After seeing firsthand how AI search reshaped how customers discover brands, Parham Shariatzadeh set out to demystify strategy for founders navigating this new landscape. His work reframes business planning as a practical, adaptable discipline—one where clarity beats complexity, authenticity outranks ad budgets, and small businesses can thrive by aligning their core strategy with how AI-driven engines actually surface expertise and value.
Hi Parham, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today — we’re excited to learn more about the book series you’ve been building for entrepreneurs navigating the age of AI. What inspired you to start turning complex strategy and tech topics into practical, easy-to-follow guides for founders and small business owners?
Thanks for having me! You know, the inspiration actually hit me in a really unexpected moment. My wife got a phone call one day from a potential customer who said they found her business through ChatGPT. That stopped me in my tracks. I started digging into how businesses need to fundamentally change their online strategy, and after several months of working on her business and talking to dozens of other business owners, I realized something critical: there was a fundamental problem for many small businesses that started at their core strategy.
Here’s what I mean — without the correct strategy, you can’t truly be a solution provider. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been in business for 30 years or you’re just starting out. AI engines like ChatGPT have completely changed the game. Every business owner needs to rethink their strategy from the beginning, and they must consider their position with AI and these new search engines in mind from day one. That’s why I decided to write both The Business Strategy Plan and The Complete Guide to Dominating AI Search — because they go hand in hand. You can’t optimize for AI visibility if your core strategy is broken, and having a brilliant strategy means nothing if your ideal customers can’t find you when they’re asking AI for recommendations.
I spent over two decades working across international markets, doing private equity deals, building companies from scratch — and I saw the same patterns repeat: complexity kills execution. Business strategy has become this intimidating monster that people think requires an MBA and a six-figure consulting budget to understand. But here’s the truth: the fundamentals haven’t changed. What’s changed is the playing field.
Your series focuses on making business strategy feel less overwhelming and more actionable. What do you think most entrepreneurs get wrong or overcomplicate when it comes to traditional “business planning”?
The biggest mistake I see? Entrepreneurs confuse planning with strategizing. They’ll spend months building these beautiful 40-page business plans that are obsolete before the ink dries. They overcomplicate because they think complexity equals sophistication. But strategy isn’t about having all the answers — it’s about asking the right questions and being positioned to adapt quickly. In the AI age, that agility matters more than ever.
Across your books — from The Business Strategy Plan: In the Age of AI to The Complete Guide to Dominating AI Search — there’s a clear theme of accessibility. Why is it so important to you to make these tools and insights available to everyday founders, not just big companies with huge budgets?
The accessibility piece is personal for me. I came up in environments where information asymmetry was power. The big players had resources, networks, insider knowledge — and they guarded it. But I fundamentally believe that in 2025, the best ideas should win, not just the best-funded ideas. When a single mom running an Etsy shop can outrank a Fortune 500 company in AI search results because she understands GEO principles — that levels the playing field in a way we’ve never seen before.
AI is changing how people discover brands and make buying decisions. From what you’re seeing, how can small businesses actually use this shift as an opportunity instead of feeling intimidated by it?
Here’s what’s wild about the AI search shift: for the first time in modern marketing history, being small is actually an advantage. Think about it — ChatGPT and Claude don’t care about your ad budget. They care about authoritative, helpful, specific content. A local plumber who consistently shares expertise about their craft can get cited by AI engines just as easily as a national chain. The intimidation comes from misunderstanding what AI searches prioritize: authenticity, specificity, and genuine expertise over scale.
You’ve worked closely with independent creators, mom-and-pop shops, and solo entrepreneurs. What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned from them, and what advice would you give someone trying to stay competitive in today’s fast-moving, tech-driven landscape?
Working with solo entrepreneurs and small business owners has taught me humility, honestly. These are people who don’t have the luxury of “pivoting” or burning through VC cash. Every decision has real consequences. What I’ve learned is that they’re often more innovative than large companies because of their constraints, not despite them. They can’t afford to waste time on vanity metrics or strategies that don’t convert.
My advice for staying competitive? Learn the new rules set by answer engines, then look at your strategies and rebuild your brand, brand statement and position based on the new rules set by the answer engines. Focus on the 20% of activities that drive 80% of your results. Get visible in AI search engines where your ideal customer is asking questions. Build something people actually want to buy, not just something that sounds good in theory.
And here’s the part some people may not agree with; Design your business so you can sell it one day. Even if you never plan to exit, thinking like a buyer would, makes you build a better, more valuable business. That mindset shift alone changes everything about how you operate.
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