Hello Builders,
This week, the thread connecting all our featured content is leverage: finding the right tool or model that lets you achieve disproportionate results.
Whether it’s Lemonade using AI to scale its purpose-driven insurance model or a simple browser extension raising millions for charity, the most successful builders are finding ways to multiply their effort.
In the spotlight, we look at three high-leverage tools: one that turns grant research into a science, one that democratizes professional media creation for founders, and an AI solution that instantly connects hot leads to your sales team.
Let's get building.
📈 Case Study
Lemonade Insurance - Purpose-Driven Insurance Model
Summary: Lemonade is an insurtech company that has successfully positioned itself as a mission-driven disruptor in the legacy insurance market. Operating as a certified Public Benefit Corporation (B-Corp), the company uses AI to streamline the claims process (often paying claims in minutes) and leverages its "Giveback" program to donate unused premiums to causes chosen by its customers.
Key Insights
- AI for Trust: By automating and speeding up the claims process, Lemonade leverages technology to build trust with a younger, digitally native consumer base who value speed and transparency.
- Purpose as Product: The B-Corp status and "Giveback" mechanism are core product features that reduce the conflict of interest traditionally inherent in the insurance model, driving customer loyalty and strong brand differentiation.
🛠️ Nonprofit Tool
Instrumentl
What it does: Instrumentl is a comprehensive grant management and prospecting platform that helps nonprofit teams find, track, and win grants more efficiently. It combines foundation research with project tracking and reporting tools in one centralized hub.
Why it actually helps: It removes the tedious, manual work of grant research, replacing it with an intelligent system that automatically surfaces the best-fit funders for your mission. By centralizing deadlines and required documentation, it significantly reduces the likelihood of missing critical submission dates, boosting your overall success rate.
Use cases for small, mid sized, and growing nonprofits.
- Small: Quickly generate a personalized list of new funders interested in small, regional projects, saving countless hours on manual research.
- Mid-Sized: Use the tracking tools to manage a diverse grant calendar, collaborating across departments to ensure all reporting and proposal deadlines are met.
- Growing: Leverage the data and insights to analyze past successful grants and identify trends, strategically prioritizing applications for maximum return on investment (ROI).
💡 Entrepreneur Tool:
Riverside
What it does: Riverside is a remote recording studio platform designed to capture high-quality, local video and audio tracks from all participants, regardless of their internet connection quality. It’s the gold standard for recording podcasts, video interviews, and virtual events.
Why founders should pay attention: In the age of founder-led media and thought leadership, high-quality audio and video are essential for building brand trust. Riverside makes it easy for founders to produce professional, polished content (podcasts, YouTube interviews, etc.) with guests located anywhere in the world, without needing a massive production budget or technical expertise.
Practical use cases or outcomes.
- Founder Podcast: Launch a high-fidelity podcast that positions the CEO as an industry expert, attracting investors and partners.
- Customer Testimonials: Record crisp, professional video testimonials with remote clients that look like they were filmed in a studio.
- Internal Comms: Create high-quality, recurring video updates for remote teams and external stakeholders, improving communication clarity.
AI Tool Spotlight
Chili Piper
What it does: Chili Piper Chat AI is an intelligent conversational bot integrated into a website that instantly qualifies inbound leads based on defined criteria and automatically books them a meeting with the correct sales or success representative, directly from the chat window.
Why founders should pay attention: Speed-to-lead is one of the most critical factors in sales conversion. This tool eliminates friction and wait times, ensuring high-value prospects get a confirmed meeting on the calendar immediately, maximizing conversion rates and preventing leads from going cold while waiting for a follow-up email.
Use cases.
- Instant Conversion: A high-value lead visits your pricing page and starts a chat; the AI instantly qualifies them and books a 15-minute demo with the appropriate Account Executive in under 30 seconds.
- 24/7 Coverage: Provides round-the-clock qualification for global leads, booking meetings while your sales team sleeps.
- Routing Complexity: Automatically routes leads based on company size, location, or product interest to the correct team member's calendar, reducing internal administrative overhead.
As always, reply to this email with thoughts, recommendations or ideas.
Thanks 😄
- Grant
Grant Trahant
Founder | Causeartist + Causeartist BackOffice
Host | Disruptors for Good + Investing in Impact
Venture Partner | Pay it Forward Ventures
Connect: LinkedIn | X
