IN THIS WEEK’S NEWSLETTER:

• 🚀 The AI Learning Mindset

• ✅ Work, Live, And Play At Sea

• 🔥 AI Tool of the Month

• 🔍 This Month’s Clubhouse Schedule

Listen to this newsletter👇

🚀 The AI Learning Mindset 

Change makes most people nervous.

Not me though, I thrive on it. 

Corporate giants spend billions avoiding it. Risk aversion is baked into their DNA.

I saw it during three years at the top of a Fortune 500 company.

That resistance creates an opening.

Enter the entrepreneur. 

Entrepreneurs move fast, solve problems and ride new waves to build wealth.

Look at crypto exchanges: none of the top platforms are banks and all of them are relatively recent startups after 2010…. Binance, MEXC, Gate, Bitget, Bybit, Upbit, OKX, HTX, Coinbase and Crypto.com. 

Startups captured an entire market while Wall Street watched from the sidelines.

AI is the next wave.

ChatGPT jumped from 1 million to 100 million weekly active users within two months of launch and hit 800 million by July 2025. 

Today 92 % of Fortune 500 companies use ChatGPT. McKinsey says generative AI could add up to $4.4 trillion to the global economy every year.

That’s bigger than any previous tech shift.

But who cares about these statistics?

The reality is that this massive change has created an opportunity for entrepreneurs who want to use AI to unleash creativity, productivity, and wealth. 

The key to success: An AI learning mindset. 

In Start. Scale. Exit. Repeat. we talk about a concept called “minor-majors.” A minor amount of effort could have a major impact. And with AI that equation has 100X the impact. 

I’ve used AI to help create a hit video…check out the Made in America video which hit 100 000 views in 72 hours.

I created the song after entering in the lyrics and then had Google Veo3 create all of the videos.

I have also become an expert in developing ads with AI and sending them to our agency.

Check out this penguin!

The key to wealth creation today is focusing on how you can solve problems or seize opportunities by using AI. 

It’s all about a mindset. 

Even in my personal life, I’ve now turned to it. I’ve asked an AI to diagnose a warning light on my boat.

I’ve generated songs and videos for family birthdays.

It nearly brought my 85 year old mother to tears when we played the song at her birthday party.

And you know what it was pretty catchy. 

Entrepreneurs must also rethink how products get discovered. Instead of wading through Google ads, I asked an AI engine to recommend a 60-inch bathtub with the highest water capacity for one of our Airbnbs.

It delivered three options instantly. 

Then it hit me.

If I am doing this for my products or services, then my customers are doing the same to recommend products or services in my industry. 

AI systems pull from trusted sources: Wikipedia, reputable news outlets, industry sites, market data aggregators, official company pages, academic papers, government portals, review sites, online forums and business databases. 

Here is an old notion: Traditional PR matters again.

When we announced that Start. Scale. Exit. Repeat. won 31 awards, AI tools updated their answers within hours (see below). 

Prior queries had been quoting an outdated press release from a competing book even though it was publicly available information that Start. Scale. Exit. Repeat. had won more awards than any other book.

The only explanation I can give is that AI’s are lazy. We need to wake them up. 

Living in the future means surrounding yourself with AI.

I subscribe to dozens of AI platforms and read as much as I can. I also play and create stuff to mess around, but also work hard to use AI to create wealth. 

AI will never replace the entrepreneur, but they will amplify the ideas of those who move fast and embrace change.

Change is inevitable.

The only question is whether you let it happen to you or lead it.

— Colin C. Campbell

P.S. Did you enjoy Start. Scale. Exit. Repeat.?

If you haven’t already, I’d be so grateful if you shared your thoughts in an Amazon review. 

Your feedback helps other entrepreneurs discover the book!

Disclaimer: Startup Club and its AI resources are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Consult a qualified lawyer for legal matters.

📢 Today’s Clubhouse!

Don’t miss today’s clubhouse at 2pm EST- AI’s Great Divide: The Haves, the Have-Nots, and What It Means for Entrepreneurs

AI is advancing at unprecedented speed. Some entrepreneurs have the tools and capital to keep pace, while others risk being left behind. This discussion explores what the growing AI divide means for founders, startups, and innovators.

• How can entrepreneurs leverage AI to stay ahead of the competition?

• What risks do founders face if they fail to adopt AI?

• Which strategies can bridge the gap between AI “haves” and “have-nots”?

✅ Work, Live, And Play At Sea: Crescent Seas Reinvents Life And Business On The Water

In the post-pandemic world, work has been redefined in ways we never imagined. Now a new frontier is opening up, not on land, but at sea.

Enter Crescent Seas, a venture designed for those who want to blend life, work, and adventure on the open water.

The idea first struck me on a trip to Iceland aboard a Royal Caribbean ship. Thanks to Starlink, I was able to jump on Zoom calls, record podcasts, and do interviews right from the ship.

The one thing missing?

A real place to work.

Even in the private lounges, I’d often get weird looks from vacationers who wanted nothing to do with business when I was talking on the phone or on a Zoom call.

Still, I couldn’t shake the thought: what if you could work at sea?

What if you could build a startup, run a podcast, or promote your business around the world, all from the deck of a ship?

