Field Manual 01: Why this is the best moment in history for a disruptor to take on a monopoly: what Ford actually did to the horse and buggy, what Mike Maples means by an inflection, why three of them are stacked on top of each other right now, and why the incumbents cannot follow you across.
Field Manual 03: why Intercom charges $29 a seat for the people and from 99 cents an outcome for the agent, the eight ways an agent business gets paid, why your gross margin is now a manufacturer's problem rather than a software company's, and how to price down from the incumbent's toll instead of up from your own bill.
The dealer's finance office makes $2,891 per car. This agent saves buyers $2,668.
CarEdge's AI Buying Agent, Tropic, and Pactum negotiate by email on behalf of car buyers and procurement teams, on terrain where a dealer's finance office makes more per car than the car itself and a software renewal goes unfought because nobody has the hours to fight it.
Freight brokers keep 16 cents on the dollar. This agent books the load for $1.
HappyRobot, Fleetworks, and Vooma put voice agents on the carrier sales desk, the phone job that earns C.H. Robinson and RXO their spread on every truckload, while the largest brokers now run the same agents against their own headcount.
Insurers denied 85 million claims last year. Patients appealed 262,982.
Inside Fight Health Insurance, Counterforce Health, and Claimable, the agents that write and file a health insurance appeal for nothing or for $39.95, and the denial economy they are attacking, from Cigna's 1.2 second reviews to the 15 to 35% a billing advocate keeps.
The Incumbent Cannot Be Everywhere. That Is the Whole Plan.
Field Manual 02: how a single builder takes a toll away from a monopoly, from Lawrence's arithmetic in the desert and Clausewitz's mist to counter-positioning, Coase, and cost imposition, ending with the five-question test the newsletter runs on every market before a build gets covered.
A Collection Agency Keeps 35%. This Agent Keeps 1%.
Inside AgentCollect, Nibble, Clerked, and Fazeshift, the four builders putting agents on the invoices nobody chases and the bills nobody should pay twice, and the terrain they are fighting on: 43% of B2B invoices paid late, a $50,670 clerk, and a $3 billion bank details scam.
Every Checkout Pays Visa a 59% Margin. These Agents Are Learning to Skip the Toll.
Inside CartAI, Otto The Agent, and Mindtrip, the builders whose agents finish the purchase, and the terrain they are fighting on: a 2.4% swipe fee, a 15 to 22% booking commission, and four incumbent agent payment protocols that have not published a price.
9 Out of 10 People Never Claim the Money They Are Owed. These Agents Do.
Inside Airfairness, Pine AI, Kudos, and claimHood, the four builders sending agents after money people are owed, and why three of them turned down the contingency model that the incumbents charge 35 to 60% for.
