In today's episode, I sit down with Sharon Klardie—a longtime product leader who's spent her career around technology without ever being the one writing the code, and is now finally in the building seat thanks to what she calls her "AI minions." We talk about Board Forge, the app she built to make life easier for volunteer nonprofit boards (complete with an AI chief of staff named Jordan who tells you the one thing you actually need to do today), which just won "most improved" in week three of Replit's Buildathon. But it's not just one app—Sharon's also running an LLC that publishes puzzle books, building a math game to drill her 10-year-old's times tables, and inventing brand-new puzzle types on the side. Along the way she shares the practical stuff that's making it all work: treating her AIs like a team with a CEO and a QA engineer, having one model write prompts for another, telling them to stop brown-nosing and actually argue with her, and why the real currency she pays attention to is impact, not revenue. If you've ever had ideas for software that could help other people, but figured the tech part wasn't for you, this one will light a fire under you.

Links:

• Sharon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonklardie/
• Cipher Creek publishing: https://ciphercreekpublishing.com/
• More on BoardForge: https://linkedin.com/posts/sharonklardie_boardforge-board-management-for-nonprofits-activity-7447123672642895872-wMZb