Second Act Field Guide

The Second Act Field Guide

Your expertise is worth morethan a retirement party.

Ken Waddell spent 30 years at TIAA, Nuveen, and OppenheimerFunds. At 57 he built an AI-automated video company from scratch — no coding background — now serving clients like Nomura, Invesco, First Eagle, and Clarion Partners at $3,000–5,000/month each. This is how he did it, and how you can too.

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The Second Act AI Starter Kit

An 8-page guide covering exactly what Ken learned building an AI-powered business from scratch after 30 years in financial services. No fluff. Real numbers. Real tools.

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Domain Expertise + AI

Why your 20+ years of industry knowledge is the most defensible business model for 50+.

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Three Income Streams

The three revenue types that work without cold selling, cold emailing, or networking events.

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Ken's Actual Stack

The exact tools — OpenClaw, n8n, Vercel, Stripe, Publora — and how they fit together.

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Your Starting Framework

A structured approach to identifying your own sellable expertise and packaging it.

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Building in Public

What Ken Is Building

Real posts about what's working, what isn't, and what comes next. No theory — just the actual build log.

Coming soon

How I automated 80% of my video production pipeline

A walkthrough of the n8n workflow that turns raw footage into branded financial services videos — with AI-generated overlays, automated transcription, and one-click rendering.

Coming soon

The first $15K month: what actually worked

Four clients, $3,000–5,000/month each. Here's how each deal happened (spoiler: none of them came from cold outreach).

Coming soon

Building in public at 59: what nobody tells you

The real challenges of starting over with AI when your LinkedIn says 'Former Executive.' The assumptions people make, and how to use them.

Coming Soon

Business In A Box

The first pre-built AI business kit drops when we have 50 beta testers lined up. Everything you need to go from domain expertise to revenue — site, automation, payments, content playbook — in a box.

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Who built this

Ken Waddell

30 years at TIAA, Nuveen, and OppenheimerFunds — leading video production, corporate communications, and brand strategy for firms that manage trillions. At 57, Ken walked away from the corner office and built ViTL, an AI-automated video production company, from scratch. No coding background. No venture funding. Current clients include Nomura, Invesco, First Eagle, and Clarion Partners at $3,000–5,000/month each.

I'm building this in public. Every week I post what's working, what isn't, and what I'm building next. The Second Act Field Guide is the playbook I wish I had two years ago.