What's your opinion on using GHL versus a DIY approach (using Claude or code) for building automations for an AI automation agency targeting SMBs?

So, should I build and manage automations for clients using GHL or do it all myself? It depends. I think GoHigh Level is an awesome platform that gets you about 80% of the way there. If you're running naive offers or something like home services, you don't really need much more than 80%. You could get to 80% and then focus on getting as many leads into that pipeline as possible, say through ads. And honestly, you could crash. We have a lot of businesses that do crash. One business I worked with until recently, Dental Media Corp., ran everything 100% through Go High Level and they're making a couple hundred grand a month. They started about a year and a half ago, two years ago, and had a big run-up, working with dentists running simple offers. I've also worked with dozens of other businesses. One of my old roommates, actually one of my best friends, ran up a GHL sub-account business, which was pretty interesting. And even a big home services company I work with, doing a few million dollars a month, was on GHL until recently. So you can do really good things with GHL. However, if you're in a very high competition industry where the additional 20% is margin you can squeeze, optimizing a speed-to-lead system or adding extra functionality can be valuable. I like going above and beyond that because I think I can bridge the gap between 80% and 100% and make a bit of arbitrage, which is ultimately what business is.