I Wasted $40K on an AI Agency. Here's What I Built Instead.
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Aaron Anderson runs a link building agency — 8 years in, fully remote, team of 10. A year ago, his business was in negative growth. He decided to go all-in on AI and hired an agency to rebuild his systems. He paid them nearly $40,000. They delivered nothing he could use.
While waiting on that agency, he started tinkering with Claude Code. Then he started building. Then he realized he was building better than they were.
Today Aaron walks us through what he's actually built, what it's made and saved him, and his answer to the biggest question in our inbox right now: what do I actually do with this thing?
Tactics include: automating the work you'd otherwise hire a VA for, rebuilding legacy tools without a developer, and the mindset shift from "what can I do with AI?" to "what can't I do?"
Tropical MBA is a podcast for entrepreneurs building location-independent businesses. Subscribe for weekly episodes on business, money, and the entrepreneurial lifestyle.
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CHAPTERS:
Audio:
(00:00:00) AI Feels Like a Superpower
(00:04:33) How Aaron Built a Lean Agency Business
(00:09:26) Why Revenue Started Falling
(00:10:04) “Maybe I Should Train an AI Instead”
(00:10:33) The Moment Aaron Got Claude-Pilled
(00:16:03) What an AI-Native Business Looks Like
(00:21:52) Why the Old SEO Agency Model Is Breaking
(00:23:28) Aaron’s Advice for Founders
Video:
00:00 AI Feels Like a Superpower
04:20 How Aaron Built a Lean Agency Business
09:26 Why Revenue Started Falling
10:03 “Maybe I Should Train an AI Instead”
10:31 The Moment Aaron Got Claude-Pilled
16:18 What an AI-Native Business Looks Like
22:14 Why the Old SEO Agency Model Is Breaking
23:50 Aaron’s Advice for Founders
Dan Andrews is the co-founder of Dynamite Circle, author of Before the Exit, host of the Tropical MBA podcast, and an entrepreneur who has successfully launched and scaled multiple 7-figure businesses.
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Past guests on TMBA include Cal Newport, David Heinemeier Hannson, Seth Godin, Ricardo Semler, Noah Kagan, Rob Walling, Jay Clouse, Einar Vollset, Sam Dogan, Gino Wickam, James Clear, Jodie Cook, Mark Webster, Steph Smith, Taylor Pearson, Justin Tan, Matt Gartland, Ayman Al-Abdullah, Lucy Bella.
PLAYLIST:
The $10K Projects You Never Do (AI Just Changed That)
How to Build a 6-Figure Digital Business with Claude Code
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Dan & Ian