Commander's Brief

Business ideas, jobs for veterans, and other cool stuff for ex-military.

March 20, 2025

First, if you have not already, you definitely need to sign up for my upcoming webinar with Shift Group.

When is it? Mar 26, 2025 07:00 PM EST

You can sign up here.

As a reminder, Shift Group is a recruiting firm focused on former elite athletes and veterans. But they don’t just throw you in a job like most recruiters do. You go through a self-guided learning course first, and then they help you put together a digital resume to really stand out to employers. I’ve been running The Veteran Professional for 5 years and they are the only veteran recruiter I’ve agreed to work with in a meaningful way.

That’s how much I like them.

Veteran Business of the Week

A few years ago I interviewed a wild and crazy guy named Johnny Demaddalena.

The one line from him I remember most:

“I own two assets: my house and Bitcoin”

Johnny is just a dude who does things.

He and I recently caught up on his most recent venture: Wirechunk.

What is it?

Wirechunk is an AI-powered agentic web development and design platform with integrated hosting. Our automation delivers custom apps faster and at 1/10 the cost of an agency.

If you have an idea for a web app you want to build, definitely reach out to them. Johnny is a super smart founder and loves to speak with fellow veterans, so give him a shout.

Separately, I recently launched a new newsletter, Tech Stacks. I share the technology and software founders and entrepreneurs use to run their businesses. One of my recent posts is What Tech Does The Guy With 20+ Projects Use to Build?

Resource of The Week

If you are an enlisted veteran and want to apply to top schools, you need to know about two organizations:

These are THE two organizations for helping veterans access higher education.

That’s really all I need to say. If you want to go get a degree- start with them.

Business Idea

So I am going to give you an idea of how to find an idea.

If you don’t know about Perplexity AI, it is like Chat GPT but I think a little better for broad research.

Anyway, I recently asked it for business ideas. Here is what I gave it:

“give me 10 ideas for apps that I could build with databutton. I am not a developer. There should be a clear demand and demonstrable need. There should be options for monthly subscriptions but also pay as you go. I have experience in buying businesses, startup investing, military, veterans affairs, adventure races, fitness, and outdoor adventure. I am a 36-year-old white man with a daughter and a wife and live in Charlottesville Virginia. I like to read and eat pizza”

And honestly, it gave me some good ideas. One of which I am currently building (it’s a way to make a book club online and connect with other readers to discuss similar books. Yes I am a nerd).

So here is my challenge to you: go to Chat GPT or Perplexity and type in a similar message, tailored to yourself, and see what you get.

New Stuff

Jack is an Air Force veteran who went to HBS.

He was told "everyone thinks of veterans as "leaders" but don't let that define you"

Turns out, Jack liked leading people. He liked being labeled a "leader." So he made some career pivots and ended up managing a $500 million business for a PE fund.

From the Archives

Go crush it,

Mark

Is this role of interest? Respond back to let me know. Christian is a friend.

Interested in joining a special community just for other high-performing veterans looking to build wealth and their careers? Check out my friend’s Alex’s community, Master the Military HERE.

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