👋Hey friends,

A few weeks ago, a founder gave me a demo of his new AI startup.
Beautiful dashboard. Clean interface. Dozens of integrations.

When he finished, I asked one question:

“What’s the one workflow your users can’t live without?”

He paused. Then smiled a little too long.
That silence told me everything.

It reminded me how easy it is to believe that success in AI comes from building more — more features, more models, more hype — when in reality, it comes from making one small thing work so reliably that people build their habits around it.

Every lasting AI product — from Jasper to Rewind to Notion — started with a single workflow that worked just a little better than expected. Then they doubled down, learned fast, and scaled slowly.

That’s what separates products that grow from demos that fade.

So today’s issue is all about that: the discipline of starting small, learning fast, and building deep.

In today’s edition, we’ll explore:

• Why small, focused experiments beat big ambitions.
  How narrowing your wedge accelerates learning and adoption.
  

• How to turn one clever AI idea into a repeatable workflow.
  The process of transforming a working prompt into a system that runs (and improves) on its own.
  

• Why scaling learning matters more than scaling code.
  The simple framework top AI teams use to compound insight over time.
  

• Common Pitfalls When Scaling AI Products.
  The four mistakes that quietly kill momentum — and how to avoid them before they derail your loop.
  

• The Macro Shift — From Tools to Ecosystems.
  Why the future belongs to adaptive systems that learn faster than competitors can copy them.

Let’s dive in.

— Naseema Perveen

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ROKU

Find customers on Roku this holiday season

Now through the end of the year is prime streaming time on Roku, with viewers spending 3.5 hours each day streaming content and shopping online. Roku Ads Manager simplifies campaign setup, lets you segment audiences, and provides real-time reporting. And, you can test creative variants and run shoppable ads to drive purchases directly on-screen.

Bonus: we’re gifting you $5K in ad credits when you spend your first $5K on Roku Ads Manager. Just sign up and use code GET5K. Terms apply.

Use code GET5K now