Innovation Unpacked | Mike Boysen

Mike Boysen

Mike Boysen shares insights into the evolution of First Principles and Jobs-to-be-Done, especially in the age of Generative AI. He makes the previously secret process more accessible new approaches and automated tools that vastly reduce the time, effort, and cost of doing what the large enterprises have been investing in for years. This will be especially interesting for the earlier stage, smaller enterprises, and those investing in them who have always had to rely on a superstar, or guess (or maybe that's the same thing!). So...check it out! www.jtbd.one

  1. 29m ago

    Tesla Robotaxi and Optimus: Can They Carry a Stalled Car Business?

    Tesla Robotaxi and Optimus after Tesla’s Q3 earnings: can the robot bet carry a stalled car business while spending more than doubles? Making a big bet ahead of your sales? Book a call: https://book.pjtbd.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_content=2026-10-22-tesla Tesla’s car business has stalled: it sold about as many cars over the last 12 months as it did three years ago, and this summer deliveries slipped 2.1% from a year earlier. On the Q3 2026 earnings call, CFO Vaibhav Taneja put this year’s capital spending at about $20B (spoken on the call, per a third-party transcript; the Q3 deck gives no number). That’s more than twice what Tesla spent last year, as it builds AI compute, robot factories and a robotaxi fleet. I give Tesla credit for what went right this quarter: positive free cash flow when analysts expected a big cash burn, spending well under estimates, and its highest 12-month revenue ever. Then I test the bet. Tesla showed robotaxi miles and the start of Optimus production, but neither has a revenue line of its own. The verdict, and the one number to watch next. Chapters0:00 Tesla’s car business has stalled0:39 Deliveries: up to the peak, then flat1:24 Where the profit went1:57 Four things that cut against the story2:57 The company isn’t in trouble3:15 Robotaxis: what Tesla showed4:01 Optimus: what Tesla showed4:38 The missing line5:10 Adding, or taking away?6:37 What has to hold7:11 Both sides7:41 Verdict: not yet, and the test to watch8:24 Thanks for watching Sources * Tesla Q3 2026 results, Form 8-K (Oct 21, 2026): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000162828026066738/tsla-20261021.htm * Tesla Q3 2026 Update deck, Exhibit 99.1 (Oct 21, 2026): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000162828026066738/exhibit9914.htm * Tesla-compiled Q3 2026 analyst consensus (Oct 19, 2026; analyst estimates Tesla posts but doesn’t endorse): https://ir.tesla.com/press-release/earnings-consensus-third-quarter-2026 * Tesla Robotaxi Safety Report (Jan 22 to Oct 18, 2026; Tesla’s own figures): https://www.tesla.com/robotaxi/safety * Tesla Q3 2026 earnings call transcript (third party, Benzinga, automated, Oct 21, 2026): https://www.benzinga.com/news/26/10/62515021/tesla-q3-2026-earnings-call-transcript * Tesla Q4 2025 Update deck (Jan 28, 2026): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000162828026003837/exhibit991.htm * Tesla Q2 2026 Update deck (Jul 22, 2026): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000162828026049213/exhibit991.htm * Tesla Q2 2026 Form 10-Q (Jul 23, 2026): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000162828026049270/tsla-20260630.htm * Tesla shareholder letter (DEFA14A, Oct 19, 2026): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000110465926116948/tm267596d7_defa14a.htm * Elon Musk on X (Oct 18, 2026): * Electrek, Tesla Q3 2026 results (Oct 21, 2026; opinion): https://electrek.co/2026/10/21/tesla-tsla-q3-2026-financial-results/ * TechCrunch, Optimus production and robotaxi timing (Oct 21, 2026): https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/21/tesla-stars-optimus-robot-production-in-california-as-profit-falls-43/ Based on public information only. Robotaxi and Optimus claims are Tesla’s or Elon Musk’s own, as labeled in the video. Tesla, Optimus, Cybercab, X, Benzinga, Electrek and TechCrunch are named only to identify each company. Not investment advice. Subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@mike.boysen?sub_confirmation=1Book a call https://book.pjtbd.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.jtbd.one/subscribe

    Tesla Robotaxi and Optimus: Can They Carry a Stalled Car Business?
  2. 21h ago

    Enterprise Decision Velocity: Does a 1,149x Cost Gap Justify Deleting the Queue Layers?

