• 1 hour 10 minutes
    Jason Cohen - Hidden Multipliers

    Double-unicorn founder (WP Engine and A Smart Bear), Jason Cohen, joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about the ideas behind his new book, Hidden Multipliers.


    We talked about using AI as a facilitator rather than an answer machine, choosing ideal customers, differentiating a consulting business, how AI is changing SaaS and software work, and why writing can help you think in public.

    Chapters

    • 00:00 - Introduction
    • 01:56 - AI Skills as Facilitators
    • 04:16 - Choosing Your Best Customers
    • 09:42 - Building Strategy Around Yourself
    • 13:40 - Defining a Market
    • 22:29 - Problems, Alternatives, and Categories
    • 27:00 - Differentiating Consulting Services
    • 33:58 - The Fear of Closing Doors
    • 38:02 - Who Hidden Multipliers Is For
    • 41:14 - AI and the Future of SaaS
    • 49:33 - Why Expertise Still Matters
    • 53:24 - Distribution and Fast Followers
    • 59:13 - Worldview as Differentiation
    • 61:03 - Writing to Think
    • 68:28 - Where to Find Jason

    Jason’s Links


    21 August 2026, 6:08 pm
  • 44 minutes 45 seconds
    Bill Sherman - Scaling Thought Leadership

    Thought leadership expert Bill Sherman joined me on Ditching Hourly to discuss how experts can scale their ideas to create impactful thought leadership. 

    Bill shares insights from his extensive experience in helping individuals and organizations codify and amplify their ideas.

    In this episode, we delve into the nuances of thought leadership, from defining it to exploring business models and the importance of a focused target audience. 

    Bill also discusses the impact equation and how to effectively communicate ideas to create lasting influence.

    • 00:00 - Introduction to Bill Sherman
    • 00:19 - Journey into Thought Leadership
    • 01:51 - Defining Thought Leadership
    • 05:41 - Emerging Thought Leaders
    • 08:44 - The Thought Leadership Handbook
    • 13:09 - Business Models of Thought Leadership
    • 16:49 - Target Audience Importance
    • 21:49 - Licensing and Certification
    • 25:09 - Alternatives to Writing a Book
    • 33:39 - Impact Equation
    • 43:47 - Final Thoughts

    Guest bio

    Bill Sherman is the COO of Thought Leadership Leverage and lead author of The Thought Leadership Handbook. For more than twenty years he's helped executives, authors, and experts take their ideas to scale — and he co-hosts the Leveraging Thought Leadership podcast, now past 700 episodes.

    11 August 2026, 10:00 am
  • 52 minutes 15 seconds
    Shannon Mattern - Strategic Pricing for Service Providers

    Pricing strategist Shannon Mattern joined me on Ditching Hourly to discuss how to present pricing options in a project proposal based on the mindset of the buyer: investment-minded, expense-minded, and hustle-minded. 

    In this episode, we dive into Shannon's Package Matrix method, a framework she developed to offer clients different levels of service and pricing options. We explore how to implement this strategy, manage client expectations, and ensure timely payments.

    • 00:00 Introduction
    • 00:25 Shannon's Background
    • 01:24 Overcoming Pricing Challenges
    • 02:24 Package Matrix Method
    • 06:23 Implementing Package Matrix
    • 10:58 Sales Process and Payment Terms
    • 17:21 Handling Client Delays
    • 20:58 Sales Cycle and Proposal Strategy
    • 28:03 Presenting Proposals
    • 39:51 Follow-up and Decision Deadlines
    • 47:19 Final Thoughts and Resources

    Shannon Mattern is a pricing strategist and the creator of the Package Matrix™ Method. She's also the host of the Profitable Web Designer and Anchor High podcasts, and founder of Web Designer Academy, where she helps women web designers move from undercharging to premium pricing. You can connect with Shannon at https://shannonmattern.com or on LinkedIn at https://linkedin.com/in/shannonmattern

    7 August 2026, 10:00 am
  • 56 minutes 6 seconds
    Wes Wheless - The Expert's Privilege

    ”Expertise whisperer” Wes Wheless joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about turning corporate expertise into a solo consulting business. We talked about his new book, The Expert's Privilege, how corporate professionals can recognize transferable expertise, why visual IP helps consultants explain their work, and what to do before making the leap from employee to independent consultant.

