Restaurants
Four permitting startups, and the half none of them solve
PermitFlow, GreenLite, Pulley and Symbium automate filing. One restaurant operator lost $30,000 to the step before filing, and nobody sells it.
Galina Fendikevich
Founder and Editor
M&A advisory
Best AI tools for M&A advisors in 2026
Capsa AI, Keye, Eilla AI and OffDeal, set against what a boutique sell-side brokerage actually needs — plus the valuation test to run before you buy.
Public relations
How Sam Polstein builds a media list, and where AI fails him
A deep tech comms lead on why AI cannot build a media list: the signals are unpublished, recent coverage disqualifies, and a three-week lag is useless.
Hospitality
Why a Paris terrace is a bad recommendation in the rain
Three AI platforms personalise recommendations for hotel guests. None reads the weather or the street, which a luxury operator says a suggestion needs.
Yacht charter
Six tests to run before you buy client-memory software
Bring one real client history and try to load it. The buying tests implied by a luxury broker's wine-and-birthdays requirement, in order.
Construction
Best AI tools for construction invoice follow-up
Siteline, Adaptive, Briq and Ontik, judged against what one legacy-industry adviser says a contractor actually needs from invoice automation.
Health & wellness
Best AI tools for client accountability in coaching
Practice Better, Coach Catalyst, Healthie, Rocky.ai and Vibly, compared against what a holistic health practitioner says automation cannot do.
Restaurants
The $30,000 first step AI left out of restaurant permitting
Dr. Nikki Siso applied for a permit before hiring an MEP engineer. The sequencing error cost a month and $30,000 on a contractor she never needed.
M&A advisory
Inside the deal room an M&A broker duct-taped together
Christine McDannell takes five deals at a time and reports a seven-month close on infrastructure she assembled herself. What she wants built instead.
Public relations
How Claude Code replaced a $20,000-a-year platform
Sam Polstein builds competitor dashboards and answer engine analytics with no coding experience, replacing reporting that once cost $20,000 a year.
Hospitality
Best AI tools for luxury travel follow-up in 2026
TourConnect AI, TripSuite and Voyagier automate agency back-office work. None appears to confirm the champagne is in the room. What to verify first.
Yacht charter
Four in five charter clients cannot use a search filter
Jennifer Kerum of Anchor Croatia says eighty percent of clients need teaching first. Four charter platforms exist, and none is built for that client.