    Enterprise decision making and decision velocity: why AI agents and copilots won't speed up your company's biggest decisions, where the time really goes, and how to prove a decision got faster. Big decisions stuck waiting between teams? Book a call: https://book.pjtbd.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_content=2026-10-20-decision-velocity Your systems run in a blink. Your biggest decisions still take weeks. In this breakdown of a research study on enterprise decision velocity, I show where the time really goes: not in the thinking, but in the waiting between teams and systems. We cover the true cost of one big commitment, why AI copilots speed up the wrong part, the speed traps that bite fast teams, a full architecture for signed handoffs, the pushback you'll get, and the one test that tells you if a speed-up is real. Strategy built and tested in Venture Proof, a powerful, disruptive strategy-as-code engine that builds and tests strategy with code. It's available through advisory work. Chapters 0:00 Fast software, slow decisions 0:34 The 84-day filing 1:17 Credit first 1:54 Map the job, not the wish list 2:34 The Physics Gap 3:17 What is a decision, really 3:58 Time the line, not the scanner 5:34 The border crossings 6:11 Why it can't be instant 6:52 Two paths 7:35 Missing owners, missing paper 8:54 Add versus subtract 9:52 Speed rebound 10:32 The bottleneck moves 11:20 The metering light 12:03 Architecture: the six parts 14:04 Architecture: where latency builds 15:18 The signed handoff 16:06 Lock the baseline 16:42 The plan in four moves 17:22 Before and after 18:00 The pushback 19:25 The scoreboard that counts 20:37 Profit model 21:11 Moat and flywheel 21:59 The tough review 22:36 How you'd start 23:15 The middle-management question 23:50 My take 24:21 The one test Subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@mike.boysen?sub_confirmation=1 Book a call https://book.pjtbd.com More: https://jtbd.one #EnterpriseDecisionMaking #DecisionVelocity #DecisionMaking #AIAgents #OperationsStrategy #COO #CycleTime #LittlesLaw #JevonsParadox #Bottlenecks #JobsToBeDone #JTBD #Strategy #InnovationUnpacked #MikeBoysen This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.jtbd.one/subscribe

  3. 2d ago

    Every CRM Giant Is Building the Same Thing

    Every big CRM vendor is racing to add AI agents. Salesforce, Microsoft, HubSpot, Oracle, SAP, ServiceNow and Zoho all have them. But look closely and the agents are mostly typing into the same boxes the old CRM always had: the same stages, the same pipeline report, the same forecast. That’s automation. It isn’t innovation. In this video I lay the CRM out as one map and walk it through three states: * The system of record, and why it breaks. * What the vendors are building now (agents, assistants, data layers), with credit where it’s due. * Where it should go: build around the one block on the map that none of them own yet. Partway through there’s an example pilot. It’s an illustration of how the idea could play out, not a result from a real company. Venture Proof is a powerful, disruptive strategy-as-code engine I built. It builds and tests strategy with code. It’s in alpha. Right now you can get it through my advisory work, and Venture Proof Mastermind cohorts run parts of their projects in it. More: https://jtbd.one CHAPTERS0:00 Automation is not innovation0:54 The CRM map1:20 State 1: the system of record3:02 State 2: what the vendors