Unlocking AI’s Potential for Small Businesses: A Guide for CTOs

In the dynamic world of technology that is constantly evolving, small businesses are increasingly looking to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to drive innovation, efficiency, and growth. If you’re a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of a small business, you’re in a pivotal position to steer your company toward success by strategically implementing AI. This blog explores the myriad opportunities AI offers and how it can revolutionize your business operations. From leveraging proprietary data and embeddings to simplifying complex forms and using code completion tools, we’ll dive deep into the practical applications of AI that can make a substantial impact on your organization. Join us on this journey as we unravel the dynamic thread of AI in the grand tapestry of business evolution.

In this post, Founder and CEO/CTO of FYC Labs Justin Fortier talks about five concrete steps you can immediately take to leverage AI effectively and bring your business to the next level.

Effective team building strategies for retaining top talent

The Dynamic Duo of Proprietary Data and AI

In the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, a game-changing trend is taking center stage: the fusion of domain-specific knowledge with Chat GPT. If you’ve previously collected precious proprietary data through your application or you have crafted a data aggregator, this data can be reused for content creation purposes. Think dozens super super-optimized landing pages that take your domain knowledge to the next level created in minutes, not months.

The powerful new approach comes with using AI to add depth and character to your content beyond mere statistics and data dumps. It’s no longer sufficient to merely present the data. Now, we’re diving deeper by combining your proprietary data with a touch of AI magic. That crafts content that’s richer and more valuable for your users. The ultimate goal? Gaining a competitive edge in the ever-important SEO landscape, all while sticking to the best practices that drive you forward.

The goal is not just to produce new pages. To truly thrive, you should master the art of proper SEO structures and ensure seamless indexing, along with employing the right tagging techniques. By adopting these invaluable practices, you can set your business on a trajectory toward success.

Embeddings and String Matching

AI and Chat GPT are more than just tools for creating chatbots. They go far beyond simple prompt and response interactions. Diving into the world of vectors and embeddings can open up many possibilities. Think of embeddings as mathematical representations of content, phrases, quotes, summaries, etc.

By understanding embeddings, you can venture into the realm of content comparison, offering exciting opportunities for matchmaking applications. Utilizing OpenAI’s open API to create these embeddings empowers your application to perform captivating matchmaking tasks, especially for two-sided marketplaces seeking to connect buyers and sellers. It presents a powerful opportunity to harness the full potential of AI’s capabilities.

Embrace the Diverse Opportunities

OpenAI is undoubtedly the prominent language model, widely known for its convenience and ubiquity, making it highly accessible. However, it’s essential to recognize that other platforms have also made significant strides in the field of language models. If you are looking to browse over language models, check out Tensor Hub. It serves as an open-source AI model repository, offering a plethora of language models for anyone to access and utilize.

OpenAI’s achievements have sparked curiosity among many about these large language models. The best part? You don’t need to feel overwhelmed to collect vast amounts of data to train your custom models. With these pre-trained models readily available, your journey becomes smoother and more efficient.

Tensor Hub houses a rich collection of models, just waiting for you to experiment and delve into their capabilities. So, consider venturing beyond OpenAI and embrace the diverse opportunities awaiting you in the realm of accessible language models.

Leveraging AI Completions to Simplify Cumbersome Forms

One valuable aspect of our approach involves helping your users within the app through completions. Integrating completions is easy and can significantly enhance your application’s functionality. By leveraging pre-existing context data, we assist users in generating descriptions and swiftly navigating through complex forms. Imagine effortlessly inputting your company’s name, industry, and years in business, and watch as a description for your business is automatically generated, simplifying the process for filling out cumbersome forms.

With AI, we can reduce the friction associated with numerous long-form entries. By analyzing previous answers, the AI predicts and pre-fills subsequent form fields, creating a seamless flow for users to complete the required information. This innovative approach has proven to be incredibly beneficial for our clients, especially those with substantial projects or business descriptions to detail.

