Delete 80% of Your Stack

If you need a manual, it’s not sovereign.

Author

Justin Glover
November 17, 2025

“If you want to make some money, sell products and services…
But if you want to GET RICH, you must create and control markets”
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Today’s Perspective Shift

From: "More tools = more power"
To: "Fewer tools = more clarity"

Theme for the Quarter: Intelligent Innovation
Theme for the Week: Hybrid Sovereignty

Quote of the Week:
"Simplicity is the peak of sophistication…and the root of sovereignty."

✨ In Today’s Episode:

  • Why digital bloat erodes founder clarity

  • The “Tool Inventory Gut Check”

  • 3 quick questions to slash 80% of your stack

  • How to scale with less, but better

Delete 80% of Your Stack

If you need a manual, it’s not sovereign.

🧠 ONE Smart Idea

Founders don’t drown in complexity because they’re lazy.
They drown because they’re building faster than they’re pruning.

Every tool once solved a problem.
But now? Most of them are the problem.

Sovereignty doesn’t mean you have tools.
It means your tools serve your essence…not clutter it.

📖 Story Spark

A founder I coach showed me his tool stack last month:
→ Notion
→ Obsidian
→ ClickUp
→ Airtable
→ Slack
→ ChatGPT
→ Custom GPTs
→ Roam
→ Lex
→ Google Docs
→ And… a handwritten daily planner

You know what he said?

“I feel organized... but also stuck.”

Because all the tools were talking.
None of them were listening.

So we ran the “Clarity Overload Test.”
He kept 3 tools.
Rebuilt his dashboard.
Reclaimed 8 hours/week.

⚙️ Tactical Application: The Clarity Overload Test

Ask these 3 questions about every tool you use:

1. “Does this tool serve my core workflow, or just my curiosity?”

  • If it's not part of how you think, move, or lead daily…it’s a distraction.

2. “Do I need a second tool to explain how to use this one?”

  • If you need a manual, your tool is slowing (not scaling) you.

3. “Could I explain this system to a 12-year-old in 1 minute?”

  • If not, you’ve built for ego…not efficiency.

Founder Framework: The Sovereign Tool Stack

Keep only tools that are:
✅ Daily-used
✅ Voice-aligned
✅ Replaceable by you in a pinch
✅ Understandable by your team in <2 minutes

Your ideal stack?
1 Thinking Tool (GPT, Lex, etc.)
1 Execution Tool (Notion, ClickUp, etc.)
1 Analog Ritual (Journal, whiteboard, planner)

That’s it.
Everything else? Bonus (or baggage).

🎁 Today’s Sponsor:

Shoppers are adding to cart for the holidays

Over the next year, Roku predicts that 100% of the streaming audience will see ads. For growth marketers in 2026, CTV will remain an important “safe space” as AI creates widespread disruption in the search and social channels. Plus, easier access to self-serve CTV ad buying tools and targeting options will lead to a surge in locally-targeted streaming campaigns.

Read our guide to find out why growth marketers should make sure CTV is part of their 2026 media mix.

🧭 Intelligent Elevation

The best stack isn’t the biggest.
It’s the one you can trust under pressure.

So cut the digital dead weight.
Simplify until every tool earns its place.
And remember:

“If your tools don’t reflect your essence…
they’re just noise in disguise.”

🧵 What’s Happening in AI

Catch up on the #AI + #Business news over the last 24 hours. (November 17, 2025)

::: THE HEADLINES :::

⚡️ @Samsung announced a sweeping $310 billion investment over five years to scale semiconductor production and AI‑infrastructure globally.

🧠 @Fujitsu and @AWS Japan launched a co‑creation business lab to fast‑track retail and service industry digital transformation with generative #AI.

📈 A new report by Akkodis found enterprises are seeing real productivity gains from #AI but still struggle to scale deployments and unlock ROI

📉 Investment analysts at Goldman Sachs warned that much of the #AI boom may already be priced in, raising questions about future upside for #Tech stocks.

🌍 @LightOn and @Oreus signed a multi‑year partnership to deliver sovereign‑AI infrastructure for French companies, spotlighting regional pushback against US‑dominated tech.

📊 A broader analysis shows that heavy #AI spending is increasingly draining the balance sheets of major tech players like @Microsoft, @Google, and @Amazon—challenging the “quick‑profit” narrative.

::: USEFUL TECH UPDATES :::

📦 @NotionHQ Launches “Tool Stack Templates” for Founders. New AI-powered templates to consolidate tasks, notes, and planning into a single dashboard.

⚙️ @OpenAI Adds Stack-Audit Plugin Support. New feature allows custom GPTs to run live tool audits against preset criteria.

🪞 Reclaim(dot)ai Now Supports Belief-Based Task Filtering. Sort tasks based on values, not just urgency...aligning time with what matters.

🧰 Motion App Adds “Anti-Bloat” Scheduling Layer. Automatically flags recurring busywork for deletion or delegation.

TIP: Follow me on X to get these daily news updates faster.

💬 Closing Insight

Simplicity isn’t a lack of tools.
It’s the presence of design.

When your tools become invisible,
what remains is your essence.
Your signal. Your sovereignty.

“You don’t need fewer tools.
You need tools that reflect you.”

Cut deep.
Keep the signal.
Build from clarity.

💾 Save this before you open another SaaS tab
💬 Reply with the first tool you're cutting
➡ Forward to a founder with 17 tabs and no traction

✍️

AiScaleTips is your founder clarity compass.
Most scale with chaos. You scale by design.

— Justin Glover