Build. Grow. Repeat.

Ben Sufiani

Build. Grow. Repeat. is the podcast for skilled professionals and early-stage founders who want to build a real product and grow predictable revenue — without hustle culture, or “get rich quick” fantasies. This show helps you close the gap between building a product with vibe coding and growing with growth marketing by treating them as one craft. Every episode is designed to give you something you can actually use: a clearer decision, a tighter customer journey, a better experiment, or a concrete next step you can run this week. What you’ll learn here: Build faster (without needing to know how to code): vibe code real software and offers quickly — and validate what matters before you over-invest.Grow calmly and predictably: positioning, funnels, pricing, and experiments that turn attention into revenue without persuasion theater.Run on signals, not just vibes: activation, retention, and product–market-fit indicators that tell you what to double down on — and what to stop.Use AI as leverage: vibe coding and AI-native workflows that speed you up while keeping human judgment in charge.Commit without gambling: how to choose one direction and test it through small, reversible bets that produce proof.You’ll get a mix of solo deep dives, builder interviews, and occasional teardowns of customer journeys and decisions that looked “logical” on paper — but fail in real life. About the host: I’m Ben Sufiani, founder of Pirate Skills. I’ve been building and growing products for over 15 years across startups, consulting, and hands-on growth work. Pirate Skills exists to help builders turn ideas into evidence — by shipping, learning, and repeating the loop until something holds. If you want to go deeper, check out Pirate Skills at pirateskills.com. Build. Grow. Repeat.Cheers,Ben

Episodes

  1. 4D AGO

    Message Testing with AI Creatives

    What does AI change about message testing and marketing decisions?In this episode, I walk you through how I use AI to turn message testing from a “nice-to-have” into a repeatable, data-driven system.As a growth marketer, I’ve always believed in testing — but like most teams, it often slipped to a B-priority because it took too long. AI changes that completely. What used to take weeks of creative work, coordination, and iteration can now be done in hours — if you structure it correctly.I break down my full end-to-end workflow, using a real campaign for Vibe Coding Cologne, including positioning, angle generation, AI creatives, Meta Ads experiments, and how to interpret the data without fooling yourself.This is not theory. It’s real spend, real numbers, and a few uncomfortable lessons where my own assumptions lost.We talk about:- Why most marketers get stuck on a “local maximum” in their messaging- How AI collapses the cost and speed of message testing- Using positioning frameworks (April Dunford) to generate better angles- Letting AI create options — and humans curate decisions- Image vs. video ads: what actually converted better- CTR vs. conversions and why deeper funnel signals matter more- Why your favorite message is often not the best one- How to kill losing messages early and double down on winnersThis episode is especially relevant if you’re:- A founder or operator doing your own growth- A marketer tired of guessing what should work- Running B2B or community-driven campaigns- Using AI and want leverage — not noiseTimestamps00:00:00 – Why message testing matters (and why we avoid it)00:02:00 – The “local maximum” problem in marketing00:05:10 – How AI changes the economics of testing00:07:20 – Positioning before creatives (April Dunford framework)00:11:10 – Adding pain points to strengthen AI outputs00:13:30 – Defining the campaign and ideal customer profile00:15:40 – Generating strong message angles with AI00:18:50 – Creating AI image creatives fast00:23:10 – Turning static images into video ads00:26:20 – Building a reusable prompt & style library00:30:00 – Structuring Meta Ads for message testing00:34:30 – Budgets, ad sets, and what’s “enough” data00:38:30 – CTR vs. conversion tracking00:42:40 – Reading the first real results00:47:20 – The surprising winner: community beats autonomy00:52:30 – Images vs. videos: what actually converted00:56:50 – Why Meta attribution is not the source of truth01:01:40 – Verifying results in your own database01:05:20 – What this taught me about my audience01:08:50 – How to scale winners and kill losers01:11:40 – Final advice: stop guessing, start testingLINKS📖 Full Article: https://pirateskills.com/insights/message-testing🧪 Join a free Growth or Builder Lab: https://pirateskills.com/events💬 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bensufiani/

