The Next Build Podcast

Mason McCumber
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  • Entrepreneurship

The Next Build is for business owners who are ready to go from executor to operator.  Host Mason McCumber, SEO expert, AI automation consultant, and founder of M&M Solutions and Consulting shares how to go from manual execution to orchestrated leverage. You’ve been the driver. Prompting, coding manually, doing the work yourself. Now it's time to be the dispatcher.  Each episode provides practical frameworks for agentic workflows, memory systems, and the real-world challenges of managing AI as a team member. No hype.  There are no promises of “set it and forget it.” Just real conversations about tools that work repeatably at scale and building systems that actually work.

Episodes

  1. 3d ago

    He Patented AI Gift-Giving | Carl Richards Explains How Govava Works

    Visit https://zaptime.ai and book a free demo today. This episode is brought to you by Zaptime, the AI-powered productivity and workforce analytics platform that shows you where your team's time actually goes. Can AI actually learn a person well enough to pick a gift they'll love? Carl Richards, founder of Govava, holds a patent on an AI and machine-learning system built to solve exactly that, and he explains why almost every gift you've ever bought online was a generic guess dressed up as a recommendation. Carl spent over a decade building Govava after struggling to find personalized gifts for his three daughters as their interests diverged. In this episode he breaks down how Govava's patented approach combines a person's "persona" and "active lifestyle" to move past generic gifting, why AI chatbots like ChatGPT can't actually solve the gifting problem the way people think, and how his AI concierge "Ava" is designed to feel less like a chatbot and more like a personal shopper who remembers you. In this episode, we cover: Why 10 billion dollars is lost on unwanted gifts every year, and 1 in 3 Christmas gifts get returnedHow Carl got a patent approved for an AI/machine-learning gift system when the patent office initially rejected it"Persona" vs. "active lifestyle": the two-part framework behind every Govava recommendationWhy asking ChatGPT for a gift idea isn't the same as actually finding the right giftHow Govava's coupon API automatically applies savings across 8,000+ retailers like Walmart, Etsy, and AmazonInside Ava, Govava's AI concierge, and why she's built to remember you instead of treating every shopper the sameHow Govava protects user data and why it never sells what you tell it about the people you're shopping forWhy Carl compares the Govava experience to walking into Disney, not scrolling through AmazonGovava's claimed 90%+ gift accuracy rate versus the industry's 1-in-3 return rateWhat the future of AI-driven, on-demand shopping looks like, and why Govava is actively raising investment ahead of its October relaunch This episode of the Next Build Podcast is brought to you by Zaptime, an AI powered productivity and workforce analytics platform that helps teams understand how time is actually being spent, surface real insights instead of guesswork, and get more done without adding more tools to the stack. If you want to see how Zaptime can bring clarity to your team's productivity, visit https://zaptime.ai and book a free demo today. 🔗 LINKS https://linktr.ee/buildwithmm #Govava #AIGifting #GiftGiving #ArtificialIntelligence #Ecommerce #Entrepreneurship #TechStartup #ShoppingTech #NextBuildPodcast #Zaptime #PersonalizedShopping #StartupFounder #AIforBusiness #WorkforceManagement

    He Patented AI Gift-Giving | Carl Richards Explains How Govava Works

  2. Sep 6

    How to Build a Business You Can Actually Sell | Peter Boolkah on Exits, Acquisitions & AI

    Why do 90% of businesses in the UK never sell, and how do you make sure yours isn't one of them? Peter Boolkah, author, exit strategist, and multi-industry business owner, breaks down what actually determines a company's valuation, and why almost no founder prepares for it correctly. Peter has coached and acquired businesses across software, cloud services, construction, communications, and education. In this episode he explains why founders should pick their ideal buyer five years before they ever go to market, why "sweat equity" means nothing to an acquirer, and why AI is reshaping coaching, accountability, and business valuation all at once. In this episode, we cover: Why 90% of businesses in the UK are structurally unsellableThe difference between building for an exit and building for an acquisitionWhy you need an "ideal buyer profile," not just an ideal customer profileThe real reason business brokers turn founders away at valuation timeWhere AI genuinely helps in business coaching, and where it just blows smokeWhy human capital is the #1 risk buyers look for in due diligenceHow to turn a "legacy business" into a technology first businessWhat happens emotionally when a founder has to give up control after a saleWhy IP, recurring revenue, and predictable income will define company value over the next 5 yearsPeter's new book "Your Business Sucks" and the 8 book ecosystem behind it Connect with Peter Boolkah: 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterboolkah Peter's Book: Your Business Sucks This episode of the Next Build Podcast is brought to you by Zaptime, an AI powered productivity and workforce analytics platform that helps teams understand how time is actually being spent, surface real insights instead of guesswork, and get more done without adding more tools to the stack. If you want to see how Zaptime can bring clarity to your team's productivity, visit https://zaptime.ai and book a free demo today. 🔗 LINKS https://linktr.ee/buildwithmm #BusinessExit #Entrepreneurship #MergersAndAcquisitions #BusinessCoaching #ExitStrategy #NextBuildPodcast #SmallBusinessGrowth #BusinessValuation #FounderMindset #AIforBusiness #BusinessPodcast #Acquisitions #Zaptime

