← Morning Briefs
Friday, March 20, 2026
☀️ Morning Brief
UX is Fine · Jason Schklar
Friday
March 20, 2026
Big Friday: Riot Games paid $75,578 overnight and SOW No. 5 is fully executed — that's your biggest account secured for another cycle. This morning is high-stakes operationally: the Matt/Jason employment decision conversation is at 9:30am, followed immediately by the 2K RFP Proposal Jam at 10am where Ashley committed to a proposal by EOD Monday. A Guerrilla Games Purchase Order also landed this morning — new work inbound. The Epic meeting with Adam Sarasohn yesterday was a strong biz dev win; your action items there (targeted deck, rates, Airtable form) are time-sensitive while the conversation is warm.
3
Meetings Today
9
Meetings Yesterday
8
Active Deal Channels
25
Gmail Drafts
⚡ Act Today
9:30AM Matt / Jason — Employment Decision Meeting

The culmination of yesterday's four-meeting arc: Matt Knott chooses between full-time (recommit, hand over tool source code) or contractor at 32h/week. Dave has a separate listening session planned. Have the $4K website referral ready as a goodwill gesture. Go in with listening first.

10:00AM 2K RFP Proposal Jam Session — Prep Needed

2K (Alex Moran) confirmed open budget — submit whatever approach makes sense. Ashley committed to EOD Monday. Today's jam is to align on scope and approach. Key context: 31st Union (2K) has shrunk internal team, strong pitch reaction, Jun is a champion. Don't mention AI concepting.

💰 PAID Riot Games — $75,578 Deposited + SOW No. 5 Signed

Three invoices (#1365, #1369, #1370) marked paid by Riot Games overnight. BofA confirmed $75,578 direct deposit to business checking. SOW No. 5 (Tony Yoeung, DocuSign) is fully executed. League extension efforts underway — team working to avoid April 2nd pause.

📦 PO Guerrilla Games — Purchase Order #4300130179 Received

Diana Torrejon at Guerrilla Games sent PO #4300130179 this morning. New work inbound — review details (description, quantity, price, delivery date, invoice details) and confirm receipt to accounting.

EPIC Adam Sarasohn (Epic) — Fill Vendor Form + Send Deck & Rates

Adam sent follow-up email with Airtable vendor system form (Password: Xdev@Epic2026). Three deliverables: (1) fill the vendor database form, (2) send rate sheet (~$18K/mo senior), (3) prep Epic-targeted capabilities deck. Also: ping Adam next week re: Heather Fuller intro (she's back from SXSW).

ACTION Jam & Tea Proposal — Due Today or Monday

Jason committed to sending a basic proposal "same day or by Monday" after yesterday's meeting. Scope: UX/UI design, in-engine implementation, Amazon/GDK ecosystem exposure. Follow up with Carl with decision or resolution by March 23 at latest.

TEAM Join Anthropic Team Plan — Cat Set Up the Workspace

Cat sent the Claude team plan invite (UXisFine workspace). You discussed migrating from personal Claude within a month and cancelling personal subscription. Your API spend also crossed the $50 monthly threshold — check usage.

