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Podcast: The Life Story of Jonathan Goodman (DefDevice)

Publisher: DefDevice  •  Duration: 29:18  •  Published: January 9, 2024

Jonathan Goodman shares his entrepreneurial journey — from childhood lessons and the dot-com era to launching Halyard Consulting and Trigonal Gallery — and explains how he integrates AI into business strategy and art.

Show full transcript 0:00I can tell you three things number one0:03believe in0:04yourself believe in yourself to your0:07core believe that you know that you can0:10do the job right number0:15[Music]0:20two welcome to a new episode of the0:22death device podcast and today I have a0:26special guest with me Mr Jonathan0:28welcome to the show Jonathan well thank0:30you very much it’s great to be yeah um0:33if I’m not mistaken you’re in New York0:35right New Jersey but very very close to0:38Manhattan okay close close I got the0:40first part0:42right nice yeah yeah we meet on LinkedIn0:46and I saw you’re doing quite some0:47amazing stuff uh regarding Ai and uh not0:51just uh you’re teaching Ai and you’re0:54actually applying AI in in your business0:56so I’m very curious to hear what it is0:59you’re doing1:01today yeah uh today has been an amazing1:04day if we just want to talk about today1:06alone um I had I had a great meeting1:09with an1:11educational uh company down in Florida1:13that is interested in both utilizing AI1:18to help them uh write their grants write1:21responses to Grants as well as builds1:24curriculum for uh for the students to1:28understand how to utilize AI1:30and then right before I came on here A1:33friend of mine asked me to design a logo1:36of of of a high five and in 20 minutes I1:41created a brilliant logo and I have a1:44background in graphic design but still1:46in AI I was able to just sit on my couch1:49and create an amazing logo so e every1:52day is amazing today was even also is1:55just as amazing a quick note from our1:58sponsor AMZ Scout is a complete tool set2:02to help you start and grow your Amazon2:05business to find profitable low2:08competition products learn how to sell2:11with private label Arbitrage Drop2:13Shipping and wholesale and also discover2:15popular product keywords and verified2:19suppliers please check out the link in2:21the2:22description yeah and look at and now2:24today we’re even having a podcast so I2:27mean that’s as good as it gets but what2:29I said to today I I actually really2:31wanted to refer to like your business I2:34mean what uh your business please tell2:37us more about the business what it’s2:39called and and what is the core of your2:41Ser I mean where they got a glimpse just2:42now but uh it’s if I’m not mistaken it’s2:45hellard Consulting right yes so I run2:47two companies I run halard consulting2:50which is AI implementation for2:53businesses I generally focus on small2:56businesses startup and businesses that2:58have under 50 employees and then I own3:02trigonal Gallery which started off as a3:06physical art gallery and then during3:08covid had to shut down and we’ve now3:11pivoted that company to be an Ecommerce3:14 uh AI generated uh product retail3:17company so very exciting stuff and then3:20in3:212024 I’m I’m launching a new company3:24called trigonal Foundation which is a3:27nonprofit to teach Advantage Youth and3:31incarcerated individuals about3:34AI oh boy you reallyu going on yeah you3:40you have you earned your entrepreneurial3:42badge that’s for sure so you’re doing3:45amazing stuff and you’re also combining3:47art and artificial intelligence which I3:50always admire I mean I have a Graphic3:52Design background as well and I can see3:54in your like physical background there3:57is some artwork even and you manag to4:00transform your gallery into an4:04e-commerce store which I find amazing4:06and I’m I’m I’m sure you’re also4:08applying some kind of AI to this to your4:12to your to the artwork that you’re4:13selling online right all of the artwork4:16is AI generated and I too have a4:19background in graphic design my my4:21undergraduate degree is in graphic4:22design and photography my I have a4:25master’s of Science in computer science4:27and then I have an MBA in4:28entrepreneurial studies which has4:30allowed me to grow my entrepreneurial4:32business wow amazing amazing so um this4:38this AI Consulting so if if you would4:40give us a gist like what what are what4:42are the core things that you can uh you4:45can help with um like I said like a4:48mediumsized company today uh what is4:51your approach and what are the what are4:53the areas you focus on what what are