I work with operators and leaders building from first principles — so you lead with clarity, not just tools.
Most leaders right now are buying AI tools faster than they're rebuilding how they think. I work with the ones who want to do it the other way around.
Every founder I talk to is in the same shift. Work the team did is now done by them plus agents. Decisions they once delegated now sit on their desk. The company has changed, but the operating manual hasn't.
Most respond by buying more tools. Tools are concrete; discomfort is real. The harder move is rebuilding how you think — exposing the assumptions you carried in from the old model.
This is what Changelog is for. Not training, not AI strategy — the thinking work underneath the strategy, before the stack gets chosen.
This is not consulting; I won't hand you a deck. This is not therapy. This is the room where you say the thing out loud and find out what you actually believe before you act on it.
↓How the work goes
01. We strip the question to first principles
You walk in with a stack of decisions. Hiring, restructure, what to ship, where AI fits, whether to keep building or sell. My first job is to pull each one back to the assumption underneath — the part you stopped questioning because it used to be true. The transition is exposing those assumptions faster than you can update them.
02. I ask the question you've been avoiding
Most of my clients already know what needs to change. They know which hire isn't working, which conversation they're postponing, which version of the company they've outgrown. I name the question they've been circling and put it back in front of them. I don't rescue you from the silence that follows, because the sentence you say at second seven is usually the one you've been carrying alone for six months.
03. We move to a call you can act on this week
Clarity that doesn't change next week's calendar is just a nice conversation. Every session ends with one observable move — something we can both point at by the time we meet again. Smaller than you think, and more specific than you'd choose on your own.
How we work together
The deep dive
A single, high-intensity session to unblock a specific decision — a hire, a pivot, an AI bet, an org change. Best for leaders at a discrete inflection point who need clarity before the next move.
The sounding board
A monthly retainer for ongoing thinking partnership through the transition. We meet regularly to stress-test your assumptions as the ground shifts, give you honest pushback, and keep you out of the trap of optimizing the wrong question.
The transition sprint
Weekly calls for one month to navigate a high-stakes shift — a restructure built around AI, a funding round, a rebuild of how the team works. Focused, intensive, designed to move you through the noise before the window closes.
Leaders rebuilding the operating manual while the company is still running
You might be a founder who built the company under one set of assumptions and is now operating under another. You might be a CEO whose team is shrinking on purpose, with AI absorbing the work that used to require headcount. You might be a leader who keeps adding tools but can feel the actual unlock isn't there yet.
The common thread is that you've crossed into the part of leadership where the right question matters more than the right framework, and the people around you have an agenda. Your board wants growth. Your team wants direction. Your investors want the story. You need someone in the room whose only job is to ask the question you've been avoiding — and who knows enough about what you're actually doing to ask it well.
If you already know what the question is, this is the room. If you don't, the first 45 minutes will help us find it.
Alan Soon
I run Changelog alongside three products I'm building solo, in public, with AI doing most of the production. I live through the same transitions I help my clients navigate.
Before that, thirty years in newsrooms and startups — editorial operations at Yahoo across five Asian cities, senior production at CNBC and Bloomberg, co-founder of Splice Media. I've watched one industry get rebuilt by the internet. I'm watching the next one get rebuilt by AI, and this time I'm doing the work myself, not just covering it.
The credibility is what makes the questions land. The questions are what does the work.
I also fly small planes, which has turned out to be the most useful thing I've ever learned about this work. The instruments don't lie. Your airspeed indicator does not care about your story. You either read what's in front of you honestly and act, or the situation acts for you.
What my clients say
"When I say you changed my life, I'm not exaggerating one bit. What you have helped me with is make me connect the dots with all honesty."
"You treat me as a person and not as a 'hero' or a 'case to be worked upon.' You are helping me find what I love and the feelings that come with it."
"I've been in a limbo of confusion for years. Having a sounding board helped me see the light and take steps forward instead of feeling stuck."
"Alan helped me separate wheat from chaff, allowed me the comfort of honesty and vulnerability and dealt with it with grace and no judgement."
You don’t need to have it figured out before we talk. Most people reach out because they know something needs to shift. The first 45 minutes are on me. No pitch.
Book a free 45-minute call →