Exploding Grandma

This week we’re getting into our complicated relationship with AI: the good, the bad, and the weirdly hollow.

We dig into why “you can build anything now” turns out to be a bit of a trap. The endless dopamine loop and the realisation that frictionless isn’t the same as satisfying.

Along the way we cover:

* Why coding being “solved” only removed one barrier to entry (there were always a million others)

* Steve Jobs’ annoying quote that we can’t stop thinking about.

* Why AI raised the floor, not the ceiling

* The reason everyone’s going to get sick of LinkedIn

* Jacob’s renaissance with email and the joy of taking things slowly

Enjoy!

Other cool things by us

* Pip Decks

* Stories That Sell: Pitching Mastery

* Our YouTube channel

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit podcast.pipdecks.com

This week we're celebrating our vulnerability - and how it's led to some of our most successful email marketing campaigns.

All great marketing needs you to be open with your customers, especially if you're a small business.

Yet so many business owners are afraid to put themselves out there (warts and all). It can be scary, we get it. But with email marketing, there's no other way if you want your customers to stay subscribed and active members of your list.

If you hadn't guessed - yes, we talk about emails A LOT in this episode.

If you're already a fan of email marketing, awesome, enjoy.

If not, let us show you why it could become your most lucrative marketing asset ever (if you're willing to put in the time).

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit podcast.pipdecks.com

This week, we make the case that the weird thing you got teased for as a kid might be the most valuable asset you bring to a business.

We also explain why trying to be "better" than your competitors is a losing game, and why leaning into what makes you different (even when it feels uncomfortable) is the only real strategy worth having.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit podcast.pipdecks.com

Welcome back! This week, we explore the crazy, chaotic and anxiety-inducing early days of Pip Decks. This is a raw, unfiltered look at what it's actually like to start a business - warts and all. If you've ever dreamed of starting your own but always talked yourself out of it, you need to listen to this episode.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit podcast.pipdecks.com

Charles Burdett and Jacob Welby from Pip Decks talk about the version of running a business that nobody writes books about - the one where you actually have a life.

They also chat about: a lollipop lady making $15,000 a month from a hand-drawn zine, why AI is making everyone's marketing taste identical (and how to use that to your advantage), as well as the Seth Godin quote that's secretly behind Pip Decks' success.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit podcast.pipdecks.com

Hey!

Here’s episode 2 of my new podcast Cashworm Venturetoad - hosted alongside my lifelong best friend and business partner, Jacob Welby!

In this episode we look back on our CRAZY journey with Pip Decks, including:

* The dangers of fast growth

* How we accidentally built a fragile business (and how we fixed it)

* The design-principles behind Pip Decks

* The origin story of Pip, Frodge and Blob

* Why you need to fall in love with the creative process, not the outcome

Cheers!

- Charles & Jacob

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cashwormventuretoad.com

Hey!

This used to be the Maybe Useful / Maybe Not newsletter from me, Charles Burdett.

I’ve torched that (because I fell out of the habit of writing it, and I’m only in the habit of keeping up with things I really want to do).

Which means I have teamed up with my life-long best friend and business partner, Jacob Welby - who runs Pip Decks with me.

And this is now the Cashworm Venturetoad podcast.

To be frank, this is just another two-white-dudes-podcast.

But the difference I suppose is, we are making this podcast for us, not you.

There is no central theme, there is no pre-planning, there is no sponsorship, there is no coherency.

It’s the conversations we were having anyway, we just stick a mic in one of them now.

So if you’re into it - cool, glad to have you listening.

Otherwise if not, I encourage you to unsubscribe.

Thanks for sticking with me - maybe you’ll enjoy it - maybe not!

Charles (and now Jacob!)

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cashwormventuretoad.com