Navigating surveys can often lead to survey fatigue. However, with the help of completions powered by OpenAI, using their OpenAI SDK, JavaScript SDK, or any of their APIs, users go through the completion process so easily. This implementation has been remarkably successful, enhancing overall user experience. We’ve witnessed firsthand how this simple integration of AI can make a world of difference in creating a better user experience for everyone involved.

Utilizing a Variety of Code Completion Tools

Back when we were all budding programmers, Stack Overflow was our daily go-to. Learning alongside fellow boot campers, we often resorted to copy-pasting code snippets from Stack Overflow during our early learning days.

As a developer, it’s easy to spot when someone has taken that approach because suddenly their coding style and variable naming conventions differ from their usual practices – a clear sign of copy-pasting.

Even now, as we utilize OpenAI or any other powerful tools, we must retain the same level of awareness we had while learning on Stack Overflow. It’s essential to verify the code we receive and not blindly accept it. We can’t just rely on AI to produce flawless code; understanding what we’re doing is still essential.

However, these AI tools do offer significant shortcuts. Take, for instance, the task of writing an algorithm to calculate compound interest. You could try to recall the formula from a finance class or search for it on Google and attempt to implement it yourself. Or you can leverage OpenAI to efficiently generate a compound interest calculator in JavaScript, saving you valuable time and effort.

The biggest advantage is that AI tools minimize the time spent on menial tasks in a quickly implemented simple algorithm. It proves a highly effective solution that shortens the overall working time on a product. However, it won’t revolutionize your architecture or offer business solutions. Understanding the problem at hand remains our task.

We’ve been benefiting from various productivity tools, such as code auto-completion and TypeScript’s ability to look up types, for quite some time. These advancements continue to make us more efficient and productive.

Over-reliance on AI can lead to errors since it’s not flawless. Human error is always a factor. There’s a risk of developing an overconfidence in the tool’s capabilities and blindly trusting it without truly comprehending what’s happening. This fear of AI centers around the concern that we might become overly dependent on its power without fully understanding its limits.

Some developers used Stack Overflow to copy-paste solutions, thinking they were proficient engineers. They ended up creating unmaintainable and unsustainable projects, which is a parallel risk with AI. If not used wisely, it can lead us to venture beyond our expertise, potentially leading to broken or malfunctioning outcomes. When employing AI to read code, caution is essential.

In the grand tapestry of business evolution, AI emerges as a dynamic thread, weaving innovation, efficiency, and growth. As you navigate this transformative landscape, embracing AI’s potential while staying grounded in your understanding will undoubtedly shape a successful path forward.

Building Your Tech Stack: Essential Software Tools for a Startup’s Success

In today’s digital age, technology plays an essential role in the success of any startup. As a result, building a strong and effective tech stack is crucial for a company’s growth and sustainability. The right combination of software tools can streamline business operations, increase productivity, and improve communication and collaboration within a team. However, with the abundance of options available in the market, choosing the right tools can be overwhelming. In this article, we will discuss the essential software tools that startups should consider incorporating into their tech stack to enhance their chances of success.

In order to successfully run a business, you need to rely on a tailored set of software tools that are specific to the size and stage of your company. While there is no universal stack that can be applied across all businesses, it is essential to identify the appropriate software for each phase of the business. In this post we are going to talk about the essential software tools for a startup’s success.

FYC Labs’ Founder and CEO/CTO Justin Fortier shares his preferred tech stack for a small business:

When it comes to running a business, I have a tailored stack for businesses of different sizes. One software cannot fit all, so it’s crucial to use the right tools for each business phase.

In the startup phase

For a team of one or two, the essential tools are Trello, Asana for basic to-do lists, and Notion for organizing content and writing. Notion is also great for sharing notes and memos with potential investors and incorporating charts, tables, and surveys.

As the business matures

With enough capital, organization, and employees, it’s time to bring in more sophisticated project management tools like ClickUp or Asana. Remote teams can incorporate Slack or Telegram, while Mac users can use Mac Messenger. Spark is a useful email tool for keeping all your emails in one place. Figma and Proto IO are excellent for prototyping, and Canva is great for creating marketing materials.

