Recent Posts

4 Ways Veterinarians Can Increase Lifetime Customer Value

Written by Ricky Nave in Business Models

A dog in a veterinarian's office waiting room.

The lifetime value (LTV) of a customer is the total amount of revenue generated from that customer (ever). For example, if a pet owner moves to your local area, visits your veterinary practice 15 times spending $100 each time, and then moves away, your LTV for that customer was 15 x $100 = $1,500.

Here are 4 ways to increase your average customer LTV.

1. Sell pet medication

So long as it is legal in your local area, you should be selling pet medication directly rather than just writing prescriptions that a pet owner fills online. You should of course allow your customers the option to buy the medication elsewhere, but you should also offer the option of filling the prescription in-house (which many customers WILL take you up on).

2. Use automated email & text campaigns

Every time you intake a new customer, you should collect their email and phone number. You can then send them automated reminders whenever their pet(s) are coming up to the time when they will need a vaccine, more flea & tick medication, a check-up, or anything else. This is very simple, but many veterinarians don’t do it. Not doing this can quite literally cost your practice $10,000+ per year in lost revenue.

3. Offer subscriptions

Over 3 million pet owners in the U.S. have pet health insurance, and pet insurance for an adult dog can often be over $50 per month. That’s over $600 per year per pet. Veterinarians can directly compete with the growing pet insurance industry by offering “concierge memberships” which allow pet owners to pay monthly subscription fee that allows them to come in whenever they need. If you sell a $50 monthly subscription to a pet owner that lives in your town for 5 years, that pet owner would pay a total of 5 x 12 x $50 = $3,000 (the customer LTV). That’s more money than the average LTV for many veterinary practices. If it’s more than your average LTV, you should consider offering a concierge membership. Not all customers will take you up on the offer, but the ones that do will fatten your bottom line.

You might even consider offering multiple levels of subscription, depending on your local customer base. For example, a cheaper subscription might not include surgery or cancer treatments while a more expensive option could include one or both of those.

4. Acquire a dog training business

If you’re really ambitious about growing your veterinary business, you may want to consider buying a dog training business. Dog owners often spend $1,000 to $2,000 on training within the first year of buying a new puppy. By acquiring a dog training business, you can capture that revenue AND benefit from cross-referring pet owners between your veterinary practice and your dog training business.

If you’d like help taking your vet practice profits to the next level, send me an email through the form below.

The Lahaina Fire: $3+ Billion in Property Damage, Over 100 Dead, and an Incompetent Local Government

Written by Ricky Nave in News,Real Estate

Lahaina fire consuming a building with a van

Last month, the median home price in Lahaina was just over $1 million.

This month, half of those homes (almost 2,000) were destroyed or damaged in a wildfire that caused over $3 billion in estimated property damage and killed at least 114 people, with over 800 people still missing even as 90% of the burn area has been searched.

Many of the missing people are likely tourists who quickly fled the island in the aftermath of the fire without realizing anyone was looking for them. Others may be duplicates since some names are only first names or only last names. However, the fire was so hot that it’s also possible that some people were completely cremated, leaving nothing behind — not even bones.

Frustratingly, many of the deaths were preventable, being caused by incompetent local government workers who blockaded the main road out of Lahaina and redirected traffic back into the worst part of the fire. The county Facebook page also told Lahaina residents to shelter in place. In the end, it was the people who violated that directive and drove around the baricades or sheltered in the ocean that ended up surviving.

Local emergency responders also failed to notify the public that the fire had spread for more than an hour after it had already started consuming homes, and the all-purpose emergency sirens in the city were never activated.

For two days after the city had been destroyed and the fire contained, some Lahaina residents whose homes had been destroyed sought refuge in a hotel that had lost power. The people ran out of food, but no emergency aid came despite the hotel being directly accessible by boat and despite there being a still-functional airport down the road. Eventually, many of the people left and found their own way to aid stations.

To add insult to injury, neither Maui’s local government nor FEMA stepped in to restore cell service to Lahaina for several days after the fire. For comparison, in Florida, state emergency response teams have portable cell towers that can be immediately deployed to an area hit by a hurricane or other disaster, along with generators to power those towers if necessary. In Lahaina, portable cell towers only arrived days later.

And as if all of that wasn’t bad enough, local government officials told outsiders that Maui was closed for business. A week and a half later, over 8,000 Lahaina residents have now filed for unemployment, and even the businesses that survived the fire are cutting staff due to a complete lack of tourists. Maui’s local officials are now backpeddling and begging tourists to visit Maui. Lahaina normally contributes almost $800 million a year to the Hawaiian state economy.

Big personal injury law firms like Morgan & Morgan have already filed lawsuits against Hawaiian Electric, a utility company whose downed power lines are suspected of having started the fire. But, given the number of lethal mistakes the local government made, including telling people to shelter at home, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a class action lawsuit against Maui County as well.

References

[1] KITV 4 Island Television: In deadly Maui wildfires, communication failed. Chaos overtook Lahaina along with the flames

[2] Morgan & Morgan files lawsuit against Hawaiian Electric for negligence

[3] JD Supra: Litigation over Lahaina wildfire commences as residents claim negligence of Hawaiian Electric Industries resulted in over 100 deaths

6 Industries with Low Customer Loyalty

Written by Ricky Nave in Markets

1. Gas stations

Most people won’t go out of their way to go to a particular gas station if there is a closer, more convenient gas station. In fact, most people won’t even turn around to go to a gas station on the other side of the road if there is one on this side of the road. Gas franchises like Shell have tried to fight this by introducing loyalty programs and advertising their “superior” additives, and those work for a very small subset of customers, but the majority of most customers will still choose a gas station based on (1) convenience / location, (2) how spacious / clean / nice the gas station looks, and possibly also (3) any restaurants that the gas station may have inside it.

2. Airlines

Most people choose flights based on cost (including the cost of baggage). Some may also consider flexibility (i.e. the ability to cancel or reschedule without a fee). And tall people are likely to consider leg room. However, almost no one cares about the actual airline they purchase a ticket with, unless it is for one of the three reasons just mentioned.

