How The Forward Report Offers Strategic Insights into the Fast Moving World of AI
It’s the 100th Post 🥳
It’s the 100th Post 🥳
I’m pleased to announce this is the the 100th post here on substack! Make sure you subscribe if you haven’t already so you don’t miss a post.
In this issue read about:
🙅♂️ Cut SaaS Costs: Use a self-hosted system with open-source apps
📖 Product: "The Forward Report" is a subscription-based AI trend service offering monthly strategic insights for businesses.
🛠️ Tools & Model: Uses ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gamma; operates on a flat monthly fee subscription.
🦄 Growth & Advice: Grows via consulting networks, focuses on high-value clients, and play to your strengths and adapt.
Enjoy and happy building!
Spotlight ✨
🙅♂️ Get Rid of your SaaS Subscriptions
Stop paying the No-Code Tax to SaaS companies. Use a self hosted Solopreneur operating system with preinstalled open source apps and AI agents and save $1k+ per month.
🎈 4 Cool Finds
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Trae is your helpful coding partner. Powered by sonnet and GPT4o, it enhances your development with AI Q&A, code auto-completion, and agent-based AI programming. Work alongside Trae to boost your development efficiency.
LaunchBoost.com - Get a strategic growth plan - share your journey - instant traffic on launch.
🔥 No-Code Founder Interview
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Hello! What's your background?
I’m Garrett Houghton, a solo founder focused on building and operating small service and consulting businesses. The Forward Report, a subscription-based AI trend reporting service.
I spent a decade in corporate tech before transitioning into Solopreneurship. While in the corporate world, I was always hacking away with no-code tools like Zapier and Airtable to automate processes and build internal tools.
I was drawn to the ease of use and flexibility of no-code tools, which allowed a non-developer like me to automate workflows and build products.
When I decided to make the leap to Solopreneurship, I started in no-code workflow automation consulting and built an education platform, No Code Camp, to teach no-code automation.
I eventually pivoted to focus on running service and consulting businesses that leverage my strategic and creative strengths.
When the AI wave hit, I shifted my focus to AI within these businesses.
Tell us about your product that you made?
The Forward Report is a distillation of my AI strategy consulting work. The AI space moves fast, with updates coming out daily.
I realized that a well-structured, research-based report targeted to business-focused people could provide immense value to companies navigating the AI landscape, and this service-based approach aligned well with my strengths.
What problem does it solve and how does it work?
The Forward Report offers companies strategic insights into the fast-moving world of AI.
Subscribers receive monthly reports with actionable takeaways, helping them stay ahead of the curve without having to wade through endless news feeds.
The goal is to help companies find the relevant signals to their business amongst all the noise in the AI space.
What No-Code and AI tools did you use?
For The Forward Report, I use AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity for research and writing, and Gamma a little for creating presentation prototypes.
What is your business model and pricing structure?
The Forward Report is a subscription service with a flat monthly fee, providing consistent revenue and scalability.
How have you attracted users and grown your product?
The Forward Report has grown by leveraging my past consulting client network and my professional network.
The type of businesses I try to operate play to my sales and marketing strengths, which are minimal (lol).
I’ll never be the guy with thousands of followers on any social platform or a high-subscriber newsletter.
Building an audience is just not my strength, so developing businesses that can work with a few, high-value clients is where I focus.
What's your advice for No-Code Makers who are just starting out or want to sell their business?
Play to your strengths. Don’t try to build a business that requires a skill you don’t possess or aren’t interested in acquiring or can’t easily partner with someone to fill.
Be open to pivoting and changing.
Nothing I’ve ever built has ended up looking like my initial vision or v1 concept.
Adapt, iterate, and try to move to where you see the puck going.
This might require you to drop stuff that previously felt right or update mental models and hypotheses that prove incorrect.
Thanks for sharing your story Garrett!
🙅♂️ Get Rid of your SaaS Subscriptions
Stop paying the No-Code Tax to SaaS companies. Use a self hosted Solopreneur operating system with preinstalled open source apps and AI agents and save $1k+ per month.