For a full-blown project management system

ClickUp or Jira is ideal, while Toggle is useful for time tracking. Quickbooks is an excellent choice for accounting, with a robust ecosystem of accountants, bookkeepers, and freelancers available for help. Solo entrepreneurs can opt for Fresh Books, and Air Table is perfect for keeping track of data, cataloging employees, and creating organization charts.

WordPress is still the king of website tech stacks, with many excellent plugins available. Bootstrap is an ideal CSS framework for coding faster, with responsive predefined classes. Bootstrap is also ADA compliant, making it easy to find developers who use it. React is perfect for front-end development, for both mobile and web applications, while GraphQL and Expres are popular choices for back-ends. Typescript is a great option, as it prevents type errors.

Javascript is an ideal language for front and back-end coding, with the same language working for both. A full-stack developer is one who can do front-end and back-end coding, and some infrastructure work like cloud setup and low-level Linux in shell scripting. A full-stack developer who can do everything across the board is highly sought after in the industry.”

Here’s a breakdown of different types of software stack:

1. Project Management Software

Firstly, startups should consider investing in project management tools to ensure efficient workflow and task delegation. These tools provide a centralized platform for team members to collaborate, assign tasks, and monitor project progress. They also enable teams to work remotely, stay on track with deadlines, and eliminate the need for endless email threads or in-person meetings. By integrating a CRM tool, startups can enhance customer satisfaction, track sales activities, and gain valuable insights into customer behavior to improve their products or services. Check out:

Trello
Asana
Miro
Notion
Monday
Wrike
Jira
ClickUp
Celoxis
Airtable
Toggle (time tracking)

2. Customer Relationship Management Software

Another essential software tool that startups should consider incorporating into their tech stack is customer relationship management (CRM) software. CRM software helps companies manage their interactions with customers, clients, and sales prospects, enabling them to better understand their needs and preferences.
Popular CRM software options include:

Salesforce
HubSpot
Zoho
Oracle Netsuite
Customer.io
Monday
Pipedrive

3. Communication and Collaboration Software

Communication and collaboration software is an important component of any startup’s tech stack. This software is designed to facilitate teamwork, enabling team members to work together seamlessly and efficiently, regardless of their location. Communication and collaboration software allows team members to share files, send messages, and host virtual meetings, improving productivity and communication. Popular communication and collaboration tools include:

Slack
Microsoft Teams
Zoom
Telegram
Spark
Trello
Asana
Miro
Wrike
Jira

To select the right communication and collaboration software, startups should consider their team’s size and location, the features they need, and their budget. Choosing the right software can enhance a startup’s ability to collaborate effectively, leading to improved performance and growth.

4. Accounting and Finance Software

Another crucial part of a startup’s tech stack is an accounting and finance software, enabling the management of financial transactions, budgeting, and forecasting. This software can help startups monitor their cash flow, automate financial processes, and generate financial reports for analysis. Check out:

QuickBooks
Xero
FreshBooks
QuickBooks
Netsuite

Think again of your financial needs, the size of your team, and your budget. All hose platforms help startups streamline financial processes, but to reduce the risk of errors and make informed decisions based on accurate financial data, you need to pick the right fit for your company.

5. Marketing and Sales Software

Marketing and sales software is a crucial component of a startup’s tech stack, enabling the automation of marketing and sales processes. This software can help startups generate leads, manage customer relationships, and measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. Popular marketing and sales tools include:

Cus
HubSpot
Marketo
Pardot
Figma (prototyping)
Canva (marketing materials)

By using a similar tools you save time and resources, improve your customer engagement, and increase revenue growth.

Building a strong tech stack is crucial for any startup’s success. By choosing the right software tools, startups can streamline their operations, increase productivity, and improve communication and collaboration within their teams. By investing in project management and CRM tools, startups can better manage their tasks and customer relationships, respectively, leading to better business outcomes and long-term sustainability.

