Most conversations about AI in consulting stop at productivity. Doing the same thing faster. That's the wrong frame entirely.

In this episode, I break down the three form factors for digital products: information products, software products, and what I'm calling actors. An actor is an AI agent or multi-agent orchestration that deploys your expertise on your behalf without requiring your ongoing presence at every step. The distinction that matters: an actor becomes a producer when it generates real market value, not just activity.

I walk through how I built this into my own content pipeline (four hours down to fifteen minutes), how clients are using actors to overdeliver on their initial offer at 2-3x the going rate, and why "efficiency" is the wrong frame for what's actually happening. This is the next piece in a series. The Services Stack covers the thesis. The New Value Quadrant covers pricing. The Post Scope Era covers practical sales and delivery changes. This episode covers the new form factor that makes all of it possible.

Key topics covered:

• What a "form factor" actually means and why it matters for how you price and package
• Form Factor 1: Information products (ebooks, courses, coaching, communities) and the key person problem
• Form Factor 2: Software products and why they require a team and capital
• Form Factor 3: Actors, AI agents that produce outcomes on your behalf
• The distinction between an agent that acts and a producer that creates net new market value
• Why your methodology, positioning, and expertise dictate the value an actor creates
• Real example: content scheduling from four hours to fifteen minutes
• How clients are using actors to deliver 2-3x more value at standard pricing
• Efficiency vs. production: doing the same thing faster vs. creating something new
• Why speed to value creation might be the real variable
• Human flourishing as the real goal
• Three steps to build your first actor

CHAPTERS

• Website: https://dogoodwork.io
• Newsletter: https://dogoodwork.substack.com
• https://dogoodwork.substack.com/p/how-ai-is-creating-the-3rd-form-factor

What happens when you stop thinking about AI as a replacement tool and start thinking about it as a value creation engine? In this episode, Raul shares the paradigm shift he taught his 4-year-old son about money and value creation, rebuts Mark Cuban's argument about AI token costs, and walks through how to find your own net new value as a service founder or consultant.

Chapters

00:00 - A 4-Year-Old's Take on How Money Works (and Why He's Right)

01:30 - The Highest Calling: Why We're Meant to Create, Not Just Execute

02:30 - Mark Cuban Is Right About Token Costs. He's Wrong About the Goal.

04:00 - What Net New Value Actually Is (and Why You're Stuck Without It)

05:00 - The Key Distinction: Efficiency Is Not Creation

06:00 - How I Compressed 12 Weeks of Work Into a Month (Without Outsourcing My Thinking)

07:00 - The Test: Are You Still in Replacement Mode?

08:00 - The Firm of the Future: 70% Agentic, 30% Human, 100% Intentional

09:30 - Your Offer Dictates Everything. Start There.

11:00 - What I Learned Spending Millions in Direct Response About Upsells

12:30 - Proactive Value: Anticipate Your Client's Next Problem Before They See It

13:00 - Be a Creator and Inventor. Tinker. Play. Build for Fun.

In this episode, Raul and John discuss why hiring an agency feels risky today—cost, quality, outcomes, and commoditized “SEO/PPC shop” buying—then explore a shift toward providing open-ended marketing leadership focused on strategy, positioning, and execution using a mix of people, AI, automation, and outside resources. They argue project fees don’t fit a fast-changing landscape and consider retainers plus tool costs, while noting some work (like nailing brand positioning) can justify value-based pricing. They cover AI’s rapid acceleration, tool churn, and potential skill loss, alongside likely disruption to entry-level roles, and suggest human relationships will become more valuable in high-stakes B2B selling. John shares positioning lessons from customer interviews, a case study creating a sales/brand playbook used for onboarding, and examples of “marketing-adjacent” AI work that helps sales operations.

00:00 Do Agencies Still Matter?

01:18 What Clients Really Want

02:29 Marketing Leadership Model

04:57 Post Scope Era Pricing

06:52 AI Velocity And Tool Overload

09:00 Value Based Fees And Retainers

12:09 Skill Loss And Disruption

15:01 Meaning Work And Removing Toil

17:51 Human Connection Comes Back

22:18 Proof Points vs Positioning

22:55 Cloud Consulting Case Study

25:13 Tagline to Sales Playbook

26:52 Using AI for Messaging

28:25 Positioning Is for Buyers

29:18 When Positioning Doesn’t Land

30:49 Marketing Isn’t Just Opinion

32:39 Revenue as the Validator

33:39 AI Adjacent Opportunities

36:58 Relationships in a Tech World

39:12 Loyalty Means Real Dollars

40:59 Lifetime Value Marketing Model

Connect with John Schultz:

https://www.netstrategies.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnschultznetstrategies/

Connect with Raul:

• Work with Raul: https://dogoodwork.io/apply

• Free Growth Resources: https://dogoodwork.io/free-growth-resources

• Connect with Raul on LinkedIn (DMs open): https://www.linkedin.com/in/dogoodwork/