Brandon Coates.
Writing

Thinking out loud about product and AI

Frameworks I actually use, opinions I'll defend, and the occasional case for not using AI at all.

Cut-paper collage blog header An original editorial collage with torn lavender paper, sky-blue labels, halftone shapes, fragmented type, and a bold integrated headline. FIELD NOTES / AGENTS / 001 FEATURED ↗ ONE PROMPT 45 AGENTS YOU TYPED ONE THING. SUBJECT / PORTRAIT MEDIUM / 6 MIN READ / AUGUST 2026

Nobody Is Actually Managing 45 Agents

Kicking off one agent that spins up 45 more isn't running a fleet — you typed one thing. The hard part was never producing more; the judgment layer doesn't scale, because the judgment layer is a guy.

AIAgents
How to train your AI A neo-brutalist editorial header presenting five ascending levels of AI training: prompting, RAG, knowledge graphs, fine-tuning, and training from scratch. AI / PRODUCT MANAGEMENT / BUSINESS STRATEGY FIELD GUIDE THE FIVE LEVELS OF HOW TO TRAIN YOUR AI DRAGON TRAINING? NO. PICK THE LIGHTEST TOOL THAT WORKS 1 PROMPT HOURS / DAYS 2 RAG DAYS / WEEKS 3 KNOWLEDGE GRAPH MONTHS 4 FINE-TUNE 6+ MONTHS 5 TRAIN FROM SCRATCH MAX COST MORE CONTROL → MORE DATA + TIME + COST + RISK

How To Train Your AI: The Different Levels of Dragon… I Mean AI Training!

Fine-tuning, RAG, prompting — a plain-English tour of what each level of AI training actually costs you and when it's worth it.

AIProduct ManagementBusiness Strategy
Can AI count? A neo-brutalist editorial header showing tap sequences for prime numbers entering an AI model that incorrectly declares Fibonacci, illustrating prediction without verification. AI / REASONING / PATTERN RECOGNITION CASE STUDY THE CURIOUS CASE OF CAN AI COUNT? THINKING ≠ PREDICTING INPUT / COUNT THE TAPS 02 03 05 07 11 MODEL SAYS FIBO— NACCI! CONFIDENTLY. ACTUAL PATTERN: PRIME NUMBERS → 2 / 3 / 5 / 7 / 11 PREDICTION IS NOT VERIFICATION / FLUENCY IS NOT REASONING

The Curious Case of AI Not Being Able to Think Or (Count)

Why the thing that writes you a sonnet can't reliably count the letters in it — and what that means for what you ship.

AIMachine LearningAgents
Signal Stack neu-brutalist blog header A cobalt headline block with bold cream typography, acid-green accents, coral tags, heavy black outlines, and offset shadows. PLAYBOOK / PRODUCT / 002 READ → IDEAS ARE CHEAP. FINDING THE OPPORTUNITY WORTH EXECUTING 01 FEATURE IDEAS / EXECUTION / OPPORTUNITY BRANDONMCOATES.COM

How To Uncover Product Opportunities: The Perfect Balance Between Ideas and Execution

Ideas are cheap and execution is expensive. Here's how to find the opportunities worth spending execution on.

Product ManagementIdeationDesign Thinking
Signal Stack neu-brutalist blog header A cobalt headline block with bold cream typography, acid-green accents, coral tags, heavy black outlines, and offset shadows. JOURNAL / BUILDING / 005 READ → IDEA TO PROTOTYPE WHAT FIVE DAYS ACTUALLY BUYS YOU 01 FEATURE BUILD / SHIP / LEARN / REPEAT BRANDONMCOATES.COM

How To Build An Idea From Nothing To A Prototype in 5 Days

A compressed, opinionated path from a vague idea to something a real person can click on by Friday.

Product ManagementEntrepreneurshipStartup
Split Editorial neu-brutalist blog header A coral field split by a cream editorial panel and black information rail with oversized typography and geometric target forms. PLAYBOOK / STRATEGY IS IT VIABLE? TAM AND REVENUE IN 7 MINUTES A FAST PULSE-CHECK / BEFORE YOU COMMIT BUSINESS / STARTUP Estimate the market, sanity-check revenue, decide in minutes. READ MORE

Is Your Idea Really Business Viable? How To Quickly Pulse Check Business Viability

A fast, unglamorous viability check you can run before you fall any further in love with your idea.

