Ventures
Actionworks: Education company that builds entrepreneurship and innovation programs for the U.S. Department of State, Intel, the University of Texas, and dozens more. Building with AI since 2019.
Minimum Viable Video: Cohort-based course on creating videos to get customers, connections, and capital.
Coaching: I help founders, engineers, and tech workers have more success with business and video.
(Previously) 3 Day Startup: 10-year CEO journey scaling an entrepreneurship bootcamp to 50 countries.
Personal
- My fiancé and I (and her ridiculous cats) split our time between Austin, TX and Savannah, GA
- Interests: LLMs, Formula 1, Mexican food, Alvvays, Nolan films, cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman’s theory of reality, Longhorn football
- I’m 5 years deep into writing a from-the-trenches newsletter of stories and tips on entrepreneurship, AI, and video
- I’ve had a hell of a lot easier time building companies than figuring out vulnerability; that came with Personal Boards of Directors
I manage a mysterious health condition—maybe you’ll be the one to diagnose it?RESOLVED!
Contact
DM me on X or email me at my name at actionworks dot co (not dot com).
Blog
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Winning an Award and the Power of Relationships
This award didn’t happen because I was great (though I promise you, I was). The real reason is Rodrigo—my rock star business partner in Guadalajara.
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Don’t Leave Money on the Table: The Secret of Free Upside
Look at the fighter jet pictured below—specifically, the cockpit. Then look a little closer. The paint job is designed to cause confusion in a dogfight. We’re seeing the bottom of the plane. But the paint job depicts a fake cockpit, making us think we’re seeing the top of the plane. Mimicking the cockpit causes momentary […]
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A Casual Approach to AI: “Speech In, Text Out” (SITO)
The biggest change to how I use AI is something I call SITO: “Speech In, Text Out.” This approach makes it easier to make requests to GPT while simultaneously increasing the quality of outputs.
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The Secret Killer of Startup Ideas: Mexico Month Part 5
A simple mental model to increase your odds of success: When you’re building a business, you need to keep two lines aligned: one line represents what the customer thinks, and the other line represents what you think. These two lines are the foundation of your company’s success.
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Notes From a Fever Dream: Mexico Month Part 4
Rodrigo was a big fan of lucha libre—Mexican wrestling—but the rest of us were first-timers. I didn’t expect much beyond a quirky cultural detour. How exciting could it possibly be? A bunch of men in tights fake-fighting in cheap masks?
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Agave and Anarchy: My Day in Tequila: Mexico Month Part 3
He shared stories about his grandfather, who trained mules to carry the hefty piñas to the distillery. “He’d spend days getting them familiar with the route,” Emil shared. I’d never heard of using mules to automate business processes before.