the4:55problems you’re solving right now with4:56your AI competence yeah so the first4:59thing that we do when we’re onboarding a5:01client is we ask them to take the Howard5:04AI Readiness survey which is available5:06on howard. Consulting and from that5:09we’re able to understand what their5:13understanding is of AI what their5:15ability to work with AI is and what5:18their needs are right because a lot you5:21know when I sit across and I just did5:22this this morning when I sit across from5:25people and I explain to them that I can5:28respond to a gr5:30by you know you providing me the5:32information and then it creates very5:35very simply the answers to the responses5:38and I can do that in a day when they5:40would be hiring a grant writer that5:42would take weeks for them to respond to5:45a grant it it blows them away and they5:48get very very nervous some get very5:51nervous and they Wonder like how can5:53this magic be happening but you know all5:56magic is really just science that hasn’t5:58been explained and that’s really what AI6:01is and you know I use tools within AI to6:05allow me to narrow the focus and I was6:07explaining to somebody this just the6:09other day imagine that you had all the6:14information that was in the Library of6:16Congress which is all literally every6:19book I my book my old book that I wrote6:21in the 90s is in the Library of Congress6:23which is pretty exciting I have a new6:25book coming out at the end in the middle6:27of this year that hopefully will also be6:29included in the library Congress but the6:32idea AI has this huge brain and what you6:37actually as me as the prompt engineer6:39what I have to do is control that brain6:42and say I don’t need information on6:46astrophysics and NASA and you know all6:50of these things that AI understands what6:54I need is the answers to very very6:57specific questions that I’m providing6:59you so being able to write the prompts7:02correctly and interact with the AI7:06appropriately and also providing it the7:08information so that it can give a good7:11response allows it to be narrow and7:13focused and that’s where the best7:15results really7:17are yeah yeah I agree yeah it’s exactly7:20as you yeah that’s a very nice7:22description of what it is and what it7:24does right this huge brain that has all7:27this information but you just have have7:29to you need to know how to talk to it to7:32get what to get the results that you’re7:34looking for right yeah and you have to7:36move the client beyond what they’re7:38seeing on the news every day which is a7:41ton of people are going to lose their7:43jobs and you know AI is you know ruin7:46the future and things like that and you7:48have to kind of ease them into the7:51ability that I have to control the7:53information in Ai and get the right7:56information7:57out exactly8:00yeah and U I’m sure that your services8:03can make a huge difference as you just8:05said you know to cut down this time from8:07weeks to a day to respond to a grant or8:11do other like text processing proc8:14things uh and you created a logo earlier8:17today so8:19yeah that’s that’s all amazing and uh so8:23yeah the one of the main topics of this8:26podcast is your life story I mean where8:29you are today is pretty exciting but I’m8:32sure it’s even more exciting to hear how8:34did you get there what was happening8:36with 10 year old Jonathan what yeah8:40that’s a great that’s a great question8:42i’ I’ve watched your podcast before so I8:44know I knew this question was coming saw8:46originally originally I was going to8:49tell the story of in high school when I8:52started to screen print t-shirts and got8:56my artistic expression through that and8:58then I thought to myself well that9:00wasn’t really me at 10 what was me at 109:03and then I remembered that back when I9:05was 10 which was like in element you9:08know uh middle school high you know9:10middle school instead of high school um9:13we had a uh an on on on school premise9:19kind of a um a garage sale and a kid had9:25come in and he had I don’t you we’re the9:27same age so the the big giant Star Wars9:32comic book right the one that was uh9:34oversized and it was you know very very9:37big and he was selling that and now I9:39was a Comic Collector and I knew that if9:43I could get that from him at a cheap9:45price that would be worth a lot of money9:48and I’m not somebody who is going to9:50give something back after we negotiate9:52it and this is a 10 and you know what9:56happened was I guess like everybody saw9:58that I got very excited about buying10:00this piece and they like asked me why10:03was I so