Sheets Resume founderExec tech recruiterFired 3 times
A free weekly newsletter on the job market, the politics behind your paycheck, AI at work, and what it actually takes to build a business. Written by the guy who's been the employee, the founder, and the recruiter.
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Free. Weekly. One click to unsubscribe, and I'll only cry a little.
Most coverage of work and money is either doom or delusion. I follow the incentives instead, because once you see who set up the game, the rules stop looking random.
Hiring news from someone who runs live executive searches. What the jobs report actually says, why your application died in six seconds, and which "AI layoffs" are just regular layoffs with better PR.
Policy where it hits workers, families, and small business owners. Health insurance that chains you to a job, housing costs that eat every raise, and the paperwork wall between you and starting something. Opinions included, receipts attached.
What AI is really doing to jobs and companies, seen from inside the hiring process and from someone who builds AI products. Which roles are getting eaten, which are getting promoted, and how to end up on the right side of the spreadsheet.
Lessons from taking a bedding company from a cold Denver warehouse to $1M a month and an exit, and from building the #1 AI resume builder on nights and weekends. The parts that don't make it into the LinkedIn post.
No paywall. No "10 power words that will transform your career." Just the stuff nobody explains, explained.
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Every issue follows the same five-part shape, so you always know where the good stuff is.
One big idea, argued properly. Expect a position, not a both-sides shrug.
One stat that explains more than it should, with the source linked.
What I'm seeing in live searches this week. Who's hiring, who's freezing, who's lying about it.
One thing you can do this week. A rewrite, a script, a move. Not inspiration. Instructions.
Something dumb and delightful, because it's been a week.
From: Colin McIntosh · McIntosh Thoughts
Your boss isn't replacing you with AI. Your boss's boss is.
Part economics class, part rebellion, part stand-up set. Here's the deal I'm making with you.
Every take starts with one question: who benefits? Usually the answer explains everything.
Data, sources, and what I'm seeing in real hiring. If I'm guessing, I'll say I'm guessing.
The powerful get roasted. The reader never does. Neither does the person just trying to make rent.
No platitudes, no hand-holding, no "it's complicated" as an excuse to say nothing.
Economics doesn't have to be dismal. If an issue bores you, that's on me.
Rule 6: no em dashes. Don't ask.
I've been on every side of the table. That's the whole reason this newsletter exists.
Five months out of Emory, Bridgewater Associates let me go. Then two more jobs after that. It felt terrible. It was also the best education I ever got in how hiring decisions really get made.
A Reddit post giving away resume advice turned into a free tool, then into the #1 AI resume builder on Google. Millions of job seekers later, it still surprises me.
A bedding company built on bad puns and good fabric. $5M+ raised, Inc. 5000 #309 with 1,849% growth, Good Morning America, two rounds of Techstars, and an exit in 2025.
I sit on the hiring side for a living. I see which candidates get the yes, which companies are quietly freezing, and how AI is changing who gets hired.
The rules of work are being rewritten by people who have never had to follow them. I'm here to translate.
Every issue lands here too, so you can read, share, and argue with it in public.
Executive tech recruiter at Riviera Partners. Founder of Sheets Resume and Sheets & Giggles (Inc. 5000 #309, exited 2025). Two-time Techstars Boulder alum. Emory Goizueta, where I studied economics under a Reagan-era economic advisor and came out believing markets are powerful and also very easy to rig.
Now based in South Florida, advising local companies on AI, building too many websites, and asking too many questions about who's getting paid.
Yes. No paywall on the newsletter. Job searching and running a small business are expensive enough already.
Once a week. Short, skimmable, and only when there's something worth saying.
Yes, in the same way your paycheck is political. I write about policy where it touches workers and small business owners: healthcare, housing, taxes, regulation, AI. Expect real opinions backed by real data. Expect to disagree with me sometimes. That's healthy.
Because your career doesn't happen in a vacuum. The job market, the economy, and AI are all shaping your next move, and this is where I break that down. If it's not for you, one click and you're out. No hard feelings. Some feelings.
No. Never. I've been on the receiving end of enough spam to know better.
Please do. Email colin@sheetsresume.com. The best reader questions become issues (anonymized, unless you want the fame).
Last chance. Okay, not really.
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Free, weekly, and written by an actual human with opinions.