    Chapters

    • 01:35 - From Corporate to Consulting
    • 03:48 - Pivoting Toward Solo Consultants
    • 06:16 - Daily Email, Authority, and Visual IP
    • 11:46 - The Expert's Privilege
    • 18:36 - Why Corporate Experts Undervalue Their Skills
    • 23:23 - Excavating Your Expertise
    • 27:18 - Finding Your Zone of Genius
    • 32:44 - From Self-Examination to Market Validation
    • 35:30 - What to Do Before You Leave Corporate
    • 40:22 - A Book Is FOR Someone
    • 44:23 - Writing the Book With Support
    • 52:06 - Launch Strategy and Early Results

    About Wes

    Wes Wheless is an "expertise whisperer," founder of Develop My IP, and creator of The Lightbulb, a daily email for corporates-turned-consultants.

    After two consecutive tech layoffs, Wes traded a 20-year corporate career spanning consulting, enterprise, and startups for a solo practice helping experts turn their knowledge into IP, frameworks, and "intellectual headshots."

    Wes holds business degrees from The Wharton School and Kellogg School of Management and lives in Seattle, Washington. The Expert's Privilege is his first book.


    Links

    29 July 2026, 10:00 am
  • 55 minutes 31 seconds
    Brian Herriot - Time Freedom

    Author, financial advisor, and former management consultant Brian Herriot joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about pursuing time freedom before financial freedom.


    Brian and I talk about his new book Time Freedom, the difference between time freedom and financial freedom, how flexible work can bridge the gap, and what he learned from using early readers, workshops, and hybrid publishing to turn his ideas into a book.

    Chapters

    • (00:00) - Brian's Time Freedom Story
    • (02:58) - Why Brian Wrote the Book
    • (05:30) - Choosing Hybrid Publishing
    • (09:53) - Building the Business Behind the Book
    • (12:16) - Time Freedom vs Financial Freedom
    • (16:46) - Making Nine Months Cover Twelve
    • (19:47) - Remote Work and Flexible Work
    • (23:18) - Who Can Actually Do This?
    • (27:17) - Early Readers and Draft Feedback
    • (31:51) - Tools for Testing a Book
    • (33:32) - Testing Ideas Before Writing
    • (36:00) - Writing the First Draft
    • (40:26) - The Time Freedom Framework
    • (46:52) - Writing a Better Ending
    • (50:44) - Counterintuitive Money Advice

    Resources We Mentioned

    Guest Bio

    Brian Herriot is the founder of Time Freedom and the author of Time Freedom: Rethink Your Work and Money to Create a Life You Love Now. He is an author, speaker, registered investment advisor, financial advisor, business consultant, and co-host of The Time Freedom Podcast. His professional background includes management consulting roles at Accenture and Point B, as well as a director position at UCSF Health. Learn more at https://timefreedom.life/.

    24 July 2026, 3:23 am
  • 1 hour 2 minutes
    Jed Byrne - Self-Publishing Your First Book

    Business development director and Raleigh commercial real estate enthusiast Jed Byrne joined me on Ditching Hourly to walk through the entire process of self-publishing his first book, Start Small Selling, from idea validation to Kickstarter funding to final production.

    We cover testing your book idea with real money, writing a first draft in 35 days, running a Kickstarter campaign to fund professional editing, finding and working with developmental editors, designing a book cover on a budget, and publishing through KDP and Lulu.


