A little about Ian

I build first.
Then I share what works.

I’m Ian McDonald, a self-taught builder, founder, and speaker based in Houston.

I grew up in Pensacola and spent eight years working in addiction and recovery treatment in Colorado. In December 2023, I went all-in on building with $5,000 and no safety net. No CS degree, bootcamp, or co-founder.

In 2025, I built the AI for Business platform solo. The platform supported 1,600+ users; the business it served reached $1.2M in annual recurring revenue within nine months. That experience is where my talks and workshops start: the actual work of making something useful.