3. Car rentals

Most people book car rentals through a third-party website (either an airline website or a search engine aggregator like Kayak.com or Hotels.com). Typically, the decision will be based on (1) price and (2) the type of car. The company renting the car doesn’t really matter to consumers.

4. Home internet service

Not many people love their internet service provider. And most people don’t even have many options. If they did have options, they would probably choose to change away from Comcast.

5. Credit cards

People choose credit cards based on opportunity (e.g. which company offers it to them), what they can qualify for, what benefits the card offers, and what fees the card has. Not many people choose cards specifically because it is offered by American Airlines or Bank of America.

6. TVs

As I write this article, I had to glance over to see what brand of TV is mounted on my wall. That should tell you all you need to know about customer loyalty in the TV manufacturing industry.

U.S. Bans Quantum Computing Investments in China

Written by Ricky Nave in Investment & Trading Insights,Investment Fund Law & Regulation,Tech Industry

Last week, Biden used emergency powers to ban U.S. investors from investing in Chinese quantum computing and computer chip manufacturing companies. The full scope of the ban still has to be fleshed out by the Treasury Department following Biden’s executive order, but we already know that investments in essentially all Chinese quantum computing companies will be banned, as will investments in most Chinese computer chip manufacturing companies. Additionally, U.S. investors in certain Chinese AI companies will have to notify the federal government any time they make such an investment.

Fortunately, this won’t affect most people in the U.S. since publicly traded companies are currently excluded from the ban. That means if you own stock in a publicly traded Chinese company, you’re okay. However, the ban will heavily impact U.S. private equity and venture capital firms as well as hedge funds.

And this is probably only the beginning. Biden’s executive order leaves open the possibility for other technologies to be added to the list of banned investments, and even if that doesn’t happen, Congress is currently considering legislation that would also ban investments in certain Chinese biotech companies.

Somewhat strangely though, the current ban only focuses on equity investments, excluding both traditional debt financing as well as intellectual property licensing. Arguably, a combination of debt financing and IP licensing would be even more helpful than just equity investments alone.

Summary of the Ban

“[The U.S. Treasury & other agencies] shall issue… regulations that require United States persons to provide notification of information relative to certain transactions involving covered foreign persons (notifiable transactions) and that prohibit United States persons from engaging in certain other transactions involving covered foreign persons (prohibited transactions).”

Biden’s Executive Order from August 9th

The executive order authorizes the U.S. Treasury secretary to prohibit or restrict U.S. investments in Chinese entities in three sectors:

  1. Semiconductors and microelectronics,
  2. Quantum computers and other quantum information technologies, and
  3. Certain AI systems.

The orders target private equity, venture capital, joint ventures, greenfield investments (i.e. a U.S. company starting a new venture in a foreign country by constructing new operational facilities from the ground up), and debt financing. The Treasury’s ANPRM (advanced notice of proposed rulemaking) published 2 days ago specified an expected carve out for publicly traded securities or exchange-traded funds.

Additionally, the Treasury does not currently plan to apply any provisions of the ban (or the notification requirements) retroactively, but the Treasury may request info about transactions that occur between the date of the order (August 9th) and the date when final regulations go into effect.

Investors have until September 28, 2023 to sent comments to the Treasury regarding the ANPRM.

What is a “country of concern”?

Biden’s executive order listed 3 countries of concern:

  • The People’s Republic of China
  • The Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong
  • The Special Administrative Region of Macau

In other words, all of China and only China is a “country of concern” for the purposes of this order.

What is a “covered foreign person”?

The executive order defines the term “covered foreign person” as a person (human, business entity, government entity, or other legal person) of a country of concern (i.e. China) who is engaged in activities identified by regulations under this order and involving one or more covered national security technologies and products.

The Treasury’s ANPRM proposes to modify this definition to the following: (1) a person of a country of concern that is engaged in, or a person of a country of concern that a U.S. person knows or should know will be engaged in, an identified activity with respect to a covered national security technology or product; or (2) a person whose direct or indirect subsidiaries or branches are referenced in item (1) and which, individually or in the aggregate, comprise more than 50% of that person’s consolidated revenue, net income, capital expenditure, or operating expenses.

The ANPRM also proposes to define “person of a country of concern” to mean (1) any individual that is not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States and is a citizen or permanent resident of a country of concern; (2) an entity with a principal place of business in, or an entity incorporated in or otherwise organized under the laws of a country of concern; (3) the government of a country of concern, including any political subdivision, political party, agency, or instrumentality thereof, or any person owned, controlled, or directed by, or acting for or on behalf of the government of such country of concern; or (4) any entity in which a person or persons identified in items (1) through (3) holds individually or in the aggregate, directly or indirectly, an ownership interest equal to or greater than 50%.

Under this definition, a U.S. startup headquartered in Silicon Valley but which is majority owned by a Chinese company would be a person of a country of concern.

What are “covered national security technologies and products”?

The term “covered national security technologies and products” means sensitive technologies and products in the (1) semiconductors and microelectronics, (2) quantum information technologies, and (3) artificial intelligence sectors that are critical for the military, intelligence, surveillance, or cyber-enabled capabilities of China. Where applicable, “covered national security technologies and products” may be limited by reference to certain end-uses of those technologies or products.

“The Treasury Department does not contemplate that the program will entail a case-by-case review of U.S. outbound investments… [but rather] expects that the transaction parties will have the obligation to determine whether a given transaction is prohibited, subject to notification, or permissible without notification.”

