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Forge Fire Protocol Podcast

Forge Fire Protocol Podcast

By: Don LaPlume Mike Sullivan and Steve Moynihan
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Summary
 Forge Fire Protocol is the operating system for entrepreneurs who want more than a job with extra paperwork. It’s the five-step sequence designed to take a raw idea toward a $10 million exit in three to five years, built for the AI era. Every episode is a working session. Don LaPlume, Mike Sullivan, and Steve Moynihan open up the systems they actually run: AI executive teams, voice coaching agents, software built in days, and the tests that separate a sellable asset from a founder-trapped business. Nothing theoretical. Don wrote the book and has run 9 companies over 39 years. Mike has run his own technology business for 17 years and helps businesses use technology to grow, from seven figures to eight and from eight to nine. Steve chartered and led a bank and has built and run other businesses. Whether you’re sitting on an idea, scaling something that’s starting to strain, or planning your exit, the goal is the same: a business that runs without you. Follow the show for the next build. Forged in Fire. Built for Legacy.2026 Economics Leadership Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • $10,000 an Hour for $39 a Month: Inside Get Hyperskills

    $10,000 an Hour for $39 a Month: Inside Get Hyperskills
    Nov 11 2026
    Here’s Episode 21’s description in the same template, with the hook, learning points, and quotes swapped to match this episode’s content. The host bio, links, and follow sections are kept exactly as you supplied them since they’re standing boilerplate: Episode 21: Don LaPlume demos the AI voice coach he built live on air, then opens up the back office behind Get Hyperskills, a platform that lets anyone build, publish, and sell their own AI coaching agent, no code, no prompting skill required. Don LaPlume, Mike Sullivan, and Steve Moynihan are the co-founders of Forge Fire Protocol, a business platform, book and podcast built around one goal: helping 10,000 founders reach a $10 million exit in the next 5 years. Don wrote the Forge Fire Protocol book after 39 years running 9 companies; Mike built the technology backbone behind the ecosystem after 17 years running his own IT business; Steve chartered and led a bank before co-founding Forge Fire Protocol. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN: The Live Demo: Don’s AI voice coach role-plays a real painting-business sales objection, out loud, in real time, with no script. Guardrails, Explained: The hard rules that keep an AI agent from ever doing the one thing it shouldn’t, like quoting a customer a price. The Real Cost Comparison: What a coach who charges $10,000 to $100,000 a day actually costs, set against what Get Hyperskills costs today. Build Without Prompting: How anyone can build, voice, and publish their own AI coaching agent just by answering a handful of plain questions. The Marketplace Model: How publishing your own coach lets you set your price and earn a percentage every month someone stays subscribed. FROM THE EPISODE: “These are hard rules the agent can never break.” Don “A lot of the coaches I’d want to work with, they’re $10,000 to $100,000 a day ... $10,000 an hour for some of them.” Mike “This is $39 a month if I subscribe.” Don “You get the knowledge, but the knowledge isn’t power.” Mike “If you don’t know, and you’re on the fence, you haven’t used it. It’s not even an option. You need to use it.” Mike “That’s their own IP, their own intellectual property, that would have to be sold for them.” Don “Every single breakthrough in your business, your income, and your life, it starts right here ... it’s designed to shatter your limits and weaponize your execution.” Steve FORGE FIRE PROTOCOL: TRY GET HYPERSKILLS: https://gethyperskills.com BUY THE FORGE FIRE PROTOCOL BOOK: https://book.forgefireprotocol.com JOIN THE $10 MILLION CHALLENGE: https://forgefireprotocol.com/challenge EXPLORE THE APP: https://app.forgefireprotocol.com READ THE BLOG: https://blog.forgefireprotocol.com SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST: https://podcast.forgefireprotocol.com FOLLOW FORGE FIRE PROTOCOL: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forgefireprotocol Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forgefireprotocol LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/forgefireprotocol YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@forgefireprotocol TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@forgefireprotocol FOLLOW THE HOSTS: Mike Sullivan Follow Mike: https://follow.themichaelsullivan.com Don LaPlume Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61591528292494 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldlaplume/ X: https://x.com/don_of_solar Steve Moynihan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tsmoynihan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-steven-moynihan-81a06b1a/ X: https://x.com/SMoynihan85837
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • The Ultimate Cheat Code: $1 Million of Talent for $19.99