    Chapters

    • (00:00) - Who Is Jed Byrne?
    • (03:19) - The Hyper-Local Newsletter
    • (07:59) - Why Write a Book?
    • (11:41) - Testing the Idea
    • (14:05) - The Writing Process
    • (21:56) - The Kickstarter
    • (31:04) - Building the Editing Team
    • (36:23) - The Timeline
    • (45:49) - Working with a Developmental Editor
    • (52:40) - Designing the Cover
    • (57:26) - Publishing with KDP and Lulu
    • (01:00:00) - Start Small, Start Now

    Guest Bio

    Jed Byrne is a business development director at Barnhill Building Group, a North Carolina-based general contracting firm. Outside his day job, he runs Oak City CRE, a platform focused on Raleigh commercial real estate that includes a weekly Substack newsletter, a podcast, consulting, and his first book, Start Small Selling. You can reach Jed at [email protected].

    Resources Mentioned In This Episode

    People

    Jed / Raleigh / AEC

    Books / Book-Building Resources

    Publishing / Production / Selling Platforms

    Podcast / Episode References

    9 July 2026, 10:00 am
  • 1 hour 14 minutes
    David Guttman - Delegating Outcomes to AI with OpenClaw

    Principal at Superstruct and author David Guttman joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about using OpenClaw and AI agents to delegate outcomes instead of micromanaging code.

    We talked about AI employees, chat-based agents, why OpenClaw feels different from coding tools, how David qualifies repeatable tasks for delegation, secure setup choices like Tailscale, and what collapsing software costs could mean for developers who still sell their time.

    • (00:00) - Introduction to David Guttman
    • (00:41) - From Superstruct Teams to AI Employees
    • (05:19) - Testing Devin Against a Human Engineer
    • (09:39) - What OpenClaw Adds to AI Agents
    • (11:40) - Vibe Coding from Anywhere
    • (15:52) - Pretending You Do Not Know How to Code
    • (21:13) - Software Quality, Risk, and Real Requirements
    • (23:56) - How OpenClaw Has Changed
    • (31:52) - Qualifying Tasks for an AI Employee
    • (37:07) - The Secure OpenClaw Setup Process
    • (40:38) - Local Machines vs Cloud Servers
    • (45:52) - Tailscale and Remote Access Security
    • (48:08) - Teaching Clients to Train Their Agent
    • (53:02) - Ask the Agent Before Asking the Expert
    • (01:00:44) - Life-Changing Client Use Cases
    • (01:03:34) - Disposable Software and the Future of Developers
    • (01:09:44) - Productivity, Pricing, and Value
    • (01:13:31) - Where to Find David


    David Guttman is the Principal at Superstruct, where he helps solopreneurs and founders set up AI employees. He is the author of The Superstruct Manifesto, as well as Fullstack Node.js and Fullstack React, and has held engineering leadership roles at Outlier.org and Interlincx after earlier work with Disney and AT&T Interactive. Learn more at davidguttman.com and david.app.

    4 July 2026, 12:49 am
  • 44 minutes 12 seconds
    Nikki Cross - The Private Podcast Book Club

    Learning and development facilitator Nikki Cross joined me on Ditching Hourly to share how she turned business books into a private podcast book club that helps members apply what they read.


    Nikki explains the mechanics of her Inner Work Business Book Club, how she uses a private podcast to turn book ideas into implementation, and why structure matters when business books are trying to change behavior instead of merely transferring information.


    Learn more about Nikki Cross and her work at The Inner Work.

    19 June 2026, 10:00 am
  • 43 minutes 8 seconds
    Shawn Yeager - AI and the Billable Hour

    Founder of Upshift, Shawn Yeager, joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about how AI is killing the billable hour and what professional services firms can do about it. 

    Jonathan and Shawn dig into judgment versus execution, what firms should commercialize after AI, why cost-cutting is only the first move, and how agent workflows change what small and midsize firms can do.

