The AI Sandwich, naming your expertise, and a promo code
On teaching, reflecting with AI, and eating sandwiches.
Hi Friends!
Last week I announced that I’m coming out of a teaching hiatus to test a workshop format that I’m really excited about. You might sign up, and because you’ve been a longtime subscriber, I’ve included a nice promo code for you in this email.
Read on for more.
An AI sandwich
What do you get when you combine a coffee chat, AI jamming, and then relevant human feedback?
You get what I’m starting to believe is the future of skill-based learning: the AI Sandwich. Yum.
I’ve figured out that this is basically how I like to learn:
Hands-on, but not totally self-guided. Sufficiently grounded in recent market insight, not years-old assumptions. Fast path to momentum, but not solely riding on AI-generated judgment.
As you can tell, I’m excited.
So, say hello to my new workshop: Name Your Expertise. It’s for execs who want to figure out and properly name the expertise they’ve built over their long and interesting careers.
Why? Because doing so ties you less to your employer(s) and orients you more toward the opportunities you actually want.
It’s a yummy AI sandwich that will help you shape your non-linear career experience into concrete expertise that startups actually want. Not 3 years ago, but now. Even in this weird market.
If the format works well, I’ll convert it into tasty sandwiches focused on what I actually do all day: strategy and operations. We shall see.
More on the course
Format: live, ~3-hour half-day. Here’s how we build the sandwich:
The bread, top slice. I frame what I’m seeing in the market — the pattern, the traps, what “good” looks like — and what I’ve learned doing this exercise countless times before pushes for more advisory, consulting, investing, teaching.
The meat and veggies. You work with AI on your own material, mining your career history to uncover areas of expertise that you clearly and uniquely posses. (This is fast and fun, but also potentially wrong, which is why the next layer matters.)
The bread, bottom slice. I sanity-check the output against what’s actually getting hired this quarter — live, in the room with you.
You leave with a concrete and credible blurb that you can send to 3–5 people this week, and a simple validation plan to further test the market against your new thesis. All things you can actually use.
A couple of things to know:
It’s pathway-neutral on purpose. Whether you’re weighing consulting, advising, angel investing, a board seat, or a new operating role, the articulation work is the same. It’s the prerequisite.
This is heavily oriented toward getting you relevant insight from the market, and is not a feel-good exercise. I’m a practicing COO and therefore on the buyer side of the exact founder conversations you want to be in this quarter. Your personal network is going to balance my view with theirs, giving you a better picture of what lands vs does not.
Dates, price, and your promo code
Two cohorts are open:
Saturday, May 2, 2026 — if you’re ready to move now
Saturday, June 6, 2026 — if you want a few weeks of runway
Both are $599. As an Amanda Thinks subscriber, use AMANDA100 at checkout for $100 off either cohort.
→ Register for Name Your Expertise
A few questions I’ve fielded since launching
Do I need to know what I want to do next? No. Most students will arrive weighing two or three options (consulting, a board seat, a new operating role, angel investing). This articulation work may serve as a starting point for any path.
Two cohorts are open, May and June. Will you run one in July or August? Probably not. If this sounds relevant for future exploration, I recommend taking it now.
What do I need coming in? Updated resume or LinkedIn profile (must-have). A list of recent accomplishments from prior roles (nice-to-have, even in journal form). Prior writing or speaking that demonstrates your expertise (nice-to-have).
Is AI fluency required? No. I’ll support you in using AI for the first time, if needed. Please do have the Claude Desktop app downloaded and a minimum-tier subscription locked in before we start.
I have a decent understanding of my positioning but would like 1:1 coaching. Do you offer that? Yes. Head to my instructor page and you can book time with me directly.
If this is landing, and you know someone sitting on 15 years of exec experience and a wish for the future, I’d very much appreciate you forwarding this. ❤️
More to come as I keep playing. Also, more writing and less promotion in future letters, I promise.
XO,
Amanda