Currently, the Treasury is considering the following types of regulations for each of the three covered sectors:

  • Semiconductors — bans & notification requirements
  • Quantum computers — complete ban
  • AI — notification requirements only

Proposed semiconductor technologies that would be the subject of prohibited transactions:

  • Software for Electronic Design Automation: The development or production of electronic design automation software designed to be exclusively used for integrated circuit design.
  • Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Equipment: The development or production of front-end semiconductor fabrication equipment designed to be exclusively used for the volume fabrication of integrated circuits.
  • Advanced Integrated Circuit Design: The design of integrated circuits that exceed the thresholds in Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) 3A090 in supplement No. 1 to 15 CFR part 774 of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), or integrated circuits designed for operation at or below 4.5 Kelvin.
  • Advanced Integrated Circuit Fabrication: The fabrication of integrated circuits that meet any of the following criteria: (i) logic integrated circuits using a non-planar transistor architecture or with a technology node of 16/14 nanometers or less, including but not limited to fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FDSOI) integrated circuits; (ii) NOT–AND (NAND) memory integrated circuits with 128 layers or more; (iii) dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) integrated circuits using a technology node of 18 nanometer half-pitch or less; (iv) integrated circuits manufactured from a gallium-based compound semiconductor; (v) integrated circuits using graphene transistors or carbon nanotubes; or (vi) integrated circuits designed for operation at or below 4.5 Kelvin.
    • “Fabrication of integrated circuits” is defined as the process of forming devices such as transistors, poly capacitors, non-metal resistors, and diodes, on a wafer of semiconductor material.
  • Advanced Integrated Circuit Packaging: The packaging of integrated circuits that support the three-dimensional integration of integrated circuits, using silicon vias or through mold vias.
    • “Packaging of integrated circuits” is defined as the assembly of various components, such as the integrated circuit die, lead frames, interconnects, and substrate materials, to form a complete package that safeguards the semiconductor device and provides electrical connections between different parts of the die.
  • Supercomputers: The installation or sale to third-party customers of a supercomputer, which are enabled by advanced integrated circuits, that can provide a theoretical compute capacity of 100 or more double-precision (64-bit) petaflops or 200 or more single-precision (32-bit) petaflops of processing power within a 41,600 cubic foot or smaller envelope.

Proposed semiconductor technologies that would be the subject of notifiable transactions:

  • Integrated Circuit Design: The design of integrated circuits for which transactions involving U.S. persons are not otherwise prohibited in section III.G.
  • Integrated Circuit Fabrication: The fabrication of integrated circuits for which transactions involving U.S. persons are not otherwise prohibited in section III.G.
  • Integrated Circuit Packaging: The packaging of integrated circuits for which transactions involving U.S. persons are not otherwise prohibited in section III.G.

Proposed quantum information technologies that would be the subject of prohibited transactions:

  • Quantum Computers and Components: The production of a quantum computer, dilution refrigerator, or two-stage pulse tube cryocooler.
  • Quantum Sensors: The development of a quantum sensing platform designed to be exclusively used for military end uses, government intelligence, or mass-surveillance end uses.
  • Quantum Networking and Quantum Communication Systems: The development of a quantum network or quantum communication system designed to be exclusively used for secure communications, such as quantum key distribution.

The Treasury is also considering AI technologies which would be the subject of notifiable transactions (and possibly but not necesssarily prohibited transactions), but has yet to define exactly what these systems would be. If you run or invest in AI companies, you might want to submit a comment to the Treasury to weigh in on this.

What is an “excepted transaction”?

An “excepted transaction” is a transaction with a covered foreign person which is excepted from prohibition or notice requirements under the regulations promulgated under the executive order, despite meeting the definitional elements of a “covered transaction” as specified below.

The Treasury’s proposed definition of a covered transaction is an investment:

  • i. into a publicly traded security, with “security” defined as set forth in section 3(a)(10) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; or
  • ii. into an index fund, mutual fund, exchange-traded fund, or a similar instrument (including associated derivatives) offered by an investment company as defined in the section 3(a)(1) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 or by a private investment fund; or
  • iii. made as a limited partner into a venture capital fund, private equity fund, fund of funds, or other pooled investment funds, in each case where
    • A. the limited partner’s contribution is solely capital into a limited partnership structure and the limited partner cannot make managerial decisions, is not responsible for any debts beyond its investment, and does not have the ability (formally or informally) to influence or participate in the fund’s or a covered foreign person’s decision making or operations, and
    • B. the investment is below a de minimis threshold to be determined by the Secretary.

Notwithstanding the above, any investment that affords the U.S. person rights beyond those reasonably considered to be standard minority shareholder protections will not constitute an “excepted transaction”. Such rights include, but are not limited to:

  • i. Membership or observer rights on, or the right to nominate an individual to a position on, the board of directors or an equivalent governing body of the covered foreign person; or
  • ii. Any other involvement, beyond the voting of shares, in substantive business decisions, management, or strategy of the covered foreign person.

Additionally, the Treasury proposes to label the following types of transactions as excepted transactions:

  • The acquisition of the equity or other interest owned or held by a covered foreign person in an entity or assets located outside of a country of concern where the U.S. person is acquiring all interests in the entity or assets held by covered foreign persons; or
  • An intracompany transfer of funds from a U.S. parent company to a subsidiary located in a country of concern; or
  • A transaction made pursuant to a binding, uncalled capital commitment entered into before the date of the Order.

The Treasury is also considering whether to except investors or investments into funds beneath a defined threshold, based on one or more benchmarks such as the size of the limited partner’s investment in the fund or the size of the limited partner itself.

The Treasury is also considering whether to except buyouts of country of concern ownership.

Who is a “United States person”?

For purposes of this executive order and the regulations promulgated thereunder, a “United States person” is any of the following:

  • Any U.S. citizen
  • Any U.S. lawful permanent resident
  • Any entity organized under the laws of the U.S. or any jurisdiction within the U.S. (such as a U.S. state)
  • Any foreign branch of such entity
  • Any person in the U.S.

What is a “covered transaction”?

The Treasury’s ANPRM proposes to define “covered transaction” as either a prohibited transaction or a notifiable transaction.

The proposed definition of covered transaction is a U.S. person’s direct or indirect (1) acquisition of an equity interest or contingent equity interest in a covered foreign person; (2) provision of debt financing to a covered foreign person where such debt financing is convertible to an equity interest; (3) greenfield investment that could result in the establishment of a covered foreign person; or (4) establishment of a joint venture, wherever located, that is formed with a covered foreign person or could result in the establishment of a covered foreign person. The Treasury currently intends this definition to be forward-looking and not to cover transactions and the fulfillment of uncalled, binding capital commitments with cancellation consequences made prior to the issuance of Biden’s executive order on August 9, 2023.

