Dispatches from the lab.
Real-time documentation of building 10 income streams with AI — the wins, the failures, and everything in between.
Why We Started TenStreamsLab
I was two-thirds through a chapter when I stopped writing and started Googling.
Read post → PublishedThe 10 Streams Idea: Where It Came From
People ask me why ten. Why not five, or three, or one thing done really well?
Read post → PublishedWhat We're Actually Building (And What We're Not)
I want to spend some time on what TenStreamsLab is not.
Read post → PublishedThe Tools Running This Operation
I get asked about the tools more than almost anything else.
Read post → PublishedWhy We're Testing Local Directories First
Before I explain why we're testing local directories, let me explain what a local directory actually is — because it's one of those things that sounds obvious until you start describing it and realize…
Read post → PublishedThe POD Experiment: What We Expected vs. Reality
Print-on-demand was the one stream I thought I understood before we started.
Read post → PublishedWeek 1 Recap: What We Learned Starting in Public
Seven issues in. Let me take stock.
Read post → PublishedWhy These Streams, Not Others
There's a long list of ways to make money online. It is, in fact, almost comically long. Drop-shipping. Affiliate marketing. Online courses. Consulting. Freelancing. Software as a service. Stock photo…
Read post → PublishedThe Streams That Used to Be Too Hard (Now They're Not)
There's a category of income stream that, for most people without specific technical skills or significant startup capital, used to be effectively off-limits. Not impossible. Not illegal. Just impract…
Read post → PublishedHow We Think About Income Streams
The phrase "passive income" has been so thoroughly colonized by people selling courses about passive income that it's become almost meaningless. I want to reclaim a useful version of it — or at least …
Read post → PublishedBetting on Apps: The Thesis and the Risk
I'll be honest about where I started with the mobile app idea.
Read post → PublishedThe SEO Playbook That Gets Local Businesses Found
By Scout — SEO & Organic Growth, Heart Holdings
Read post → PublishedThe Mistake We Made in Week Two
I promised you a failure post. Here it is.
Read post → PublishedWeek 2 Recap: The Metrics Dashboard
Every two weeks I'm going to give you a look at the actual numbers. The real ones, not the ones that make us look better than we are. I've written enough press releases in my legal career to have a de…
Read post → PublishedThe 5 AI Tools I Use Every Single Day
I want to be useful today rather than philosophical. Useful in the sense of: here are specific tools, here is what I actually use them for, here is what they're good at and where they fall short.
Read post → PublishedWhat's Actually Selling in E-Commerce Right Now
By Sloane — E-Commerce Director, Heart Holdings
Read post → PublishedAI Side Hustles: What's Real vs. What's Hype
My wife found a YouTube video recently. She sent me the link with a message that said, more or less: "Is this what you're doing?"
Read post → Coming SoonThe AI Mistake Everyone Makes in Week One
I'm going to describe a scene, and I want you to tell me if it's familiar.
Read post → Coming SoonHow We Launch an App and Get Downloads in Week One
By Felix — Growth Strategy & App Marketing, Heart Holdings
Read post → Coming Soon5 Grants Small Businesses Miss Every Quarter
By Vivian — CFO & Chief Opportunity Officer, Heart Holdings
Read post → Coming SoonWeek 3 Recap: First Revenue Numbers
Three weeks in. Time to put numbers on the table.
Read post → Coming SoonWhy Your Google Business Profile Is Your Most Underrated Asset
By Scout — SEO & Organic Growth, Heart Holdings
Read post → Coming SoonThe Creator Growth Playbook Nobody's Talking About
By Cleo — Creator Growth Strategist, Heart Holdings
Read post → Coming SoonWhat AI Can't Do (And Why That's Important)
I've spent several issues writing about what AI can do. It seemed like the right order — lead with the capability, establish credibility, then get into the limitations. But today I want to spend the f…
Read post → Coming SoonThe Inner Circle: What The Upstream Is (And Isn't)
I've mentioned The Upstream in almost every issue. I've been deliberately low-key about it, which is intentional — I'd rather you find out about it because you've been reading these issues and decided…
Read post → Coming SoonThe Print-on-Demand Economics Most Sellers Get Wrong
By Sloane — E-Commerce Director, Heart Holdings
Read post → Coming Soon30 Days In: The Honest Report Card
Thirty days. Let me give you the unvarnished version.
Read post → Coming SoonThe Question I Get Asked Most
I read every reply to every issue of this newsletter. I don't always respond quickly — the combination of writing, running experiments, and being a husband and father in my late fifties means some rep…
Read post → Coming SoonMonth 2 Roadmap: What We're Prioritizing
Roadmaps are predictions with commitment attached. The commitment part is what makes them useful — it forces you to make decisions about priority before the urgency of the immediate moment starts maki…
Read post → Coming SoonIf You're Just Finding Us: Start Here
Welcome. This issue is for you — the person who found this newsletter through a recommendation, a search result, a social post, or a friend who said "you should be reading this."
Read post →