excited and I said well the10:05value of what I bought was so much more10:09than what he was selling it for and then10:11the teacher got involved and she had to10:13like you know calm the kid down and like10:15F this is a negotiation this is you know10:1810 years old you wanted to sell this at10:20a at a price and I bought it at that10:22price even though it’s worth four times10:25as much and I have that still in my in10:27my house that great star War comic book10:30oh wow so you didn’t capitalize on your10:34on your good deal you just appreciation10:37is always very critical okay so age 1010:42you already knew how to first of all to10:45see the value of this thing and then to10:49negotiate and to make the deal happen I10:52guess that’s uh quite sophisticated for10:55a 10-year-old don’t you think yes yes10:58looking back at it11:01now yeah and then so how was your11:03journey from there from from from this11:06part of your life to I guess you somehow11:09went to study somewhere you collected a11:13few degrees I hear yeah so you know it’s11:16not all roses right it’s not you know11:19you know it’s not there there are many11:21bumps in the road along the way but yes11:24when you look at my entrepreneurial11:26career starting from that Star Wars11:29going to selling T-shirts in high11:31schools using uh you know uh in press11:35pressed ink right on on t-shirts um I11:40then uh you know High School wasn’t11:43really easy for me right I wasn’t a a11:45test taker which is critically important11:48in America if you you know I know that11:50like in France it’s more of a discussion11:53and it’s more kind of it’s a different11:55kind of but in America it’s multiple11:57choice and if you’re you’re not good at11:59multiple choice you’re not a good12:01student and so I kind of you know a B12:04minus student and I went to a college12:07that I didn’t do well in and dropped out12:10and then did an associates degree which12:12is a two-year College um and then from12:16there then I went on to get my uh grad12:19my graphic design degree at ringland12:21College of Art and Design down in12:23Sarasota Florida and at that time again12:27now you have to understand like I always12:29have the my eye on the future right so12:33when I graduated in 93 well if you think12:37back to12:3893 that was right when the Apple12:41Macintosh was came out right and there12:45was this amazing transfer of of process12:50in the college at the time for graphic12:53design student to graduate I was in the12:56first class to graduate having worked on12:59macintoshes the year before me they13:01didn’t touch the computer so when I went13:04out for employment I was way ahead of13:07everybody so I got myself a nice little13:09job back home uh graphic design on a13:13computer and of course you know looking13:15back at it you know what I was able to13:17do in 93 compared to what we can do now13:21is radically it’s it’s it’s like Stone13:24cave you know caveman you know taking13:28the the the13:29the wheel right yeah yeah um but that13:33you know that kind of led to my I then13:37got into the13:38Dooms and the Dooms managing e-commerce13:42systems during the Dooms and again this13:44was you know if I say to you WebCrawler13:48do you remember WebCrawler do you13:50remember Internet Explorer at Netscape13:52this is what we were working on there13:54was no Google there was nothing like13:57that so again ahead of the curve and14:00being able to see that this was very14:02empowering as an entrepreneur and so14:05once the dotc coms collapsed14:08unfortunately I went and got my Master’s14:11of Science degree in computer science14:13and that then opened up a whole new area14:16now it’s funny because here we are back14:19again uh to an area where in AI if you14:24know knowing programming to be you know14:27to be able to move that one step further14:29but gosh I’ll tell you something I am 5314:33years old and I am not writing any more14:36code I am done I did it in the dots and14:39I did it for 10 years after that and I14:41am just done so I’m easily hiring all of14:45that out not that it even needs to be14:46done that way because I can talk to the14:49AI system and say I need to create this14:52bot using Json or whatever code it needs14:56can you help me write this you know the14:58other day my the survey wasn’t working15:00correctly so I put the code in and I15:03said can you analyze this for me and it15:05was able to come back and it said well15:07you know it may fail on certain browsers15:09so why don’t I rewrite it for you with15:12these errors that can then correct it I15:14was like brilliant that’s it