overviews in the search.โ€
          It will overtake traditional search. What do you picture when you hear “traditional searchโ€? We bet itโ€™s Google.


          ๐Ÿ”— Links

          1. From 2 to $3M ARR โ€ข Tally founders explain how ChatGPT became their #1 referral source.
          2. AEO vs SEO Explained โ€ข Industry can’t agree on terminology for AI optimization.
          3. Answer Engine Optimization Is The New SEO โ€ข Learn how AI chat is converging with search.
          4. Proven AEO Optimization Case Studies โ€ข See how AI-sourced visitors convert at 27% compared to just 2.1% from standard search traffic (13x better).
          5. AI Discoverability โ€ข Read how you can get ChatGPT to recommend your brand.


          ๐Ÿ“ˆ What else?

          Trends PRO #0152 โ€” AI Search Optimization (AEO)ย has more insights.

          What you’ll get:

          • 15 AEO Tools (150% More)
          • 8 Predictions (100% More)
          • 12 Opportunities (140% More)
          • 5 Key Lessons (150% More)
          • 8 Links (60% More)

          With Trends Pro you’ll learn:

          • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Which types of search queries get AI visibility?
          • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How to optimize for regional AI platforms?
          • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What international markets are wide open?
          • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What metrics will replace traditional rankings?
          • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Which SEO giants are making major AEO acquisitions?
          • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) Which industries need vertical AEO?
          • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) How does voice change everything?
          • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What ranking factors does AEO use?
          • (๐Ÿ“ˆ Pro) What threatens traditional SEO distribution?
          • And much moreโ€ฆ

          Get Weekly Reports

          Join 54,000+ founders and investors


            ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

            Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…

            ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

            ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

            ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

            ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

            ๐Ÿ’ฒย 100k+ Startup Discountsย โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.


            Brought to you by the team behind HeadsUp

            ๐Ÿš€ Where to Launch to Get Your First Customers?


            This weekโ€™s Founder Finds includes:

            ๐ŸŒฑ 36 life lessons
            ๐Ÿš€ A list of launch platforms
            ๐Ÿ’ฌ An AI voice dictation tool
            โ›ฐ๏ธ How to make better career choices
            ๐ŸŒ A collection of Nano Banana use cases
            โžก๏ธ And moreโ€ฆ



            ๐Ÿชถ Remember This

            Execution is getting easier. Attention is getting harder.



            ๐Ÿค“ Fav Finds

            Tools, tweets and more from Trends Pro Members


            ๐Ÿ’ฌ Typeless shared by Shushant Lakhyani
            An AI voice dictation tool with real-time editing


            ๐Ÿš€ Launch Platforms List shared by Shivam
            10 launch platforms to get your first SaaS customers


            ๐ŸŒ Awesome Nano Banana Images shared by Alper Tunga
            A collection of images and prompts made with Nano Banana



            ๐Ÿงฟ Guess the Company

            This scheduling platform just replaced “Custom Pricing” on their Enterprise plan with actual numbers. Tiny copy change that sends a big signal about who they want as customers.

            They realized they can save time and energy by filtering out people who won’t pay their minimum rates upfront.

            Can you name the company?

            1. Calendesk
            2. Clockwise
            3. Calendly
            4. Doodle

            Donโ€™t cheat: You can read more about this here.



            ๐Ÿ† Trends Pro Member Wins

            ๐Ÿงฟ Dru Riley improved feedback collection for alerts in HeadsUp


            โš™๏ธ Jd Fiscus made a video on building an AI-powered social media scheduler


            ๐Ÿ“จ Elie Steinbock posted a customer case study for Inbox Zero


            ๐Ÿ—ฃ๏ธ Alper Tunga became a representative for Kombai


            โœ๏ธ Knight posted his August recap



            ๐Ÿ“˜ Read This

            What Would You Tell Your Younger Self About Life?

            Sam Altman turned 30 and distilled a decade of experience into 36 life lessons that challenge how most people think about work, relationships and taking risks.

