Conscientious Capitalists LLC

09/15/2026

Buyers are using AI to avoid talking to sellers until much later in the buying process.

The wrong response is to have sellers use more AI to send more messages.

Forrester reports that 94% of business buyers now use AI during the buying process. But buyers do not blindly trust what it gives them. They validate information through peers, experts, analysts, and other people in their network.

That definitely tells us something.

The seller who automates another thousand generic emails is not adapting to the new buyer. That seller is adding more noise to an environment already full of it.

AI can help with research, pattern recognition, and preparation. It can help a salesperson understand an industry, identify a relevant trigger, and ask a better question.

It should not become an excuse to stop thinking.

The opportunity is not to produce more outreach. It is to make each interaction more relevant, credible, and useful.

Your prospects are asking AI what solutions exist.

They are asking people they trust which providers deserve consideration.

They are looking for proof that you understand their business and can deliver an outcome worth the risk.

If your GTM response to AI is simply more automated activity, you aren't solving a problem for your prospect. You're patting yourself on the back for activity that is nothing more than noise your prospect will ignore or hold against you.

How are you using AI to make you a better seller?

08/28/2026

TL;DR
• Code and Cowork are silos. What the hell, Anthropic?
• Developing in Code but working in Cowork keeps humans in the loop, I guess.
• How ever many times you ask any AI to confirm their understanding, ask again, again, and again, then trust yourself.

Code and I have been working for a couple of weeks on what I would consider to be a pretty sophisticated Skill that’s central to the delivery of a new service I’m working on. It’s called the B2B Strategy Blueprint. B2BSB for short. You can learn more about it at ccs-llc.us if you’re curious. I’m keeping this post from being mistaken for a sales pitch by focusing it on Claude.

My frustration with Claude came to a boil today.

I stopped development - a generous term for someone who last wrote code from scratch when dirt was new - to ask Code this question:
“All of this brings me back to questions I may have asked some time ago and are on my mind again. Here’s the setup you need to know before I ask. I use Cowork because that is what I was first comfortable using. I’ve built Skills like the one we’re working on to automate and systemize work. I’ve built several Projects in Cowork with the goal of organizing around specific objectives. What you’ve just described again - this inexplicable blind spot Anthropic has built between Code and Cowork - has me wondering this: How can all of this uncertainty created by the silos Code and Cowork are be overcome? Am I using Code appropriately as the “development” environment that requires skill uploads so that Cowork actually does the work? Should I just run the next b2bsb opportunity through the skill in Code and forego Cowork altogether? Help me to understand this environment better without getting too technical.”

Claude’s response - and the only part of this written by AI - seemed helpful enough to share with you.
Here it is:
Fair to come back to this, and worth slowing down for since it’s really a “which tool for which job” question, not another skill tweak.

Your mental model is basically right, but it’s a default, not a hard rule. Claude Code (what I am, right now) is built for working directly with files on your computer: editing text, running scripts, checking real output. That’s exactly what today’s work was, rewriting SKILL.md, testing the actual generated documents, packaging the result. Cowork is built for the ongoing, conversational, connector-heavy work: talking through a live engagement, using Gmail/Drive/HubSpot/Zoom together, with Skills as installable add-ons you upload into it. So “Code builds it, Cowork runs it” describes what actually happened today. But it’s not the only valid arrangement, and today gave you a real reason to question it.

Why the friction actually happens, in plain terms, and this is my best understanding, not something I’d treat as certified fact: Cowork and Claude Code each keep their own separate notebook of standing instructions, yours is CLAUDE.md here, “Instructions for Claude” there, and nothing keeps them in sync automatically, you have to paste changes into both by hand, which is exactly what we did today. Separately, a Skill you build here doesn’t just start working in Cowork the moment you save it, it has to be packaged into a .skill file and re-uploaded, and there’s no built-in way to confirm Cowork actually picked up the newest version, which is exactly the “did the last upload really take” uncertainty that’s dogged this whole day. Those are the two concrete gaps, not some blanket wall between the two products.

Should you run the next B2BSB opportunity through Code instead? I think that’s genuinely worth trying, for a specific reason: the skill I’ve been editing all day is already directly usable by me, right now, in this conversation, no packaging, no upload, no “which version is live” question, it just reads the current file. That eliminates the exact class of problem we hit today. And your actual workflow fits this well: you record the call and process the transcript afterward, you’re not relying on Cowork to do anything live during the call itself, so there’s no real-time capability being given up by switching.