I’m done15:16fantastic go ahead so from there really15:20 uh I I moved myself because of the dot15:24crash I then moved myself to a more15:26corporate situation and then buil bu out15:29their e-commerce systems here’s an15:31interesting story so I was hired simply15:35because the larger Corporation had15:38purchased a smaller company a subsidiary15:42and in that company there was an15:44Ecommerce system and they didn’t15:48understand how to run it at all and I15:50got in and within a week I was able to15:55fix the code and they were finally15:57getting sales but then they sent me out15:59to Seattle where the company originated16:02from and I met the guy who was running16:06it on his systems over there and I spent16:09the day with him and I thought it was so16:11strange that every once in a while he16:13would run to the back office and I16:16finally said to him at the end of the16:17day what are you doing you have to tell16:19me what you’re doing in the back office16:20and he goes well you16:23know we’re not really16:26processing the sales through e-commerce16:30and I said what this is before I had16:32fixed everything this was this was the16:34conversation that I had I said what are16:36you doing he goes well I’m making it16:39look like it’s processing through the16:41e-commerce but I’m ringing up the sales16:43in the front of the store and I said16:47you’re16:48fired I said I said you know and I went16:52back and I got into the code and I fixed16:54it and then we you know we went from16:56zero really truly zero sales he was17:00claiming that there were seven you know17:01thousands of dollars in sales to over17:04$40,000 in sales within a a thre Monon17:07period and then grew it from there so17:10after that you know look I can only stay17:13in one Corporation for so long right17:15there’s only so much people are gonna17:17tolerate with a know- it all17:21right so I lasted there for about five17:24years and that’s when I built halard17:26Consulting and from halard Consulting17:28which originated as an SEO website17:31design which I always really disliked17:35because and I was just telling somebody17:37this the other day you know for whatever17:39I was GNA charge there was somebody in17:43another country that was gonna undercut17:46me and I just wasn’t happy with that but17:49now having transformed this into an AI17:53related business it’s really my17:56connection with the client17:59it’s not about you know am I going to18:01get you ranked on page one because18:03truthfully Google doesn’t matter maybe18:07I’m I’m above ahead of the curve and I18:10am utilizing chat GPT and AI systems18:15more than everybody else’s but I haven’t18:17gone to Google in four18:20months I haven’t asked Google anything18:23in months serious yeah the TR18:29I can get so much more information I can18:31get exact detailed information of the18:33questions that I’m asking in Google I18:36put a question in it’s going to send me18:37to a website that I have to read whether18:39or not the information’s right if18:41everybody is doing SEO and trying to get18:44in the front pages it they’re not even18:46necessarily relevant for the questions18:48that I’m asking so AI systems are going18:52to defeat Google I’m claiming it here18:55now I’m sure listen they have plenty of18:57money they’ll pivot to something else18:59but that’s that’s the future and then19:02from there really you know the gallery19:04and everything like that and what I’m19:05doing with the19:07foundation fantastic oh yeah I19:10completely agree I mean once you19:11experienced how AI can generate like a19:14real response to your question like19:17browsing Google becomes obsolete yes19:20because nobody wants to deal with all19:22these websites and figure out if they19:24are actually a good fit or not and if19:26they know what they’re talking at all19:28example again today was an amazing day19:31one of the other things that I did today19:33is so I have side projects right so I19:36have a vested interest in a construction19:38company and I have a vested interest in19:40a cannabis company and I was talking to19:43an investor and the investor said send a19:45pitch deck and I you know I’m I’m kind19:48of the connector right and I said to the19:51company I said do you have a pitch deck19:52ready to go and they said yes and they19:54sent it to me my name wasn’t on it at19:56all and I sent to C GPT should I send20:00this without my name anywhere on it and20:03it came back and says that is not to20:05your advantage because who are you that20:08you’re sending this pitch Deck with your20:11name that’s not on it I’m not the20:13contact