            Here’s what stands out:

            • Take calculated risks, especially early in your career
            • Work extremely hard but not so hard that life passes you by
            • Choose truly close friends over hundreds of acquaintances time is limited
            • Remember that youth is valuable, so don’t waste it overthinking every decision



            ๐Ÿฆ Tweet of the Week



            ๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Tools of the Week

            ๐Ÿ’ฒ Reply.io โ€” Automate sales outreach


            ๐ŸŽž๏ธ Zubtitle โ€” Edit social media videos fast


            ๐Ÿ“Š Julius AI โ€” Analyze your data with computational AI



            ๐Ÿ’ฌ Join the Conversation

            Hereโ€™s what Trends Pro Members are talking aboutโ€ฆ



            โ” Ask Yourself

            How Do You Know If Youโ€™re Doing The Wrong Thing?

            Hereโ€™s how to not get trapped into optimizing the wrong life path:

            • Add randomness to your career path early on
            • Recognize when you’re climbing a hill you don’t want to reach the top of
            • Resist the lure of immediate upward steps when you can see a better hill in the distance



            ๐Ÿข Trends Tribe

            1-on-1 live meetups for Trends Pro Members.

            • Make real connections
            • Solve problems faster
            • Help each other grow

            Next meetup: October 20



            The Most Popular Link From Last Week:
            ๐Ÿ“Š AI Spreadsheet Tool


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            Join 54,000+ founders and investors


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              ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

              ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

              ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

              ๐Ÿ’ฒย 100k+ Startup Discountsย โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.


              Brought to you by the team behind HeadsUp

              โš ๏ธ Could These Seductive AI Ideas Be Why Your Agents Don’t Work in Practice?


              This weekโ€™s Founder Finds includes:

              ๐Ÿ’ฐ Redefining wealth
              ๐Ÿ“Š An AI spreadsheet tool
              โš ๏ธ Common AI agent traps
              ๐Ÿ“ˆ Optimization vs. growth
              ๐Ÿ”๏ธ The power of consistency
              โžก๏ธ And moreโ€ฆ



              ๐Ÿชถ Remember This

              The fear of something is often worse than the reality.



              ๐Ÿค“ Fav Finds

              Tools, tweets and more from Trends Pro Members


              ๐Ÿ“ˆ Growth vs. Optimization shared by Elia Zane
              A podcast episode on how to avoid optimization creep


              โš ๏ธ AI Agent Mind Viruses shared by Eddie Forson
              3 common pitfalls in coding AI agents


              ๐Ÿ“Š Paradigm shared by Hitesh Kar
              An AI spreadsheet tool to automate data collection and research



              ๐Ÿงฟ Guess the Company

              This global consulting firm just launched an AI chatbot that can answer questions with decades of consulting insights.

              Imagine having instant access to insights behind some of the world’s biggest business decisions.

              The democratization of knowledge is accelerating.

              Can you name the company?

              1. Accenture
              2. McKinsey
              3. Booz Allen
              4. Deloitte

              Donโ€™t cheat: You can read more about this here.



              ๐Ÿ† Trends Pro Member Wins

              ๐Ÿงฟ Dru Riley added Slack and webhook integrations to HeadsUp


              ๐Ÿฆ‰ Jakub Nowikowski launched Noic


              ๐Ÿ”‹ Sofia Vistas launched the beta version of Undodesk


              โš–๏ธ Josh Kubicki wrote about the implications of AI use in law


              ๐Ÿ–ฅ๏ธ Yuyu launched What Is My Screen Size



              ๐Ÿ”ง Try This

              Why Do Most People Quit Right Before Their Breakthrough Moment?

              To be great, be consistently good at what you do, day after day:

              • Focus on being predictably decent rather than occasionally spectacular
              • Push through the local minimums where most people quit
              • Take actions that create predictable results



              ๐Ÿฆ Tweet of the Week



              ๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Tools of the Week

              ๐Ÿ’ฒ Reply.io โ€” Automate sales outreach


              ๐ŸŽž๏ธ Zubtitle โ€” Edit social media videos fast


              ๐Ÿ“Š Julius AI โ€” Analyze your data with computational AI



              ๐Ÿ’ฌ Join the Conversation

              Hereโ€™s what Trends Pro Members are talking aboutโ€ฆ



              โ” Ask Yourself

              What If Wealth Has Nothing to Do With Making More Money?

              Derek Sivers breaks down wealth into a simple equation: Wealth = Have/Want:

              • Wealth is about feeling like you have plenty of what you want
              • Play the inner game instead of the outer game โ€” seek ways to want less
              • Lowering your desires instead of boosting your income is a shift that makes you rich immediately



              ๐Ÿข Trends Tribe

              1-on-1 live meetups for Trends Pro Members.

