VSTRAT.ai: A Tool that Builds Businesses
Not just another shiny app; VSTRAT is a tool that builds other tools.
“What’s your goal?”
It’s a question I get asked constantly about VSTRAT, our AI-augmented strategy system. The expected answers are easy enough to rattle off. Beach time with margaritas and a fat bank account? Sure, maybe for a weekend. A big exit with impressive numbers? I suppose though I’m pretty used to eating in. A sprawling team of employees? No - definitely not that.
But here’s my actual goal with VSTRAT: I want to someday gladly hand over my money to a business that was structured using our platform. That’s it. That’s the north star.
Tools That Build Other Tools
This reminds me of something a senior developer told me years ago when I was still green behind the ears. He said a “real” programming language should be capable of creating another programming language.
That’s exactly what we’re after with VSTRAT. Not tech for tech’s sake, but technology that serves genuine value creation. We’re not building toys; we’re building tools. And those tools, I believe, will make the world measurably better.
The Painpoint
What’s the painpoint? Strategic planning is viewed by many as slightly more invigorating than an unmedicated colonoscopy. I met one person in San Francisco who said they loved the process but, as my friend Mary (a fantastic marketer) once said, a sample of one may be complimentary but isn’t such a good idea. I’ve met many, many more who say strategic planning is not an especially fun process and the fact many hire consultants to work on it for them suggests the same.
From Classroom to Marketplace
VSTRAT does teach, and it teaches exceptionally well. Our academic pedigree runs deep - born from a research fellowship at INSEAD, used at Ross (Michigan), integrated at UT, used for research at Harvard and both research and teaching at Wharton. We genuinely love our academic users.
But our ultimate destination isn’t the classroom or even the factory floor. It’s the product developers, the marketers, the sales teams, and ultimately, the shelf where real value gets exchanged.
Don’t misunderstand - we’re passionate about education. We’ve been making EdTech for decades and consider ourselves quite good at it. Our professors, teachers, and students energize us daily. But we know that strategy isn’t just something to study; it’s something to implement. Something to create with.
The Meta-Goal
So when people ask about my goals for VSTRAT, they’re really asking about my faith in the system we’ve built. If I’m not willing to bet my own money on businesses structured with our platform, then what are we really building?
The answer, I hope, is tools powerful enough that they’ll someday create value I’d pay for myself. That’s not just a business goal - it’s a validation that we’ve built something genuinely useful.