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Navigating AI for Businesses: Expert Insights from FYC Labs

Building a Strong Team: Strategies for Retaining Top Talent

Why Retaining Talent Matters

Retaining exceptional talent is a critical factor in achieving success for any team or organization. These are the employees who bring exceptional skills, knowledge, and experience to the table and are highly motivated to contribute to the success of the team. Losing such talent can be costly both in terms of the resources spent on recruiting, training, and onboarding new employees, as well as in terms of the impact on team performance and productivity. Additionally, the loss of top talent can have a demoralizing effect on the remaining team members, leading to a further decline in performance and retention. It is essential to prioritize the retention of the top talent in a team to maintain a high level of performance and productivity and to create a positive work environment that fosters growth and development.

In the article below, Justin Fortier, FYC Labs’ Founder and CEO/CTO, offers valuable insights on retaining employees along with effective team-building strategies for retaining top talent. He highlights the importance of creating a positive work environment that encourages empowerment, growth, and open communication.

Nurturing Employee Growth: FYC Labs’ CEO/CTO Shares a Culture of Valuing Contributions

To keep our great employees at FYC Labs, we prioritize self-awareness and authenticity and eliminate artificial cultures. For me, authenticity is really important. I’ve seen organizations promote specific values because they believe it makes a nice poster for their office wall or because they’ve heard that approach retains employees. However, if they can’t authentically live that same culture and they’re not genuine, it will be noticed by the employees, and they’ll sense the lack of authenticity. It comes across as a contrived culture, and despite offering more money and better benefits, the employees don’t feel like they’re experiencing authenticity in their job, so they leave.

As CEO, I have made a conscious effort to avoid making exaggerated promises and refrain from incorporating any systems or programs into the company that do not align with my personal values. It is essential for the CEO to wholeheartedly support initiatives; otherwise, they are likely to encounter obstacles and possibly result in the departure of valuable team members.

To retain your employees effectively, it’s essential to allow them room to make mistakes, recognizing that people have a genuine desire to contribute meaningfully. Authenticity fosters an environment where learning is encouraged, and questions are welcomed.

Fostering Purpose-Driven Employee Engagement and Role Flexibility

Employees highly value a sense of purpose; they want to feel that their work matters. Each employee’s role at our company is carefully designed to align with our genuine needs, not just to fill checkboxes. If the initial role isn’t adding value to the business, we support them in transitioning to a more impactful role and potentially move them back later. We’ve learned that most people are eager to contribute in ways that might not precisely align with their original job description, rather than remaining idle and not utilizing their skills for their intended purpose.

Promoting a Supportive Culture: Embracing Imposter Syndrome and Encouraging Curiosity

Imposter syndrome is common in our industry and many others; it never truly goes away. Acknowledging this shared experience helps our employees feel more comfortable, knowing they aren’t alone. As a result, they feel at ease asking questions, aware that the person next to them might feel uncomfortable asking the same question too. So again, create a culture where asking questions is acceptable.

When a junior engineer joins our team, I make it a point to communicate the following message: “I am aware of your current skill level, and there’s no need for you to pretend to know everything because I am fully aware of your capabilities and deliberately hired you with that understanding. Your hiring was not based on deception but rather on a clear assessment of your skills. We have placed you in a position where you can thrive and succeed. Acknowledging that there may be mistakes along the way is what ties back to the importance of authenticity. We recognize your potential for growth and development, and we are genuinely invested in witnessing your learning journey within our organization.”

At FYC Labs, we firmly believe that authenticity, open communication, and growth are the pillars of a positive working culture. Exploiting people is not only unjust but also against our principles; we are committed to avoiding such practices. Our approach doesn’t involve simply throwing money at the situation to attract talent. Instead, we focus on fostering an environment where individuals who value integrity and seek meaningful experiences can thrive. We believe that by prioritizing these values, we can create a fulfilling and lasting work environment for our team members.