The Treasury is considering including “indirect” transactions as “covered transactions” in order to close loopholes that would otherwise result, and to clarify that attempts to evade prohibitions on certain transactions cannot find safe harbor in the use of intermediary entities are are not “U.S. persons” or “covered foreign persons”. One example of such conduct would be a U.S. person knowingly investing in a third-country entity that will use the investment to undertake a transaction with a covered foreign person that would be subject to the program if engaged in by a U.S. person directly.

The Treasury does not intend to cover the following types of activities though (so long as they don’t involve the definitional elements of a covered transaction):

  • University-to-university research collaborations
  • Contractual arrangements or the procurement of material inputs for any of the covered national security technologies or products (such as raw materials)
  • Intellectual property licensing arrangements (personally, this seems like an odd type of activity to exclude, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Treasury changed their mind and decided to include such IP licensing under certain conditions)
  • Bank lending
  • The processing, clearing, or sending of payments by a bank
  • Underwriting services (you’re welcome, investment bankers)
  • Debt rating services
  • Prime brokerage
  • Global custody
  • Equity research or analysis
  • Other services secondary to a transaction

The definition of “covered transaction” would also exclude “excepted transactions”.

References

[1] Executive Order on addressing United States investments in certain national security technologies and products in countries of concern. August 9, 2023.

[2] U.S. Department of the Treasury Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM): Provisions pertaining to U.S. investments in certain national securities technologies and products in countries of concern

[3] International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)

[4] National Emergencies Act (NEA)

List of 59 Consumer Discretionary Services

Written by Ricky Nave in Markets

Below is a list of 59 different examples of consumer discretionary services. Many of these have average order values over $100.

1. Photography

Professional portrait photography, couples’ photography, and family photography are all examples of photography-related consumer discretionary services.

2. Botox

3. Personal training

4. Tattoos

5. Nail care

6. Custom suit creation

7. Sky diving

8. Dog training

9. Horse riding lessons

10. Home window washing

11. Driveway pressure washing

12. Roof pressure washing

13. Home soft/power washing

14. Gutter cleaning

15. Art classes

16. Escape rooms

17. Rage rooms

18. Massages

There are several types of massage services that could be offered including couples massages, Swedish massages, therapeutic massages, deep tissue massages, etc.

19. Hair styling

20. Nose jobs

21. Breast augmentation

22. Breast lift

23. Liposuction

24. Laser hair removal

25. Lasik eye surgery

26. Hair transplant

27. Lip augmentation

28. Butt augmentation

29. Facelift

30. Labiaplasty

31. Gender change surgery

32. Bathroom remodeling

33. Pool cleaning

34. Car detailing

35. Concealed carry training

36. Martial arts training

37. Cooking classes

38. Music lessons

Guitar and piano lessons are some of the most popular music lessons.

39. Dance lessons

40. Romantic matchmaking

41. Niche hobby/interest conference

Examples of such hobbies/interests:

  • Quilting
  • Knitting
  • Science fiction (i.e. comic cons)
  • Planes
  • Boats

42. Boat & yacht charters

43. Med spa treatments (e.g. facials, body wraps)

44. Customized perfume/fragrance creation

45. Customized perfume creation workshop

46. Private language tutoring

47. Doggy day camp

To be discretionary, this should be framed as “do this to be good to your dog” rather than “do this while you go to work”, although the latter is of course a real benefit for many customers of doggy day camps.

48. Goat yoga

49. Personalized astrology or tarot readings

50. Singing lessons

51. Customized perfume creation workshop

52. Personalized nutrition/meal plan

53. Woodworking & carpentry workshops

54. Welding classes

55. Hot air balloon ride

56. Artisanal chocolate-making workshops

57. Pole dancing classes

58. Pilates & yoga classes

59. Workout classes

14 Industries Hiring AI Prompt Engineers

Written by Ricky Nave in Business Ideas, Opportunities, and Risks,Markets

I looked through Upwork, Indeed, and every other job board I could find to identify which industries are hiring AI prompt engineers. In this article, I list the 14 industries which provided the most believable and frequent job postings for prompt engineers. For each industry, I also describe one or more real examples of job posts for AI prompt engineers.

1. Education & Workforce Training

One company on Upwork is trying to hire a Midjourney expert to conduct a one-time, 2-day training program in New York City for $2,000 plus travel and a per diem reimbursement. Here’s the description of the job on Upwork:

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Image Generation Workshop Trainer to conduct a comprehensive two-day training program on “Midjourney for Image Generation” in New York City (NYC). The ideal candidate will have in-depth expertise in image generation techniques, including GANs, VAEs, and flow-based models, along with practical hands-on experience in implementing these models. The workshop is scheduled for late August or early September, and we are open to discussing the specific dates that align with the trainer’s availability.

Responsibilities:

  • Design and develop a structured 2-day workshop curriculum on image generation techniques, covering GANs, VAEs, and flow-based models.
  • Deliver engaging and interactive training sessions that cater to participants with varying levels of expertise in deep learning and computer vision.
  • Conduct hands-on sessions, guiding participants through the implementation of GANs, VAEs, and flow-based models using popular deep learning frameworks.
  • Facilitate project-based learning, allowing participants to apply the newly acquired knowledge in practical applications of image generation.
  • Provide valuable insights into conditional image generation, image-to-image translation, and ethical considerations related to generated content.
  • Share the latest advancements and trends in image generation, keeping the workshop content up-to-date with the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

Requirements:

  • Proven experience as a trainer or instructor in the field of deep learning, computer vision, or related areas, with a specific focus on image generation techniques.
  • Extensive knowledge of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), Variational Autoencoders (VAEs), and flow-based models, along with the ability to explain complex concepts in a clear and concise manner.
  • Strong expertise in implementing image generation models using popular deep learning frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, etc.).
  • Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to engage and inspire workshop participants.
  • Flexibility in adapting the workshop content based on participants’ backgrounds and skill levels.
  • Experience in addressing ethical considerations in AI and promoting responsible AI practices is a plus.

