How do I find a trustworthy vendor for this?

Ask for references from businesses your size — not general testimonials. Require a 30-day pilot before signing long-term contracts. Get full pricing in writing, including all fees. Ask: what does it cost if this doesn't work? Vendors who can't answer that clearly are a red flag.

What should I realistically budget for this?

Start with the minimum viable spend to test the concept. Most implementations don't need to cost more than $200–500/month to start. Scale spend only after you have proof it's working. Avoid large upfront investments before seeing it operate in your actual environment.

How do I know if it's actually working?

Define success before you start: a specific metric (hours saved per week, revenue per lead, fees reduced) with a 90-day target. If you can't measure it, you can't manage it. Any vendor who resists defining metrics upfront is protecting themselves from accountability.

Planet X · 2026 — For Don Durban

Hi Don — it's PJ. We connected on LinkedIn and your reply was the warmest in my outreach week. I customize tech, life, and business solutions for solo operators — and "solo operator pioneering action-sports media" is the exact archetype that built SideGuy. Below: 5 surgical AI plays I'd build for the Planet X transformation rollout. $100/hr, 2-week pilots, no retainer, no SaaS.

5 plays I'd build for the Planet X 2026 launch

The Planet X transformation announcement asset (this one's the killer app)

You said "Planet X is under a radical transformation with new announcements coming out soon." That's the exact moment a sharable page beats a press release. One link that explains the new direction, lets people self-onboard (sponsor / talent / network / fan), and routes intent to your inbox. Ocean-cinematic, the kind of page that gets forwarded by surf-culture insiders before it hits TechCrunch. This page proves the format — your version goes deeper, with your archive footage, your IP, your call.

Build: 1-2 weeks Tools: Claude API + your archive + Mux video Outcome: one link replaces 50 emails

Sponsor pitch packet generator — Coors / Travel Channel / next gen

You did Coors / Pepsi / GMC / Ford / Sony / BMG in past lives. Each new sponsor used to need a custom deck + 3 calls. Now: one templated AI flow takes Planet X's brand sheet + the sponsor's category + their last quarter's spend signal and outputs a one-link pitch packet — landing page, mock integrations, audience overlap math, suggested activations. You send the link. Sponsors self-qualify. The 3-call dance turns into a 1-text-yes.

Build: 2-3 weeks Tools: Claude API + your asset library Outcome: sponsor cycle 4 wks → 4 days

Action-sports talent + locations intake (the casting layer)

Casting an action-sports show used to mean Rolodex + agent calls + tape submissions. AI now: a public-facing intake page where athletes / locations / cinematographers self-submit (geo-tagged, sport-tagged, IP-rights-tagged), AI pre-screens against the show's brief, and surfaces the top 10 to your inbox each Friday. Zero gatekeeping. The next Kelly Slater submits themselves while you're at Pannikin.

Build: 2 weeks Tools: Claude API + Airtable / Notion + Cloudinary Outcome: cast a show in 2 weeks not 2 months

Show-pitch follow-up engine (the network development pipeline)

You've pitched networks for 35 years. The deal-killer is silence between meetings. We build a follow-up layer that maintains heat in your voice — an AI agent that watches your CRM (or just your inbox), drafts a check-in worth opening, surfaces relevant news the exec would care about, and queues you to send with one tap. Not spam. Not automation that reads as automation. The dance you'd run if you had 8 of yourself.

Build: 2 weeks Tools: Claude API + your contacts + your voice Outcome: pitches stay warm for months

The archive reactivation engine — Earth TV, Ocean Blue, Hot Sports, Kid Trilogy

You sit on 30+ years of action-sports IP — Earth TV with Kenny Loggins, Tippi Hedren, Matt George; Ocean Blue; Hot Sports; the BPI Wide World of Kids era. Most of that was made for linear TV; in 2026 it's license-able streaming inventory + brand-collab fuel + nostalgia content. AI flow: catalogue every minute, tag for licensing fit (FAST channel / nostalgia compilation / sponsor reactivation), generate one-pagers per asset, send to buyers. Your 1995 is someone's 2026 launch package.

Build: 3-4 weeks Tools: Claude API + AI tagging + your archive Outcome: dormant IP → revenue pipeline

⚡ THE MATH · WHY THIS WORKS

One signed sponsor, one licensed archive deal, one casting hit — and the build pays itself back 5×.

Build cost

$10K-$15Kall 5 plays

One signed sponsor

$50K-$500K/yr

One archive license

$25K-$200K/title

Even at the low end of those ranges, any one of the 5 plays pays the entire build back 4-5×. The transformation announcement asset alone (Play 01) is the kind of thing networks + sponsors forward to each other — that's the multiplier you don't model in a deck.

Coffee on 101?

30 minutes, no deck, no commitment. Pannikin Encinitas or Better Buzz Cardiff — your pick. Bring your transformation timeline (or just bring questions). Worst case, you walk out with ideas you can take to anyone else.

⚡ Text PJ now

PJ · Cardiff-by-the-Sea · 92007 · 858-461-8054

Don — your reply was the warmest in my outreach week. I read your bio and the through-line is what got me: "alternative" before alternative had a Wikipedia page, building the action-sports media stack while everyone else was still chasing Big 4 networks. That's the playbook I'm running 30 years later in AI. I build AI tools for solo operators who care about craft. If any of these 5 plays is something you've been wishing existed for the Planet X relaunch, two messages and we'll know if it's worth a coffee. Same coast, same 101. — PJ

⚡ Text PJ LinkedIn

↻ v1.0 — and that's the point

This page is built to evolve. Pick a mode, I'll text back.

Hand-crafted for the Planet X 2026 transformation, but not finished. Want me to swap a play, drop in your archive footage, scope a different angle (talent platform? streaming deal? brand book?), or build a private version for the actual launch? Three modes, three texts, no decks.

🔧 Tweak this page5-min change · free · for fit 🌊 Build the launch versionprivate · with your IP / footage ⚓ Collab on something newyour idea + my hands

⚡ TRY ME.
That's the discipline.

Send one link. Close the deal.

⚓ MADE BY HAND · SideGuy Solutions · CARDIFF-BY-THE-SEA · 92007 · 2026 ⚓

PLANET X
2026Built for the launch you've been hinting at.

5 plays I'd build for the Planet X 2026 launch

The Planet X transformation announcement asset (this one's the killer app)

Sponsor pitch packet generator — Coors / Travel Channel / next gen

Action-sports talent + locations intake (the casting layer)

Show-pitch follow-up engine (the network development pipeline)

The archive reactivation engine — Earth TV, Ocean Blue, Hot Sports, Kid Trilogy

One signed sponsor, one licensed archive deal, one casting hit — and the build pays itself back 5×.

Coffee on 101?

This page is built to evolve. Pick a mode, I'll text back.

PLANET X2026Built for the launch you've been hinting at.

5 plays I'd build for the Planet X 2026 launch

The Planet X transformation announcement asset (this one's the killer app)

Sponsor pitch packet generator — Coors / Travel Channel / next gen

Action-sports talent + locations intake (the casting layer)

Show-pitch follow-up engine (the network development pipeline)

The archive reactivation engine — Earth TV, Ocean Blue, Hot Sports, Kid Trilogy

One signed sponsor, one licensed archive deal, one casting hit — and the build pays itself back 5×.

Coffee on 101?

This page is built to evolve. Pick a mode, I'll text back.

PLANET X
2026Built for the launch you've been hinting at.