Effective Team-building Strategies for Retaining Top Talent

1. Emphasize Authenticity and Self-Awareness:

Prioritize authenticity over contrived cultures.
Ensure that company values align with genuine beliefs and actions.
Encourage open communication and honest feedback from all levels.

2. Create a Sense of Purpose:

Help employees understand the significance of their roles within the company.
Avoid hiring individuals just to fill checkboxes; ensure their work adds real value.
Support employees in pivoting to roles where they can contribute meaningfully.

3. Foster a Culture of Learning and Growth:

Give employees space to make mistakes and learn from them.
Encourage a comfortable environment for asking questions and seeking help.
Share the common experience of imposter syndrome to make employees feel supported and not alone.

4. Provide Transparent Expectations:

Set clear expectations during the hiring process regarding skill levels.
Encourage junior employees to embrace their learning curve without fear of judgment.
Demonstrate a commitment to helping employees succeed and grow in their roles.

5. Align Values with Company Culture:

Continuously align company values with actions and decisions.
Reward and recognize behaviors that exemplify the core values of the organization.
Develop a strong sense of community and belonging among team members.

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Meet FYC Labs Founder and CEO/CTO – Justin Fortier

Justin Fortier, the Founder and CEO/CTO of FYC Labs, is a visionary leader who has been at the forefront of web and product development for years. He is also currently serving as a CTO, VP of engineering, and Advisor for several companies. With his strong background in these fields and his passion for innovation and growth, Justin has created a company where people truly are the best product to offer.

As the CEO and CTO of FYC Labs, Justin is responsible for guiding the company’s overall strategy and direction. He is dedicated to ensuring that the company continues to grow and evolve, and is always on the lookout for new opportunities to innovate and make a positive impact in the world of web development and graphic design.

With a mission to create high-level products and web platforms that take businesses to a whole new level, FYC Labs has grown internationally over the last few years, working with a wide range of clients, from small start-ups to large corporations.

Tell us a little bit about the beginning of FYC.

The company was founded in 2012 when I was working at a cocktail lounge in San Diego called El Dorado. I saw how successful the owners were and wanted to start my own business. Pablo, who was doing comics and memes at a company in San Francisco, came back and asked for a job as a busboy. But I couldn’t give him that role as he was the most talented designer I knew. So I asked him to join me in starting a business, and he agreed.

We had a third partner, Athena, who joined us later. With just $1500, we rented a tiny office in East Village, San Diego, and started doing flyers and menus for El Dorado. We gradually built our network in the restaurant industry and hosted small music or art events. The turning point was when Paola joined us and introduced us to a new network of people. She replaced Athena as the third owner and brought in an investor from Mexico City. This led to us working with American companies pivoting into Mexico, including Remax, which catapulted us into becoming a software development company. The first year was tough as some clients didn’t pay, leaving us broke. But we survived and had a lot of fun.

How would you define the leadership style of FYC?

We leverage a “systems approach”, meaning we use as much automation and technology as we can for traceability and accountability. Rather than us having to constantly monitor our employees with conversations and check-ins or micromanaging, we just use our project management tools- our time tracking, some custom build software to send reminders to our team, to hold people accountable for missed or overdue tasks.

Running FYC is like conducting an orchestra- you don’t need to sit there and play the individual parts, you just need to make sure everything’s in concert. All the different pieces, all kinds of work, just like in a concert. And that’s because we have written a lot of automation and it feels like there are many people doing things, but there really aren’t. Our leadership and management team is pretty small- it’s about one manager to every 10 people.

What makes a company successful and what are the signs in FYC that you see of being successful?

Success comes from the people that you surround yourself with, whether it’s the clients that you have, the employees that you hire, the contractors and vendors you use, or the network you create. I’m lucky that I’ve been surrounded by a lot of great people who have been really supportive and you know really carried the company over the years. Once you’ve found your tribe and the people who will help you through and support you, then you start working on systems. Systems are more important than your product, ideas, or creativity. The ultimate foundation lies within well-structured systems.

