Jackson Yew · Operator
The traditional path isn’t the stable one. It’s the one you create yourself.
Co-founder & COO of Funnel Duo Media. One half of Gen AI — the operator behind AtheonX and The Brand Funnels. Father. Husband. Operator-first creator.
The origin.
I grew up in Malaysia with modest aspirations. I finished university and took an assistant engineer role at an oil palm company. I wanted to “be like water,” flowing wherever life took me.
Then 2011 happened. I did a 4-month work-and-travel program at Zion National Park in the US. Something shifted. I started asking: what if I could work from anywhere?
I came back and started flipping websites on Flippa with my brother Reeve. Built a few sites, sold them, made about $12,000/year in my spare time. But my parents didn’t see it as a real career — so I went back to the conventional path.
Two years at a palm oil machinery sales job. Then a ship salvaging business with a partner. It failed. I lost my savings on operational costs. The venture ended during Chinese New Year, when I couldn’t give traditional red packets to my parents. That moment broke something open.
The pivot.
I started freelancing — app development, email marketing, SEO. Then Reeve and I built an agency together. I focused on networks; he focused on growth hacking.
We struggled with Malaysian clients. Then we attended Tony Robbins’ Business Mastery program. We were thinking too small.
We built The Brand Funnels — combining brand design aesthetics with conversion-focused direct response marketing. We called it Conversion Design. First international client came through Facebook community engagement: a marketing director noticed my competitor analysis post. The project became a case study, which led to three referrals.
From there, we landed Frank Kern (via Mike Dillard’s 100K-list email), then Ryan Deiss, Todd Herman, Donnie French at Performance Golf. “The world’s best online marketers at turning ice cold audiences into raving fans,” Donnie said.
The scale.
In 2022, Reeve and I co-led a pivot into a B2B SaaS company. We grew revenue 10x in one year. Scaled to 120 team. Exited shares in 2023 because we wanted freedom more than equity.
Then AI changed everything. We relaunched, built AutomaticSales AI on top of HighLevel (2,000+ subscribers in a year, GHL SaaSPreneur Diamond in 2024 and 2025), and launched Freedom Business — which became what is now AI Agency™.
In 2024 we trained thousands of freelancers online in AI skills — recognized by ASEAN Records (Feb 2025) as the platform with the highest number trained online in a single year across the region. In December 2025 we set the Guinness World Record for the Largest Artificial Intelligence Marketing Lesson.
Along the way: 7-figure organic launch in one night (Jan 2024), Two Comma Club X (2023), Two Comma Club 3× (2020). A machine that runs on 6-figure monthly ad spend and keeps 60%+ margin.
What I believe.
- · Brand without conversion = expensive hobby.
- · Paid beats organic (with skill). Organic is backup.
- · Positioning > Design.
- · Brand compounds. Ads stop when you stop paying.
- · AI authority ≠ AI expertise. You don’t need to build AI, you need to USE it harder than anyone else.
- · Domain knowledge is the new code.
- · Most branding advice is influencer training. Separate from the ghostwriter crowd.
- · Operators vs Observers: the gap doubled.
Follow along
I publish the real journey.
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