are building5:10 The warning signs5:54 State 3: what if we deleted a block?7:12 Inside the customer’s result7:45 The map, rewired8:14 Example pilot (illustration, not a real company)9:03 The profit model9:43 Moat and flywheel10:32 Payoff: the one block nobody owns yet11:13 Close SOURCESEvery vendor fact comes from that company’s own public announcements. Every number comes from a named study. * Salesforce, State of Sales 2026: https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/state-of-sales-report-announcement-2026/ * Validity, The State of CRM Data Management in 2025: https://www.validity.com/resource-center/the-state-of-crm-data-management-in-2025/ * Scott Edinger, “Why CRM Projects Fail and How to Make Them More Successful,” HBR (cites CIO magazine’s average of analyst reports): https://hbr.org/2018/12/why-crm-projects-fail-and-how-to-make-them-more-successful * CRM history (Siebel 1993, Salesforce 1999): https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/08/salesforce-at-20-offers-lessons-for-startup-success/ * Salesforce, Dreamforce 2026 announcements: https://www.salesforce.com/blog/dreamforce-2026-announcements/ * Salesforce, Q2 FY27 results (Data 360): https://www.salesforce.com/news/press-releases/2026/08/26/fy27-q2-earnings/ * Salesforce, Flex Credits rate card (Aug 31, 2026): https://www.salesforce.com/en-us/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/assets/pdf/agentforce/Flex-Credits-Rate-Card-08.31.2026.pdf * Microsoft, Dynamics 365 Sales 2026 release wave 1: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/release-plan/2026wave1/sales/dynamics365-sales/ * Microsoft, Dynamics 365 Sales agents overview: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/sales/ai-agent-overview * HubSpot, Fall 2026 Spotlight: https://www.hubspot.com/company-news/fall-26-spotlight * Oracle, Fusion Agentic Applications for CX (Apr 9, 2026): https://www.oracle.com/news/announcement/oracle-introduces-fusion-agentic-applications-for-cx-2026-04-09/ * SAP, SAP Connect keynote (Oct 2026): https://news.sap.com/2026/10/sap-connect-keynote-autonomous-enterprise-in-action/ * ServiceNow, Knowledge 2026 (Autonomous CRM): https://newsroom.servicenow.com/press-releases/details/2026/ServiceNow-turns-enterprise-AI-chaos-into-control-with-the-platform-for-governed-autonomous-work/default.aspx * Zoho, Zia Agents: https://www.zoho.com/news/zia-agents-ai-platform-supporting-autonomous-agents-across-organizations.html * Zoho, Zia LLM: https://www.zoho.com/news/zoho-launches-zia-llm-and-deepens-ai-portfolio-with-prebuilt-agents-custom-agent-builder-mcp-and-marketplace.html * Gartner, agentic AI prediction (Jun 25, 2025): https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-06-25-gartner-predicts-over-40-percent-of-agentic-ai-projects-will-be-canceled-by-end-of-2027 * MIT NANDA, The GenAI Divide: State of AI in Business 2025 (reported by Fortune): https://fortune.com/2025/08/18/mit-report-95-percent-generative-ai-pilots-at-companies-failing-cfo/ * Sierra, on seat vs. outcome pricing: https://sierra.ai/blog/outcomemaxxing Logos are trademarks of their owners and appear only to identify each company. Book an appointment: Click hereEmail me: mike@pjtbd.comCall me: +1 678-824-2789Follow me on 𝕏: https://x.com/mikeboysenArticles - jtbd.one - De-Risk Your Next Big IdeaWebsite - pjtbd.com Slaying the Sacred Cows of Innovation This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.jtbd.one/subscribe