What we really strive for it’s for our systems to be on point. If I was in a manufacturing environment, I could try to control everything and set up process, run by machines. But in a services business trying to keep people on systems is a full-time gig. Businesses are successful when systems are on point. You can survive whatever market elements are out there as long as you have a solid system. It’s not always about having the best product, or the best marketing. The best systems attract the best people. If you come to a place where the systems are chaos and you don’t feel like you’re respected by the team enough to build an infrastructure and a system for you to work in, you’re going to want to quit.

When you talk about attracting and retaining talent, having good systems is probably more important than perks and pay. Our systems will never be perfect, but we strive for incremental improvement every day so we can deliver the best possible results for our clients.

What is your favorite thing about working at FYC?

One of the things I really love about working at FYC is seeing the transformation of people from the moment they join us. They didn’t know they could have a life in technology, engineering or design, or marketing. They didn’t even know this was something for them, because they didn’t go to school for that or they didn’t know enough people. It’s incredibly fulfilling to watch them grow in their careers, develop their competencies, build their confidence, and improve their overall quality of life. It’s kind of like a parent feeling when your kids are successful, I get a lot of pride in seeing that. And I know that we’ve facilitated those life-changing events for many of those people, so that to me is the best part.

What motivates you?

Our employees are also our customers- we provide them with opportunities. That’s what motivates me- giving them more opportunities. I look at where many of them came from and that they didn’t know they would have an opportunity to work at a place like this, or on the technology side.

It’s important to remember that employees are looking for more than just a salary and benefits. They want to be a part of a company that aligns with their values and allows them to grow and make a meaningful contribution. Throwing money at the problem will only retain employees for a short time. It’s important to have integrity and create a work environment that provides a sense of purpose.

Another thing that motivates me is seeing how my work in creating technical architecture or rewriting reusable code can benefit others, as well as contribute to sales. When I think about a sale, I’m not thinking about “Oh, this is great for the bottom line and the money”. It’s like “Oh cool, this gives person X a job now”. Or this gives someone else a really cool project to work on.

What is your biggest achievement during your journey with FYC?

A career milestone for me is to see the lives we’ve touched, and the opportunities we’ve given. I am proud to say that we’ve provided opportunities for many individuals who were previously overlooked. Our 10-year anniversary was a culmination of the immense impact we’ve had on so many people’s lives over the years. It was amazing to have everybody in San Diego together and make it to that milestone, to see the lives we’ve touched, and the opportunities we’ve given.

What is the most challenging project you’ve worked on?

One of our most difficult projects was with Remax Mexico, our first major client. It was a challenge because we were a small team at the time and we didn’t have much support. Additionally, the project was in Spanish, which was not our native language. We had to build and integrate everything under high pressure, as we wanted to exceed the client’s expectations. Meeting the client’s urgent timeline and user expectations proved to be difficult. We also faced limitations as many of the current frameworks weren’t as developed at that time.

That was probably the most challenging time of my life, but it was well worth it. Even today, when we discuss our achievements, the first thing we mention is the successful creation of the Remax site.

If you could describe your professional journey in three words, what would they be?

Courage. That has always been a big one for me. Courage is something that I’ve always had- the courage to start a new business, the courage to take on a new project, the courage to work until 4 in the morning, and to get something done.

Perseverance. I learned that I can endure and persevere through really tough times. I put every penny I had in my name into a festival and I lost it all. But it was a great party, everybody loved me and they thought “Oh, this is amazing, you must have made so much money”. No, I lost everything. But I got up the next day and I started working again and persevered. People think that hard work means that someone just likes to work a lot, but it’s actually someone who perseveres through really hard times and keeps going.

Courage, perseverance, and fun. I think we’ve had fun doing a lot of the stuff we do, we make things a lot of fun. Funky!

Connect with Justin on LinkedIn.

Meet FYC Labs COO – Phillip Lorenzo