    • 00:00 - Introduction
    • 01:54 - AI and the billable hour
    • 03:56 - The judgment sandwich
    • 05:19 - Strategy, execution, and hidden value
    • 09:06 - Client conversations about AI pressure
    • 13:26 - Validating AI output
    • 15:29 - Judgment, marketing, and cost of being wrong
    • 17:07 - AI transformation and commercialization
    • 20:08 - The hard parts big firms still need humans for
    • 22:20 - Cost recovery versus new offerings
    • 25:35 - Agents as extra employees
    • 26:40 - Interns versus chiefs of staff
    • 28:44 - Scaffolding agent workflows
    • 30:12 - From chatbots to delegated workflows
    • 37:00 - AI adoption inside firms
    • 42:01 - Closing remarks

    Shawn Yeager runs Upshift, a firm focused on helping professional services firms understand what they sell after AI. His career has focused on emerging technology and getting it to market, including work on Microsoft's first browser team, the SaaS/cloud wave, mobile, Bitcoin, and AI. His background is in computer science, and his work has included sales, marketing, partnerships, consulting, Accenture, early-stage startups, and his own ventures. Learn more at upshiftco.com.

    6 June 2026, 10:00 am
  • 50 minutes 24 seconds
    Alain Chautard - Scaling Angular Certification

    Angular expert Alain Chautard rejoined me on Ditching Hourly to share how he scaled his certification business through partnerships and automation.

    Jonathan and Alain talk about turning niche expertise into a certification business, reducing support demands, using expert partners across time zones and languages, negotiating a licensing-style partnership, and what happens when a soloist plugs their business into a larger organization.

    • 00:00 - Introduction and Welcome Back
    • 03:24 - Creating the Angular Certification Program
    • 07:00 - Automating Customer Support
    • 10:04 - Scaling with Global Partnerships
    • 12:08 - Handling Certification Interviews
    • 15:04 - Partnerships and Business Growth
    • 20:05 - Negotiating a Business Partnership
    • 24:38 - Email Marketing Journey
    • 36:51 - Exploring New Content Formats
    • 38:51 - Mastermind Groups for Soloists

    Alain Chautard is a Google Developer Expert in Angular who does consulting, training, and conference/content work around the Angular framework. He created an Angular certification program after clients asked for proof of completion beyond a simple training certificate. His work now includes helping teams make architecture decisions, get up to speed with Angular, and scale the certification business through partnerships. Learn more at alainchautard.com.

    26 May 2026, 10:00 am
  • 1 hour 25 minutes
    Genevieve Hayes - Podcasting for Expertise-Based Businesses

    Data science consultant and podcast host Genevieve Hayes joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about podcasting as a boost for an expertise-based business.


    Chapters

    • 00:00 - Genevieve Hayes and Value-Driven Data Science
    • 02:27 - Committing to Start a Podcast
    • 05:35 - Simple Production Is Good Enough
    • 07:02 - First Guests and Inbound Momentum
    • 11:46 - The 100-Episode Surprises
    • 15:07 - Relationships Beat Direct Lead Gen
    • 18:12 - Pitching Guests and Building Luck Surface Area
    • 29:30 - Buyers, Peers, and Referral Paths
    • 34:58 - Almost Quitting, Seasons, and Persistence
    • 39:00 - Preparation, Editing, and Production Workflow
    • 42:18 - Editing as Learning and Content Fuel
    • 49:20 - What You Actually Need to Start
    • 58:20 - Guest Referrals, Swaps, and Live Formats
    • 68:40 - Podcasting vs. Writing for Trust
    • 78:30 - Landing Dream Guests and Wrap-Up

    Guest Bio

    Genevieve Hayes is an actuary and statistician-turned-data scientist who helps organizations improve decision-making by quantifying uncertainty, often when data is sparse. She became a soloist in early 2022 and provides data science consulting services. She also mentors data professionals who want to transform their technical skills into strategic expertise and move from tactical execution to strategic advisory roles. Genevieve hosts Value-Driven Data Science, a podcast for practicing data professionals making that technical-to-strategic shift. Learn more at Value-Driven Data Science. 

    28 April 2026, 10:00 am
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