    Every CRM Giant Is Building the Same Thing
  4. 5d ago

    Musk vs Amazon: Will the Idea Hold?

    Question: who believes you need a consumer survey to figure this stuff out? Not me. Waste of time and money. I deleted the survey. You should too. Amazon just blocked Grok’s shopping bots. People found their bots stopped at Amazon’s door with a short message. It said that “continued access by an unauthorized AI agent” breaks Amazon’s rules. Elon Musk’s answer was quick. On October 15, he posted, “Maybe we should start a competitor to Amazon?” That’s all he said. There’s no plan, no timeline and no product. So let’s treat it the way he posted it. It’s an idea. But it’s a bold one, and on paper it’s a smart one. So I ran it through a stress test. Every big plan rests on a few things that have to be true. If one of them breaks, the plan breaks with it. Let’s find the one most likely to break. The idea, said fairly Musk didn’t just get mad at Amazon. He pointed to a way around it. He told people to “just ask Grok to buy what you want someplace else and get a better deal.” He added, “There are far more purchasing websites than just Amazon!” A few days earlier, he said Grok had already bought his Lego straight from Lego’s own website. Credit where it’s due. Grok is already on phones, on X and in Teslas. That’s a front door millions of people walk through every day. Most new shopping ideas have to fight for that kind of reach. Musk already has it. What has to be true Here are the four things this idea needs. * People want a bot that shops for them. Not just one that finds things. One that actually buys. * Enough stores let the bots in. If the stores close their doors, the bot has nowhere to shop. * Orders show up on time, like Prime. People got used to fast shipping. They won’t go back. * When something goes wrong, someone makes it right. A bad order or a leaked card can’t just be the shopper’s problem. Musk already moved on number four. He said SpaceX will pay you back if Grok messes up an order or leaks your card details. That’s a strong move. It takes a big fear off the table. Most of these look solid. One of them doesn’t. Start from what’s actually true Here’s the plain truth under all of this. Every store is built to look out for itself. Not for you. That sounds harsh, but it’s just how stores work. Each one sets its own shipping. Each one has its own return rules. Each one has its own ways to fail. When a bot shops across five stores, it doesn’t get one simple trip. It gets five sets of rules stacked on top of each other. I ran this idea through Venture Proof. Here’s what came back. Today, buying across stores costs about $770 for each round of shopping, once you count all the time, steps and mistakes. The lowest it could cost is about $7. That’s the study’s own estimate, not a final number. But even if it’s off by a lot, the point stands. There’s a huge amount of waste to cut. That’s a big prize, and it’s why Musk’s idea is worth taking seriously. The one that may break Here’s the catch. The stores decide if the bot gets in. Amazon already said no. It’s been setting rules for AI agents since March. It blocked another big company’s shopping bot in September. Now it’s blocking Grok. Other stores may say no too. Why? Because a shopping bot can look like a new middleman. It stands between the store and the shopper. And stores don’t like a new middleman taking a cut of their sales. So the second thing on our list, “enough stores let the bots in,” is the one that could break the whole idea. You can have the best bot in the world. If the doors are shut, it can’t buy anything. There’s a second thing to watch. It’s trust. Bain & Company found that about half of shoppers are wary of letting a bot buy things on its own from start to finish. Musk’s payback promise helps here. But it doesn’t fix it all. Take something away instead Most people’s first thought would be to build a new Amazon. New warehouses. New trucks. A new store. That’s the hard way, and it’s the slow way. It also puts you right up against Amazon’s biggest strength. So what if Musk took something away instead of adding more? * Don’t build a new Amazon. No new warehouses and no new store. * Borrow what already exists. Lots of stores and delivery networks already want more traffic. Send it to them. * Give shoppers a clear yes button. Before every buy, the shopper says yes. Then the bot buys. The yes button does two jobs. It helps with trust, because the shopper stays in charge. It also helps with stores, because the bot looks less like a middleman and more like a customer who already decided. That’s the move. Don’t fight Amazon on its own ground. Bring stores a flood of ready buyers and let them keep doing what they’re good at. What a full Venture Proof analysis gives you Venture Proof is a powerful, disruptive strategy-as-code engine. It builds and tests your strategy with code, so every step runs the same way and can be checked. Here’s what a full analysis gave me on this one idea: * The true cost. Buying across stores costs about $770 today for each round of shopping. The lowest it could cost is about $7. * What to remove. Skip the new warehouses and the new store. Borrow partner networks that already exist. Cut the extra steps down to one clear yes from the shopper. * A plan in stages. First, test it by hand. Second, build what’s hard to copy. Third, automate what worked. Fourth, grow. About a month for each stage. * A tough review. The idea passed with 92 out of 100. The review raised seven hard challenges. None of them held up. Venture Proof is in private Alpha. I only run it through my advisory work, so spots are few. The payoff Musk’s idea works if stores open their doors. That’s the thing to test first, before anyone builds anything big. He has the reach. He has the payback promise. He has a bot people already use. What he needs is proof that enough stores will say yes. If you’re on Musk’s team, or you’re making a bet like this one, let’s talk before it’s locked in. Book an appointment: Click hereEmail me: mike@pjtbd.comCall me: +1 678-824-2789Follow me on 𝕏: https://x.com/mikeboysenArticles - jtbd.one - De-Risk Your Next Big IdeaWebsite - pjtbd.com Slaying the Sacred Cows of Innovation This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.jtbd.one/subscribe

