Jason Flack

co-founder & ceo @ Collective OS | digitizing word of mouth™ | former coo @SteadyApp | @USC

[Jason Flack @FlackThought]

@martymadrid big swing and a miss

[Jason Flack @FlackThought]

@levie that aaron levie just doesn’t miss

[Jason Flack @FlackThought]

@gregisenberg agree 100%

[Paul Graham @paulg]

This is true of startups too. You launch to learn what you should have built.

[Jason Flack @FlackThought]

The best agency I know grew from $12M to $31M without hiring a single person. They built a network of 14 strategic partners instead. Each partner owns their specialty. No overhead. No management layers. Just revenue share on results.

[Aaron Levie @levie]

This is counterintuitive for some, which is why there’s a paradox named after it. But if you lower the cost of something that was previously supply constrained, demand for that thing goes up. Software engineering is just one of the easiest examples to contemplate.

The process goes like this: every small business, every IT team, every large enterprise sees that engineering can now drive vastly more output. They then start to consider all the new things they can build or automate. They even test building prototypes themselves.

They only get so far with that approach because they realize there are still 50 other tasks that go into building software and maintaining it. So they start to hire more engineers to do that work. All of this for work they never would have considered automating or having software for if AI didn’t exist.

So yes, automating tasks, in plenty of fields, will lead to demand for experts, not less.

[Jason Flack @FlackThought]

“We’re starting to see very small services emerge, from research and consulting to career support and production shops, that are founded and led by just a few people, without the intention of ever scaling.”

A prescient write up from @scottbelsky

With more service providers and consultants, how do you keep track of who’s good and who’s not?

Collective OS is building the trust layer for humans and agents to understand which service providers can be trusted.

Digitizing word of mouth has never been more important in the age of AI.

[Jason Flack @FlackThought]

Since launching @CollectiveOSHQ 3 weeks ago, not only have we nearly doubled our users, but we've spent a lot of time talking to them!

Today we're shipping a bunch of updates that came directly from those conversations. Core functionality improvements that make the platform faster, smarter, and easier to navigate.

🗂️ Updated partnership dashboard with lifecycle stages

📋 Historical matching details between partners

💬 Message history across matches

🧠 Smarter feedback collection

🏗️ Complete data taxonomy overhaul focused specifically on services

📝 Case studies now auto-save and work in drafts

⚡ Faster page loads

🔒 Improved overall stability

Much more dropping in the next few weeks.

Just getting started. 🤘

[Jason Flack @FlackThought]

@M___Morgenstern Huge

[Jason Flack @FlackThought]

@GusevV1987 very true

[Jason Flack @FlackThought]

A VC told me last week he’s convinced “services are dead.”

He's not alone. That’s been a dominant take for the past two years.

"Services are dead. AI will replace agencies. Build software or get left behind."

Meanwhile, YC just put out their “request for startups” and sitting at #3 is the “AI-Native Agency.”

The most influential accelerator in the world isn’t betting against agencies, they’re betting on them.

Here’s my perspective:

Agencies of the future will look different than they look today. These agencies will be AI-Native by default, and there will be even more agencies than exist today.

They'll run leaner with fewer people and tighter operations. And because they're smaller, they'll specialize. They'll go deep on a few things and be really really good at those things instead of trying to do everything.

That specialization is exactly why partnerships matter more, not less.

When you're great at one thing, you need trusted partners who are great at the things you're not.

We’re seeing this play out in real time on Collective OS.

The agencies that build these relationships now have a serious advantage when it comes to winning new business.

[Nancy Dahlberg @ndahlberg]

FUNDING NEWS! Collective OS exits beta with $2.5M in funding to fuel AI-powered agency collaboration platform https://t.co/22HkUV1p4L @refreshmiami #MiamiTech @CollectiveOSHQ @FlackThought #MiamiTech

[Jason Flack @FlackThought]

@7ronak7 let’s go!

[Jason Flack @FlackThought]

@FarroYossi @M___Morgenstern @CollectiveOSHQ @itsfreddielaker You beat me to it! @farroyossi was trying to dig this up

[Jason Flack @FlackThought]

After two years of building in stealth, I’m thrilled to finally launch @CollectiveOSHQ and announce our $2.5M fundraise.

@itsfreddielaker and I started Collective OS because we saw a real problem for professional service businesses, especially agencies, consulting firms, and fractional experts. Traditional ways of generating new business like paid ads and cold emails just aren’t working anymore, and the noisy AI slop on LinkedIn has hit a breaking point.

It’s harder than ever for thoughtful people and firms to stand out, build trust, or generate real conversations that turn into revenue.

What works, and will always work, is referrals from people you trust.

With that reality in mind, we felt this was the moment to build something unique, collaborative, and impactful.

Our goal with Collective OS is simple: help service providers double and triple down on the thing that already makes up most of their revenue: referrals.

Today, that looks like an AI-powered connector that helps firms build trusted partner networks (their “Collective”). By empowering independent agencies and service providers to discover and team up with complementary firms, they can share deal flow, expand their service offering, and “say yes to more revenue” - without the overhead of becoming full-service.

Since launching in stealth in January 2024, we’ve seen $5M+ in shared deal flow and thousands of new partnerships formed between our users.

Our users believe in collaboration, not a “lone wolf” mentality. Their mindset is simple: if you win, then I win, then we all win.

If that resonates with you, come join us.

Today is the result of countless late nights, early mornings, and pure hustle by an incredible team — but it’s only the beginning. This is the first step in our mission to Digitize Word of Mouth™ among service providers and maximize referrals for the largest sector of our economy.

If this vision resonates with you — whether you’re an engineer, designer, operator, or just someone who gets sh*t done — we’re hiring, and we’d love to talk.

Onwards.

[Aaron Levie @levie]

https://t.co/lXehx9mkQJ

[Jason Flack @FlackThought]

@Travis_Kling Well said amigo - hope all is well

[Jason Flack @FlackThought]

@jliemandt Incredible stuff Joe

[Hiten Shah @hnshah]

Every great company started with someone who stepped into an imagined world and stayed there long enough to drag the rest of us inside.

[Jason Flack @FlackThought]

@martymadrid No pressure Rijul