As 2025 comes to a close, so too does Boost&Byte. š
Iām taking a short break to pause and reflect while I embark on a bucket list trip to Japan šÆšµ, Thailand š¹š, and Singapore šøš¬. If youāve been, please share your recommendations!
Iāll return in January with fresh perspectives and a new direction for my newsletter. Expect a new platform (Substack) and even better content in 2026!
So, for my last post of 2025, I thought Iād leave you with my 4 lessons from this year. Theyāve not only defined my year but have also shaped how I think about tech, work, and community in this rapidly changing AI world.
Finally, thank you so much for your ongoing support and for spending so much of your precious time to read my posts. It means the world!
So, as a token of my appreciation, I'm offering $100 OFF on my 3-day course. That means for just $47 you can get total clarity on your expertise and reach the people who are willing to pay for it! Offer ends on Dec 31.
It's my biggest discount of the year!
Now, back to the lessons...
This year, I found myself reflecting on familiar themes: experimentation, community, and the constant tension between technical efficiency and human meaning.
At the start of this year, I thought I knew what I was building. The wildfire that tore through Los Angeles in January became an unexpected teacher. It showed me that the best use of tech isnāt always the most sophisticated, but the most human-centered.
2025 has been a year of building systems, refining my voice, and learning what truly matters when everyone has access to the same AI tools.
What began as sharing tactical AI workflows evolved into something more meaningful: exploring what it means to build a career and life that uses AI thoughtfully, without losing what makes us distinctly human.
Letās dive in.
My four lessons from 2025
#1: Your judgment is your moat in the AI era
Among the AI frenzy, your competitive advantage is knowing how to approach messy, real-world situations.
In the early days of building my business, I thought my value was in creating polished roadmaps and strategy documents. I was wrong. What clients actually paid for was something Claude couldnāt replicate: reading the room, sensing that the CTO and CEO werenāt speaking (š® drama!), and knowing when to push and when to wait.
AI can generate infinite options, but only we can decide which option fits the specific mess of personalities, politics, and constraints in front of us.
Technical outputs are commoditized when AI can generate them in seconds.
Teams that focused on judgment (i.e. choosing the right approach, not just creating fancy documents) consistently delivered more value.
The shift from ācreating deliverablesā to āfiltering strategyā transformed how I positioned my expertise and what clients were willing to pay for.
Being a āgood all-around team playerā makes you invisible in a crowded market.
When I started, I fell into the generalist trap. I could help with product strategy, AI implementation, growth initiatives, and more. But when asked what made me different, I had no clear answer. Running my business taught me that versatility without focus is just noise.
One of the greatest lessons came from watching my most successful friends. They werenāt the most credentialed or experienced. They were the ones who could answer in one sentence: āI help X do Y by Z.ā That clarity transformed everything from how I wrote my newsletter to how I spoke with clients.
After spending months developing my own clear positioning, I started sharing my workflow with others. I packaged this into a 3-day course to help you define your expertise, understand your prospects, and write messages they actually want to respond to.
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The most memorable businesses solved one problem exceptionally well, not ten problems adequately.
Positioning isnāt about limiting yourself. Itās about being findable by the people who need exactly what you offer.
When I pivoted from āI help companies with AIā to āI help early-stage B2B SaaS founders identify the 20% of AI features that deliver 80% of value,ā meetings booked faster and clients engaged deeper.
#3: Build systems that reduce friction, not willpower that fights it
Growth comes from smart systems that make the right choice the easy choice.
The biggest shift in my work this year was designing systems that removed friction throughout my creative process. My āTiny Thoughtsā format, idea bank journal, scheduled writing time, and reward system (mmm, chocolate chip cookies šŖ) were thoughtfully designed to boost productivity without cutting my authentic human touch.
I learned this reading several books (Cal Newport, Tim Ferriss), but also watching teams struggle with AI adoption. The ones that succeeded didnāt rely on motivating employees to use new tools. They built workflows where AI was the path of least resistance. The ones that failed assumed good intentions and training would be enough.
The best systems remove the need for willpower by making desired behaviors automatic.
Whether itās consistent writing, learning AI, or scaling outreach, lasting change comes from environment design, not heroic effort. I scheduled ādeep workā time, created templates, and rewarded myself. Suddenly, consistency became effortless.
#4: Community beats competition when everyone has the same tools
In a world where anyone can access ChatGPT, genuine human connection becomes the scarce, valuable resource.
The most unexpected lesson of 2025 came during the LA wildfires. I built a wildfire tracking app in under an hour using AI tools. Technically impressive, sure. But what mattered wasnāt the app. Instead, it was the neighborhood WhatsApp group, the neighbors meeting each other for the first time, and the community that formed around shared crisis.
This pattern repeated throughout the year. My business didnāt grow through marketing funnels or clever tactics. It grew through showing up in communities, answering questions without pitching, and building relationships before I needed them. The folks who thrived in 2025 were the ones people trusted and remembered.
When everyone has access to the same AI tools, differentiation comes from relationships, not capabilities.
Investment in community, showing up consistently, and helping without asking for anything in return tends to create opportunities no marketing strategy can replicate.
The wildfire crisis proved it: technology solves immediate problems, but community provides resilience. The most valuable asset is the network of people who trust you and the neighbors who know your name.
In 2026, thereās so much more Iām excited to explore. Here are just a few questions Iāll be thinking about:
Drawing boundaries with AI: As automation becomes more capable, how do we protect the experiences that make work meaningful? What wonāt we automate, even when itās efficient?
Building leverage without losing humanity: How do we use AI to amplify our impact while preserving the messy, beautiful human elements that create genuine connection?
Sustainable systems for solo builders: As AI makes it possible for smaller teams to do more, how do we design businesses and lives that scale without burning out? Is the one-person unicorn business truly possible?
What excites me most isnāt just where AI is heading, but how we can use it intentionally to create more space for the work that matters, the relationships that sustain us, and the communities that make us resilient.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Happy holidays, and hereās to a bigger and better 2026! š
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