    The Ultimate Cheat Code: $1 Million of Talent for $19.99
    Nov 9 2026
    Episode 20: Don LaPlume, Mike Sullivan, and Steve Moynihan open up their actual AI org charts and show you exactly how to build a full virtual executive team - CFO, CMO, legal counsel, grant hunter, guardrail bot, and more - without hiring a single person. Don LaPlume, Mike Sullivan, and Steve Moynihan are the co-founders of Forge Fire Protocol, a business platform, book and podcast built around one goal: helping 10,000 founders reach a $10 million exit in the next 5 years. Don wrote the Forge Fire Protocol book after 39 years running 9 companies; Mike built the technology backbone behind the ecosystem after 17 years running his own IT business; Steve chartered and led a bank before co-founding Forge Fire Protocol. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN: The Honest Starting Question: Why Mike begins every build by admitting "I suck at accounting," and how naming your weakest seat is the fastest way to know which bot to build first. The Real Cost Comparison: What a high-quality attorney, CFO, CMO, and EOS implementer actually cost on staff, set against what the AI versions cost Don and Mike today. ■ Human in the Loop: How Don built "control of the purse" into every bot on his team, so AI can research and draft freely but never spends a dollar without his sign-off. One Team, Seven Companies: How Don runs all 7 of his businesses off a single AI org chart, financially walled off company by company but operationally shared for leverage. The $10 Million Exit Rule: Why a buyer wants to buy a business, not a founder, and what "being removable from the operation" actually requires. Naming Your Bots: How modeling an AI role on the best person you've ever seen do that job, a mentor, a public figure, even someone you've lost, changes how it performs. FROM THE EPISODE: "I suck at accounting. I'm not even, like, kinda good." Mike "What does it cost to bring an attorney on staff? ... $750 to $1,000 an hour." Don and Mike "I have control of the purse. It's not gonna spend money where I don't allow it. But it has access to everything." Don "This particular board would probably cost me over a million dollars a year in salary ... I'll bet this board doesn't cost me more than $3,000, $4,000 a year in AI." Don "In order to have a $10 million exit, what do you need to do? You need to be removed, or removable, from the operation." Don "What would it cost me? ... $50,000 to $150,000 ... it's included in my $19.99 a month subscription." Mike "It's the ultimate cheat code for leverage ... run a multi-million dollar operation with the headcount of a lemonade stand." Steve FORGE FIRE PROTOCOL: BUY THE FORGE FIRE PROTOCOL BOOK: https://book.forgefireprotocol.com JOIN THE $10 MILLION CHALLENGE: https://forgefireprotocol.com/challenge EXPLORE THE APP: https://app.forgefireprotocol.com READ THE BLOG: https://blog.forgefireprotocol.com SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST: https://podcast.forgefireprotocol.com FOLLOW FORGE FIRE PROTOCOL: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forgefireprotocol Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forgefireprotocol LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/forgefireprotocol YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@forgefireprotocol TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@forgefireprotocol FOLLOW THE HOSTS: Mike Sullivan Follow Mike: https://follow.themichaelsullivan.com Don LaPlume Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61591528292494 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldlaplume/ X: https://x.com/don_of_solar Steve Moynihan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tsmoynihan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-steven-moynihan-81a06b1a/ X: https://x.com/SMoynihan85837
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    58 mins
  • 5 Apps, $800 a Month Wasted - We Built One to Replace Them All

