I grew up on a farm outside Warwick. Now I'm building small AI tools on the Coast.
Writing about what I figure out, shipping something most weeks. On the Gold Coast with my daughter Thea.
The longer version: I'm Daine Reid, a Gold Coast operator-turned-builder. I spent over a decade in operations — scaling Guzman y Gomez from 15 to 50+ restaurants as State Ops Manager for QLD and NT, launching McDonald's McDelivery across 200+ restaurants ($15M+ in first-year revenue), and running an 80+ person Coles store. Since 2024 I've built small AI tools for trades and small business — ReviewFlow, EquipTrack, Cold Pulse and Automate Agency — and write Runway, a weekly newsletter on building in public.
The road from a paddock to a product.
Born in Roma, grew up on a small property outside Warwick. Cattle, fencing, broken tractors, school. Learned that everything is fixable if you have long enough to look at it.
Started as ops manager for Warwick and Stanthorpe. Moved into a national role launching McDelivery — onboarded 200+ restaurants with Uber Eats and Menulog, $15M+ in first-year delivery revenue. First taste of building systems instead of running shifts.
Store manager, 80+ team across every department. Top 10% of stores in QLD South. Ran the floor like a small business — P&L, shrinkage, the lot. Thea arrived 2017.
Started as a Franchise Business Consultant, finished as State Ops Manager for QLD and NT. Scaled the network from 15 to 50+ restaurants.
Left the corporate track. Franchise consulting by day, building small AI tools at night. Started writing publicly in early 2025.
What I'm working on, this month.
Inspired by nownownow.com. Updated on the first of every month.
What I'm building, what broke, what the numbers look like.
One letter, every Tuesday. No gating, no upsells.