BusinessEntrepreneurship

Nick Saraev Daily Updates

Nick Saraev

Daily updates from Nick Saraev. Every episode, Nick answers questions from his subscribers and communities on building an AI automation business, getting your first clients, pricing, and picking a niche, then talks through what he's working on in his own companies.

Play

Open in

25 episodes
daily
Avg 23 min
English

Episodes 25

Newest Oldest Longest

All20 Unplayed20 In progress0 Played0

Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.

Yesterday · 22 min
is gohighlevel still worth it in 2026?
Nick answers subscriber questions on whether GoHighLevel is still worth learning when you can code your own (yes, if you want to sell to its existing users), why a 20% commission just to book calls signals an inexperienced client, and why Loom-based cold email caps out around five sends per mailbox a day. He also covers short follow-up templates and sending seven to 10 on warm deals, why Finn should stop learning n8n and move to Claude Code, pitching as a former insider using Cialdini's principles of influence, QR codes for capturing event attendees, and framing HVAC guarantees as a fraction of revenue. Plus: Nick's most viral video ever, Maker School MRR at an all-time high, and why he now stops eating at noon for better sleep. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/K44X4P47W4U Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
Tuesday · 15 min
don't charge $1,000/m (charge $945)
Nick answers subscriber questions on why beginners should charge $945 instead of a flat $1,000 retainer and sell fixed-price projects first, why you must wait the full 14-day cold email warmup, and how removing dollar signs helps bypass Microsoft spam filters. He also discusses generating 3D video assets with Claude Opus 5.5, why speaking slower improved his 24-hour video performance, setting aside 2 to 3 hours daily for Maker School, the single valid use case for AI voice agents handling after-hours calls, and why to switch from manual DMs to cold Loom emails. Plus: getting featured in Startup Fortune magazine after an interaction with Tim Sweeney, his latest video hitting nearly 200,000 views in 16 hours, and Twitter crossing 10,000 followers. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/s47CYnbimaI Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
Tuesday · 20 min
how to turn positive replies into booked calls
Nick answers subscriber questions on turning positive replies into booked calls (cover every outcome in one message, since each extra exchange adds hours of delay and 5-10% drop-off), whether dental is too saturated, productizing AI video editing by generating and pruning style variants at about $10 a run, why free leads make a weak lead magnet, Orca versus the Claude desktop app, and whether the AI bubble will pop. He also explains how to fix AI icebreakers by writing 10 to 100 by hand first. He gives three ways to raise an agency's value: 60-70% margins instead of the usual 25-30%, less key-man and key-client risk, and selling during growth. Plus: Clairvo's new investor-facing website, his AI screen pet, and Maker School reaching 2,830 members after a $400K month. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ko67lPxd3fA Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
Monday · 22 min
11 interested leads, 0 calls: what now?
Nick answers subscriber questions on what a growth mindset means (grow the denominator instead of squeezing savings), John's Black October prep kit (80 liters of water, 50 GB of offline Wikipedia), and whether AI really wastes water, where he argues for AI as the meta-technology behind environmental restoration. He also diagnoses a cold email campaign with a 7.9% reply rate, 22% positive and 11 interested leads but zero calls. The bottleneck is the quality of the free script lead magnet. Then a build-in-public segment: a demo of Aoi, a 3D AI assistant with a face that handles voice transcription, chat and answers in the MacBook notch within 1.5 seconds. Plus a 1.5 million-view tweet, 70% of a Maker School course recorded, and plans for a live client acquisition series. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_99dMmsgaQ8 Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
September 7 · 26 min
how i'd land my first client with $300 and no connections
Nick answers subscriber questions on building social proof with zero clients (n8n and Notion partner programs, a brief Amazon bestseller run, press releases, Medium publications, stacking 10 to 20 small signals), why a website designer three months without clients should blame his offer, not the market, and shift to conversion-focused work, and n8n versus Claude Code skills. He also explains how he'd land a first client in 30 days with $300: Maker School for the discounts, an Instantly plan and mailboxes, 15,000 leads, 300 emails a day and relentless follow-up. Plus: hiring an executive assistant, a new Kelowna office, the low-ticket product at $290K a month, sponsorship math pointing toward $600K a month, a possible reacts channel, and hitting 97% sleep recovery. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4E5SBhr-Lt0 Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