    40 min
  2. JAN 29

    A Marketer's Journey embracing AI in the SaaS World

    What does AI actually change for non-technical operators?In this conversation, I’m joined by Anna Nadeina, Head of Growth at saas.group and host of the SaaS Unbound podcast. Anna has spent years working with founders and SaaS teams — without a technical background — and now sits front-row as AI reshapes how modern companies operate.We talk about:- How non-technical marketers and operators can really use AI- The moment AI stopped being a gimmick and became a daily work tool- Practical AI workflows in content, growth, and podcasting- Why tools like ChatGPT, Riverside, and Descript change leverage — not just speed- Where human judgment still matters (and always will)- What founders and operators should focus on now instead of chasing toolsThis episode is especially relevant if you’re:- A non-technical founder or operator- A growth marketer navigating AI tools- Building or operating SaaS products- Curious how AI fits into real workflows — not demos00:00:00 – Intro & why this conversation matters00:02:10 – Anna’s background: marketer, operator, non-technical by choice00:05:00 – Working in a founder-heavy, technical SaaS world00:08:10 – First real exposure to AI in everyday work00:11:30 – When AI stopped being hype and became useful00:15:00 – How non-technical operators actually learn AI00:18:40 – AI workflows in growth, content, and marketing teams00:22:30 – Podcasting with AI: tools, leverage, and quality00:26:10 – What AI is good at vs. where humans still win00:30:20 – Decision-making, taste, and judgment in an AI world00:34:20 – How SaaS teams adopt AI without breaking workflows00:38:10 – Advice for founders and operators right now00:42:10 – What the next 1–2 years will demand from operators00:44:30 – Final thoughts & wrap-upLINKS:📖 Full Article: https://pirateskills.com/insights🧪 Join a free Growth or Builder Lab: https://pirateskills.com/events💬 Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bensufiani/Follow Anna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-nadeina/

    43 min
  3. JAN 25

    My First 365 Days of Vibe Coding

    What does it really look like to commit to vibe coding for a full year — as a non-developer founder who's spent most of his career on growth? In this episode, I walk you through my first 365 days of building real software with AI: the decision, the frustration, the turning points, the tools, the communities, and the systems that finally made it feel sustainable. This isn't a "watch me build" tutorial. It's the story behind the craft — and the lessons that can save you months if you're starting now. If you're a founder, operator, or senior professional who wants to ship real products without waiting for a CTO or agency, stop getting stuck in tool chaos and false starts, and build with evidence instead of hype — this episode is for you. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Story time: 365 days of vibe coding 00:42 Day zero + the decision to build 02:20 The dependency problem (why I had to learn this) 03:31 The challenge + first momentum 07:43 Q1: frustration → learning the fundamentals 11:06 My favorite learning resources (YouTube channels) 14:42 Tooling choices: V0 → Cursor (and why) 16:59 First product + first paying customers ("The Captain") 18:08 Q2: community + rebuilding Pirate Skills (Next.js) 22:15 MCP servers + the stack that changed everything 26:16 Q3: turning chaos into systems (Builder Codex) 29:16 Next projects + Forge origins (Signal Log) 31:25 Q4: growth again + codifying the system (Growth Codex) 32:41 The cost curve + how to think about AI spend 39:02 Switching to Claude Code (current experiment) 40:20 What I'd do differently + your next steps LINKS: 📖 Read the full article: https://pirateskills.com/insights/365-days-vibe-coding 🎬 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg73bjjKo5w 🧪 Join a free Growth or Builder Lab: https://pirateskills.com/events 💬 Follow Ben on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/bensufiani — Build. Grow. Repeat. is the Pirate Skills podcast for founders, operators, and senior professionals learning to build and grow real products with AI. New episodes weekly.

    45 min

About

Build. Grow. Repeat. is the podcast for skilled professionals and early-stage founders who want to build a real product and grow predictable revenue — without hustle culture, or “get rich quick” fantasies. This show helps you close the gap between building a product with vibe coding and growing with growth marketing by treating them as one craft. Every episode is designed to give you something you can actually use: a clearer decision, a tighter customer journey, a better experiment, or a concrete next step you can run this week. What you’ll learn here: Build faster (without needing to know how to code): vibe code real software and offers quickly — and validate what matters before you over-invest.Grow calmly and predictably: positioning, funnels, pricing, and experiments that turn attention into revenue without persuasion theater.Run on signals, not just vibes: activation, retention, and product–market-fit indicators that tell you what to double down on — and what to stop.Use AI as leverage: vibe coding and AI-native workflows that speed you up while keeping human judgment in charge.Commit without gambling: how to choose one direction and test it through small, reversible bets that produce proof.You’ll get a mix of solo deep dives, builder interviews, and occasional teardowns of customer journeys and decisions that looked “logical” on paper — but fail in real life. About the host: I’m Ben Sufiani, founder of Pirate Skills. I’ve been building and growing products for over 15 years across startups, consulting, and hands-on growth work. Pirate Skills exists to help builders turn ideas into evidence — by shipping, learning, and repeating the loop until something holds. If you want to go deeper, check out Pirate Skills at pirateskills.com. Build. Grow. Repeat.Cheers,Ben