She built a niche directory pulling in $200K+/year

Happy Thursday everyone 👋 Today’s issue is all about tension and traction—between tech giants fighting for control, creators hacking new formats, and builders quietly pulling six figures. Whether you're chasing virality, recurring revenue, or just trying to get paid on time, there’s something in here that’ll hit home. Let’s dive in.

TL;DR: OpenAI wants to go public, raise more funding, and loosen Microsoft’s grip on its future. But Microsoft still has access to all of OpenAI’s IP—including tech that powers its own competing products like GitHub Copilot. Now OpenAI’s trying to claw back control (starting with Windsurf, their $3B coding startup)and talks are getting messy. Antitrust threats are on the table.

💣 From partnership to pressure point – OpenAI and Microsoft have been in lockstep for six years, but now compete across AI tools, dev products, and cloud infra. That tension’s boiling over as OpenAI looks to ditch exclusivity.

📈 Billions on the line – OpenAI needs to convert into a for-profit public-benefit corp by EOY or risk losing $20B in funding. Microsoft wants more equity in return for blessing that move but OpenAI’s pushing back.

🧠 The AGI clause complicates everything – The current contract ends if OpenAI achieves artificial general intelligence. Microsoft wants access to models even after that milestone—OpenAI’s… less enthusiastic.

🧾 Internal sale, external threat – OpenAI’s even debated accusing Microsoft of anticompetitive behavior and triggering a federal investigation. It’s a serious bluff, but it shows how tense things have gotten.

🛰 Stargate & independence dreams – OpenAI’s quietly been building its own datacenters (Stargate) and wants to expand to other cloud providers. That alone breaks from Microsoft’s “only us” compute clause.

This could reshape how major AI companies partner (or don’t). And if OpenAI goes public or calls for antitrust action, the ripple effects across cloud, compute, and enterprise AI markets could be huge.

TL;DR: Google’s Veo 3 (VEO 3) lets you create selfie-style Stormtrooper vlogs with no camera, actors or crazy budget. You get 50 free video generations a month. Pair it with ChatGPT for better prompts, reframe to vertical with Luma, and you’ve got TikToks from another galaxy.

🎥 Sci-fi goes short-form – These AI-generated vlogs are 8 seconds long, selfie-style, and tailor-made for TikTok virality. Think Mandalorian monologues or Bigfoot life updates with sound effects baked in.

📏 Landscape problem, portrait fix – Gemini outputs in 16:9, but creators are reframing to 9:16 using LumaLabs with no extra credits needed. It’s the hack keeping these videos social-first and scroll-ready.

🎨 Prompting makes or breaks it – “Simple instructions” give you fast results. “Master instructions” add movement, camera shifts, and real cinematic feel. Use ChatGPT to craft prompt blueprints for every theme. Sebastien shares his prompt so you can replicate his example.

TL;DR: In this walkthrough, Nick builds a no-code automation that follows up on overdue invoices using AI, recovering up to $15K/year for freelancers and agencies. It pulls from Google Sheets or Stripe, drafts personalized reminder emails based on email history, and sends them every 7 days until clients pay up. No more awkward money convos. Just cash in your inbox.

💸 Goodbye ghosted invoices – The system checks invoice dates and automatically follows up at 7, 14, 21, and 28-day intervals—calm but persistent. It’s basically collections with bedside manner.

🤖 Not your average “Hi just checking in” – Each email is drafted with OpenAI, tailored to the context of previous threads. So you’re not annoying clients—you’re gently nudging them with receipts.

🛠 Built live (breaks included) – Nick shows the build in real time, including fixes for date formatting issues, email matching logic, and NAN quirks like looping through array items without breaking the flow.

🔁 One workflow, many uses – This same automation can be repurposed for sales, cold outreach, or follow-ups of any kind. Swap the data. Change the tone. Hit send.

TL;DR: Kimmy Green is building Sam’s List, a vetted directory of CPAs, bookkeepers, and financial pros into a trusted platform pulling in six figures. What started from a Sam Parr tweet is now a SEO-optimized, review-powered, video-enhanced marketplace. Her goal? Replace trustless Google searches with something curated and human. This is how she’s doing it.

🧾 Trust is the product – Sam’s List manually vets every professional, enforces pricing transparency, and showcases verified reviews. This curation sets it apart in an industry full of spammy, low-trust directories.

📹 Video intros = conversions – Kimmy uses intro videos like dating profiles to make finance people feel approachable. It’s smart UX that also improves SEO and engagement.

🌎 Local SEO is king – Static pages like “Best CPA in Atlanta” + smart internal linking are how they compete with the big guys—and win. This is textbook niche domination.

💰 Leads now, subs later – They’re monetizing with pay-per-lead for now, but moving toward a multi-tiered subscription model with upgraded profiles, visibility, and media options.

🤖 AI won’t kill this… yet – By focusing on high-intent, human-curated content and question-driven pages, Sam’s List is carving out defensible SEO territory even as AI rewrites search.

Directories are SO back. But the ones that win aren’t bloated link farms—they’re trust platforms. Sam’s List is proof that if you start narrow, vet hard, and play the long SEO game, you can turn niche credibility into a real business.

TL;DR: LinkedIn is no longer just a corporate awareness billboard—it’s a legit performance channel, especially for B2B brands being crushed by rising Google CPCs. Laura Schiele lays out 5 proven ad formats you should be testing now: from high-engagement Thought Leader Ads to conversation starters and UGC-style video. The key is to match the right content to where the buyer actually is in the journey and stop asking for demos on the first click.

📣 Thought leader ads (TLAs) – Posts from execs get better engagement than brand accounts. Make it human, helpful, and hook-heavy.

💬 Conversation ads hit your exact ICP – Precision targeting + chat-style delivery = high-value lead magnets (even with tiny audiences).

🎥 Video wins when it’s raw – UGC-style clips outperform polished corporate promos. Save your budget—go authentic over slick.

📊 Carousel ads with stories, not slides – Use carousels to walk through a problem/solution arc or highlight real-world stats. Every frame should add value, not fluff.

🎯 Offers matter more than you think – If you’re still pitching demos to cold audiences, stop. Test low-friction CTAs like “See How” or “Try the Calculator.”

LinkedIn is great for surfacing new buyers, not closing them. But pair the right format with a smart nurture sequence, and you’ll feed your funnel with high-intent leads while everyone else argues about ROAS on Meta.