September 6 · 20 min
how to upwork in 2026 (the search trick nobody uses)
Nick answers questions on implementing AI in digital businesses (focus on growth, not admin: an hour that makes a client $5,000 beats one that saves $50), the worst cold DM he's received, what Skool makes him now (about $288K a month), and what to do when cold calls and Instagram DMs work but email doesn't (exploit what works, spend 8-12% on exploration). He also advises a 54-year-old former CMO with four months of runway (do the grunt work), explains his 10-minute Upwork search method using keyword OR strings, and says to pitch a 15-minute call on the first reply. Plus: views doubled but watch time didn't, Maker School passes 2,500 members, why he's skipping the AGI hype, and the low subscriber efficiency of his long-form courses. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Ax4LYq2HA08 Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
September 5 · 11 min
how to charge $2,000 from the philippines (or anywhere)
Nick answers subscriber questions on what is really holding back a first paid client (not choosing between fulfillment, outreach and upsells, but the amount of focused time spent working), whether to finish college (finish what you start, but be intentional about what you start), and why he would open dental clinic outreach with volume rather than personalized Looms. He also gives a frank answer to a Filipino viewer on quoting $2,000 to US and UK clients: speak up when you spot problems, drop deference markers like repeated "po" or "sir," match the target accent, and use a shortened name, like Sam instead of Sandeep. Plus: the fastest Stacked podcast yet, recorded after two minutes of prep, Maker School at 2,499 members, and a theory that his stubble is hurting views. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/EHsgLfqct7s Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
September 4 · 20 min
it's immoral not to guarantee your services
Nick answers subscriber questions on whether to guarantee results you can't promise. By his math, a guarantee triples top of funnel for roughly 5% of margin, and it makes you work harder. He explains how his content now drives most agency leads, including a $20K deal closed without a sales call, and why you still can't skip outreach. He also covers why a brand adds a third step that lowers your compound success rate, why "document the journey" is survivorship bias, and whether you can learn AI on free plans. Then: revenue dipped to about $420K last month, Maker School hits 2,500 members and roughly $290K a month, a new stacked overlay layout for podcast clips, the Unfiltered channel gains 100 subscribers in a day, and he plans to deepen Maker School's lead-gen curriculum. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Lb63zAYTNoI Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
September 3 · 27 min
how to get clients from free communities in 2026
Nick answers subscriber questions on selling AI medical scribes to doctors (HIPAA is a hurdle, but regulation becomes a moat), why AI enablement is a hard sell when the ROI is loss avoidance, landing three clients in four months with no network, doing Maker School in 2 to 3 hours a day, what a GTM engineer is, and whether LinkedIn shadowbans (it does). He covers when to scale a cold email campaign (0.5 to 1% positive replies) and his community outreach playbook: 15 minutes a day across three communities to hit the leaderboard within a month. Plus: a course built from a 30,000-word doc pulling nearly 60,000 views in 48 hours, the closing knowledge arbitrage window, Maker School at 2,493 members, and losing Stacked podcast handles to repurposers. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/eoj9eGBVYE4 Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
September 2 · 24 min
do automation agencies still work in 2026?
Nick answers subscriber questions on whether automation agencies still work (three months without a client is execution, not the model; test offers in 90-day blocks), why he says to move out of your parents' house even when broke, what to do after spending $4-5K on outreach with no results, finding med spa leads by scraping Google Maps by zip code and personalizing pitches with AI, making AI SMS setters feel human, and what speed to lead really involves, including the system behind a Clairvo client going from $3M to $9M a month. Then: a five-hour How to Think Clearly course, a Stacked thumbnail that bombed, and why a Fable 5.1 news video earned 200 subscribers on 64,000 views while his Claude Code course converts at roughly 3.5x that rate. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ctZUYh4lr-4 Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
