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Hey Innovator,
I put together a list of the top frequently asked questions I get about how the AI Idea Pipeline can help you create unique AI ideas from your subject matter expertise in 1 day, even if you have 20+ years of professional experience.
Q: What is the AI Idea Pipeline?
The AI Idea Pipeline is a 3-hour workshop created by a startup founder and software developer with 20+ years of industry experience (me 🙂).
Q: Why did you create the AI Idea Pipeline?
TL;DR: A better start (AI idea) = a better finish (AI process or product).
Details:
In the last year, we told over 500,000 AI enthusiasts about the Innovating with AI Incubator: our signature program for AI enthusiasts to build an AI process or product in as little as 30 days.
That led to weekly calls with hundreds of AI Incubator students. While I was in the “teacher” role, I also got to be a student, listening closely to what each and every Innovator in our program needed to be successful.
Unsurprisingly, one of those needs was having a unique and valuable AI idea they felt excited to build.
I noticed that whenever a student found their “north star” AI idea, they’d happily lose sleep to build the thing as fast as they could because, sure, they saw the value, it was just so much damn fun for them 🙂.
I saw students, sometimes with 10-20 years of deep professional expertise, having fun like they were in a science lab back in college making new discoveries 🧪.
However, I also saw some students move a bit slower, before showing up to calls less than others.
When I dug into it, BOOM, there it was - they didn’t have an AI idea that they were excited or curious enough about.
So, after noticing the pattern, I decided to host a special one-time workshop dedicated to JUST finding and refining great ideas. One that was a masterclass on getting surgically sharp on just this part.
My logic on this was straightforward:
If “Garbage in = garbage out 💩” is true.
Then “Diamonds in = Diamonds out 💎” is probably also true.
So, I created the AI Idea Pipeline to help students find their “diamond ideas” hiding “in the rough” of their professional expertise and personal life experience.
Q: What makes the AI Idea Pipeline different?
TL;DR: Rigor and repeatability using a 3-step process.
Details:
The AI Idea Pipeline is not some simple ChatGPT prompt-fest that gives you generalized answers that are too vague to be of help to anyone.
I designed the AI Idea Pipeline to help seasoned professionals become the best students of our AI Incubator program.
To accomplish that goal, I created a repeatable 3-step method that I call the AI Idea Cycle:
1 - Pipeline: Assemble a pipeline of uniquely valuable AI ideas from your expertise.
2 - Prioritize: Sort and select the best ideas using our S.H.I.P. scorecard.
3 - Plan: Create a 1-page “scope of work” using our 1-page build plan template.
For the service professionals out there, you’ll notice that these steps are what you’d do for any regular software development project when trying to decide what features to build.
The same principles apply to “developing” your AI idea, even if you build it with one of the no-code approaches we teach you inside the AI Incubator program.
Q: Who are you?
Rob here, founder of HDC, a web design and development firm.
Over the last 14 years, we’ve worked with Harvard University, MIT, and The World Bank, and our software has been deployed by Facebook and Intel. And we work with many smaller business owners who prefer to live a quiet life.
I’m also the founder of Innovating with AI, a training and education company I created to provide relevant, credible, timely, and “non-hype” help to fellow technical and non-technical founders.
In the ever-evolving world of tech, and the hyper-growth industry of AI, I know first-hand how difficult it can be to separate the signal from the noise.
That’s why I’m committed to making every email I send earn your trust.
Q: How could I fail at this?
TL;DR: Rush through and misunderstand the nuance of each step. Avoid overconfidence.
Details on how not to fail:
The AI Idea Cycle I mentioned earlier is the core process that makes the AI Idea Pipeline work.
If you’d like to go deeper on it, watch the 3-step core process video I recorded to explain it here.
However, for the 3 action steps to work, there are 3 “thinking steps” you’ll need as well:
Thought 1: “Ideate before you obliterate”
If you’re a seasoned professional, then you are discerning. However, starting an ideation process with your discerning “thinking cap” on is like trying to write with your “editing” hat on.
If you’re too focused on getting your grammar right, you’ll never write a complete sentence.
To open the floodgates to a higher volume of ideas, try your HARDEST to let go of that critical voice that says “that idea’s no good” before you even write it down.
Save that “quality assurance” hat for the 2nd part of the process where you prioritize ideas.
The first step is more about volume than it is quality. We want “good ideas” not perfect ones.
Thought 2: “Summarize before you sort”
If you did step 1 well, then now you’ve got a plethora of ideas. Next, you’ll need to turn the “Lego blocks” of your AI idea into a structured short phrase or sentence.
Having a standardized “fill-in-the-blank” phrase allows you to quickly compare both the parts of an idea phrase, as well as the entire idea against others.
That’s necessary for using the SHIP method to quickly and accurately score each idea.
It might seem pedantic but when you’ve got 10-20 ideas you’re comparing, you’ll thank me later :-) (especially if you’re doing it with a group of people and everyone needs to score it in a single meeting).
Thought 3: “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail”
Once you’ve got the best idea, the last thing you need in your life is a “failure of the last mile”.
To avoid your best idea dying a slow painful death in your idea graveyard, turn your idea into a 1-page implementation plan.
Even if you’re building it by yourself, this functions as a reference sheet that keeps you focused during your first or next AI Innovation Cycle™:
AI Innovation Cycle: The AI Idea Cycle is part of a larger process that we call the AI Innovation Cycle that we teach inside our signature AI Incubator program. While students use it to build their AI process or product in 30 days, we also show you how to structure it to be 60 or 90 days to make sure it’s compatible with your personal or work life.
If you’re not already inside our AI Incubator program, you’ll hear more about that after you’ve gone through the AI Idea Cycle.
Q: Who is this for?
AI enthusiasts who want to go beyond reading about AI and are ready to do more with AI 😎.
I’ve designed this to be friendly and helpful for beginners and advanced folks.
Beginners can use it to find great AI ideas.
Advanced folks can use it to find, select, and develop new features for existing AI processes and products.
That way, no matter who or where you are on your journey, the repeat value of this will only go up over time - especially as you become more efficient at the process.
The better you get at this means increasing both the quality and quantity of ideas for you to build as a process, product (or feature within either of these).
Finally, once you install this method into your brain and workflow, you’ll have built it once, and be able to use it forever.
Q: What’s the next step?
Click here to join the waitlist for early enrollment in the AI Idea Pipeline.
Q: Why haven’t you opened enrollment yet?
Our mission at Innovating with AI is to help entrepreneurs and executives harness the power of AI for years to come.
On the sales and marketing side of our business, that means we avoid instant gratification hype and fear-based messaging.
On the product side of our business, that means intentionally limiting the number of students we onboard during enrollment periods. This ensures quality of time and attention for each student, which ensures we meet our internal standards for student success.
Having a waitlist allows us to accomplish both.
If you appreciate quality and intention as well, then I mean this when I say, welcome the Innovating with AI family -- you’ll like it here 🍹.
Sign up for the AI Idea Pipeline waitlist here - then, you’ll be the first to know when early enrollment begins.
Honored to be on this learning journey with you,
– Rob from Innovating with AI
PS. Over the next few emails, I’ll cover the top problems you face when finding your AI Idea.
That way, before you enroll, you’ll avoid the common sticking points that would stop you from finding your next “diamond in the rough” AI idea 💎.
If you want me to send the early enrollment hyperlink for the AI Idea Pipeline, then tap that link from your phone, laptop, or desktop and I’ll add you to the waitlist.
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