Another company on Upwork is hiring a remote “AI Training Instructor” for $63-$142 per hour to help develop AI courses. Here’s the job description:

We are looking for more than one consultant/trainer that will be a part of our new training program related to the AI training courses. Please feel free to submit your proposal (your resume is mandatory). Please see the list of courses that we would like to offer to our students:

  • Machine Learning
  • Python
  • ChatGPT, GPT-4 (OpenAI) or Murf or Synthesis or Fireflies AI or Speechify
  • Pictory or Images.ai
  • Jupyter Notebooks or Jasper or Lovo.ai
  • Tidio or Neuraltext
  • AI Data: Azure, Google AI, or AWS AI
  • Robotics: Gazebo

A third company wants to hire a ChatGPT expert to train their company on how to use ChatGPT for lead generation. The job is a 1-3 month position that takes less than 30 hours per week and offers to pay $50-100 per hour. Here’s the description:

We are seeking a ChatGPT expert with experience using the tool for lead generation. You will tutor our company on how best to use this platform and tool.

A fourth company (a large company with over 100 employees that has spent over $476k on Upwork and has paid an average of $139/hour) posted on Upwork that they are looking for a “ChatGPT Prompt Engineer”. Here’s the job description (listed for $50-100/hour):

I’m looking for a ChatGPT promp engineer to assist in various AI related business initiatives, including coaching and training and consulting.

This post was from 1 month ago, and Upwork indicates that they have since hired someone.

Another company, BrainPOP (a child education site founded in 1999), is looking for a prompt engineer that will be paid $115k to $130k annually. Here’s the job description:

BrainPOP has been trusted by educators and parents worldwide for more than two decades. BrainPOP has a presence in over two-thirds of U.S. districts through school and district subscriptions and an estimated reach of 25 million students annually. Beloved by kids, BrainPOP provides endless opportunities for them to take agency over their learning through playful, knowledge-building content and learner-driven experiences that strengthen critical, computational, and creative thinking across the entire curriculum. The company is committed to empowering kids to succeed and thrive in the classroom and beyond.

Founded in 1999 by former pediatrician and immunologist Avraham Kadar, M.D., in 2022, BrainPOP was acquired by KIRKBI—the family-owned holding and investment company of the LEGO brand—in its first acquisition in digital learning.

We’re seeking a Prompt Engineer with a background in developing, refining and optimizing AI capabilities to improve the prompt generation process and overall AI system performance. Prompt Engineer will work with AI engineers and cross-functional teams to develop high performance human-centered AI applications in BrainPOP products and operations.

Reporting to the Chief Academic Officer, you will partner with cross-functional stakeholders to help drive learning outcomes and business results. You will work directly with various teams at BrainPOP to create, improve prompts that meet the needs of our customers and users.

In this role, you will:

  • Collaborate with AI engineers, data engineers, content developers, and business units to align on prompt engineering with company goals and user needs
  • Lead the development, testing and refining of AI prompts
  • Help develop high performance, scalable and reliable software solutions for learner-centered generative AI and learning personalization in Python and Python-based AI/ML frameworks
  • Help train machine learning models, evaluate performance metrics, and communicate results with visual and statistical aids
  • Work closely with our learning scientists and engineers to define collection events and data transformations needed to drive personalized learning. 

You Are:

  • Energized by leading Prompt Engineering to tackle and make progress against complex and ambiguous product roadmaps and business opportunities.
  • Experienced in developing and refining AI models using prompt engineering techniques in the context of generative AI models (e.g., GPT4, Google Bison models).
  • Deep understanding of AI, natural language processing, machine learning and AI-generated content development.
  • Demonstrated technical experience in infrastructure and operations for AI/ML.
  • Highly motivated to inspire a high profile, high performing team helping the team to prioritize, develop professionally and drive bottom-line impact.
  • Comfortable working with multiple stakeholders and functions and have a demonstrated ability to interact at the executive level and effectively manage multiple, often simultaneous, high-priority projects in addition to recurring workstreams.

On your resume:

  • A Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, or a related technical field
  • Experience in prompt engineering for LLMs
  • 2+ years of experience in AI/ML software development and working collaboratively with cross-functional teams to guide AI/ML-enhanced product planning, prioritization and strategy development
  • Experience with Python and Python-based AI/ML frameworks
  • Strong problem solving and analytical skills
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Ability to work well on a team as well as autonomously

2. Biopharma

GSK, a multi-billion dollar biopharma company, has a job listing for a “Generative AI engineer” with an estimated salary of $134k to $170k per year.

We are looking for a large language model specialist, or AI prompt engineer, to join our team of experts in artificial intelligence. As a large language model engineer, you will be responsible for developing, testing, and deploying state-of-the-art language models that can generate high-quality text for various domains and tasks. You will also collaborate with other data engineers, ml engineers, and researchers to optimize the performance, scalability, and robustness of our language models. You should have a strong background in machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, and software engineering. You should also have experience working with large-scale language models such as GPT-3/4, BERT, Dolly, LLaMA, Bard, etc. Our use-cases for LLMs are broad: chat, vision, time-series, and multi-model based. We also expect the candidate to act as our prompt engineer, helping end users create prompts that utilize the LLMs optimal. You will be responsible for designing, developing, testing, and deploying prompts that elicit natural. You will also collaborate with other engineers, designers, and validation teams to ensure the quality and usability of our prompts.

Job purpose:

Given that the field of prompt engineering and applied LLMs is arguably less than 2 years old, as a result, we ask that you share with us a specific prompt engineering or LLM projects or Generative AI or Bert projects you’re proud of in your application! Ideally this project should show off a complex and clever prompting architecture or generative data scenarios or a systematic evaluation of an LLM’s behavior or a multi-modal LLM system.

We expect the candidate to create business facing experiences that show-case the value LLMs can bring to GSK and pharma in general. Overall, we expect the candidate to drive:

  • Developing our Generative AI roadmap and managing our solution space
  • Ensure the right level of complexity of LLMs is picked for use-cases (e.g., Dolly vs GPT4).
  • Educate technical and business leaders on the use of Generative AI.
  • Co-create with the business appropriate use-cases that will benefit from Generative AI.
  • Create technical standards and blueprint for Generative AI scenarios.
  • Strong software development standards using Devops/MLops.