              • Make real connections
              • Solve problems faster
              • Help each other grow

              Next meetup: September 15



              The Most Popular Link From Last Week:
              ๐Ÿ”ง Claude Code Templates


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                ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

                Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…

                ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

                ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

                ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

                ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

                ๐Ÿ’ฒย 100k+ Startup Discountsย โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.


                Brought to you by the team behind HeadsUp

                ๐ŸŽฐ What Makes TikTok More Addictive Than a Slot Machine?


                This weekโ€™s Founder Finds includes:

                โœจ The Genie 3 world model
                ๐Ÿง An app for better visual focus
                ๐ŸŽฐ What makes TikTok so addictive?
                ๐Ÿ’™ How to support a struggling friend
                ๐Ÿ”ง A template collection for Claude Code
                โžก๏ธ And moreโ€ฆ



                ๐Ÿชถ Remember This

                Clarity is an underrated form of leverage.



                ๐Ÿค“ Fav Finds

                Tools, tweets and more from Trends Pro Members


                ๐Ÿ”ง Claude Code Templates shared by Alper Tunga
                A collection of agents and configurations for Claude Code


                โœจ Genie 3: An Infinite World Model shared by Eddie Forson
                An episode of Google DeepMind focusing on Genie 3


                ๐Ÿง FocusDim shared by Shushant Lakhyani
                A Mac app to improve your visual focus



                ๐Ÿงฟ HeadsUp of the Week

                Building a course or community platform? Steal this brilliant revenue tactic.

                What passion.io Just Did: Helped creators clone themselves to serve thousands of students at once. The AI learns each creator’s style and content, then manages unlimited personal chats.

                Steal This Tactic: Give your users AI that acts like them. When creators charge more for personal attention, you earn more too.

                Spotted by HeadsUp competitor monitoring from Trends.vc



                ๐Ÿ† Trends Pro Member Wins

                ๐Ÿงฟ Dru Riley extended the HeadsUp free trial to 30 days 


                ๐Ÿ’ฌ Max launched Easy Custdev


                ๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Alexandre Kantjas is hosting a workshop on Airtable Omni


                ๐ŸŽ‰ Eddie Forson hosted the AI Mavericks 2025 Summer Party


                ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ Sam McKay hosted a podcast on GPT-5



                ๐Ÿ‘€ Watch This

                What Makes TikTok More Addictive Than a Slot Machine?

                Here’s why TikTok is so dangerously engaging:

                • Habit loop with minimal effort. You swipe just once to start the chain reaction, then each swipe makes the next one more automatic.
                • Combination of short content with high variability. Short videos with unpredictable rewards form compulsive behavior.
                • Behavior data over manual preferences. TikTok tracks your reactions in real-time, adapting fast to keep you hooked.



                ๐Ÿฆ Tweet of the Week



                ๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Tools of the Week

                ๐Ÿ’ฒ Reply.io โ€” Automate sales outreach


                ๐ŸŽž๏ธ Zubtitle โ€” Edit social media videos fast


                ๐Ÿ“Š Julius AI โ€” Analyze your data with computational AI



                ๐Ÿ’ฌ Join the Conversation

                Hereโ€™s what Trends Pro Members are talking aboutโ€ฆ



                โ” Ask Yourself

                When Does Helping Actually Hurt Your Friend?

                Hereโ€™s how to give advice to your struggling friend to make things better:

                • Ask direct questions instead of assuming you know how they feel
                • Donโ€™t downplay problems or jump straight to solutions
                • Give emotional support first, then cognitive support
                • Avoid taking charge or being directive



                ๐Ÿข Trends Tribe

                1-on-1 live meetups for Trends Pro Members.

                • Make real connections
                • Solve problems faster
                • Help each other grow

                Next meetup: September 15



                ๐Ÿ‘‹ New Trends Pro Members



                The Most Popular Link From Last Week:
                ๐Ÿ’ป How to Make Cursor Learn From Its Mistakes?


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                Join 54,000+ founders and investors


                  ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

                  Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…

                  ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

                  ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

                  ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

                  ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

                  ๐Ÿ’ฒย 100k+ Startup Discountsย โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.


                  Brought to you by the team behind HeadsUp

                  ๐Ÿ’ป How to Make Cursor Learn From Its Mistakes?


