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Brian Witlin — Global Context

About

  • Email: bwitlin@rootphi.com
  • Company: RootPhi (rootphi.com)
  • Mac: Brian's-2024-MacBook-Pro
  • Uses multiple Chrome profiles (rootphi, diamond mma, others)
  • Uses Dreamhost for web hosting (Shared Unlimited plan, multiple domains including rootphi.net, baconbitz.shop, prankjoy.com, witlin.net, and others)
  • GitHub: username bwitlin (created 2026-03-28)
  • Supabase: org "Rootphi" (Pro plan), project "creativeos" — https://ptpcjkhttglmdtdzuwtb.supabase.co (Micro compute, West US Oregon, created 2026-03-28)

Professional Identity

  • Serial entrepreneur and product leader — CEO or direct-to-CEO roles for 25 years
  • 4 companies to successful acquisition (exits to Crocs and Whirlpool among them)
  • Named inventor on 16 patents
  • Stanford University lecturer
  • Companies founded/co-founded: Yummly (acquired by Whirlpool), ShopWell, GoLaces, Diamond MMA
  • Current/recent: Global Head of Innovation at PanasonicWell; Private Equity Leader at Cimbal
  • Creative AI Strategist — views AI as augmentation of human creativity, not replacement

Creative Identity ("Full-Stack Creative")

  • Classically trained oil painter — AI + manual hybrid process ("Cyborg Process")
  • Represented by Melissa Morgan Fine Art
  • DJ & music producer under the "Altered Reality" persona
  • Bestselling author & illustrator — published comedy books under pen names
  • Current book: "Good Dog, Good-Bye" (fully illustrated, hand-crafted images)
  • Future book: "Creative Ambidexterity" — proving creativity is limitless and transferable across mediums
  • Tools: Ableton Live, Photoshop, InDesign, Midjourney, NanoBanana, Topaz Labs (Gigapixel, Bloom, Astra), Firefly, Sketch
  • Additional domains: animation, 3D printing, sound design, branding, growth marketing
  • Has a Maker Studio at home

Working Style

  • Self-described "creative cyborg" — uses technology to enhance human ingenuity
  • Thrives in ambiguity and 0-to-1 creation; loses energy in maintenance phases
  • "Star Method" creative pivot: when stuck in one medium, immediately pivots to another to maintain momentum
  • Self-described as disorganized; appreciates proactive help with file naming and structure
  • High-velocity execution — needs systems that match the pace of his thinking
  • Has ADHD — administrative/organizational tasks fall behind; needs automation to compensate
  • Values extreme autonomy, transparency, and loyalty above politics

Family

  • Father to Tyler (13-year-old son) — Tyler is his North Star
  • Guides Tyler in the Maker Studio, entrepreneurship, creative confidence, and financial literacy

Preferences

  • File naming: lowercase-with-hyphens, include dates for versioned files (e.g., project-name_description_2026-03-27.ext)
  • Organization: Suggest structure and naming proactively — don't wait to be asked
  • Communication: Appreciates honest, direct recommendations rather than being given too many open-ended choices
  • Likes to understand architectural decisions before building (asks "what are best practices?" frequently)
  • Prefers configurable systems over static ones — wants things to stay current and self-maintaining
  • Values shared infrastructure across skills (e.g., shared API key vault rather than per-skill duplication)
  • Thorough — wants to think through edge cases and long-term maintenance before starting
  • Tools: Uses Ableton Live, Photoshop, InDesign, Midjourney, NanoBanana, Topaz Labs suite, Firefly, Sketch, and various multimedia/3D printing tools

Strategic Priorities (as of 2026-03-27)

Brian's overarching vision: rootphi-core is the infrastructure platform that powers CreativeOS — "the operating system of a full-stack creative's life." Everything he builds (Diamond MMA automation, creative tools, personal apps, the eventual productized platform) runs on this foundation. The immediate priority is making that foundation solid before building on it.

Current focus: Infrastructure Readiness Roadmap (6 phases, see project README). Brian explicitly chose patience over speed: "I want to do this right the first time." The phases are sequential and each depends on the prior one being solid.

