Subscribe here | Unsubscribe here | July 24, 2025 | FIV #86 |
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✅ Today's Checklist: |
How AI helped this founder 6x revenue in 2 years 3 decisions that will determine if you're going to become rich The little-known prompt hack for massively improving AI visual content
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QUICK LINKS |
ðĶū AI agents. ChatGPT agent just launched. 15 wild ways people are using it. |
⭐ Marketing. How to appear in Google's AI overviews in less than 24 hours with SEO tactics from 2005. |
ð Startups. Build products that solve real problems with this lightweight JTBD framework. |
ðĪ Personal development. These 3 decisions will determine if you get rich. |
ðĪ AI opportunities. 18 ways to make money with AI in 2025. |
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How AI Helped One Founder 6x Revenue in 2 Years (and How Yours Can Too) |
I recently had the chance to hop on a call with Joanna Ericta, the CEO and one of the co-founders of The Assist—a newsletter that's grown to hundreds of thousands of subscribers and crossed the $2M revenue mark without raising a dollar of outside capital (and it's almost all profit). |
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When I asked her what really changed the game for her as the leader and driving force behind The Assist…she didn't hesitate: AI. |
But here's the thing—Joanna didn't just "use AI." She upskilled herself and her entire team with it. And that's when the flywheel started spinning. |
We've talked to a lot of founders lately who know AI is important—but don't know how to get their employees out of the dabbling phase and into real operational leverage. |
Joanna's story shows exactly how it's done. And we're working with her to build a hands-on upskilling sprint for teams who want to get fast, tangible results using AI in marketing, ops, content, and growth. |
Her story starts below. |
AI Didn't Just Save Us Time—It Drove $2M+ in Growth |
By Joanna Ericta, CEO & Cofounder of The Assist |
Back in 2022, revenue at The Assist was stuck in first gear. |
We had a great product. A growing newsletter. But growth? |
It was slow. Every deal took forever. Every email was handcrafted. Content piled up. We were drowning in Slack threads and spreadsheets—too swamped to zoom out and think big. |
I knew we had more in us. But I couldn't scale me. |
That's when I started learning AI. And to be clear—I didn't hire an engineer or outsource this to a tech team. I just rolled up my sleeves, got curious, and started experimenting with how tools like ChatGPT, Gamma, and Custom GPTs could help us work smarter. |
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The results? |
See for yourself: |
ð In 2022, we did $322K in revenue. |
ð In 2024—after integrating AI across the business—we crossed $1.25M. |
ð This year, we're pacing toward $2.2M. |
And it wasn't just me. Once I trained my team to think and build with AI, the compounding effect kicked in fast. More output. More leverage. More growth. |
What My Business Looked Like Before AI |
Let me be brutally honest—before AI, we were overwhelmed: |
Revenue stalled while deals sucked up time Drowning in content backlogs Losing hours to manual data work Sitting through endless meetings just to stay aligned Buried in emails and Slack Too swamped for big-picture strategy
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We didn't need more people. We needed better systems. Better leverage. |
That's what AI gave us. |
What Changed After I Upskilled and Trained My Team |
1. We scaled revenue—fast. |
I used ChatGPT to whip up a $15K sponsor package + pitch email in under 10 minutes. That alone landed us a new client (Hers). No designer. No copy team. Just AI + a clear objective. |
2. We scaled content—without burning out. |
I built a custom GPT that writes in our brand voice (we call her our "Copy BFF"). It elevated our content quality, cut editing time by 75%, and let us 3x our output. |
3. We scaled processes—without more meetings. |
I used Gamma to turn messy ideas into polished decks instantly. No more burning hours making slides. Our workflows snapped into shape, and my team had more time for real impact. |
4. We launched visibility and ROI frameworks in minutes. |
With AI, I can give my team plug-and-play prompts like: |
"You're a VP of Ops. Plan next quarter's ROI goals." "Draft a weekly visibility email to your manager based on this goal." "Now build a tactical plan with metrics, risks, and wins."
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Here's What AI Unlocked AI for Me |
ð° Closed deals 3–5x bigger (from $3K–$5K to $15K+) ✍️ Scaled content 3x and cut editing time by 75% ð Doubled our audience to 200K+ in under 12 months ð Grew revenue from $322K to $2M+ ð Finally stopped drowning in busywork
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We also started using tools like: |
NexPost.ai → To push our thought leadership to LinkedIn faster Copilot → To summarize meetings and decisions ChatGPT's data mode → To instantly analyze survey results or revenue anomalies Foldered GPT systems → To organize research, client prep, and automations Custom GPT privacy protocols → So we could protect our IP while scaling content and strategy
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Your Team Can Do This Too—If You Give Them the Tools |
I talk to founders all the time who get AI—but their teams don't. The bottleneck isn't leadership buy-in. It's that employees still write like it's 2019. Launch campaigns like it's 2015. And waste time like they've never heard of automation. |
That's why we're looking into working on something new: |
An AI upskilling sprint designed for teams—especially those in growth, marketing, ops, and content. |
It won't be your average "how to use ChatGPT" course. It'll be hands-on, tactical, and built around one goal: |
ð Help your employees save time and make you more money. |
In this sprint, they'll learn how to: |
Apply AI to real growth marketing use cases that drive results Write faster, sharper, and more on-brand using custom GPTs Automate smartly (without needing an engineer) Operate like revenue leaders—not task rabbits
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And the best part? They'll be producing real assets—emails, content, workflows—as they learn. |
This will be built for your marketers, ops folks, content creators, analysts, or anyone touching growth. And by extension, it'll built for you. |
If you want to join the waitlist for our Founder AI Course we're launching later this year, just reply with "AI" and I'll add you. |
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Sean's Pick of The Week |
The Prompt Hack That Can Uplevel Your AI Visual Content |
 | Watch now on TikTok | @theaiimpact | "The BEST way to generate AI images using ChatGPT ð§ ðĻ I uploaded an image, turned it into JSON, and then used that to create stunning varia... See more |
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Whenever I'm creating AI images or videos, I ask the model to "return it in JSON format." |
Why? Because instead of just getting a one-off result, I get a structured, copy-paste-ready blueprint I can reuse to create entire scenes, storyboards, or ad variations instantly. |
It's like getting the recipe instead of just the cake—suddenly I can tweak the lighting, camera angle, outfit, or action without starting from scratch. |
This one trick lets me build full character libraries, consistent branding, and multi-scene commercials way faster. |
If you're serious about scaling creative with AI, JSON is your secret weapon. |
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