Hi everyone,
By 9:15 this morning, I had checked my whole company.
The sales review ran. So did the customer review, the marketing review and an SEO audit. My podcast and press pipelines got updated. So did my list of people to reach out to. The results all landed between 8:57 and 9:11, from a terminal.
I call this a terminal company. Mine started with one SEO job, about a year ago.
The first job that clicked
Claude Code started to feel really good to me around last November. That's when Opus 4.5 came out.
The first process that clicked was Featured, now called Connectively. Reporters post questions there. Experts answer, and the answers that get used link back to your site.
Claude Code found the questions, drafted answers in my voice, and logged every one. That was the moment I thought: oh, okay, this is cool.
My log from January already shows 12 published articles. By September it was 51.
Then I asked the next question
Can I run sales through it?
So I built a CRM inside it. Every deal is a folder. The folder moves through stages, from first lead to closed. Each deal has one file with its stage and its next step.
Customers, content and finance followed, each as its own system.
When I realized I could just keep building systems this way, it was incredible. Today it runs on over 100 skills. A skill is a saved process that Claude runs the same way every time.
What a day looks like now
My day starts with a morning ritual. Then I run my systems: sales, marketing, customers.
Each one reads its own files and tells me what moved and what needs me. I make the calls. Every email and every post still waits for my yes.
If you lead a team, here's the part worth taking back. A company OS starts with one boring process that repeats every week. Once that works, you ask the next question.
There's nothing to look at
The terminal has been great for me. At some point, though, you start feeling there's nothing visual about it. It's all text.
So I'm building my own visual company OS. The terminal still runs everything behind it. On top, it's a screen with a few buttons.
More on that soon.
Worth knowing this week
Claude now works inside Google Docs, Sheets and Slides. On October 6, Anthropic put Claude in a sidebar next to your file. It can edit a doc, build a pivot table or add matching slides. It's in beta on paid plans. On Team and Enterprise, an admin turns it on first. If your team lives in Google Workspace, this is the easiest place to start.
Claude Docs, Slides and Design are now on the free plan. Anthropic took the beta label off on October 8. So anyone on your team can try them without a paid seat.
Microsoft wants every AI agent to start with no access. On October 19, Microsoft described new controls for agents. An agent "should begin with no authority," then gets only what its task needs. As risk rises, it can lose write access, need a human's approval, or be stopped. Microsoft hasn't said when this ships. It's the same rule I run on, though: every send waits for my yes.
From the blog
Three guides we published this month, and who each one is for.
Why I wrote it: I've watched company presidents, assistants and investors build their own tools. This issue is the same story at company scale.
Who should read it: any leader whose team still does work by hand.
TLDR: You don't need a developer title to build tools for your own work.
Why I wrote it: almost every company says "we use AI" now. That line hides where a team really is.
Who should read it: CEOs and people leaders planning next quarter.
TLDR: In IBM's 2026 CEO Study, 86% of CEOs say their people have the skills. Only 25% of their workforce uses AI regularly. The guide gives five stages, a self-check and one 30-day move for each.
Why I wrote it: every board deck has an AI slide now. Most look the same. Tools bought, licenses out, spend up.
Who should read it: PE operating partners and board members.
TLDR: One 880-person company rolled out Copilot to everyone. Only 50 people finished the training. These questions show whether people actually work differently.
What's the boring process you'd hand over first?
Hit reply and tell me. I read every reply.
Thanks for reading.
Tim