Priority stack (what matters most right now, in order): 1. CreativeOS foundation — Phase 1 tech spec DONE. Supabase + GitHub provisioned. Next: Week 1 build (Next.js scaffold + migrations). This is the main thread. 2. Skill ecosystem health — Keep context-manager, workspace-health, triangulator, and skill-creator solid. These are the tools that make everything else possible. 3. Diamond MMA growth systems — Near-term revenue source enabling Brian's transition to full creative independence. Sales automation, influencer outreach. Not blocked by CreativeOS — can start anytime. 4. Creative projects — "Good Dog, Good-Bye" book, Altered Reality persona, Cyborg Process paintings. These feed Brian's energy and are part of the brand. Not infrastructure-dependent. 5. App concepts — Creative Data Room, Moment Maker, Patent Cross-Referencing Engine, Deep Research Tools. These are Phase 6 "Extend" items — documented, but won't start until the foundation is solid.

Key principle: Brian has ADHD and thrives on the "Star Method" — pivoting between creative mediums to maintain momentum. The infrastructure work should be chunked into satisfying, completable units that give a sense of progress. Long slogs without visible progress will kill momentum.

Active Projects

LLM Triangulator Skill

  • Status: Built, configured, v6 self-contained package (2026-03-27, repackaged with rotated OpenAI + Google keys)
  • What it does: Queries up to 7 LLM providers in parallel (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, xAI, DeepSeek, Mistral, Together AI), then synthesizes a single best answer
  • Architecture: Self-contained .skill package — API keys, config, model registry, and query script are ALL baked into the installed skill. Works regardless of which folder the user selects in Cowork. No manual setup needed.
  • Key files (inside installed skill at .claude/skills/llm-triangulator/):
  • config/api-keys.json — Shared API key vault (7 providers)
  • config/model-registry.json — Tagged model catalog (25 models)
  • config/llm-triangulator-config.json — Current model selections
  • config/balance-config.json — Alert thresholds
  • scripts/query_models.py — Query script (self-discovering paths)
  • Secondary copy at ~/Documents/Claude/triangulator/ (full set of scripts including balance-checker.py, refresh-model-registry.py)
  • API keys configured: Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, xAI, DeepSeek, Mistral, Together AI
  • Updating API keys: Use the clipboard-read workflow (never paste keys in chat). Edit the vault, then repackage and reinstall the .skill file. Source-of-truth vault: ~/Documents/Claude/triangulator/api-keys.json
  • Rootphi-core path: ~/Documents/Claude/Projects/rootphi-core/
  • Scheduled tasks:
  • refresh-model-registry — Weekly Monday 9am, updates model catalog
  • check-api-balances — Daily 8am, checks credit balances
  • UX flow: Query type + depth → auto-recommend models from registry → optional customize → run
  • Known history: Extensive debugging of cross-session path resolution (files in /mnt/.claude/ don't persist; hardcoded session IDs broke; /mnt/ not a valid absolute path). Solved by baking everything into the .skill package itself.
  • Pending: First live triangulation test (sandbox blocks outbound HTTP — must test from a real Cowork session)

CreativeOS (Active — Main Thread)

  • Status: Phase 1 spec complete, infrastructure provisioned, ready for Week 1 build (2026-03-28)
  • What it is: Personal creative infrastructure platform — "the operating system of a full-stack creative's life." Eventually productizable for other creative entrepreneurs.
  • Architecture: Decided via 7-provider triangulation (see rootphi-core/creativeos-architecture-synthesis_2026-03-27.md). Postgres + Supabase + Next.js + Vercel + Cloudflare. Modular monolith. RLS multi-tenancy from day one.
  • Phase 1 spec: rootphi-core/creativeos-phase1-spec_2026-03-27.md — 5 tables, API routes, auth, CRUD, week-by-week plan
  • GitHub: https://github.com/bwitlin/creativeos.git (private, empty — first push pending)
  • Supabase: https://ptpcjkhttglmdtdzuwtb.supabase.co (Rootphi org, Pro plan, Micro compute, West US Oregon)
  • Key decisions: REST for Phase 1 (not tRPC), mono-repo, Supabase Auth (migrate to Clerk/Auth0 later)
  • Next step: Week 1 build — scaffold Next.js, write migrations, push to GitHub

Image/Video Critique Skill (Planned)

  • Status: Not started — discussed as next project
  • What it would do: Critique and produce images/videos using Together AI's generative models (FLUX, Kling, Sora, etc.) plus vision-capable LLMs
  • Approach: Will share the same api-keys.json vault and model-registry.json (with image/video tags added)