🎯 Focus Topics
Auto-saved per day
📮
25
drafts in Gmail
Open Drafts →
📼 Thursday, March 19
Exec Time (DNS) — Pre-Matt Planning
8:30 AM · Internal · ~55 min
Internal
Key Points
  • Two options agreed for Matt: (A) acknowledge misstep, hand over tool/source code, continue as FT employee; (B) leave and pursue tool independently with IP ownership warning.
  • Matt had placed AI-generated content on the 2K client board after being told not to, then suggested denying AI use to client — Dave deleted it personally.
  • Matt's employee contract almost certainly assigns ownership of all work to the company, making his tool claim legally untenable (Cat confirmed).
  • Dave confirmed Ryan can cover 2K client meeting if Matt is removed. Cat advised against contesting unemployment if let go.
Action Items
  • Jason to have direct conversation with Matt presenting two choices.
  • Cat to review Matt's contract for IP ownership clause.
  • Dave to cancel one-on-one with Matt.
  • Jason to share Claude research on positioning the Unreal tool with Dave and Mike.
Meeting with Matt Knott [Ludo Gamelabs] — Ultimatum
10:00 AM · External · ~2 hr
External
Key Points
  • Two formal options on the table: remain full-time on track to $170K–$200K Creative Director role, or transition to 32h contractor with freedom for outside work.
  • Matt acknowledged the opportunity but asked for the weekend to reflect and discuss with spouse. Follow-up with Dave Monday.
  • $4K website referral from Ashley identified as potential goodwill gesture to ease financial pressure.
  • On tool IP: Jason assessed legal action as not worth pursuing — lacks defensible IP and no viable go-to-market without UX is Fine's service layer.
  • Jason noted direct, timely communication is a standing priority — Matt was encouraged to DM rather than wait.
Action Items
  • Jason to be available to Matt over the weekend.
  • Jason to speak with Ashley about routing the $4K website project to Matt.
  • Dave to have listening session + career conversation with Matt on Monday.
Jam & Tea // UXIF — Project Discovery
12:00 PM · External · ~35 min
External
Key Points
  • Scone: 1–4 player party game on Amazon Luna, players collaboratively tell an Odyssey story via drawing, voting, and text input; GenAI generates styled visuals at runtime.
  • AI latency (3–5s) is key UX blocker — team plans to reduce to sub-1s via ComfyUI cluster, with smoke-and-mirrors strategies (speculative generation, animated transitions).
  • Art direction by Jeff Turley (Tangled/Moana); Greek pottery-inspired UI elements resonating with Amazon; handmade-feeling art preferred over polished modern styles.
  • UX touchstones: D&D, Gartic Phone, Jackbox. Codebase structured for Claude Code onboarding.
  • Jason confirmed UXIF has enough to draft a proposal — same day or by Monday.
Action Items
  • Jason: send proposal to Carl by March 23 at latest.
Jason & Ash — Biz Dev w/ Adam Sarasohn (Epic Games)
3:00 PM · External · ~45 min
External
Key Points
  • Adam leads Epic's External Development group (~10 people) overseeing all outsourcing/co-dev for Fortnite, Rocket League, Fall Guys, Lego — managing 100+ vendors, 2,000+ contractors.
  • Epic prioritizes long-term embedded partnerships; teams start small (2–5), build trust, then scale and stay through full game lifecycle.
  • Epic recently unlocked Claude for external teams; noted weaker AI results on UI specifically — Jason's perspective (AI as accelerant for talented staff) directly addressed this.
  • Four-day work week flagged as potential deal-breaker at RFP stage; contractor Friday coverage as partial mitigation.
  • Karen Wong (art outsourcing for Epic games, former CAH contact) to be reconnected via Adam for staff augmentation.
  • Rates: ~$18K/mo for senior/director level. Adam confirmed this is at the higher end but reasonable; requested rate info outside the call.
Action Items
  • Jason: prepare Epic-targeted capabilities deck.
  • Jason: share rate information with Adam.