What you’d be trading away, honestly: you told me early on you use Cowork because it’s what you’re comfortable with, and that’s a real cost, not a small one, if this feels like a colder, more technical room to work in. I don’t know for certain whether Cowork has some specific convenience for this (a nicer document review experience, something tied to how you already run your day) that would be missed. And your other skills, the FAQ manager, content batch, email triage, aren’t causing this problem, so this doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing move.

What I’d actually suggest: treat the next real B2BSB opportunity as a genuine test, run it here in Code instead of Cowork, and see for yourself whether it’s actually smoother or just differently annoying. That’s a better answer than me theorizing about it. If it works, you’ve solved today’s whole reliability problem for free. If it doesn’t feel right, you’ve lost nothing, the skill still works the same way in Cowork once uploaded...
I’ll give credit where credit is due. It answered the questions in the prompt.

What inspired me most to share this was Code’s framing of “friction.”

If you’re like me and investing meaningful time and energy into integrating Claude into your business, that one is worth reading again.

08/25/2026

"That's actually a better fix than either option I gave you, and it solves the exact problem you're describing." - Claude Code

Ok. Sure. It's the sycophancy we've grown accustomed to seeing from AI. Still, and without boring you with the accumulated dialog, it's objectively true.

Why did it kiss up to me today? Same reason that it always does.

I know my goal. I challenge AI on its output. I require sources and distinctions between facts and unverified conclusions. (Write that into your profile's instructions.)

Most of all, I use my imagination. I think. You know, those special skills we humans have.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not an AI luddite, and this isn't some humble brag. I've been paying to use AI for years. I use it every day. I've written GPTs, skills, projects, and automated processes. I'm grateful that someone who last wrote code in languages many of you wouldn't know by name can use AI to do such things.

What inspired me to stop working with Claude to write this?

You did.

I just wanted those of you who haven't taken the AI plunge to be assured that you are smarter, more imaginative, and will almost always have way better ideas than AI.

It may have access to the entirety of digitized human knowledge, but you're still in charge.

You are more than the .

08/05/2026

Doing well and doing good aren't mutually exclusive. I believe in servant leadership as the guiding principle for achieving both. By putting people first and leading with integrity, businesses can thrive while making a positive impact.

https://theconscientiouscapitalist.com/blog/f/doing-well-and-doing-good-is-good-for-business

08/04/2026

A question I often get from folks who don't have a background in sales is, "What's the best sales process for my business?"

My answer tends to be unsatisfying to them at first. It depends.

First, a sales process needs to align with how your customer buys, not how you want them to buy.
If you're in a transactional business, don't complicate the sales process. If you're solution solves strategic problems, then be strategic and truly consultative.

Second is a leadership issue.
Don't waste time and money on consultative sales training if the only question reps ever get from you is when are your deals going to close?

Third, prospects can tell in the first few seconds if the sales rep has been trained to be consultative or not.

Need to increase your sales volumes? Acclerate deal velocity? Forecast with greater accuracy? Who doesn't?

Need help doing it? Let's talk. Schedule your no-risk, no-pressure Zoom at https://ccs-llc.us.

06/19/2026

Happy Juneteenth!
Today, I celebrate with everyone who acknowledges that this is a day worthy of both celebration and remembrance!
Officially called Juneteenth National Independence Day, it finally became a federal holiday in 2021.

06/17/2026

To my fellow sales professionals and founders doing the hard work of prospecting, you inspire me every day. Today, you inspired me to write this post.

I’m here for you. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to swap ideas or just need to vent a little.

To all the prospects and future customers, you’re on my mind, too.

Sometimes, it seems that people forget salespeople are, first and foremost, people.

The good news is that most salespeople are calling because they genuinely believe they may be able to help you. And believe it or not, they have no more desire to waste their time than you have to waste yours.

So, the next time you decide to answer the phone, please remember that civility costs nothing.

And, couldn’t the world use a little more of that these days?

https://theconscientiouscapitalist.com/blog/f/when-prospects-treat-you-like-sht

06/11/2026

What does it mean to you to have an AI-native sales org?

What does a sales tech stack look like with AI?