Expert Knowledge Base / RAG Skill (Backlog)

  • Status: Backlog — discussed 2026-03-27, deferred to focus on triangulator testing
  • What it would do: Curated knowledge bases on specific topics (e.g., persuasion, negotiation) from books and credible sources, providing grounded expert-level answers with proper attribution
  • Approach options: Simple reference doc skill (v1) → chunked docs with semantic search (v2) → dedicated MCP connector (v3)
  • Use case example: Persuasion frameworks (Cialdini, Voss, Kahneman) as a queryable knowledge base, potentially feeding into the triangulator as a context layer

Context Manager Skill

  • Status: Built and fully deployed (2026-03-27)
  • Location: ~/Documents/claude-context/
  • What it does: Persistent memory across Claude conversations
  • Infrastructure:
  • Nightly Dreamhost backup at 10 PM (claude-context-backup.sh, launchd scheduled)
  • Knowledge base synthesis system (incremental, deep/weekly, on-demand)
  • Static website at https://context.rootphi.net (MkDocs + Material theme, password-protected)
  • Deploy script: claude-context-deploy.sh (builds + pushes site)
  • Password reset: claude-context-reset-password.sh
  • Disaster recovery: SETUP-GUIDE.md (complete rebuild instructions)
  • Key quirks:
  • MkDocs config (claude-context-mkdocs.yml) lives in ~/Documents/, NOT inside claude-context/
  • Use python3 -m mkdocs (bare mkdocs not on PATH)
  • Site output goes to ~/Documents/claude-context-site/ (separate from docs)
  • CLAUDE.md lifecycle: Session lifecycle instructions now live in CLAUDE.md — invoke context-manager at start/end, workspace-health after skill changes. Updated 2026-03-27.
  • Pending enhancements:
  • Brian has additional ideas for the skill; .skill file not yet packaged for final install
  • Session Hygiene step is already in the SKILL.md (added 2026-03-27), will be active once skill is repackaged

Diamond MMA (Active Business)

  • Status: Active, growing rapidly
  • What it is: Athletic protective gear company — makes the best groin protection in the world for high-impact sports
  • Brian's role: Co-founder
  • Customers: MLB, NHL, UFC, military (expanding)
  • Rootphi opportunity: Automate sales outreach, influencer management, and growth systems to scale faster
  • Strategic importance: Near-term revenue source enabling Brian's transition to full creative independence

Brian Witlin Personal (Planned Project)

  • Status: Brainstormed 2026-03-27, not yet started
  • What it is: Personal wellness, life management, and brand-building tools — runs on rootphi-core infrastructure but managed as its own project
  • Scope: Personal admin automation, creative career management, social media & brand building, relationship/gifting tools (Moment Maker), energy cycle management, audience building for book launch and Altered Reality persona
  • Architecture: Separate project that inherits rootphi-core shared infrastructure (auth, APIs, hosting, knowledge bases)

App Concepts (Brainstormed 2026-03-27)

  • Creative Data Room: Visual file sharing for creative projects with watermarking, permissions. More intuitive than Docsend/PeerBoard for creative workflows. Potentially built on Google Drive/Dropbox.
  • Moment Maker: AI-powered relationship CRM / gifting concierge. Learns key people, dates, preferences. Drafts cards, coordinates gifts via services like Handwritten.
  • Patent Cross-Referencing Engine: Scrape patent DBs, cross-reference with brainstormed applications in other industries. IP discovery pipeline.
  • Deep Research Tools: PE-grade research reports, web scraping, synthesis, documentation.

People

  • Tyler — Brian's 13-year-old son, learning entrepreneurship and creativity in the Maker Studio

Terminology & Shorthand

  • rootphi: Brian's company/domain (rootphi.com) — backend infrastructure platform, not public-facing
  • "Triangulate" — trigger word for the multi-LLM comparison skill
  • "Deep dive" — flagship models, maximum quality, higher cost
  • "Quick check" — economy models, speed priority, lower cost
  • "Altered Reality" — Brian's DJ/producer/visual art persona
  • "Star Method" — creative pivot technique: switch mediums when stuck to maintain momentum
  • "Creative Ambidexterity" — Brian's core thesis: anyone can be fully creative across all mediums
  • "Cyborg Process" — Brian's hybrid AI + classical art methodology
  • "Roger" — Brian's term for his over-accommodation pattern under stress