I wasn’t listed as an employee20:16so I called up the company and I said20:18listen you know I’d love to send this20:20but we have to make a couple of changes20:22we made two changes it’s going off20:24tomorrow that’s it but I wouldn’t I20:26would be second guessing myself whether20:28or not I should have sent that pitch20:29deck without my name on it and Chad GPT20:32very easily helped me answer that20:34question there you I could have gotten20:36that through20:36Google yeah exactly that would have been20:39very20:40tough yeah so um for our20:44listeners uh what would be your like20:47number one AI tool and Method uh problem20:52solving thing that helps you every day20:54would it would it be like chat GPT like20:57what you what you said just now now or20:59what is it if you had to pick one of all21:01the tools that you have right now what21:03would it be it’s definitely chat GPT but21:05you have to understand how to create21:07personas right so when I’m working on21:10the grants it’s a grant writer Persona21:14I’ve created a custom instruction21:16Persona with Specific Instructions21:19telling it hey you’re not chaty PT21:22you’re a grant writer and here’s how you21:26behave as a grant wrer WR these are the21:29things that you know these are the21:30things that you can search for these are21:32the things that you’re going to produce21:35and that is critical right it doesn’t21:37matter it could be I have a business21:39development so when I’m on LinkedIn I’ll21:42tell you I have a I have a great funnel21:45right you’re a marketing guy so you21:46understand funnels and and you21:48understand because we talked on LinkedIn21:50so every single day LinkedIn I’m giving21:53I’m giving really gold information out21:55here right so every day LinkedIn says to21:59you this person is having a birthday22:01this person’s having an anniversary now22:04you know before I would just ignore all22:06that right22:08now I say happy birthday happy22:11anniversary if somebody responds I then22:14go into LinkedIn and I look at their22:16profile and I open up my bizdev I open22:19up a new chat I put in their information22:23from the LinkedIn profile I go to the22:25website that they of the company that22:27they work for I put that information in22:30and I say to chat GPT oh and of course22:32and understand that the custom22:34instruction has my business plan for22:37Howard Consulting has my business plan22:40for trigonal gallery has all of the data22:43about who I am my resume all of that so22:46i’ I put in all this information about22:48that person that responded to my hello22:51congratulations happy anniversary and22:53their and the company that they work for22:55and I simply say to chat GPT as my22:58business development23:00agent how can I help this person and it23:04comes back and it says this person would23:07do great with you with halard or this23:10person would be great with trigonal or23:13this person is an investor and would be23:15great with I bud you and with that it23:18writes a response email that I then put23:21in LinkedIn and of course I always say23:23to it add in that I want them to take23:26the AI read survey on Howard do.23:30Consulting regardless of whether it’s23:32trigonal or whether it’s ibdu or whether23:34it’s halard or whether it’s j Peterson23:36which is the construction company and23:39that then allows me to have two23:41conversations the conversation about23:44whether what I can do for them for23:46trigonal and what I can do for them for23:48hiard so it’s a real winwin and then of23:51course bringing them down that funnel23:53into the AI Readiness survey I’m then23:56able to say back to them I I provide23:58them with a report and it says it talks24:02about their company talks about what24:04they could be doing in Ai and then of24:06course you know that really helps in24:08closing the24:09deal fantastic yeah that was definitely24:12a golden nugget for our listeners thank24:15you so much for sharing this I mean my24:17thought would be how could we take this24:19one step further where like there was an24:21AI bot would kind of do all this without24:25you being involved I mean could you24:27automate entire process could your I’m24:29sure I could but I want I want some24:32control right I don’t want C3PO uh you24:35know out there doing my business for me24:37I want to be able to you know and also24:39it has to sound a little human right24:42sometimes sometimes it’ll write an email24:45very very it’s a great email but it’s24:48not personal right and so I say to it24:51make this simpler make this friendly and24:54it comes back and it rewrites