September 1 · 27 min
never sign profit-share deals (do this instead)
Nick answers subscriber questions on physical mail as outreach (including robot-written cards from Simply Noted) and judging any channel by total acquisition cost, why social profiles and directory listings matter when prospects Google you before signing, why a qualified meeting just means the prospect shows up, and why he never signs profit-share deals and takes revenue instead. He also covers why a student stuck below $10K/month has an application problem, not a skill problem, how his "or you don't pay" guarantee works, and hard work versus effective work. Then: the Stacked Podcast gets its first sponsors, how he split tests titles, what he took from Dan Martell's office, plans for a lean team of two or three in Kelowna, and the main channel at 508,379 subscribers. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4bAxXjgaeB8 Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
August 31 · 26 min
how i'd automate 10,000 cold email replies a day
Nick answers subscriber questions on how he would build an autonomous reply bot for 10,000 cold emails a day (an n8n AI agent with a knowledge base, standout reply templates and full conversation history, later moved to Python scripts on Modal triggered by Instantly's reply webhook), how to recruit affiliates with a $250 first-post offer, and why clients should pay their own API costs like OpenAI and Twilio. He also covers selling before you build, going from $3K to $20K a month with Upwork's 4-6x return on connect spend, and why he won't sell to Skool owners. Then: Stacked Podcast lands a $20K/month sponsor after 1,000 watch hours in a day, Q&A shorts underperform on the repurposing channel, and Nick writes 26,000 words in a day for a new course using AI-generated outlines. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZLnkImN42X8 Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
August 30 · 20 min
the #1 way to get clients in 2026
Nick answers subscriber questions on the number one way to land clients right now: find a problem you can quantify, start solving it, then reach out with proof. He also covers what entrepreneurship and attention look like after AGI, why you should cut your rates on Upwork with zero reviews, and what to do when a branded-game cold email campaign books zero calls (send far more, around 500 a day, and commit to 30 days). Other questions include staying in the game after 20 days without results, why a 5% commission-only SDR role rarely makes sense, and his simple Excalidraw skill using GPT Image 2. Then he explains why he's writing a 30,000-word Google Doc style course, and shares stats: the Stacked Podcast hitting 10K views in a day and Maker School at 2,466 members. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Rhn-aVXZOuc Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
August 29 · 29 min
"i accidentally closed a $2.2k client, now what?"
Nick answers subscriber questions, starting with a viewer who closed a $2.2K client on a "20 meetings in 60 days or I work free" guarantee: get paid up front with a refund clause, and don't take the client's word on their market. He also covers triggering n8n from a client's website form, LinkedIn connect notes, the Instagram DM that escapes message requests, testing 3 niches x 2 offers for HVAC speed to lead, whether AI providers train on client data, and switching from Claude to Codex. Then: unedited clips hitting 14.5K views with zero extra work, why Q&A is bad packaging, catching a false revenue claim on his channel, the AI agents course at 5K views a day, and Maker School reaching 2,464 members and #4 on the Skool ladder. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-ME01ILzO9o Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
August 28 · 28 min
should you drop out of college?
Nick answers questions on what to do when LinkedIn Sales Navigator caps outreach at 200 a week (copy the approach to X, TikTok, Instagram, email and phone), whether a streamer earning $1,800-2,700 a month should switch to business (attention is the hard part, as Magnus Carlsen shows), why scheduling tools tank reach, and whether a student headed to USC should drop out for AI automation. He also covers why a Loom video beats cold calling for selling AI websites (1.5-2x the ROI) and what 60% Instagram reach from India means for brand versus money. Then he talks about buying a Bigscreen Beyond 2 VR headset for work, going all-in on four-hour megacourses, and YouTube's change to how views count. Plus Maker School at 2,461 members and Clairvo just over $100K a month. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/CY4PK4vz3YM Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
August 27 · 30 min
how to get clients with $0 in 2026