  • Jason: fill Airtable vendor form (Password: Xdev@Epic2026).
  • Jason: ping Adam next week re: Heather Fuller intro (back from SXSW).
  • Adam to connect Jason with Karen Wong (art outsourcing).
  • Jason: send Adam list of vetted AI partner companies for double opt-in intros.
📅 Friday, March 20 — 3 Meetings
9:00 – 9:30 AM CDT · 30 min · Google Meet
Irena Pereira and Jason Schklar
Internal
One-on-one with Irena Pereira. Context unavailable from CRM — check prior notes or Krisp for context.
9:30 – 9:55 AM CDT · 25 min · Google Meet
Matt / Jason — Employment Decision
CRITICAL External
The follow-up to yesterday's ultimatum conversation with Matt Knott (Ludo Gamelabs). Matt asked for the weekend to reflect with spouse. Two options remain on the table: full-time recommit (hand over tool source code, clear path to CD role) or 32h contractor with outside work freedom. Go in with listening first per Dave's approach. Have the $4K website referral ready.
10:00 – 10:30 AM CDT · 30 min · Google Meet
2K RFP Proposal Jam Session
Internal Strategy
Ashley committed to delivering proposal to 2K (Alex Moran, Megan Pulver) by EOD Monday. 2K confirmed open budget — submit what makes sense. 31st Union team has shrunk, expecting UXIF to fill the gap. Key context from Ashley: Jun is a champion, living UI concept landed strongly, other vendors submitted without visuals. Do NOT mention AI concepting. Garrett (Supersaurus) booked for Tuesday.
📧 Email — Notable Since Yesterday
📦
Guerrilla Games — PO #4300130179 ACTION
Diana Torrejon sent a Purchase Order this morning. Review details (description, qty, price, delivery date, invoice details) and confirm receipt to accounting@uxisfine.com.
DocuSign — SOW No. 5 with Riot Games EXECUTED DONE
Tony Yoeung (Riot Games) confirmed all parties have completed "UX is Fine (RGI) - SOW No. 5." Contract is fully signed and executed as of Thursday evening.
💰
Riot Games — $75,578 Direct Deposit + 3 Invoices Paid PAID
BofA confirmed $75,578 from RIOT GAMES, INC. to business checking (acct ending 3863). Invoices #1365, #1369, and #1370 all marked Paid via Coupa.
🎮
2K (Alex Moran) — Open Budget Confirmed, Proposal Due Monday
Alex Moran: "Happy to review multiple options on how you would approach the work." Ashley committed to EOD Monday. Today's jam session aligns the team on scope.
🎮
Adam Sarasohn (Epic Games) — Vendor Form + Follow-up
Adam sent Airtable link to get back into Epic's vendor database (Password: Xdev@Epic2026). Fill form, send rates, prep targeted deck — time-sensitive while conversation is warm.
🎮
Mathew Markert (2K?) — Wants to Reconnect with Lee re: Services
"Last action was getting y'all back in a room with Lee to talk about services, the new UI team, and how we're approaching UI for our current slate." Separate 2K contact from the RFP thread — potential additional opportunity.
🎮
Don Xu — New Inbound Lead via Aaron Stavely
Don Xu (email: donxu29@gmail.com) submitted via website: "I had a lovely conversation with Aaron Stavely. He encouraged me to submit for an inquiry to see if the team needs more help with UI." Warm referral — needs follow-up.
🤝
John Bond — Seattle Indies Intro (Cornish College of Arts)
Met at Slice Seattle Indies Event a couple weeks ago. John teaches at Cornish College of the Arts (Games Program) — mentioned potentially connecting UX is Fine with his program.
💬
Tom Gayner (Levellr) — Reconnect Confirmed
"Sounds like a plan! Will find some time on the cal. Best of luck with GDC follow up!" Calendar invite sent — reconnect call scheduled.
⚠️
Rippling — 2 Overdue Tasks + 6 Upcoming
You have 2 overdue tasks and 6 upcoming tasks for UX is Fine in Rippling. One includes UXIF AI Safety training enrollment.
📁 Google Drive — Modified Today
📋
2K Horizon — RFP Master Doc Template
Modified by Ashley Conley · Today 12:18 PM · Active proposal doc
💬 Slack — Direct Messages
🤖
Slackbot Reminder — "check channel"
You set a reminder: "check channel." Fired at 8:10am CDT today.
⭐ VIP Unreads / Priority / Strat-pris
