The No-Code Founder Podcast
Most AI advice lacks real-world credibility or revenue impact.This podcast is the antidote from an actual entrepreneur.I'm Leo, a non-technical founder openly building Ascend AI, sharing unfiltered truths of AI implementation with my successes, challenges, and revenue-driving actions that Im using that you can use too for your business.My core principle: The most valuable skill today is knowing where and how to apply AI, not coding.For non-techies and those looking to grow with AI without getting lost in AI hype or nonsense, the No-Code Founder Podcast is for you.New episode each week.
Smart Pricing Without Backlash: AI‑Driven Bundles, Offers, and Tests That Protect Margin
Audience: Small-mid D2C founders/operators
Overview: Stop training customers to wait for discounts. Build a pricing system that protects contribution margin while lifting AOV and repeat rate using AI strategically and tests your finance lead will trust.
Diagnose Before Discount
Pull: product margins (incl. returns/fulfillment/fees),SKU velocity/inventory, return rates, cohort health (first-time vs repeat,LTV:CAC).Respect MAP policies and channel parity.Smart Pricing System (4 Building Blocks)
Floors: minimum margin thresholds by SKU/categoryFences: who qualifies (VIP tier, channel, geo, first-time, subscription)Bundles: raise...Stop Margin Leakage: Control Promo Abuse, Returns Fraud, and Payment Risk
Episode Description
Fraud and abuse are quietly eating into your margins and most founders don't realize how bad it is until it costs them tens of $.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Where D2C brands actually lose moneyHow to control promo and loyalty abuse without alienating good customersReturns prevention, detection, and recovery tactics (before and after the sale)Payment fraud baselines (AVS, CVV, 3DS, CE3.0, and risk tiers)A 30/60/90-day action planKPIs and dashboards to prove it's workingBy the end, you'll know exactly where to start, what to measure, and how to...
Post-Cookie Growth Playbook: Turn First-Party Data into Lower CAC
Episode Promise:
Cookies are fading, privacy rules are tightening, and CAC keeps climbing.
This episode gives you a concrete, first‑party/zero‑party data playbook to collect better signals, unify them without a big data team, activate profitable segments across email/SMS/paid, and measure real lift while staying compliant and protecting deliverability.
Topics Discussed:
Definitions that matter
The 4-stage growth framework: Collect, Unify, Activate, Measure
Collect: High-quality first/zero-party data without tanking conversionUnify: Minimum viable data layerActivate: Lifecycle segmentation and paid media powered by first-party dataMeasure: Post-cookie attr...The $200k Hiring Trap: Grow Your Revenue Without Hiring.
Show description:
D2C founders: before you post that $200k “AI hire,” listen to this.
We break down why panic hiring fails and what to do instead so you ship real wins fast without bloating payroll.
Key talking points and sections
The $200k panic hire: what the AI Talent Trap is and why it’s costlyWhy the “genius hire” fails: data (no kitchen), context (ivory tower), strategy (no use case)Role decoder: who you actually need (AI translator vs data scientist/engineer/analytics/ML)Data readiness gate: simple checks before any hireThe Buy–Upskil...The Founder's AI Dilemma: Build, Buy, Partner or Acquire?
Episode Talking Points
Picking the wrong AI path can cost you quarters and millions. Get a dead-simple framework to decide: build in-house, buy a platform, partner with specialists, or acquire a team, plus real costs, risks, and playbooks.
You'll get:
7-question scorecard to choose your path in minutesYear-1 and 3-year cost realities (TCO, payback, "caretaking" budget)How to avoid lock-in: abstraction, export rights, multi-model failoverClear playbooks for Build, Buy, Partner (BOT), and AcquireEcom case clinics and 90-day rollout plan with POC gatesConcepts: Build for moats, Buy for speed, Partner for...
The Hidden Costs of Bad AI: When Automation Becomes Your Biggest Expense
The Hidden Costs of Bad AI: When Automation Becomes Your Biggest Expense
Bad AI is expensive, because you pay for the mess it leaves behind. This no‑fluff tactical episode is for non‑technical D2C founders and ops leads who want real results from AI, not hype.
With a focus on sales outreach, Leo (Founder, Ascend AI) breaks down the hidden costs draining your margins and gives you a playbook you can run this week.
You’ll learn:
The 100:1 Rule: when one AI mistake wipes out a hundred wins, aka wh...The Simple "AI Leverage Audit": Find $10,000 Of AI Opportunity in Your Business Today
In this episode of The No-Code Founder Podcast, Leo Sadeq - Founder of the ROI-focused AI automation agency Ascend AI - reveals the exact methodology he uses to identify massive automation opportunities for businesses across every industry.
Leo shares his proven 3-step AI Leverage Audit framework that has consistently helped him uncover $10,000+ automation opportunities for his clients.
This isn't just theory - it's a proven system that Leo has refined to serve as the first AI enablement steps before diving deeper.
In this episode, you'll discover:
The exact 3 steps of...AI Vanishing Act: Connecting Your Disconnected Tools & Solving Integration Nightmare.
In a Nutshell Brief:
Make your AI tools actually work together without sacrificing speed, reliability, or budget.
This episode gives non-technical founders and ops leaders a plain-English playbook for fixing broken AI integrations.
If your “brilliant” bot falls apart the moment it touches Shopify, Klaviyo, your CRM, or warehouse system, you’re not alone. The problem isn’t your AI. It’s the plumbing.
In this episode, we break down the four integration hell scenarios that cause 80% of failures:
1. Voice latency: Fix with sub-500ms budgets, caching, and gracef...