BusinessStrategyStartup
Quote and opinion blog header An opinion-led neo-brutalist header with an oversized ember quotation mark, a hard-shadowed paper quote card, and bold author metadata. REVIEW / BOOKS / 003 POINT OF VIEW THE QUOTE IS THE IMAGE THE VERDICT “40% NEW, 60% REPACKAGED.” — BRANDON COATES REVIEWS / BOOKS / CONTRARIAN TAKES

A Controversial Book Review: Marty Cagan's Transformed

I finished Transformed and The Mom Test in the same week. One made the top shelf. The other is 340 pages where only 40% is new — here's the scorecard against its own three big goals.

Product ManagementBooks
Diagram and explainer blog header A neo-brutalist editorial flow diagram using three bold colored stages, thick arrows, utility labels, and an oversized title rail. GUIDE / AI / 003 SYSTEM THE PATH SKILL UP IN AI STEP BY STEP → 1 KAGGLE LEARN BY DOING 2 COURSES DEEPLEARNING.AI 3 SHIP BUILD SOMETHING REAL KEY TAKEAWAY EVERYONE CLAIMS AI. FEW HAVE SHIPPED IT. HOW TO ACTUALLY UPSKILL IN AI

How to Actually Upskill in AI (Not Just Use ChatGPT)

Everyone claims GenAI experience; most have just used ChatGPT. The Kaggle-to-DeepLearning.ai path I hand anyone who asks how to genuinely learn this stuff.

AILearning
Quote and opinion blog header An opinion-led neo-brutalist header with an oversized ember quotation mark, a hard-shadowed paper quote card, and bold author metadata. REVIEW / BOOKS / 004 POINT OF VIEW THE QUOTE IS THE IMAGE THE VERDICT “126 PAGES, ZERO FILLER.” — BRANDON COATES REVIEWS / BOOKS / HALL OF FAME

The Mom Test Earns the Top Shelf

126 pages, zero filler, and it shows you what good and bad customer conversations actually look like instead of staying theoretical. Welcome to the Hall of Fame shelf.

Product ManagementBooksCustomer Discovery
Type and pattern blog header A type-first neo-brutalist header with oversized words, an optical spiral, strict modular framing, and hard offset shadows. ESSAY / IDEAS / 002 2026 MAKE IT STICK. TYPE IS THE IMAGE WHY YOUR 10X IDEA GOT FORGOTTEN READ THE STORY ↗

Why Your 10x Idea Got Forgotten

You proved the ROI and two weeks later nobody remembered the deck. 10x ideas are a dime a dozen — memorable ones aren't. The first three principles of sticky ideas.

StorytellingProduct Management
Cut-paper collage blog header An original editorial collage with torn lavender paper, sky-blue labels, halftone shapes, fragmented type, and a bold integrated headline. PROJECT / AI / 001 FEATURED ↗ MEET BRANDY MY RESUME, AS A CHATBOT. SUBJECT / PORTRAIT LINKEDIN / 3 MIN READ / NOV 2021

Meet Brandy, My Chatbot Assistant

I turned my resume into an IBM Watson chatbot: the average resume gets six seconds, I wanted fifteen minutes. The original Brandy — she's come a long way since.

AIChatbotsProjects
Diagonal Dispatch neu-brutalist blog header A dark editorial header cut by a tilted acid-green headline banner, cobalt dotted field, coral block, and high-contrast utility labels. NOTES NO. 001 3 TAKEAWAYS ARE YOU LISTENING? WAIT — WHY AM I TALKING? THREE HABITS FROM A REFORMED KNOW-IT-ALL. LEADERSHIP / 2 MIN READ

Are You Really Listening? Three Takeaways

WAIT — Why Am I Talking? Three habits I took from Kevin Sharer's piece on going from know-it-all bully to someone who actually listens.

Leadership