⚠️ Not configured — these sections require Slack channel IDs. Right-click each channel in Slack → Copy Link → add IDs to Claude/Reference/morning-brief/slack-channels.json
🔥 Deal Channels — 8 Active of 20 Scanned · Last 72h
🎮
#deal-2k-horizon-rfp HOT
Jason posted a "more forceful/direct" message version. Dave declined invite (too many people) but eager for post-meeting update. Ashley: "response from 2K, they want to talk tomorrow!! Jun is a champion and going to put in a good word." Active proposal jam today at 10am.
🎮
#deal-riot-league-live-195rio ACTIVE
Ashley: "moving this along for us with pace, should have a brief tomorrow" (re: League extension). Team working to avoid April 2nd pause — trying to get extension so no interruption. Cat reviewed and approved DocuSign response on 3/18.
🎮
#deal-scopely-poe-ui
Ashley: "I feel like they just want numbers... feels like we are hitting a wall." Jason: "Jerome live in Figma during the meet = YASSS QUEEN." Active negotiation — numbers/staffing plan submitted, sensing friction.
🎮
#deal-yojoyco-studios-poglings
Ashley sent follow-up for scheduling a requirements call — team decided requirements call still needed to determine level of polish.
🛠
#deal-riot-tft-unreal-197rio — Tooling Alpha Opportunity
Jason (to Ashley & Mike): thinking about tooling we're working on for Unreal Implementation — worth sounding out with TFT producer as "friends and family alpha." Jon raised Ludus.ai as related interest.
🎮
#deal-zynga-ui-test
Ashley pinged Cat to confirm receipt of vendor template spreadsheet from Zynga email.
🆕
#deal-codenamered-tbd — New Channel Created Yesterday NEW
Channel created 3/19 by Ashley. Team assembled: Jason, Dave, Ashley, Ryan, Jon. No messages yet beyond joins — deal being set up.
🆕
#deal-jam-and-tea — Channel Created 3/18 NEW
Created after yesterday's Scone discovery meeting. Team: Jason, Mike, Matt, Ryan, Ashley. Proposal due today/Monday for Carl.
✅ Copper Tasks — 30 Open
💼 BizDev Follow-ups
Outreach & Relationship Management
Follow-up with Jay Minn (WotC) — GDC prep / vendor relationship
due 2026-03-03
Get Warm Intro to Tim Stuart
due 2026-02-25
Follow Up with Mark Day
due 2026-02-26
Intro Teresa to Ash
due 2026-02-26
Follow up w/ Ro
due 2026-02-23
Marcus — General Catchup
due 2026-02-03
Derek Rees — Follow up Post Gamescom
due 2026-01-20
Follow up w/ Look North
due 2025-12-09
Check in with Matt S in the fall
due 2025-11-05
Touch base — strategic
due 2025-11-11
Need to ask around about Paul Grimes at TCPi
due 2025-11-04
Send Deck, Trailer, Youtube vids
due 2025-10-23
Follow up on Linkedin Message to Thomas
due 2025-10-15
Check in with Rogers mid September
due 2025-10-09
DDM Follow Up
due 2025-10-09
Follow up from Gamescom
due 2025-10-09
Follow up w/ David Bisceglia
due 2025-10-09
Follow up with John and schedule a chat
due 2025-10-09
Marcus Foon — New role at Google
due 2025-10-09
Send post Gamescom Follow Up
due 2025-10-09
Send post gamescom follow up
due 2025-10-09
⏰ PHB Follow up: Testimonial for internal Hasbro project?
due 2025-10-09
📣 GDC / Pre-Conference
Ashley-Led Follow-ups
Ashley: Follow up with Brendon to push for an Amazon face-time meeting at GDC
due 2026-02-27
Ashley: Meet with Matt to create GDC Figma sandbox and add staffing ramp model visual
due 2026-02-27
Ashley: Reach out to Tyler (Pokémon) today to lock in a pre-GDC meeting
due 2026-02-27
Ashley: Request Figma edit permissions from Dave or Matt via Figma comment
due 2026-02-27
Ashley: Send SAA contact (ex-Sega) the UXIF services deck + a relevant case study link
due 2026-02-27
Jason/Ashley: Decide on XDS hotel block — book 3 rooms, set refund deadline, release 3rd if not needed
due 2026-02-27
Jason: Discuss AI policy with Mike regarding use of Krisp transcripts in external AI tools
due 2026-02-27
Jason: Send DICE follow-up emails — prioritize Brendon and Tyler first
due 2026-02-27
🧠 Skills
SkillDescription
morning-briefDaily 7-tab HTML briefing pulling Krisp, Gmail, Drive, Copper, Slack
