> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://www.isaacbowen.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://www.isaacbowen.com/2025/01/02/on-pipelines.md).

# On pipelines

a pipeline has an input and an output.

*you are the pipeline* - you and your team

the input and the output *both* have to be outside of your team. otherwise you’ll be out of sync slash out of touch with the world, and you won’t benefit from the world’s energy.

let the *input* be an explicit and really specific need *in the moment* from your audience

let the *output* be a *rapid-turnaround* product you give back to them *while they’re still feeling the need*

our app stuff only has life when we’re responding *directly* to what people are asking for *in the moment*. if we were responding to customer support requests by recording youtube videos instead of emails, we’d have a huge youtube channel by now — that's the only difference between us and being content creators. *they're both pipeline businesses*.

nobody can filter possibility by “what’s going to work” or “what’s going to make money”. that’s not a *thing*. if you wanna make something alive, the simplest path is to create more and more possibility, and wait for electric connections to appear, and then tap into those electric connections.


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