Glam Up hit $1.8m ARR in 8 months.
Sprout hit $3m ARR in 7 months.
The key to that was our UGC playbook.
I'm finally dropping the playbook and lowkey I'm scared to drop this. You'll understand why once you read it.
It's gonna be three parts but here's part 1. Part 1 itself is 40 pages long.
I made sure it's tactical advice and upfront with no BS.
Bonus: repost + reply 'warmup' and I'll DM you the Account Setup + Warmup module from our internal creator course.
Must be following so I can DM.
https://t.co/2hnJJamrdm
This is the most fun moment to be a developer in years.
The AI tools are imperfect, the patterns are still emerging, and there's genuine room for experimentation. Roll up your sleeves and build something. The earthquake is further opening up what's possible.
The best news about this new layer: traditional engineering skills are more valuable than ever, not less. It helps us minimize shipping slop.
Developers who already invested in CI/CD, testing, documentation, and code review are having the most success with AI tools. These "boring" foundations are accelerators. They turn agents from chaos generators into productivity multipliers.
The real opportunity is learning to work at a different altitude. Instead of typing syntax, we're reviewing implementations, catching edge cases, and shipping features in hours that used to take days. That's genuinely exciting.
Yes, there's a learning curve. Understanding how to provide context, iterate on plans, and review AI-generated code quickly takes practice. But this is learnable through doing - build small tools, review everything, develop intuition through repetition.
The multiplier potential is real when you combine AI speed with engineering judgment. We're not replacing coding skills but we're finally able to focus them on the interesting problems while delegating the tedious parts.
The company hired me to lead their "Agile Transformation."
I don't know what Agile means.
Nobody does.
That's why it works.
I make $425,000 a year.
To move sticky notes.
From left to right.
On a board.
The board is digital now.
The sticky notes cost $80,000 in Jira licenses.
Progress.
Day one, I said "we need to break down silos."
Everyone nodded.
Silos are bad.
I don't know why.
But destroying them is a career.
My career.
I introduced "squads."
Squads are teams.
But disrupted.
We disrupted the teams into teams.
Different names.
Same people.
Same problems.
But Agile problems now.
Agile problems are strategic.
A senior engineer asked what we're actually changing.
I said, "The mindset."
He asked what that means.
I said, "It's a journey."
He asked where we're going.
I said, "Toward agility."
He asked what agility means.
I pointed at the sticky notes.
They were moving left to right.
That's velocity.
We have velocity now.
The VP of Engineering said two-week sprints don't fit their work.
I said, "That's waterfall thinking."
Waterfall is bad.
Like silos.
I don't know what waterfall is.
But I know it's bad.
She stopped talking.
Waterfall accusations end conversations.
We had a retrospective.
In the retro, we discussed what went wrong.
Everything went wrong.
We put it on sticky notes.
Then we moved the sticky notes.
Into a column called "Parking Lot."
The Parking Lot is where problems go to die.
It's full.
We don't look at it.
That's agile.
Velocity is up 40%.
I defined velocity.
I also defined the points.
I also defined the stories.
We're crushing it.
At the things I made up.
To measure.
Ourselves.
The CEO asked for ROI.
I showed a chart.
The chart went up.
Charts should go up.
This one did.
I didn't label the Y-axis.
Nobody asked.
Leadership is confidence.
We do standups now.
Every day.
We stand.
For 45 minutes.
Standing is agile.
Sitting is waterfall.
My legs hurt.
But we're transforming.
The transformation is now "Phase 3."
Phase 1 was assessment.
Phase 2 was implementation.
Phase 3 is "continuous improvement."
Continuous means forever.
Forever means job security.
I'm very secure.
My contract was extended.
Three more years.
For "cultural impact."
The culture is confused.
But impacted.
Agile transformation isn't about being agile.
It's about transforming.
Continuously.
Toward more transformation.
The destination is the journey.
The journey is billable.
@chase_blount Having a child is a huge decision. If you have children and then your financial situation changes, through losing a job, or a marital breakdown ... what are you supposed to do, child, HAND THEM BACK?
Silly, silly little boy.
@TheScore01 Liverpool fans most likely knew about the policy, just as we know about ours.
I donβt know what the feeling from their fans at the time was, but I bet theyβre happy now.
The big question mark, is can EM develop to βmaximum creditβ the way Klopp did.
Iβm sceptical. Weβll see.