Bring people in
Attention becomes conversation, then qualified demand.
IG
Instagram
Attention and inbound interest.
MC
ManyChat
First automated conversation and keyword flows.
The rule
One tool. One primary responsibility.
The goal is not to collect software. It is to build a business operating system where every important piece of information has an obvious home.
The principle
When two or three tools all “own” the same thing, the stack gets messy. Decide the owner first, then automate around it.
Manage the customer
Leads move through a clear sales and payment system.
GHL
GoHighLevel
Contacts, pipeline, lead status and follow-up.
$
Stripe
Payments and payment events.
Run the company
Work, communication and knowledge stay separated but connected.
GW
Google Workspace
Email, calendar, files and working docs.
A
Asana
Projects, tasks, owners and deadlines.
S
Slack
Team communication and coordination.
N
Notion
SOPs, systems, decisions and long-term knowledge.
Build custom tools
Use custom software only when the workflow is clear and existing tools do not solve it well enough.
CC
Claude Code
Build internal apps, utilities and automations.
Put them online
Deploy the tools your business actually needs, without turning deployment into another project.
V
Vercel
Host and deploy the custom apps you build.
Architecture
How the revenue side of the stack connects.
Keep this path simple. Every extra handoff creates another place for a lead or customer to disappear.
InstagramAttention
→
ManyChatConversation
→
GoHighLevelLead + sales process
→
StripePayment
Keep the layers separate
Instagram should not become your CRM. Slack should not become your project manager. Notion should not become your task tracker. Give each system a primary job.
Implementation
The order to set everything up.
If you are starting from scratch, build the company foundation first, the customer system second, then delivery, acquisition and custom software.
01
Google Workspace
Foundation
Create the basic identity layer for the business before you automate anything.
- Company email addresses
- Shared calendars
- Simple Drive structure
- Working documents and team access
Do not overbuild this
You need an obvious home for files, not a perfect folder taxonomy.
02
Notion
Company brain
Create the place where the business remembers how it works.
- Company profile
- Current offers
- Ideal customer profiles
- Brand voice
- SOPs and processes
- Important decisions and ideas
Use Google Workspace for active files. Use Notion for durable knowledge.
03
GoHighLevel
CRM + sales system
Build the customer system around a simple pipeline. Every real lead should eventually have a home here.
- Create pipeline stages
- Define what each stage means
- Assign owners
- Add the minimum follow-up you actually need
- Keep sales activity attached to the contact
A simple starting pipeline:
New Lead → Contacted → Qualified → Call Booked → Decision → Won / Lost
04
Stripe
Payments
Set up the current offers you actually sell, then connect the payment event to the next operational step.
- Create only live offers
- Test payment links or checkout
- Make payment trigger the next step
- Avoid manual “they paid” handoffs
05
Asana
Delivery + execution
Once somebody becomes a customer, the work that has to happen should move into a dedicated project system.
- Create projects around real workflows
- Give every meaningful task an owner
- Add a due date
- Use status to make blocked work visible
A useful onboarding flow:
Payment → Welcome → Access → Kickoff → Assets → Delivery starts
06
Slack
Team communication
Add Slack when multiple people actually need a shared communication layer.
- Team conversations
- Questions
- Quick decisions
- Automation alerts
- Coordination
Then move durable information out of Slack: SOPs to Notion, tasks to Asana, sales updates to GoHighLevel, and files to Google Workspace.
07
Instagram + ManyChat
Attention → conversation
Now build the front door. Your content creates demand, and ManyChat handles the first automated conversation.
Post or Reel → Comment keyword → ManyChat reply → Conversation → Qualified lead → CRM
- Choose the action you want content to drive
- Create a keyword flow
- Test the reply yourself
- Decide when a person becomes a CRM lead
- Send qualified people into follow-up
08
Claude Code + Vercel
Custom layer
Build custom software last. First find a repetitive problem your current tools do not solve well enough.
- Pick one clear workflow gap
- Build the smallest useful internal tool
- Deploy it
- Put it in front of the people who do the work
- Improve only after real usage
Important
Do not build custom software just because AI makes software easier to build. Build when a clear operational problem is worth solving.
System ownership
What each tool should own.
Use this table when your team is unsure where something belongs.
| Tool | Primary responsibility | Keep out of it |
|---|---|---|
| Attention | Lead tracking, internal project management | |
| ManyChat | First automated conversation | Long-term CRM history |
| GoHighLevel | Leads + sales | Client delivery projects, SOP documentation |
| Stripe | Payments | Sales pipeline notes, project work |
| Google Workspace | Email, calendar + files | Permanent task management |
| Asana | Work + deadlines | SOPs, CRM history, general chat |
| Slack | Communication | Long-term knowledge, task ownership |
| Notion | Knowledge + SOPs | Fast-moving task management |
| Claude Code | Custom internal tools + automations | Problems existing tools already solve well |
| Vercel | Deployment | Business logic ownership |
Implementation checklist
Use this as your setup tracker.
Your progress is saved in this browser, so you can leave and come back to the same checklist.
Foundation
Sales
Operations
Marketing
Custom systems
Decision filter
Before adding another tool, ask these four questions.
Does it replace something?
Good. Consolidation is usually easier to maintain than adding another layer.
Does it solve a problem nothing else solves?
Potentially useful. Define the responsibility before adding it.
Does it make an existing workflow meaningfully faster?
Worth testing if the gain is clear and measurable.
Does it just look interesting?
Skip it. A good stack is valuable because the pieces work together, not because the tool count keeps growing.
FAQ
Common questions.
Do I need every tool on this list?
No. This is the AI Savvy Founders stack, not a universal requirement. Copy the architecture first: attention, conversation, CRM, payments, work, communication, knowledge, custom tools and deployment. Then choose the tools that fit your business.
Should I set everything up at once?
No. Start with the business foundation and sales system. Then organize delivery and communication. Connect acquisition after that. Build custom software last.
Why use both Google Workspace and Notion?
Google Workspace handles email, calendar, files and active documents. Notion acts as the longer-term knowledge base for SOPs, processes and company context.
Why use Asana if GoHighLevel already has workflows?
We separate the customer journey from project delivery. GoHighLevel owns the lead and sales relationship. Asana owns the work that needs to be completed.
Why not build everything with Claude Code?
Because custom software creates something else you have to maintain. Use existing products when they already solve the problem well. Build custom tools when a clear operational gap remains.
The stack is only the foundation.
The bigger opportunity is connecting your tools, AI agents and automations into one operating system that can actually do work across the business.
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