What role does AI play in it?

How can AI enhance sales processes, skills development, deal velocity and forecasting?

This video, How Anthropic's Head of Industries Built an AI-Native Sales Org from Scratch, has so far been the best explainer of real-world integration and adoption of AI into a sales operations that I've seen.

Granted, this is Anthropic integrating and adopting Claude, so there is that context.

Still, it's worth the 30 minutes to see and hear what Eleanor Dorfman, Head of Industries at Anthropic, has to share.

Curious to know where you are and what you're thinking.

Eleanor Dorfman, Head of Industries at Anthropic, joins SaaStr to break down how Anthropic rebuilt its sales org as an AI-native operation after the launch o...

06/07/2026

B2B Founders Guide to Making Your First Sales

When a B2B startup launches, its very first sales are more than the critical initial revenue. These early transactions are the foundational research that defines and refines the product roadmap, pricing model, value proposition, messaging and first drafts of a sales playbook.

For founders, these initial deals are mandatory exercises in real-world validation. Success hinges on understanding whether the solution resonates with key decision-makers and solves a genuine business problem with measurable impact that prospects will pay to have.

These initial sales reveal which operational pain points the product alleviates most effectively for organizational buyers, how the value proposition performs with different buying committee roles (e.g., IT vs. Executives), and what friction exists within the complex B2B sales cycle, from initial outreach to contract negotiation. B2B sales almost always involve multiple stakeholders, longer timelines than founders like, and higher stakes for the buyer as well as the founder. That's why each initial sale must be made by a founder. It provides crucial data on everything, from product-market fit to competition to technical considerations to deal velocity and decision-making processes.

These early deals also expose overt and hidden objections specific to business buyers, such as compliance risks, ROI justification, or implementation complexity. Savvy B2B founders use this phase not only to close as many deals as possible, but to refine product positioning, iterate on key enterprise features, and document a repeatable, consultative sales pattern.

In this article, we’ll break down how B2B founders can treat their earliest sales as structured learning experiments, extract deep operational insights from buyer behavior, and build a scalable foundation for sustainable growth, avoiding common pitfalls like mistaking early enthusiasm from a single champion for broad market demand.

Read the full post at https://theconscientiouscapitalist.com/blog/f/b2b-founders-guide-to-making-your-first-sales

06/03/2026

Agentic AI meets VH1 popup videos

Reuters reported on May 31st that Nvidia has launched a new chip to bring AI directly to personal computers.

Reading their post and what Jensen Huang is quoted as saying reminded me of a decades-long use case I still hope to see: real time factchecking a la VH1 popup videos.

What Nvidia Announced
"The RTX Spark looks to transform the traditional app-centric PC to a real useful Agentic AI personal computer which ​will eventually be in every home in coming years as private edge AI agents become pivotal," said Neil Shah, Counterpoint Research ⁠co-founder.

Sounds good to me. Honestly, I can't wait for the day when Siri understands my Pittsburghese. So long as my laptop agents are under my control and not the chip maker's, I'm looking forward to telling my laptop what I want it to do and it does it without me.

The Use Case for Truthfulness
However, after reading Huang's quotes - which I read as self-serving exaggerations at best - I found myself thinking, "When will AI be used to call out exaggerations, misrepresentations, and outright lies in real time?"

That's an agent I'd welcome.

A factchecker popup not unlike what I've dreamt about since the halcyon days of VH1's popup videos when I wished it would also popup on my screen to point out falsehoods and lies as I watched political debates. (Probably going to need exponentially more data centers for that application.)

Corporate leaders should be under the same level of scrutiny.

This announcement by Nvidia offers a couple of examples of what I see as ripe for factchecking.

Everyone's radar should activate when any CEO says things like, "This is the promise of AI. The number of engineers, software engineers, is actually increasing. People talk about AI reducing jobs - complete nonsense. It's causing more software engineers to be hired."

Imagine the reporters and people in the room looking at their phones as AI tells them as it told me....
..the statement is partly true directionally, but false rhetorically.

This isn't directed solely at Jensen

We all get what he's doing and to whom he's beholden. I just think it's an insult to our collective intelligence when any leader takes these kinds of liberties with the facts.

We're adults. Give it to us straight.

As for the integration of AI, factchecking, and popups, sign me up to beta test it.