Nick answers subscriber questions on why a channel with 112 videos and 12 subscribers isn't growing (likely suppressed reach, so start a new channel and test broader topics) and how to land first clients with no case studies (guarantee revenue, then qualify on the call). He also covers how to find clients from Turkey with no cash: pick three niches, join five free communities and spend 15 minutes a day in each answering questions. Then he explains how "$15K or you don't pay" works and why speed to lead matters when guaranteeing booked meetings. Plus: training AI models on his own writing with supervised fine-tuning and DPO, where Gemma 4 31B performed best in blind tests. Growth stats include the Stack podcast at 7,720 subscribers and Maker School at 2,445 members. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/6Q10E6JMYcU Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
August 26 · 24 min
the one automation i'd sell right now (2026)
Nick answers subscriber questions on how much to spend before a first client (roughly $200-300, offset by Maker School discounts), when content creation makes sense (once results put you in the top 1%), the $2,000/month limiting belief, why learning to work with AI beats chasing individual tools, and how many DMs to send before changing copy (100-150, versus 500-1,000 for cold email). He names the one automation he'd sell instead of voice agents: lead generation with a "double it in 90 days or don't pay" guarantee. He also covers how to build a speed-to-lead list, the setup, and what to say without a case study. Plus: a 22,000-word life optimization course for Maker School, the Skool Games leaderboard at 275K, and Maker Zero converting about 1.62 members a day. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/WX_5UJneSrA Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
August 25 · 17 min
how to get clients with zero case studies in 2026
Nick answers subscriber questions on how to use social proof when past work is under NDA (talk money in generalities), how to upsell from a cold front-end offer like 23 booked appointments in 60 days by working down the bottleneck stack, why creators should start with bottom-of-funnel content, and how to frame AI recruiting systems as outcomes rather than features. He covers landing a first client with $0 and no case studies: send 20 hyper-customized emails a day instead of 100 and follow up across social platforms. He also describes a voice agent that calls form leads within 5 seconds and openly says it's AI. Plus: courses dubbed into Hindi, Spanish and German, Maker School flat at 2,439 members, a new life optimization course, and the main channel at 646,531 subscribers. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dyI9a6VsFWI Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
August 24 · 22 min
why your loom outreach isn't getting replies
Nick answers subscriber questions on getting sponsors (be sparing, set expiry rights on your content, build your own product instead), why a Loom campaign with no replies is a math problem to diagnose step by step from sent to closed, and why 10,000 pieces of outreach a month beats a LinkedIn post, illustrated by the 2,500 doors he knocked on to make $7. He also covers offering CRM proof of concept by building a platform-agnostic demo with Claude or Codex, sending Looms for effectiveness before scale, and the real math behind ListKit's $597 offer. Then he explains why he dropped cold outbound for Clairvo (about $100K a month), and gives updates on the slow-starting Codex course, Maker School case studies including Kelly Stevens, and fixing his cardio. Maker School reaches 2,439 members, and the main channel hits 503,181 subscribers. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/gH8G79bT-WY Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript
August 23 · 28 min
how to structure a guarantee with zero data
Nick answers subscriber questions on setting a guarantee with no data (pick the first number that comes to mind, refund if you miss, raise it if you hit), why "pre-revenue" signals a lack of seriousness, and why a dental clinic guarantee should promise absolute booked appointments rather than a percentage. He also covers his wired-earbud audio setup with Auphonic, warming mailboxes in Zapmail before Smartlead, using AI to scaffold Excalidraw visuals, selling automations instead of agents, having clients own their infrastructure, and pitching speed-to-lead only to businesses running ads. Plus: a Clairvo upsell to 15 seats adds about $60K a year, why his newest course will outgrow its slow start, flat growth after 500K subscribers, Maker School at 2,438 members, and repurposing switching to full auto-posting. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zKhRsYpFqHI Join Maker School: https://www.skool.com/makerschool Check out Clairvo: https://clairvo.io Instagram: https://instagram.com/nick_saraev Blog: https://nicksaraev.com
- Transcript

Showing 1–20 of 25 episodes