Business process areas in scope:

  • Supply chain
  • Manufacturing

This role will provide YOU the opportunity to lead key activities to progress YOUR career. These responsibilities include some of the following:

  • Identify critical business problems that could be solved using Generative AI
  • Define strategy for Generative AI and how to apply it
  • Lead discussions at peer review and uses quantitative skills to positively influence decision making
  • Identify opportunities to apply the latest advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs)
  • Prompt engineer the right prompts to optimize LLMs functioning
  • Quickly prototype scenarios from LLMs till UX for user testing purposes
  • Work with our cross-functional team (data scientists, data engineers and research scientists) to define and deliver features in an iterative manner.
  • Lead internal and external developers to deliver on the Generative AI roadmap
  • Develop and embed automated processes for predictive model validation, deployment, and implementation
  • Influence the AI/ML stack like Feature Stores, Model Stores, and automated MLops to create most value out of LLMs.
  • Connect and collaborate with subject matter experts in -different business areas.
  • Make impactful contributions to internal discussions on emerging machine learning methodologies.
  • Educate the organization both from IT and the business perspectives on Generative AI
  • Demonstrate a combination of business focus, strong analytical and problem-solving skills and programming knowledge to be able to quickly cycle hypothesis through the discovery phase of the project and excellent written and communications skills to report back the findings in a clear, structured manner.

Basic Qualifications:

We are looking for professionals with these required skills to achieve our goals:

  • A higher degree (PhD preferred) in Engineering, Statistics, Data Science, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Bioinformatics or related quantitative field
  • Hands-on experience with LLMs fine-tuning and/or training.
  • Hands-on experience with Bert, Bard, ChatGPT, LLaMA, Dolly, etc
  • 5+ years of experience in any at least 2 of the AI domains: NLP, NLG, Computer Vision, etc.
  • Experience in machine learning and software engineering best practices with advanced skills in Python and Cloud
  • Experience writing and presenting papers, documentation, and presentations to explain (research) findings
  • Fluency in English

3. Venture Studios

Mechanism (an early-stage venture studio company that cofounds high-growth companies) is hiring an “AI Media Designer”. This remote freelance job posting has an estimated annual pay of $50k to $63k. Here is the job description from Indeed:

We are seeking a talented and experienced AI prompt engineer. In this role, you will be responsible for the creation of high-quality illustrations, icons, and photorealistic photos and videos using advanced AI tools. Collaborating closely with our product and growth teams, you are responsible for designing and optimizing AI prompts to yield realistic visual outputs that align with our project requirements. You are able to blend technical proficiency with a keen aesthetic sense to consistently produce visuals that meet our high standards.

What You’ll Do:

  • AI Generation: Harness the capabilities of leading AI platforms like ChatGPT, MidJourney, and Adobe Creative Suite, etc to produce photorealistic photos, videos, product photography, illustrations, and icons. These visuals will be used for website imagery, marketing collateral, and other digital media requirements.
  • Prompt Design: Design and develop complex prompts to guide the AI into producing the desired output.
  • QA & Error Correction: Utilize Adobe Photoshop and other graphic tools to correct, refine, and enhance AI-generated images and videos.
  • Collaboration: Work closely with other team members, providing insights and recommendations for improving the AI photo and video generation process.

Who You Are:

  • You are an expert communicator and ensure clarity in interactions with clients and team members to achieve shared objectives.
  • You are adaptable and responsive and can navigate shifting priorities with ease, managing time adeptly to meet project deadlines and exceed expectations.
  • You are detail-oriented and take pride in producing meticulous work that consistently meets and surpasses client requirements.

Requirements:

  • Deep understanding of various AI platforms, including ChatGPT, Midjourney, and Runway Gen-2.
  • Advanced skills in Adobe Photoshop and other graphic software. Ability to swiftly correct AI-generated visual errors.
  • Keen attention to detail, ensuring every generated image and video is of top-notch quality.
  • The ability to craft AI prompts that produce consistently styled images is essential.
  • Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, to collaborate effectively with the team.
  • Flexibility to work on-demand, adjusting to project requirements and deadlines.
  • Stay updated with the latest advancements in AI and graphic software to ensure our outputs remain at the forefront of technology.

About Us:

Mechanism is an early-stage venture firm that partners with entrepreneurs to launch and scale ambitious companies.

In our model, we work to identify and validate opportunities before creating every business. We then provide the growth expertise to gain early traction as well as the business support to establish positive unit economics, profitability, and scale.

In addition to investment and strategic guidance, we offer extensive operational support for our startups in critical areas, including Growth, Product, Design, Operations, People, Finance, and Legal. Our in-house experts are at the top of their fields and are here to provide world-class support and expertise helping our startups get off the ground and scale.

As a team, we have deep expertise across growth marketing, and it’s an important part of our company-wide culture. When it comes to launching and scaling companies, we don’t guess. We engineer.

Our success rate of getting companies profitable is 100%, and our team has a track record of investing in and cofounding multiple companies with $100M+ revenue.

We are fully remote – you can work wherever you’re most productive. This role is freelance, and meetings will need to overlap with US EST.

4. Prompt Meta-Engineers

One company is trying to hire a prompt engineer to write a ChatGPT prompt that scores other ChatGPT prompts and gives feedback to the user on how to improve their prompts. Here is the job description (listed on Upwork for $200 as a one-time job):

I’m looking for a prompt engineer to write a ChatGPT API prompt that scores prompts and gives suggestions on how to improve the prompt. The output should be a score from 0-100 and a series of suggestions specific to the prompt.

The final deliverable should be a Colab notebook.

5. Consulting

Booz Allen Hamilton, a management consulting company with a focus on helping businesses & government organizations with technology, is hiring an “AI Prompt Engineering Developer Lead” for an estimated salary of $73k to $166k per year. Here’s the job description:

Are you excited about the intersection of AI, machine learning, and software development? Do you have a passion for leveraging AI prompts to accelerate the deployment of software solutions?