    How to Build a Business You Can Actually Sell | Peter Boolkah on Exits, Acquisitions & AI

  3. Aug 22

    The Man Who Studied Under AI's Founders Sounds the Alarm

    Is AI still just a tool, or has it become something closer to an intelligent entity? Dr. Craig Kaplan, CEO of IQ Company and founder of superintelligence.com, breaks down why the answer changes everything about how we regulate and work with AI. Dr. Kaplan studied under Herbert Simon and Allen Newell, two of the scientists who named the field of artificial intelligence at the 1956 Dartmouth Conference. In this episode he traces AI's path from the AI winter of the 1980s and 90s through today's explosion, and explains why almost all of that progress comes down to raw computing power rather than new algorithms. In this episode, we cover: Why AI stopped being a "tool" and became a "user of tools," and what that shift means for safety and regulationThe real reason AI exploded in the last few years (hint: it's compute, not new breakthroughs)Why general intelligence stayed hard for decades, from chess to self-driving carsAGI predictions for 2029/2030, and why AI researchers now agree it's closeWhy human attention and judgment will become more valuable, not less, as AI scalesHow to actually deploy AI inside a company: treat it like a smart intern, overcommunicate, and read its reasoning traceA real story from building Zaptime, when an early AI agent refused to flag anything wrong in the productivity data because it was trying to protect everyoneMark Zuckerberg's personalized superintelligence memo and why decentralized, "democratic" AI may be safer than one giant closed modelWhy constitutional AI and Asimov's laws of robotics both fall short, and what a distributed, checks-and-balances approach could look like instead Connect with Dr. Craig Kaplan: Superintelligence.com: https://superintelligence.com This episode of the Next Build Podcast is brought to you by Zaptime, an AI powered productivity and workforce analytics platform that helps teams understand how time is actually being spent, surface real insights instead of guesswork, and get more done without adding more tools to the stack. If you want to see how Zaptime can bring clarity to your team's productivity, visit https://zaptime.ai and book a free demo today. #ArtificialIntelligence #Superintelligence #AGI #AISafety #FutureOfWork #Zaptime #NextBuildPodcast #AIAgents #TechPodcast #Productivity

    The Man Who Studied Under AI's Founders Sounds the Alarm

  4. Aug 20

    SEO vs GEO vs AEO: How to Rank in Google AND ChatGPT (AI Search Optimization Explained)

    Traditional websites are on their way out. In this episode of the Next Build Podcast, Mason sits down with Elias Curtis, founder of Transform Design, to break down how 17 years in web design, branding, and lead generation led him to build AI-powered business systems that actually convert. Elias unpacks why "just getting more traffic" is the wrong goal, how to turn your website into your best 24/7 salesperson, and why brand messaging in the first 5 seconds can make or break a lead. He also goes deep on SEO vs. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) vs. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), programmatic and semantic SEO at scale, and how AI has cut his build times from weeks to days — without cutting the value he delivers to clients. If you're a business owner, agency owner, or marketer trying to figure out where AI fits into your website, branding, and lead gen strategy, this episode is packed with real, practical insight. What we cover: How websites and design have evolved over 17 yearsWhy "more traffic" isn't the goalWhy you need a solid foundation before paid adsWebsites as an asset, not an expenseAre traditional websites going away?How to choose the right AI stack for your businessSEO vs. GEO vs. AEO explainedThe biggest mistakes business owners make with AIWhat SEO, branding & AI will look like in 5 yearsHow to audit your website and know if it's working This episode is brought to you by Zaptime, AI time-tracking software that automatically tracks where your hours go, names your single biggest time sink, and turns billable hours into invoices in one click. Built for professionals billing $200+/hour who want to reclaim time and bill for what they're actually worth. Book a free demo at https://www.zaptime.com Connect with Elias Curtis: 🌐 Transform Design: https://transformdesign.com 🔗 LINKS https://linktr.ee/buildwithmm #NextBuildPodcast #AIMarketing #WebDesign #SEO #GEO #AEO #ProgrammaticSEO #DigitalMarketing #LeadGeneration #SmallBusinessGrowth #AIAutomation #Branding #BusinessPodcast #Entrepreneurship #WebsiteDesign #AIforBusiness #NextBuildPodcast #Zaptime

    SEO vs GEO vs AEO: How to Rank in Google AND ChatGPT (AI Search Optimization Explained)

