Michael Santonato

Helping You Become Financially Indestructible. Financial Consultant, Speaker & Author.

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

my best work yet. #RobinHood

[Noah Kagan @noahkagan]

My $900 AI lawnmower lost to a guy named Alon.

I was paying about $100 a month for lawn care. Then I found an AI-enabled, self-driving lawnmower on sale for $900. The thing paid for itself. Hit a button, cut my grass, perfect lawn forever. A little money upfront for a problem I'd never think about again.

Hello Vibe Cutting!

I'm telling you this because it's what I'm seeing happen everywhere right now, including inside AppSumo.

AI shows up with a promise you can genuinely believe. Then the real cost, the implementation, the maintenance, and what it actually delivers turn out to be somewhat else entirely.

So it arrived and I told it to go cut. I figured. See you later, humans. No more need for you. 👋

Figured it would just look at my yard with its cameras and figure out the grass. Nope. First you have to map the lawn, supposedly can do it "automatically." The air quotes are for dramatic effect.

The mower drove all over the place. Then it ran out of battery and crawled back to charge. I tried to map more and it mapped the wrong part of the yard. I tried again, finally got it to map the right thing.

It cut. Sort of. There were patches it missed entirely. It left the clippings exactly where they fell instead of bagging them. It didn't touch the edges.

It did, however, find time to mow down a row of my wife's plants. She was not pleased. That was day one. Day two I learned it also has to sit in a specific spot to get GPS. Every problem I solved revealed the next one underneath it.

Here is the part that stuck with me. As amazing as the idea is, it's still only $100 to have a person do it, and do it better. Could the machine eventually beat that? Sure. Maybe.

My vibe cutting is the exact same gap I feel with vibe coding and AI right now. The promise is a button. Describe what you want, hit go, get a finished product. What you actually get is a thing that drives all over the place, runs out of battery halfway through and pisses off your wife.

The demo is magic. The implementation, the cost, and what it actually delivers are still a long way from the pitch.

Will it get there? Maybe. Will it stay too expensive to be worth it? Also maybe. I don't know yet, and anyone who tells you they do is selling something.

What I do know is that Alon comes by twice a month, cuts the grass, blows the leaves, does a better job than my robot, and I like seeing him. For now the button I keep hitting is the one that calls Alon.

I returned the mower, I'll see Alon on Friday!👯‍♂️

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

@cibc @CIBCInnovation No @cibc you dont. You dont care. You're not sincere. This is just corporate nonsense public 'looking good' BS. Stop lying to everyone. I like you. But $2 Billion in profit and you cant afford $30,000 in some more salaries for some more customer service people? Get real.

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

@cibc @CIBCInnovation On hold for 30 minutes today. On hold for 20 minutes yesterday. How long until you answer? And how can you justify this after making $2 Billion in profit in one quarter ON OUR MONEY?

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

Client up and moved his family to Italy to live their dreams by the sea after they realized Chinada was going in the toilet. I helped him do work out the numbers and set up a plan happily. He did it in 6 months. You could do it too. It pays to have good financial advice.

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

@AmurakaHidden thats amazing. Thank you

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

@MrBeast You're incredible. I loved every second of Beast Games... I devoured every episode. Cant wait for the next one! Have no idea how #831 did it in 1 shot. #830 gave no tells... Hope you and the team had a great experience in my city of #Toronto filming

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

@CalendlySupport 'shits messed'. Your support ticket button doesn't work.
https://t.co/iNdy0dg4dQ

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

@Calendly 'your shi*z all fu**ed.' lol. seriously. support ticket button goes nowhere. https://t.co/iNdy0dg4dQ

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

Signs include lending or giving away money, sudden changes to wills and signing legal and financial documents they don’t understand. https://t.co/PV8vQY8MG2

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

The author and her husband dreamed of getting a camper van and going on epic road trips during their retirement. The van was small, upkeep was costly, and the experience was not as great as they'd imagined. They recently sold the va https://t.co/20nWN3xrwM

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

Central bankers now want economic growth to pick up steam to prevent inflation from undershooting their 2-per-cent target. https://t.co/vpnqnFXgVV

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

Once you pass, your attorney-in-fact can no longer manage your assets. So, what about debts in your estate? https://t.co/jDFZNQ0GPa

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

While still relatively small in number, millionaire renters in the U.S. are on the rise, a reflection of how the calculus around homeownership has changed for even the wealthiest in the U.S. https://t.co/zrclCX4xnx

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

Couche-Tard is doggedly chasing a takeover of the Japanese company that owns 7-Eleven, a deal that would make it a behemoth on the world’s convenience store stage. https://t.co/eXqsOO5crM

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

If you want to build wealth, it's essential to look at the habits of those who have already achieved significant success. https://t.co/nsQUojYir3

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

We need to do more than deflect cyberattacks. We must build the capacity to sustain operations during and after a cyberattack. We need to bounce back stronger than ever. https://t.co/rPLuzTy055

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

The American Dream now costs $4.4 million—that’s the estimated lifetime household cost of common milestones, including getting married, raising two children, buying a home, having new cars, saving for retirement, going on yearly vac https://t.co/0AxtNXDJfA

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

Explore phased retirement and its benefits for financial security, health, and personal fulfillment. Learn if this gradual approach to retirement is right for you. https://t.co/Xwt8h6koiq

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

The average daily rate of short-term rentals is up roughly 70 per cent for the duration of the pop superstar’s six-concert residency, according to AirDNA. https://t.co/6pWnBhM9fY

[Michael Santonato @mpoweredfinance]

Rising tuition and student debt are major stressors for students. Student motivation in lieu of major tuition costs. https://t.co/EDSPEnrXfW