As a Machine Learning Prompt Engineer, you will have the opportunity to design and implement machine learning models, develop AI prompts, and contribute to all aspects of software development from database design to frontend development.

Mandatory Requirements:

  • Experience with implementing machine learning models and data science techniques using Python and R
  • Experience deploying ML using Docker or Docker Compose
  • Experience with designing, building, and executing statistical models and developing ML algorithms
  • Experience with analyzing structured and unstructured data sources
  • Ability to design and develop AI prompts, including ChatGPT, using large language models to accelerate coding abilities
  • Ability to tune large language models for specific applications
  • Ability to use LangChains in Python
  • Ability to work with full-stack software development, including database design, middleware development, and frontend development
  • Ability to obtain a security clearance
  • Bachelor’s degree

Nice if You Have:

  • Experience with FastAPI, Server Side Events in Python, RTSP, and Websockets
  • Experience with using Postman
  • Experience with using DBeaver

Clearance:

Applicants selected will be subject to a security investigation and may need to meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information.

Evolve24 is another consulting company that is looking to hire an AI prompt engineer. The company focuses on helping clients with data analytics. Here’s the job description:

About The PositionThis position will play a critical role in ensuring client success. The Prompt Engineer and Developer will join our Data Science and Analysis team to contribute to the development of advanced AI systems, engaging with prospective and existing clients to define, implement and promote cutting-edge analytical solutions that help address their most pressing needs.Key Responsibilities:

  • Provide engineering and development of Large Language Model (LLM) prompts to incorporate into products for solving immediate and ongoing client needs
  • Develop software to automate and facilitate the development of sophisticated systems based on Large Language Models
  • Work with subject matter experts to develop use cases to drive the development of new product capabilities
  • Work cross-functionally with other internal departments to drive efficiencies and optimize customer solutions
  • Deliver thought leadership to allow for continuous improvement and innovation in process, technique, and implementation

Skills & Competencies:

  • Experience developing, using, and crafting prompts for Large Language Models
  • Strong background in analytic programming (Python) and data manipulation (SQL) in a big-data environment
  • Experience serving in a client-facing role or as an analyst using data analysis tools to solve real-world analysis problems (prior DoD or other Government agency experience a plus)
  • Must be a self-starter who is able to work independently to solve problem
  • Exceptional attention to detail
  • Excels in a culture of collaboration, excellence, innovation, and teamwork
  • Strong interpersonal skills-an outstanding ability to build relationships, influence and navigate within a research and development environment to get things done
  • Programming and big data experience a plus
  • Self-awareness, maturity, irreproachable integrity

Minimum Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative discipline such as Statistics, Biostatistics, Informatics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Public Health, or Economics or equivalent life experience
  • 3 or more years of data analysis, software development, or systems engineering experience
  • US Citizen with eligibility for security clearance
  • Strong communication skills and a team-centered attitude
  • Experience using Large Language Models, optimizing prompts, and evaluating LLM outputs required; experience developing/modifying LLMs a plus
  • Experience with commercial LLMs required; experience with open source LLMs a plus
  • Python experience required; SQL experience preferred; R experience a plus

Applicants selected may be subjected to a government background investigation and may be required to meet the following conditions of employment:

  • A Favorable credit check for all cleared positions
  • Must be a U.S. Citizen
  • Successfully passing a background investigation

6. Business Automation

One person on Upwork posted a job listing titled: “Automation and ChatGPT systems integration Zapier/Make/Integromat”. The job posting is remote, is less than 30 hours per week, offers an expected pay rate of $40-100/hour, and is expected to last 1-3 months:

“I’m looking for a systems automation expert to help us automate company tasks and integrate ChatGPT into our customer support systems as well as our employee onboarding system.”

7. Art Exhibitions

An art exhibition company posted a one-time job on Upwork, requresting 20 images for $275. Here’s the job description:

We are seeking a skilled and creative AI Image Creator to produce 20 captivating midjourney images that effectively represent our brand and generate excitement for our upcoming 2-day art exhibition in Los Angeles. As an AI Image Creator, you will utilize your expertise in artificial intelligence and design to develop visually stunning artworks that align with our brand identity and effectively promote our event.

Responsibilities:

  • Generate 20 high-quality midjourney AI-generated images that reflect our brand’s aesthetics and capture the essence of our art exhibition.
  • Incorporate provided details and guidelines to ensure the images align with our brand’s vision and event theme.
  • Utilize your artistic sensibility and AI techniques to produce visually striking and captivating images that engage the target audience.
  • Collaborate with our team through Upwork messages, ensuring clear communication and understanding of project requirements.
  • Deliver the final images in a timely manner, meeting the agreed-upon deadlines.

Requirements:

  • Proven experience in AI image creation and design, with a strong portfolio showcasing your creative abilities.
  • Proficiency in using AI tools and techniques to generate high-quality images.
  • Deep understanding of branding principles and the ability to align visual elements with a brand’s identity.
  • Excellent communication skills and ability to work collaboratively in a remote environment.
  • Attention to detail and the ability to follow provided guidelines and instructions.
  • Availability to complete the project within the specified timeframe.

If you are a talented AI Image Creator with a passion for visual storytelling and brand promotion, we would love to hear from you. Join our team and help us create captivating images that leave a lasting impression on our audience while promoting our exciting art exhibition. Please include samples of your previous work in your proposal, demonstrating your ability to create visually stunning AI-generated images.

8. Influencer Marketing Agencies

Someone running an influencer marketing agency posted a request on Upwork for a 1 hour consultation with an AI expert to help them figure out how to use AI to automate their cold email outreach process. Here’s the job post (for which the person is offering $63-142):

I run an influencer marketing agency, and every day we write emails to new YouTubers that we want to work with.

We write our emails to them incorporating something about their most recent video in order to boost reply rates. We’re currently doing this by manually watching the video and writing something about it. Each email takes about 10 minutes.