                  This weekโ€™s Founder Finds includes:

                  ๐ŸŽฏ Why can’t you focus?
                  โš™๏ธ PostHogโ€™s operating handbook
                  ๐Ÿƒโ€โ™€๏ธ An app for sharing your workouts
                  ๐Ÿ’ฌ A deep dive into prompt engineering
                  ๐Ÿ’ป A compounding AI coding framework
                  โžก๏ธ And moreโ€ฆ



                  ๐Ÿชถ Remember This

                  Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.



                  ๐Ÿค“ Fav Finds

                  Tools, tweets and more from Trends Pro Members


                  ๐Ÿ’ป Compounding Engineering shared by Ben Fisher
                  How to build an AI development system that learns from all mistakes


                  ๐Ÿ’ฌ The Prompt Report shared by Devon Artis
                  An in-depth survey of prompt engineering methods


                  ๐Ÿƒโ€โ™€๏ธ Share Aura shared by Paul Metcalfe
                  An iPhone app to share your workouts on social media



                  ๐Ÿงฟ HeadsUp of the Week

                  Building a SaaS? Steal this brilliant onboarding tactic.

                  What Glean Did: Built a library of templates based on real customer workflows. Just pick a template, customize and launch.

                  Steal This Tactic: Don’t make users start from scratch. Build templates for the most common use cases.

                  Spotted by HeadsUp competitor monitoring from Trends.vc



                  ๐Ÿ† Trends Pro Member Wins

                  ๐Ÿงฟ Dru Riley added a way to track multiple markets in HeadsUp


                  ๐ŸŒ Elie Steinbock made a video on Browser MCP


                  ๐Ÿ“– Maciej Cupial made ChatGPT for Kindle


                  ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ Andrew Gazdecki was featured in the Fintech Mavericks Podcast


                  ๐Ÿ‘ฅ Tharindu Madhusanka unlocked 1:1 Founder Intros by joining daily standups



                  ๐Ÿ‘€ Watch This

                  Why Can’t You Focus?

                  Hereโ€™s how media consumption is destroying your ability to focus:

                  • Reading builds focus, screens kill it: Unlike books that train deep thinking, TV and internet push bite-sized content. Shifting from hour-long debates to 8-minute clips shows how attention spans shrink.
                  • The internet is designed against you: Platforms use psychology and design to steal attention. Even creators who built them (like Jobs and Zuckerberg) limit their kids’ screen time.
                  • You can rewire your brain: Take phone breaks, watch movies without scrolling and practice undistracted walks. Your brain can adapt – make it learn to focus again.



                  ๐Ÿฆ Tweet of the Week



                  ๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Tools of the Week

                  ๐Ÿ’ฒ Reply.io โ€” Automate sales outreach


                  ๐ŸŽž๏ธ Zubtitle โ€” Edit social media videos fast


                  ๐Ÿ“Š Julius AI โ€” Analyze your data with computational AI



                  ๐Ÿ’ฌ Join the Conversation

                  Hereโ€™s what Trends Pro Members are talking aboutโ€ฆ



                  ๐Ÿ“˜ Read This

                  How Do Successful Companies Operate?

                  PostHog is a product analytics tool that we use at Trends.vc to split test copy, track conversions and more.

                  In this handbook, PostHog shares how they work.

                  From how they get users and make them happy, to how they make money and decide what to build.

                  This handbook will help you get a sneak peek into how successful companies operate.



                  ๐Ÿข Trends Tribe

                  1-on-1 live meetups for Trends Pro Members.

                  • Make real connections
                  • Solve problems faster
                  • Help each other grow

                  Next meetup: September 15



                  The Most Popular Link From Last Week:
                  ๐ŸŽจ Collection of Newsletter Site Designs


                  Get Weekly Reports

                  Join 54,000+ founders and investors


                    ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

                    Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…

                    ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

                    ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

                    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

                    ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

                    ๐Ÿ’ฒย 100k+ Startup Discountsย โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.


                    Brought to you by the team behind HeadsUp

                    ๐Ÿ‡ Do You Want to Go Faster or Further?