it in a24:55way and I have to do some editing but if24:58I if it was automatic and I didn’t have25:00that control then people in my LinkedIn25:03would be getting you know uh I don’t25:05want to do a sales pitch I’m not25:07pitching you on sales right I want this25:09to be hey you’re in my LinkedIn you’re25:12you’re a connection to me I have 5,00025:14connections tell me why why are we doing25:17why are we connecting you know if if25:20you’re I’m if I’m interested in what25:22you’re doing let’s talk about it if25:23you’re interested in what I’m doing25:25let’s talk about it but that’s what25:26LinkedIn is for a lot of people outside25:29of the United States don’t really25:31understand how critical LinkedIn is25:34right it’s it’s very very powerful yeah25:37that’s why we are talking today because25:39we met on LinkedIn man yeah there we go25:42fantastic dude that was that was amazing25:45 um and yeah we’re doing a lot of similar25:48things I would really love to learn more25:49about uh your uh you know the the depth25:53of your AI25:54strategies um but yeah this is not the25:57podcast for that maybe we can do it25:58another time26:00absolutely well today I I would uh I26:04would like to hear as a as a closing26:06part um what are your nuggets of wisdom26:10that you would share with uh other26:13people who start the entrepreneurial26:15Journey or with ch 10-year-old Jonathan26:19for that matter so if I mean you have26:21learned a lot so if you had you know to26:24put out two three things to share with26:27someone who is struggling to get started26:29in his entrepreneurial Journey what26:31would that be I I can tell you three26:34things number one believe in26:37yourself believe in yourself to your26:40core believe that you know that you can26:43do the job right number two make sure26:49that you are working with your local26:55surroundings networking right you need26:59to connect I go to networking events all27:01the time despite the rain and the cold I27:04go out there and I meet people because27:07people are interested in what I do which27:08is a very positive reinforcement right I27:11went to an event the other day and27:13everybody was talking about what they27:14did and they were standing up and I said27:16oh I do Ai and then for the rest of the27:19day everybody wanted to talk about AI27:23right and the third most critical thing27:25is and especially in the United States27:28understand that there’s money out there27:31if you’re struggling to get your27:34business off the ground I would say to27:37you if you live in a city if you live in27:41a state particularly a blue state that27:44there is and there there is there is27:47money out there I can’t I can’t stress27:49this enough there are grants for27:52regardless of whether you’re a nonprofit27:54there are grants for you there are uh uh27:58there are projects that you can work on28:00within your city right so anytime that28:03there’s I live in a city right outside28:05of Manhattan and there are meetings for28:09entrepreneurs and small businesses to28:11work with that City they have a budget28:15specifically to work with local28:18entrepreneurs and it’s critical that you28:21have to work with them you you have to28:23make those28:24connections oh yeah those are my three28:27definitely that’s these are very good28:29three man and I think a young28:31entrepreneur would should definitely28:33look into these and maybe even talk to28:36you for or connect with you we28:39definitely want to leave you know your28:41contact details below this video below28:43this podcast so um when somebody would28:46like to reach out to you and maybe learn28:49more about their AI Readiness there will28:51be a link for that and maybe even your28:53LinkedIn profile and uh at this point I28:56would just like to thank you so much for28:59joining this podcast and your insights29:02and also would like to thank our29:04listeners to hanging in with us and I29:06hope you learned a lot so we stay in29:08touch Jonathan and thanks for Jo thank29:10you so29:13[Music]29:17much Book a Conversation Explore AI Strategy & Integration [tcb-script type=”application/ld+json”]{ “@context”: “https://schema.org”, “@type”: “VideoObject”, “name”: “Podcast: The Life Story of Jonathan Goodman”, “description”: “Jonathan Goodman shares his entrepreneurial journey on the DefDevice podcast, covering early business lessons, the dot-com era, Halyard Consulting, Trigonal Gallery, and how AI is shaping his work.”, “thumbnailUrl”: [ “https://img.youtube.com/vi/9zWptbmnNVA/hqdefault.jpg” ], “uploadDate”: 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