    Musk vs Amazon: Will the Idea Hold?
  5. Oct 15

    Starlink Sells the Sky It Can’t Turn Off: The One-Owner Idle Capacity Play

    Disclaimer: this video was created 99% by my Grok Bot. The other 1% is my knowledge base and Innovation Lattice (which both power my Venture Proof platform. I’m trying to deliver quality content to you, but have limited bandwith. I hope you don’t mind as I experiment in the open. Feel free to contact me if you’d like to learn more. Contact info is at the end. Thousands of Starlink satellites fly over empty ocean every minute, with almost nobody below them. That empty bandwidth should be waste. Instead it’s part of SpaceX’s biggest business. In my last video, we saw that AWS wasn’t built on spare servers and that idle capacity usually pays when it’s pooled from many owners, like Airbnb. Starlink has just one owner. In this video, I look at why that works: why the idle capacity is built in by physics, why selling one more ship costs almost nothing, how SpaceX sells the spare sky (maritime, aviation, rural, roam, direct to cell, Starshield and community gateways), how its prices follow congestion, why many-owner marketplaces like Getaround struggled, and how reusable rockets made the whole thing affordable. Then we ask whether SpaceX created value by adding or by subtracting, and what it means for idle capacity in your own business. Chapters0:00 The one-owner puzzle0:53 The rule from my last video1:51 Idle by physics3:44 What one more ship costs5:04 How SpaceX sells the spare sky7:13 Prices that follow the physics8:26 The numbers9:16 Why many owners is hard10:33 The rocket under it all12:23 Add or subtract?14:00 Where it can break: three questions14:58 Close Clips used (short excerpts for commentary, each credited on screen) * Elon Musk, SpaceX Seattle event, Jan 16, 2015 (about 27 s). Video: “SpaceX Seattle 2015” by Cliff O (audience recording): * Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX President, TED 2018 (about 31 s). Video: TED, “SpaceX’s plan to fly you across the globe in 30 minutes”: * Elon Musk, Air Warfare Symposium, Feb 28, 2020, Air Force Association fireside chat (about 33 s). Video: DVIDS: https://www.dvidshub.net/video/741194/2020-air-warfare-symposium-day-2-fireside-chat-elon-musk (also re-uploaded by The Space Archive: B-roll: Pexels (free licence): Alexander Bobrov (6857819, 2943126), Matthias Groeneveld (17818434), Jake Houglum (7714718).Music: ElevenLabs music bed. SourcesCelesTrak satellite catalog via KeepTrack and Satellites Tonight (Oct 2026); NOAA Ocean Service; PCMag (Starlink laser links, 2024; Q2 2026 subscribers; demand surcharges and regional savings); SpaceX update (Aug 2026); SpaceX S-1 coverage via Sacra; Quilty Space and Payload Space (2026 analyst forecasts); SatelliteInternet.com; Starlink plan pages via Orbital Intel, Global Satellite and Sea Bits; Airline Starlink Tracker; T-Mobile T-Satellite; DefenseScoop (Space Force contract, May 2026); Open Falklands (community gateway); Airbnb AirCover for Hosts; TechCrunch and SEC filings (Getaround); CSIS Aerospace Security Project and NASA (launch costs); Space.com (booster reuse). Each scene’s source is shown on screen. If this was useful, subscribe to Innovation Unpacked.Go deeper: https://jtbd.one Book an appointment: Click hereEmail me: mike@pjtbd.comCall me: +1 678-824-2789Follow me on 𝕏: https://x.com/mikeboysenArticles - jtbd.one - De-Risk Your Next Big IdeaWebsite - pjtbd.com Slaying the Sacred Cows of Innovation This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.jtbd.one/subscribe

  6. Oct 13

    Tesla Robotaxi vs Waymo: Is the Cybercab Ready to Scale?

    Tesla's Cybercab is giving paid rides in Austin with no steering wheel, no pedals, and nobody in the front seat. It's a real step forward. But can it scale? In this video I walk through what's real, what's still a promise, and what to watch next, and I try to be fair to every company along the way.What's covered:- What's real: Cybercab production started this year, paid rides began in Austin on September 3, and the Texas fleet grew from about 45 to over 300 cars in about a month- Capacity vs. cars built: why Tesla's "more than 125,000 a year" figure is line capacity, not cars actually made- The rules: Tesla self-certified instead of seeking an exemption like Zoox, NHTSA opened an audit, and Tesla doesn't have driverless permits in California- Miles and safety: Tesla's driverless miles vs. Waymo's 270 million+, plus the Austin crash reports- How others compare: Waymo, Zoox, Baidu Apollo Go, May Mobility, and what Cruise's shutdown teaches- The money: why a low car price alone doesn't settle the cost per mile- Five things to watch: the NHTSA audit, California permits, safety data, remote operators, and Waymo's growthSources are drawn from public filings, earnings calls, state records, and news reports as of early October 2026.Want to talk through what changes like this mean for your company? Book a time: https://book.pjtbd.com#Tesla #Robotaxi #Cybercab #Waymo #SelfDrivingCars #AutonomousVehicles #Zoox This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.jtbd.one/subscribe

    Tesla Robotaxi vs Waymo: Is the Cybercab Ready to Scale?

About

Mike Boysen shares insights into the evolution of First Principles and Jobs-to-be-Done, especially in the age of Generative AI. He makes the previously secret process more accessible new approaches and automated tools that vastly reduce the time, effort, and cost of doing what the large enterprises have been investing in for years. This will be especially interesting for the earlier stage, smaller enterprises, and those investing in them who have always had to rely on a superstar, or guess (or maybe that's the same thing!). So...check it out! www.jtbd.one