                    This weekโ€™s Founder Finds includes:

                    ๐Ÿ“น An alternative to Loom
                    ๐ŸŽจ A website design collection
                    ๐Ÿ’จ How to fix indoor air quality
                    ๐Ÿ“Š A dashboard for SaaS metrics
                    ๐Ÿ‡ Spring vs. marathon businesses
                    โžก๏ธ And moreโ€ฆ



                    ๐Ÿชถ Remember This

                    Success leaves clues. Pay attention to patterns.



                    ๐Ÿค“ Fav Finds

                    Tools, tweets and more from Trends Pro Members


                    ๐ŸŽจ Good Websites shared by Paul Metcalfe
                    A collection of newsletter site designs built with beehiivโ€™s site builder


                    ๐Ÿ“น Cap shared by Elie Steinbock
                    An open-source alternative to Loom


                    ๐Ÿ“Š ZapDigits shared by Shushant Lakhyani
                    A dashboard for accessing SaaS metrics in one place



                    ๐Ÿงฟ HeadsUp of the Week

                    Every software tool should steal this move.

                    What Jotform Did: Added a โ€œsupportโ€ bot that creates forms for new users. Just type in what you need, get the form, edit and preview.

                    Steal This Tactic: If youโ€™re building a software tool, instead of only offering support, turn user questions into prompts to deliver results. Cut time-to-value and boost conversions.

                    Spotted by HeadsUp competitor monitoring from Trends.vc



                    ๐Ÿ† Trends Pro Member Wins

                    ๐Ÿงฟ Dru Riley reached #1 Product of the Day with HeadsUp


                    ๐Ÿ’ก Philip Obosi made a framework for evaluating business ideas


                    โœจ Tim Guruge launched PopHop on Product Hunt


                    ๐Ÿ’ผ Paul Martin co-wrote a report on the state of Web3 jobs


                    ๐Ÿ‘ฅ Rose unlocked 1:1 Founder Intros by joining daily standups



                    โ” Ask Yourself

                    Do You Want to Go Faster or Further?

                    Hereโ€™s a critical choice every entrepreneur must make:

                    • Sprint businesses focus on speed: Like launching viral apps, flipping websites or creating trending products. You aim to move fast, capitalize on current demand and exit quickly.
                    • Marathon businesses build for distance: Like building enterprise software, a consulting practice or launching a SaaS tool. You focus on sustainability, long-term relationships and compound growth.
                    • Match your style to your strength: Pick based on your resources, skills and goals. Sprinters need intense focus and quick execution, while marathon runners need stamina and systems for the long haul.



                    ๐Ÿฆ Tweet of the Week



                    ๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Tools of the Week

                    ๐Ÿ’ฒ Reply.io โ€” Automate sales outreach


                    ๐ŸŽž๏ธ Zubtitle โ€” Edit social media videos fast


                    ๐Ÿ“Š Beam Analytics โ€” Get more insight into your web traffic



                    ๐Ÿ’ฌ Join the Conversation

                    Hereโ€™s what Trends Pro Members are talking aboutโ€ฆ



                    ๐Ÿ“˜ Read This

                    How Can Stale Indoor Air Slow Your Brain?

                    Hereโ€™s how to identify and fix poor indoor air quality that can affect your health and mental performance:

                    • Just like your lungs, your brain needs fresh air – sitting in the same recycled air makes it harder to think clearly
                    • Dusty, dry, or humid air makes you sneeze and struggle to breathe – but filters and humidifiers can help
                    • Your brain slows down by half when you sit in stale air – and you won’t even notice it happening



                    ๐Ÿข Trends Tribe

                    1-on-1 live meetups for Trends Pro Members.

                    • Make real connections
                    • Solve problems faster
                    • Help each other grow

                    Next meetup: September 15



                    ๐Ÿ‘‹ New Trends Pro Members



                    The Most Popular Link From Last Week:
                    โœ‚๏ธ Keeping Things Simple and Tuning out Folly


                    Get Weekly Reports

                    Join 54,000+ founders and investors


                      ๐Ÿ“ˆ Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds

                      Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…

                      ๐Ÿง  Founder Mastermind Groups โ€ข To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.

                      ๐Ÿ“ˆ 100+ Trends Pro Reports โ€ข To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.

                      ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1:1 Founder Intros โ€ข Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.

                      ๐Ÿง Daily Standups โ€ข Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.

                      ๐Ÿ’ฒย 100k+ Startup Discountsย โ€ข Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.


                      Brought to you by the team behind HeadsUp