With SpaceX bringing reliable, high-speed internet to virtually every corner of the globe, the possibility suddenly became very real.

Residential cruise ships are still rare. There’s The World, launched in 2002 and geared toward retirees, and the budget-friendly Villa Vie Odyssey, which hit the water last year.

Crescent Seas is taking things further, announcing that two former Norwegian Cruise Line ships will be converted into luxury floating residences.

The first to debut will be the Crescent Navigator, once known as the Regent’s Navigator of the Seas.

Crescent Seas offers private residences at sea, complete with kitchens, daily housekeeping, butler services, and onboard healthcare.

The ship will feature multiple restaurants, lounges, and the kind of high-end amenities you’d expect from a luxury cruise line.

But here’s where it gets interesting:

“Crescent Seas also offers co-working and meeting rooms suitable for collaborative or professional use. These spaces will be flexible and service-oriented, comparable to co-working environments like WeWork,” a spokesperson told me.

With high-speed internet throughout the ship, working professionals can take conference calls, trade markets, or even run AI servers, all while watching the waves roll by.

• High-speed internet? ✅

• Meeting rooms? ✅

• Ergonomic workspaces? ✅

For digital nomads like myself, it offers a new way to live and work without compromise.

One question bothers me, though: Will residential cruise ships like Crescent’s Navigator unlock creativity and innovation for their residents, or will their many distractions chip away at productivity?

Only time will tell.

My wife and I plan to find out firsthand when we join the ship in early 2027.

For us, the lifestyle fits perfectly.

It means I can continue sharing my book Start. Scale. Exit. Repeat. around the world, then wrap up the day with a glass of wine in the lounge, watching icebergs drift past our new home at sea.

🚀 Check out the full article 

🔥 AI Tool of the Month

 This month’s AI tool of the month is… Chat GPT’s Agent Mode!

My dream AI was featured in the movie “Her”.

I really want someone to know everything about me and be able to function by doing things.

Agent mode by ChatGPT might be the first step: Agent mode is better than just asking questions because it can perform real-world actions, not just provide answers.

Key Reasons:

• Automates tasks: Can search, book, or summarize without manual effort.

• Real-time results: Fetches the most current information directly.

• Convenience: Saves time by handling multiple steps in a process for the user.

• Personalization: Takes instructions and tailors actions to user needs.

1. Enable Agent Mode in ChatGPT

Log in to ChatGPT as a Pro user. Click the tool selection dropdown and choose ‘agent mode.’ This unlocks the AI’s ability to act on your instructions, not just answer questions.

2. Give a Clear, Multi-Step Task Brief

In plain language, outline what you need:

‘Find the top five AI news items this week, summarize each, and create a slide deck with brief descriptions and source links.’

The more specific your instructions, the better the results.

3. Let the Agent Work With Your Oversight

The agent navigates news sites, gathers updates, and synthesizes summaries. If it needs to log in or submit a form, it’ll pause and ask for your approval, so nothing happens without your say-so

4. Review & Approve Actions

As it works, you’ll get prompts to approve sensitive steps—like accessing a paid news site or connecting to your Google account for slides. This keeps you in control and ensures security.

5. Receive Ready-to-Use Outputs

The agent delivers a Google Slides deck (or PowerPoint), complete with formatted summaries and links. You can download, edit, or share as needed—no more copy-pasting between tools

6. Tweak & Re-Run as Needed

Want to change the format or add a section? Just give new instructions, and the agent adapts.

The entire process takes minutes, not hours.

📅 This Month’s Clubhouse Schedule!

Friday September 19th at 2pm — Serial Entrepreneur: Secrets Revealed

Joel Gandara, a seasoned entrepreneur, shares the lessons learned from building, scaling, and selling multiple businesses. This candid conversation uncovers the strategies, mindset, and practical advice behind his entrepreneurial journey.

• What key habits and disciplines drive Joel’s success across ventures?

• How does he evaluate when it’s time to scale or exit a business?

• What advice does he have for founders navigating today’s startup landscape?

🚀 Is it Time to Sell?

Time to Sell Index: → 22 out of 100.

What does this mean?

Based on our latest estimates, the TTSI remains at 22 out of 100 today. This is still a significant improvement but still indicates a buyer’s market rather than a seller’s market.

While the IPO market is recovering, valuations for smaller companies tend to lag 6-12 months behind IPO rebounds.

Additional factors, such as lower interest rates, private equity activity, and venture capital flows, can also impact acquisition opportunities.

🔥 Check Me Out on TikTok!

@startupclubhq

Delegation isn’t about offloading tasks; it’s about empowering others with responsibility. As entrepreneurs, we grow by focusing on the bi... See more

🚀 How to Support Startup Club

Thank you for reading along for another issue of the StartUp Club newsletter!

You can further support StartUp.Club by:

1. Sharing it with a friend or fellow entrepreneur! We’ve got a great referral program!

2. Responding to this email and letting me know what you think.

3. Picking up your copy of Start. Scale. Exit. Repeat.

And if you made it this far, thank you for reading.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of the StartUp.Club Newsletter.

— Colin C. Campbell

Entrepreneur Fact of the Month: About 62% of U.S. billionaires are self-made entrepreneurs.