Market and grow with AI
Content, creative, and distribution: fill the top of the funnel without a big team.
5 steps to get you moving, each with a resource worth your time and more waiting underneath
Think of this as a friendly starting line, not the last word. Each step gives you the gist, then a resource worth your time from founders who've actually done it. There's always more underneath, more questions and more resources, whenever you feel like digging in.
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1
Content CreationWhy use AI for blogs, newsletters, and social posts, and how do I avoid sounding like AI?
The gist AI removes the real reason most founders stop publishing: the time cost of a blank page. Buffer's study of 1.2 million posts found AI-assisted content earned about 22% more engagement, largely because it keeps you consistent. The trap is publishing unedited output; use AI for research, structure, and drafts, then add the stories, opinions, and specifics only you have, and cut the tells (hedging, lists of three, uniform sentence length).
Why Your AI Content Sounds Like AI (+ How to Fix That) Kaleigh Moore A pro SaaS writer names the exact AI tells and how to edit them out. -
2
Video, Image & AudioHow are founders making product demos, ads, and social video with AI (Veo, Sora, Runway, HeyGen, ElevenLabs)?
The gist The playbook that emerged in 2025: write the script yourself, use Gemini or ChatGPT to turn it into a shot-by-shot prompt list, generate clips in Veo (inside Google Flow), Sora 2, or Runway, then cut it together in CapCut or Premiere with an ElevenLabs voiceover. The reference case is Kalshi's NBA Finals ad, made by one AI filmmaker in three days for about $2,000. For SaaS product demos specifically, founders skip generation entirely and pair real screen captures with AI demo tools like Supademo, since showing the actual product beats synthesizing it.
How Kalshi made an AI ad using Google Veo 3 Ad Age The canonical breakdown of the first AI-generated ad to air during the NBA Finals, tool by tool. -
3
Getting Found in AI Search (AEO/GEO)Why does it now matter how ChatGPT and Perplexity describe my startup?
The gist AI assistants are now the first place many buyers ask "what should I use for X": over half of B2B software buyers start research in a chatbot, and zero-click search means fewer people ever reach your site. What ChatGPT or Perplexity says about you decides whether you make the shortlist before you even know the buyer existed, and the traffic assistants do send converts several times better than Google. If they describe you wrongly, or not at all, you lose deals invisibly.
The ultimate guide to AEO: How to get ChatGPT to recommend your product (Ethan Smith) Lenny's Podcast / Ethan Smith (Graphite) The single most-shared founder briefing on AI search, anchored by data showing ChatGPT traffic converts 6x better than Google. -
4
Ads & Performance MarketingHow do founders use AI to generate and test ad creatives at scale?
The gist AI has collapsed the cost of producing ad variations: tools like Icon, Creatify, and AdCreative.ai turn one product video or image into dozens of testable creatives, and Meta's algorithm now rewards that volume when the concepts are genuinely diverse. The founders winning with this treat AI as a production multiplier while keeping a human on strategy, hooks, and taste. Start with one tool and 10 to 20 distinct concepts a month, then let performance data pick the direction.
Excited to introduce Icon, The First AI Admaker Kennan Davison The founder's own launch thread explains exactly how AI assembles winning ads from your clip library. -
5
Social & CommunityHow do founders run their social presence with AI without becoming spam?
The gist Use AI as a drafting and structuring assistant while you supply the stories, numbers, and opinions only you have. Founders who avoid the spam trap write down their voice and point of view first, strip the AI filler phrases, and never publish anything they would not say out loud. Platforms are now actively downranking generic AI content, so sounding human is a distribution strategy, not just a taste preference.
Founder Voice in the AI Era: Don't Sound Like AI Foundera Puts numbers on why distinctive voice wins (156% higher ROI) and shows exactly how to extract and protect yours while still using AI.