    5 Apps, $800 a Month Wasted - We Built One to Replace Them All
    Nov 3 2026
    Episode 18: A painting company owner was running 5 different apps, paying $800 a month, and none of them talked to each other. Don LaPlume, Mike Sullivan, and Steve Moynihan break down the real problem (it's not the cost, it's the orchestration) and walk through CoatLine, the business operating system they built to replace it, start to finish, in one week. See it yourself: coatline.tech/demo WHAT YOU WILL LEARN - Why the real cost of running 5 apps isn't the subscriptions, it's the integration and the training - The "orchestra has a conductor" problem with stacking best-in-class software - How a minimal viable product in 2026 does what version 10 used to do five years ago - Why the first reaction to any new system can't be negative, even if it's great - How real-time customization (a button added mid-demo, live) changes what "support" means - What a white glove setup actually removes from a 30-day implementation nightmare - How an AI sales coach with a "silence mode" reviews a live sales call and reports back FROM THE EPISODE "5 apps, $800 a month wasted. We built one to replace them all." Don "The question is the orchestration." Mike "But the bottom line is it orchestra has a conductor." Mike "I love the fact that longer was a week." Mike "Do you know how much better that is than retaining 10 cans of paint in your house unnecessarily for a decade?" Mike "This is duplicatable. What we're doing, you could do this. You just need the tools." Don Don, Mike, and Steve walk through the actual product: scheduling, fleet tracking, a customer portal that remembers exact paint formulas for a decade, a lead-capture system that calls a prospect inside a minute, and an AI sales coach that can run role-play or silently score a real call. TIMESTAMPS 00:35 Welcome, and the hook: 5 apps, $800 a month wasted 01:08 Introducing CoatLine and coatline.tech 01:36 The friend with a painting company, the apps, and the $800 a month 02:39 Finding a pain nobody had quite named yet 03:25 It's not just cost, it's orchestration 04:49 "Orchestra has a conductor" 05:01 Why they build instead of subscribe 06:08 The tasks CoatLine automates for painting contractors 07:32 Replacing all of it, and the soft costs nobody counts 09:05 The minimal viable product, and why v1.0 now beats v10 from five years ago 10:48 Built in one week 11:17 The mastermind session: "what do you really want?" 11:46 The reticular activating system, explained with a Yukon Denali 13:51 Why the gut reaction to something new can't be negative 14:24 Simplify to 4th and 5th grade logic 15:07 What CoatLine actually automates, in Steve's words 16:08 Why "longer" was only a week 17:00 Built as a business, not a favor 17:33 Dashboard walkthrough: jobs, bottlenecks, ratings, revenue 19:03 The scheduler: drag a crew in, done 21:22 Fleet tracking: vehicles, lifts, maintenance 23:49 Real-time customization: "you tell us, we build it" 25:55 The "last week" button that didn't exist a week ago 26:16 Dispatch map, GPS check-ins, and read-receipt safety messaging 27:55 The customer portal: exact paint codes customers keep for a decade 29:25 "Ten cans of paint in your house, unnecessarily, for a decade" 31:32 On-site estimating, room by room 32:54 Naming rooms the way the homeowner does 38:08 The Call Now system: calling a lead inside a minute 39:04 The 391% conversion stat 40:53 White glove setup: no 30-day implementation nightmare 42:34 Inside the coaching platform: AI sales coach and silence mode 46:36 "Have you ever seen a painting app that comes with that?" 48:08 The sales system itself: coatline.tech/demo, and Emma 55:20 Why none of this exists without Forge Fire Protocol 58:27 Get the book, and why this is duplicatable SEE COATLINE coatline.tech/demo Book a live demo or run the self-guided AI demo on your own time. No pressure, no pitch. GOT YOUR OWN SOFTWARE HEADACHE? If you're running multiple apps that don't talk to each other in your trade or your business, tell us. Forge Fire Protocol builds the exact package you need, and discounts the first build for the input. Subscribe, like, and share the show so you never miss an episode. Forged in Fire. Built for Legacy.
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    1 hr
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