When I moved my family to Wilmington this summer to launch MicroVentureLab, I did so with great intention: to immerse us in a vibrant coastal community that boasts a thriving entrepreneurial landscape. 

Wilmington ticked all of the boxes. Seeking a change from our native Boston area, I consulted the sharpest advisor I knew: ChatGPT. 

I began experimenting with ChatGPT early on, both personally and professionally, and what immediately stood out to me was how fast it brings clarity. You can take a complex problem, feed in every variable, and suddenly see patterns and possibilities that weren’t obvious before. 

I decided to treat our family move like a real project. I told ChatGPT everything that mattered to us: the kind of climate we wanted, access to nature, a strong creative community, solid schools for our daughter, amazing local cuisine, and proximity to an airport. Then I added data like cost of living, housing prices, real estate inventory, population size, and local industries. ChatGPT helped me process it all and make sense of what we actually valued. It even surfaced places like Byron Bay in Australia and parts of Portugal that matched the lifestyle we were describing. In the end, that process helped me realize we could build that same balance of creativity, opportunity, and lifestyle right here in Wilmington. 

That experience changed how I thought about ChatGPT. It proved that it’s not just about automating work. It’s about amplifying creativity and improving decision-making. It helps you move faster, think more clearly, and focus on what really matters. 

What excites me about ChatGPT and AI in general is how it gives small business owners the same kind of leverage that big companies have always had. It allows one or two people to operate at the level of a full team. It saves time, eliminates busywork, and gives people space to focus on strategy, creativity, and connection. 

That’s the foundation of MicroVentureLab. We use ChatGPT and other AI tools to help founders think sharper, build smarter, and create businesses that align with the life they actually want to live. MicroVentureLab is a small venture studio based in Wilmington that builds, co-builds, and partners with entrepreneurs to turn small businesses into scalable ventures. We combine strategy, systems, and smart automation to help local founders grow faster with less chaos.  

Most small business owners are brilliant at their craft but buried in operations and marketing. They don’t need another agency, consultant, or coach. They need a growth partner who thinks like a founder and understands how to build systems that scale. I created MicroVentureLab to fill that gap and give small ventures access to the same strategic thinking, automation, and brand infrastructure that larger companies use, without the corporate weight or cost. 

My own professional journey began in Boston: I graduated from Berklee College of Music, and like many new graduates, did not start the career (in radio) I had originally envisioned. Instead, I managed and produced audio webcasts for corporate conference calls – which my team also transcribed in real time – for 13 years at what is now Thomson Reuters. During that time, my wife and I moved to Manhattan Beach, Calif., and I worked remotely. Operating on Eastern Standard Time, I filled my free afternoons by forming my own social media management company. A local real estate broker was my first client, and we were one of the first in the country to use drones for real estate content, which landed the broker in Time Magazine and a feature on “Nightline.”  

When Thomson Reuters sold my department, I dove into real estate full time and was approached by a broker who wanted to open a boutique agency. Instead, I joined as a business partner and marketing director. Over five years, I expanded the firm of 20 agents to 65 without formal recruiting and increased sales revenue from $100 million to $325 million. That experience taught me how to scale small teams, build strong brands, and design systems that run efficiently. Those lessons became the foundation for MicroVentureLab. 

We moved back east to be closer to family, and while I still do marketing consulting work for people across the country, my heart is in the creative entrepreneurial process. With MicroVentureLab, I’m creating new companies both on my own and in collaboration with other entrepreneurs... and thanks to AI, the possibilities? Endless.

If you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner who’s curious about using AI and smarter systems to grow, reach out. I’m always open to a good conversation that leads to real progress.