A little while ago, I started an experiment. I wanted to see how far I could take the idea of working with AI as part of my team. Not just asking ChatGPT questions or having it write some code, but treating AI more like a developer, editor, brainstorming partner, researcher, and assistant. I thought, let’s see what I can actually build with it.
But the funny thing is, this isn’t really a new idea for me.
About 17 years ago, when I first got into CrossFit, I worked out a barter arrangement with the owners of the gym I was going to at the time. I would take care of their technology-related stuff, and in exchange, they let me work out there and coached me in fitness.
One day, I was in a CrossFit class and my coach, Doug, asked me a question I’ll never forget:
“Von, have you ever thought about taking all the technical knowledge you have and creating digital products out of it?”
At the time, I thought it was a silly idea. What could I possibly know that anyone else would want or need to know? I didn’t see myself as someone with knowledge worth packaging up and selling. I was just someone who knew how to figure out technology problems.
Looking back, I realize I probably missed an opportunity.
Imagine if I’d started building digital products 17 years ago. Who knows where that could have gone?
I think about that conversation quite a bit these days.
Because after 25+ years working in technology, and about a decade working deeply in marketing and MarTech, I’ve accumulated a lot of knowledge. I’ve solved a lot of problems. I’ve made plenty of mistakes. I’ve learned things the hard way.
And I’ve finally reached a point where I believe in myself enough to lean into all of that experience and start sharing it.
That’s where Compass comes in.
The AI experiment
I decided I wanted to see what I could actually build with AI as part of my team.
Not just asking ChatGPT questions. I wanted to work with it as a developer, editor, brainstorming partner, researcher, and assistant.
I would bring the experience, the stories, the opinions, and the lessons I’d learned over the years. AI could help me organize them, challenge them, expand them, find holes in my thinking, edit them, and turn a collection of ideas into something useful.
So we started building.
First, a website.
Then a product.
Then a PDF book.
And somewhere along the way, this experiment started feeling less like playing around with AI and more like building an actual little business with an AI-powered team.
The first product is Compass.
Compass: Build Better MarTech is a practical guide to building marketing technology systems that actually work.
Over the last decade or so, I’ve worked deeply in the marketing technology space. I’ve inherited systems nobody understood, seen automations and systems nobody knew were still running, dealt with reporting that didn’t agree with Finance, and watched teams turn simple marketing problems into incredibly complicated technical solutions.
Compass is a collection of the lessons I’ve learned along the way.
It’s about following the data, simplifying before you automate, documenting what you build, measuring what matters, and not confusing complexity with sophistication. Most importantly, it’s about understanding why you’re building something before you start building it.
It’s available now as a $27 PDF, including the Compass Toolkit.
And this is only the beginning.
I’m planning to turn this into a series of books and posts, each focused on lessons I’ve picked up throughout my career. I’m also going to keep experimenting with what I can build with AI along the way—websites, tools, content, products, and maybe eventually an agency.
I don’t know where this experiment will end. Maybe that’s the point.
Seventeen years ago, someone asked me if I had ever considered turning what I knew into digital products.
I wasn’t ready then. I think I am now. So I’m finally going to see where it goes.
If you work in MarTech, marketing operations, technology—or you’re just interested in what people can actually build with AI—I’d love to hear what you think.
And if you’ve got an idea for something I should tackle in the next book, let me know.
-V