Daily Edition · Page 7

THE DAILY INDEX

Technology, AI, software, security, crypto and business

HEADLINES & TRENDS

TLDR Founders

THE RULES I TRY TO DO BUSINESS BY

Service is what the customer experiences when trying to get something done. For people to trust you, you need to make their journey easy, respect their time, take ownership, ensure that advisable details inspire confidence, be competent and decent when something goes wrong, and build a system that learns. Trust takes time to earn but can be lost surprisingly quickly. It is one of the most valuable things a service provider can possess.

FORWARD DEPLOYED EXECUTIVES: THE NEXT BILLION-DOLLAR AI UNBLOCK

Forward-deployed engineers brought proximity, speed, and ownership of the outcome, but that isn't enough. Engineers are still often too far away from the key decision-makers who are critical for decisions and culture. Companies can't just rapidly hire and replace the entire C-suite in a month - they need outside help. Forward-deployed executives can help close the gap by bringing both technical and leadership experience to help businesses navigate the chaos and complexity of AI adoption.

CHATGPT ADS BUSINESS AGENT CONVERSATION CAMPAIGN TYPE

OpenAI's new campaign type, Agent, allows marketers to send ChatGPT searchers and users to a Business Agent conversation. The agents will be created through a combination of scraped data from the business website and instructions from advertisers. They will have access to product feeds and MCP tools, and can capture leads through custom forms. They can also launch ad campaigns that point to the agent rather than a website URL.

EXERCISE WINDOWS SHOULD BE LONGER

Startup options can turn into a bill the day an employee leaves. The usual 90-day window asks someone to pay the strike price and possibly taxes before they know whether the stock will ever be worth anything. That made more sense when startups exited in four to seven years, not today's 10 to 20 years. Backplanes gives people their tenure minus one year to exercise, while Craftwork gives them a full decade. If you use equity to recruit great people, make sure they can actually keep it.

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