Rome's cartoon avatar

Roman Troyano

Founder. Forever student.

I translate AI, cyber resiliency and Web3 into plain English for people who run things.

Get the Operator StackJoin Operator Notes

About

I build companies with technology as leverage. For more than a decade I've run tech businesses in Las Vegas, and the job that keeps finding me is translation: taking what's happening in AI, security and Web3 and turning it into something the people who run things can act on.

I'm a forever student. I learn in public and teach what I learn, in plain English. Awareness over fear, every time: no hype, no doom, just what it means and what to do next.

Everything here is free: the tools I actually run on, and one email a week on what I'm building.

What I teach

  1. Lane 01

    Cybersecurity and cyber resiliency

    How to keep trouble out, keep running when something gets through, and get back fast. Awareness over fear.

    • Prevent
    • Withstand
    • Recover

  2. Lane 02

    AI that actually does work

    Practical AI and automation for real operations: what to hand off, what to keep, and how to start without the hype.

    • Automation
    • Agents
    • Workflows

  3. Lane 03

    Blockchain and Web3

    Stablecoins, wallets and the use cases that hold up for real businesses, explained without the jargon.

    • Stablecoins
    • Payments
    • Use cases

  4. Lane 04

    The operator mindset

    Systems, leadership and execution: build, test, refine. The habits behind running more than one thing at once.

    • Systems
    • Leadership
    • Execution

The Stack

The tools I run my companies on.

A few beefy Linux machines running Ollama and local AI, a handful of Raspberry Pis cooking up some n8n automation sorcery. All offline, all under my control. Some people play with technology. I make it work for me. 🥶

  1. Ollama(opens in a new tab)

    Local AI: the brain

    Runs open-source AI models on a few beefy Linux machines, so private work stays private. No API keys, no data leaving the building.

    Tip Start with a small model that runs fast. For everyday tasks, speed beats size.

  2. n8n(opens in a new tab)

    Automation: the hands

    The automation engine. On the Pis it runs offline workflows around the clock; on the main host it moves leads and posts between apps.

    Tip Automate a task only after you have done it by hand enough times to know every step.

  3. Raspberry Pi 4 & 5(opens in a new tab)

    Edge nodes: always on

    A handful of Pi 4s and Pi 5s cooking up n8n automation sorcery. Low power, always on, all offline, all under my control.

    Tip Boot from an SSD, not an SD card. Faster, and it lasts.

  4. Higgsfield(opens in a new tab)

    The face

    Turns scripts into avatar scenes and short videos, so every post has a face without a film crew.

    Tip Lock one character reference and reuse it, so every post looks like the same person.

See all 9 tools

Operator Notes

One email a week.

What I'm building, what's working, what I'd skip. Plain English, no spam.

Unsubscribe anytime.