  5. Aug 16

    "Sprinkle Some AI On It" Is Not a Strategy

    "Sprinkle some AI on it is not an AI strategy." Anne Cantera on why most AI projects fail before they start. Anne Cantera is an AI consultant and conversation designer who left enterprise to start Elementyl Intelligence, a consultancy built for underserved, minority owned, female owned, veteran owned, and disability owned businesses. Her work sits at the intersection of omnimodal design, conversational AI, and what she calls trust design. In this conversation she unpacks emotional debt and context debt, why "set it and forget it" is the most expensive assumption in AI right now, the gap between a skilled AI operator and a slop generator, and why governance belongs on day one instead of after the incident. WHAT WE COVER Why bolting AI onto an existing offering keeps failing at the enterprise levelEmotional debt: how one bad interaction erases two years of good onesThe interview technique Anne uses to make AI extract her thinking instead of replace itThe one dollar truck, and who is on the hook when a chatbot goes off the railsDesigning the right interface for the moment: voice, chat, or neither BROUGHT TO YOU BY ZAPTIME Anne says the real wins are in repetitive, low risk work, and that if you watch the seconds and the minutes, the hours take care of themselves. That is the whole idea behind Zaptime, AI time and workforce management that gives those hours back to your team. https://zaptime.ai 🔗 LINKS https://linktr.ee/buildwithmm #AIStrategy #ConversationalAI #AIAgents #SmallBusinessAI #TrustDesign

    "Sprinkle Some AI On It" Is Not a Strategy

  6. Aug 13

    Search Everything Optimization: How to Get Found by AI

    Your customers stopped searching where you're advertising. They're asking ChatGPT which plumber to call, watching YouTube on their living room TV, and comparing you to two competitors in a conversation you're not part of. David Wilson has a name for what comes next: Search Everything Optimization. David Wilson, EVP of Digital Marketing at Boston agency Zozimus, joins the Next Build Podcast to explain why the twenty-year Google playbook is running out of road, and what to do about it. He walks through the practical first moves: checking what AI actually knows about your business, rewriting the About Us page nobody has touched since launch, fixing your Google Business Profile, and deciding whether to publish the pricing and competitor comparisons AI needs to recommend you. He also gets into why "cited and mentioned" is the new ranking, why the most valuable traffic is quietly leaving Google, and which marketing jobs are about to disappear. If you are a business owner who feels behind on this, his answer is refreshingly small: pick one thing, hook AI up to your analytics, and start asking it questions. Brought to you by Zaptime: https://zaptime.ai Zaptime is AI time intelligence for people whose hours are expensive. It tracks where your time actually goes, names your biggest weekly time sink, shows where AI can win those hours back, and turns billable time into a one-click invoice. 🔗 LINKS https://linktr.ee/buildwithmm

    Search Everything Optimization: How to Get Found by AI

  7. Aug 3

    AI Didn't Kill Copywriting

    After 20 years as a copywriter, Ange Dove joins Mason to talk about how ChatGPT upended her business and pushed her into a new role coaching professionals through career transitions and personal branding. They cover how to get AI to write in your actual voice instead of generic "AI slop," the LinkedIn profile mistakes she sees constantly, and why repetition, not reach, is what makes you memorable online. A practical conversation for anyone rethinking their career, content, or brand in the AI era.

    AI Didn't Kill Copywriting

  8. Jul 31

    AI and Cybersecurity: Same Principles, New Tools

    Everyone's racing to adopt AI. Almost nobody is asking the one question that determines whether it works or blows up in their face. In this episode of the Next Build Podcast, Brian Beck, founder of Proxurve Solutions, an Indianapolis based cybersecurity and AI consulting firm helping small and medium businesses build AI strategies that don't fall apart. Brian breaks down why AI hasn't changed the fundamentals of cybersecurity, why "I want AI" is not a strategy, and what actually separates the businesses getting real value from AI from the ones burning budget and calling it innovation. If you've ever wondered whether your organization is actually ready for AI, this conversation will tell you.

    AI and Cybersecurity: Same Principles, New Tools

  9. May 27

    AI and SEO Revolution

    In this podcast, we explore the intersection of AI, SEO, business, and the future of digital growth from the perspective of real business owners and SEO professionals actively working in the industry. We dive into the strategies, experiments, wins, failures, and lessons that come from building businesses in an era being rapidly transformed by artificial intelligence and search evolution. From AI automation and search engine changes to branding, content strategy, local SEO, and scaling online businesses, we break down what’s actually working and where the industry is headed next. The conversations are raw, practical, and focused on real-world implementation rather than theory. Whether you're an entrepreneur, marketer, agency owner, or someone fascinated by how AI is reshaping business and the internet, this podcast delivers meaningful insights, actionable ideas, and honest discussions about the technologies changing the world in real time.

    AI and SEO Revolution
  • 9 Episodes

About

The Next Build is for business owners who are ready to go from executor to operator.  Host Mason McCumber, SEO expert, AI automation consultant, and founder of M&M Solutions and Consulting shares how to go from manual execution to orchestrated leverage. You’ve been the driver. Prompting, coding manually, doing the work yourself. Now it's time to be the dispatcher.  Each episode provides practical frameworks for agentic workflows, memory systems, and the real-world challenges of managing AI as a team member. No hype.  There are no promises of “set it and forget it.” Just real conversations about tools that work repeatably at scale and building systems that actually work.

Information

  • Creator
    Mason McCumber
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    9
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Mason McCumber
  • Show Website
    The Next Build Podcast