The operating thesis behind the portfolio.

The portfolio starts where work keeps getting stuck.

I’m Os Ishmael, founder of 2nd Bell and a practical systems builder. I build tools and venture experiments across revenue workflows, AI education, focus software, local-first operations, websites, and robotics data.

AI is part of the workshop, not the billboard. I use it when it helps clarify a handoff, sharpen judgement, or move a workflow forward.

Portrait of Os Ishmael

The common thread

Different projects, same operating pattern.

I tend to build where a useful thing is being lost in the handoff between people, tools, and decisions.

Service businesses lose opportunities after first contact.

Students use AI before they know how to test, explain, or improve the work.

Workers lose rhythm after breaks, context switching, or unfocused sessions.

Legal teams and repeatable service businesses need local-first systems that keep client work easier to track.

Robotics teams may need structured, consented real-world task data before models can be evaluated well.

The work starts with the constraint, not the tool.

Current work

The portfolio I am building.

2nd Bell is the flagship. The rest of the portfolio tests the same system-building instinct in learning, focus, local-first operations, websites, and robotics data.

Venture in development

Robotics Data Venture

Exploring structured, consented real-world task data for robotics and embodied-AI teams working across Asia.

View the thesis

Background

What shaped how I build.

The work is portfolio-shaped now, but the foundation comes from years spent around the systems that decide whether opportunities, habits, and operational momentum actually move forward.

Business systems
CRM and lifecycle marketing
MarTech and reporting systems
APAC operating experience
Revenue constraint visibility
AI workflow design

Approach

How I decide where AI belongs.

AI is useful when it helps a real system become clearer, faster, or more accountable. It is not the starting point.

01

Start with the behaviour

What are people actually trying to do, where does momentum break, and what would make the next action easier?

02

Make the system visible

A good workflow should clarify ownership, status, next steps, and the point where the work is getting stuck.

03

Use AI where it earns its place

AI should reduce friction, improve judgement, or support follow-through. If it does not, the simpler system is usually better.

Useful context

A few things people usually want to place.

What is the main focus?

Building practical tools and venture experiments around the parts of work that keep getting stuck.

What is the flagship venture?

2nd Bell. It is focused on helping service businesses find where revenue gets stuck and what to fix first.

What kind of conversation fits?

Founders, operators, schools, SMEs, investors, and partners with a concrete workflow, learning need, commercial system, or venture thread to explore.

Start a conversation

If one of these threads is relevant, start there.

I am most useful when there is a real workflow, learning need, commercial system, or venture idea that needs clearer structure.