Before we get started… |
I just posted a video breaking down exactly what we do for our clients and what it’s like to work with us. |
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We still have room for 4 more clients in June if you want to get started now. |
Ok, back to this week’s issue… |
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I was staring at my to-do list on a Monday morning and I counted 47 items. |
Forty-seven!! |
Here's the thing about to-do lists… |
They make you feel productive because you're checking boxes, but tasks never end. |
You write the email…and tomorrow there's another one. |
You fix the error…and next week it breaks again. |
You call the angry client…and next month a different client is angry for the same reason. |
It's a treadmill. |
And the faster you run, the more indispensable you become…which sounds great until you realize that the more essential you are, the less scalable your business is. |
That's when I made a shift that changed everything. |
I killed my to-do list and replaced it with an AI-powered “To-Build” list. |
Here's how it works… |
Turn Verbs Into Nouns |
The concept is simple: every time I catch myself about to do a task, I ask one question. |
"What asset could I build right now so I NEVER have to do this task again?" |
That's it. That's the whole shift. |
Tasks are verbs. They require you. |
Assets are nouns. They work without you. (And they compound over time.) |
The catch? |
Most founders don't have time to build assets, because they're too busy doing tasks. It's the productivity equivalent of being too poor to save money. |
So here's the unlock: AI is the leverage that breaks the cycle. |
You don't have to choose between "do the task" and "build the asset" anymore. You can now do both…in roughly the same amount of time it used to take to just do the task. |
Let me show you what I mean. |
Here are three of the most common "verbs" on a founder's to-do list, the "noun" version of each, and the exact AI prompt I use to turn one into the other. |
(Open your AI tool of choice — Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, doesn't matter — and paste these in as you go.) |
Example 1: "Write This Email" → Build An Email Template |
You just spent 20 minutes crafting the perfect response to a client question. |
Don't just hit send. Send the email, then turn it into a template anyone on your team can use to answer that same question forever. |
Copy this prompt: |
You're my marketing/ops assistant. I just wrote the email below and I want to turn it into a reusable template my team can use.
Here's the email: [paste the email you just wrote]
The recipient was: [type of client/lead/vendor]
The situation was: [one sentence of context]
Turn this into a playbook/SOP that includes:
1. A rewritten version of this email as a fill-in-the-blank template with variables
in [brackets]
2. The 3-5 situations where this template should be used
3. A one-line "do NOT use this template if…" guardrail
4. 3 subject line variations |
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Total added time: about 90 seconds. |
The next time that same question comes in, your team grabs the template, swaps in the variables, and sends it. |
No more bottlenecks through your inbox. |
Example 2: "Fix This Error" → Document The Fix |
You just spent 2 hours debugging something nobody else on your team knows how to fix. |
It’s good that the issue is fixed, but when it breaks next time, you’ll be the one getting the “shoulder” tap again. |
So don’t just patch the problem…capture HOW you fixed it while it’s fresh and share the SOP with your team. |
Here’s the prompt: |
Act as my technical documentation lead. I just fixed an issue and I want to document it so my team can resolve it without me next time.
The problem was: [what broke]
The root cause was: [why it broke]
Here's how I fixed it: [the steps you took]
Turn this into a troubleshooting SOP that includes:
1. Symptoms (how my team will know they're seeing this issue)
2. Quick diagnostic checks (in order, fastest first)
3. Step-by-step resolution
4. How to verify the fix worked
5. When to escalate to me instead of trying to solve it solo
Write it for someone at my team's skill level, not mine. |
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If you really want to get fancy, record yourself doing the fix using a tool like Loom, then include the transcript from the video with the AI prompt above along with any relevant image screenshots. |
Then, drop the output in your team wiki, Notion, or wherever your SOPs live. Title it after the symptom, not the cause, so the next person searching for "checkout page won't load" actually finds it. |
That fix you just made? It's now a permanent asset, working for you 24/7, even when you're on vacation. |
Example 3: "Call The Angry Client" → Build A Recovery Talk Track |
You just talked an upset client off the ledge. |
Great. Now turn what you just did into a playbook your team can run the next time a different client is upset for a similar reason. (And there will be a next time.) |
Copy this prompt: |
You’re my head of customer success. I just got off the phone with an unhappy client and I want to build a recovery playbook so my team can handle it next time without escalating to me. The client was upset about: [the issue]
What I said that worked: [key phrases or moves you used]
What ultimately resolved it: [the offer, fix, or acknowledgment] Please draft:
A 4-step talk track (Acknowledge → Investigate → Resolve → Follow-up) Word-for-word language for the first 60 seconds of the call
(this is where most reps lose the client) Three versions of the resolution offer — small, medium, and
“we screwed up big” — with criteria for which to use The exact follow-up email template to send 24 hours later |
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See the pattern? |
In each case, you did the task and built the asset…in roughly the same amount of time. |
Assets compound productivity, because now MORE can get done while you’re actually doing LESS. |
Why This Matters More Than Ever |
Here's what most founders miss… |
When you're sub-$1M, doing the work IS the job. |
But somewhere between $2M and $10M, the job changes. Your highest and best use is no longer doing the work…it's building the systems that make the work happen without you. |
The problem is that most founders never make the switch, because building systems used to be slow, expensive, and painful. So they just kept playing “player” when they should have been playing “coach.” |
AI changes the math. The time cost of building an asset has collapsed. |
Which means the founders who win the next decade won't be the ones who work the hardest… |
…they'll be the ones who refuse to do anything twice without building an asset that makes the third time someone else's job. |
So, here's the question… |
How much of what's on your plate today is a task you've already done before in a slightly different form? |
If the answer is "most of it"…you don't have a workload problem…you have an ASSET problem. |
Fortunately, you now know how to fix it without having the tasks you delegate boomerang right back to you. |
⚡️ Action Step: Open your to-do list right now. Circle every item that starts with a verb. Pick the top 3… the ones you find yourself doing over and over in slightly different forms. Then run each one through the prompt below, hand the output to the right person on your team, and never touch it again. |
The Master "To-Build" Prompt — copy this one and save it: |
You're my business coach + COO. I'm going to paste in a task I keep doing manually. Help me turn it into a reusable asset.
The task I keep doing is: [paste task]
How often I do it: [daily / weekly / monthly]
Who currently does it: [me / a team member]
Who I want to be able to do it next time: [team member / new
hire / nobody — fully automated]
Please:
1. Tell me the type of asset I should build (template, checklist,
SOP, talk track, decision tree, automation, or something else)
and why
2. Draft the first version of that asset
3. List the 3 most likely edge cases the asset needs to handle
4. Tell me who on my team should own it going forward |
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Run that prompt on 3 tasks this week, and by Friday, you'll have 3 new assets in your business… instead of 3 more checked boxes. |
Give it a shot and let me know how it works… |
-Ryan |
Ryan Deiss
Co-Founder and CEO, The Scalable Company |
P.S. I'm looking for 4 business owners who want to work 1-on-1 with my team and me to install a custom "operating system"…so your business can scale and so you can finally exit the day-to-day. |
We don't just teach you to build assets. We build the operating system with you. |
Click here for the details. |