copper-crmPull live tasks, notes, and contact data from Copper CRM
qual-summaryGenerate qualification summary for a game industry prospect from all sources
people-briefEnriched contact briefing for any list of people with Copper + LinkedIn context
process-krisp-meetingTurn a Krisp meeting into CRM notes, tasks, Drive doc, and Gmail draft
pptxCreate, edit, read, or extract from PowerPoint presentations
docxCreate, edit, or manipulate Word documents
pdfExtract, merge, split, create, or OCR PDF files
xlsxCreate or edit spreadsheets with formulas, charts, and formatting
deliverSend files or messages to Jason via Slack or Gmail draft
github-publishPublish any artifact to GitHub with optional GitHub Pages hosting
game-analysisSonar-style player sentiment reports from Steam, YouTube, Reddit, gaming press
youtube-scrapeFetch YouTube video transcripts for game analysis (run locally)
skill-creatorCreate, modify, optimize, or run evals on skills
gdoc-to-markdownConvert a Google Doc URL to a clean Markdown file
list-skillsShow all installed skills with plain-English summaries
scheduleCreate scheduled tasks on an interval or on-demand
⏰ Scheduled Tasks
TaskScheduleLast RunStatus
morning-brief Weekdays at 8:10am Today 8:10am Enabled
✅ Claude To-Dos
🤖 Claude Improvements
Edit text & save back to Copper/Doc — ability to edit AI-generated summaries and push changes back to Copper CRM notes or Google Docs
Participant error-checking — Krisp sometimes mis-transcribes names; system should reconcile attendees against Calendar + Email + Copper and flag uncertain matches
Quick Krisp jump link — from any meeting card, one-click to open that Krisp conversation to edit/update/query the transcript
Add missing Slack sections to daily brief — VIP Unreads, Priority, and Strat-pris need channel IDs hardcoded in slack-channels.json
Lookback period selector — 1-day, 7-day, and 30-day defaults plus calendar widget for custom date ranges
💼 Work & Personal
Assess client engagement preferences — engage clients on preferred short-term vs. long-term engagement types
Work
Review proposal submission process — analyze current methods across project phases
Work
Explore AI and globalization opportunities — gauge client openness to AI-empowered tools
Work
Develop RFP inclusion strategy — create approaches to get into bids where UXIF isn't currently considered
Work
Personal errands — Tenor sticks, headphones, Venmo
Personal
📋 Deal Channel Pipeline — 20 Channels Scanned
🔥 Active (72h)
ChannelSummaryLast Activity
#deal-2k-horizon-rfp2K confirmed follow-up, Jun championing, open budget, proposal due Monday3/19 11:48am
#deal-riot-league-live-195rioWorking on April 2nd extension, brief coming, SOW No. 5 executed3/19 1:59pm
#deal-zynga-ui-testVendor template follow-up sent to Cat3/19 8:39am
#deal-yojoyco-studios-poglingsRequirements call follow-up sent for scoping/polish level3/18 9:45am
#deal-jam-and-teaNEW — channel created after Scone discovery meeting, proposal due today/Mon3/18 3:38pm
#deal-supersaurus-websiteNEW — team assembled, Garrett booked for Tuesday3/18 12:15pm
#deal-scopely-poe-uiNumbers/staffing discussion, hitting wall, Jerome live in Figma moment3/17 3:25pm
#deal-riot-tft-unreal-197rioTooling alpha opportunity floated with TFT producer, Ludus.ai discussion3/17 5:35pm
#deal-codenamered-tbdNEW — channel created 3/19, team assembled, deal being set up3/19 8:26am
😶 Silent / Unchecked
ChannelStatusCreated
#deal-luna-games-ux-prototypingNo messages in 72h2026-03-03
#deal-pokemon-tcglive-198pokNot scanned this run2025-08-18
#deal-gg-sparkle-foshizzle-182ggaNot scanned this run2024-02-05
#deal-focus-uxNot scanned this run2025-10-20
#deal-sony-mobileNot scanned this run2025-10-01
#deal-yellowbrick-uxNot scanned this run2025-06-16
#deal-looknorthworld-uxNot scanned this run2025-11-03
#deal-creative-assembly-ui-ux-impNot scanned this run2026-01-13
#deal-magicsoup-uxNot scanned this run2025-02-07
#deal-mission42-ux-193misNot scanned this run2025-05-13
#deal-playformantNot scanned this run2026-01-15