About me
I learned this by running a business.
I’m Mike Hodgen. I build companies.
I co-founded a vertically integrated manufacturer and apparel brand and helped build its microfactory in San Diego. I’ve had products to make, a team to support, and customers waiting for their orders. I know what it feels like when the work keeps finding its way back to you.
AI became useful to me when it started changing that work. Product creation. Inventory decisions. Content. Customer service. I built systems around the things the business actually needed, and learned their limits along the way.
Now I’m building toward a company that runs itself. Agents propose the work, I approve what matters, and each kind of task earns more room only after it proves itself.
I write down what I learn along the way, including what broke.
My own business, 2024
The work had to earn its place.
Historical results from the business I operate.
Revenue per employee
Manual operations time
The path here
Operating experience comes first.
A business from the ground up
My co-founder and I started with $200 in fabric, hand-sewing in an apartment and selling on Etsy. I learned the business by doing the work.
Own the way the work gets done
We built a microfactory in San Diego. Making our own products meant we could respond to customers quickly. It also meant every operating decision was ours to make.
Learn to adapt under pressure
Live events stopped. A business built around festivals had to find its way through. That experience made me serious about understanding costs, making decisions from evidence, and finding better ways to work.
Put better tools inside the business
Inventory planning, product work, content, pricing, and customer service became a practical testing ground. I learned where AI helped, where it needed supervision, and where a simpler tool was the right answer.
A company that runs itself
I’m building the agents that run my own company, one decision at a time, and writing down what works and what doesn’t.
In print and in conversation
More of the story.
Interviews and coverage about the business, the work, and what I learned.