I’d like to meet with someone to learn more about how we can use ChatGPT or AI to cut down that time by 50-90%. Ideally this would start with a 1 hour call, and if it goes well, we’ll do a project together.

9. YouTubers

A YouTuber is offering $15 on Upwork for photorealistic AI thumbnails for their channel:

I need one of kind AI generated Images for thumbnails for Youtube History channel (Rad History).

This could be a good indication that there is a niche for an AI YouTube thumbnail generator tool.

10. The Moving Industry

A moving company posted on Upwork that they want to hire a ChatGPT expert to help them develop an AI chat-based texting system to communicate with customers. The job is posted as a one-time job requiring less than 30 hours and compensated at $65-150/hour. Here’s the job description:

The project aims to develop a chat-based “Move Concierge” system that utilizes Chat GPT to enable text message communication with clients. The Move Concierge will assist clients in organizing and managing their moves, providing relevant information, answering inquiries, and offering personalized recommendations and assistance throughout the moving process. The system will be designed to enhance customer experience and streamline communication by providing prompt and helpful responses via text messages.

11. Energy Management SaaS

An energy management software company is hiring an AI / ChatGPT expert to help identify opportunities for the company to use AI. The gig is expected to last less than 30 hours and is priced at $50-135/hour. Here’s the job description:

We are looking for someone with proven expertise in implementing and coming up with practical and impactful applications of generative AI (ChatGPT / OpenAI).

Specifically, we are looking for someone who can take a detailed look at our platform and use cases and help us identify low-lift, easy to implement ways of incorporating ChatGPT / OpenAI into our Energy Management platform.

Our IOT Platform collects energy data from equipment throughout commercial and industrial facilities. The platform has metadata on the energy data collected which is used to provide context to the user to find opportunities to reduce energy usage and / or identify equipment that has machine health / reliability issues.

The candidate should be open to working on an hourly basis in an advisory capacity first, then engaging deeper as someone who can help implement these solutions within the platform (in a development or product management sense).

12. B2B Email Marketers

A business phone system company is looking to hire a ChatGPT expert to help them set up a personalized cold email system. The job (listed for $500 on Upwork) is described as follows:

We’re looking for an experienced developer to help us integrate with the OpenAI (ChatGPT) API to execute a workflow similar to the one described in this Twitter thread:

In short, we’d like to write the code needed to:

Crawl each sales prospect’s website (note: we’ll provide this list of websites for you)
Use this site crawl data to thoughtfully prompt ChatGPT. As described in the Twitter thread above, the result of this prompting should be a hyper-personalized outreach email to the prospect to gauge their interest in booking a call to learn more about our product for their company
For context, our product is a business phone system: Nextiva.com. We’re targeting companies with 50+ employees that are looking to switch to Nextiva from their current business phone system. (We’ll provide more detail on the main value proposition of Nextiva to these prospects and what the ChatGPT-written emails should communicate specifically.)
The purpose of each email is to get the prospect to reply positively—e.g. “yes, I’m open to getting a demo” (or similar)

Important: your code doesn’t need to be perfect on the first try. We want someone who will deliver a decent, functioning first version—then work with us to iterate and improve the performance of this code through a few rounds of testing and receiving feedback from our team.

13. E-commerce

An e-commerce company posted a job listing on Upwork for an “AI Engineer and Integrator / AI Expert Consultant”. The company is looking for someone to identify opportunities to use AI and then execute against those opportunities. The gig is expected to last 3-6 months, consume more than 30 hours per week, and pay $61-150/hour. Here’s the job description:

We are looking for an experienced AI Expert Consultant to join our team. The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as experience in applying these technologies to real-world problems. The consultant will be responsible for working with our team to identify and implement AI solutions that can help them improve our day to day business.

Responsibilities:

– Conducting needs assessments and identifying opportunities for AI solutions
– Designing and developing AI solutions
– Deploying and maintaining AI solutions
– Training and supporting team members on AI solutions
– Conducting research and staying up-to-date on the latest AI trends

We’re looking to implement AI into ALL aspects of our organization which include…

– Sales & Marketing
– Finance
– HR
– Amazon Brand Management
– Amazon Creative Services
– Partner Success Management
– Amazon DSP

and more…

14. Staffing & Recruiting

Forhyre, a staffing & recruiting tech company, is hiring an AI prompt engineer. Compensation is expected to be $90k to $135k per year. Here’s the (overly grandiose) job description:

Role Overview:

As a Prompt Engineer, you will be a key member of our AI development team, responsible for designing and developing high-quality prompts that drive our AI models and algorithms. Your expertise in crafting effective and engaging prompts will be essential in enhancing the performance and capabilities of our AI systems.

Responsibilities:

  • Collaborate with AI researchers and developers to understand project requirements and objectives.
  • Design and create a diverse range of prompts tailored to specific AI tasks and applications.
  • Develop creative and innovative ways to generate effective prompts that improve model performance.
  • Conduct extensive research to identify and curate relevant data sources for prompt development.
  • Ensure the prompts are designed to elicit desired responses and achieve the desired outcomes.
  • Optimize and fine-tune prompts based on continuous testing and feedback from AI models.
  • Analyze AI model outputs and make data-driven adjustments to improve prompt efficacy.
  • Stay up-to-date with the latest advancements in natural language processing and AI technologies.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate prompts into AI applications seamlessly.

Requirements:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field. Master’s degree preferred.
  • Proven experience in working with natural language processing and AI technologies.
  • Strong understanding of AI models, algorithms, and neural networks.
  • Experience in prompt engineering, creative writing, or content creation is a plus.
  • Proficiency in programming languages such as Python or JavaScript.
  • Solid knowledge of data collection, preprocessing, and annotation for prompt development.
  • Familiarity with machine learning frameworks and libraries like TensorFlow, PyTorch, or Hugging Face.
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a keen eye for detail.
  • Excellent communication and collaboration skills to work effectively in a team environment.
  • Passion for innovation and a keen interest in staying updated with the latest AI trends.

Join us in shaping the future of AI as a Prompt Engineer and be part of a dynamic team that is pushing the boundaries of what AI can achieve.