📩 Newsletter: The USB Drive for My Business Brain
Hey guys,
Have you ever plugged in a USB stick, opened it, and found exactly what you needed — a spreadsheet from 2012, some half-finished tax return, and a folder called “DO NOT OPEN” that you obviously opened?
Now imagine that same plug-and-play simplicity…
But instead of files, that USB stick connects you to your Gmail, your Xero contacts, your Stripe payments, your helpdesk system, and even your fibre clients’ routers.
Welcome to the world of MCP servers.
🔌 Wait, what’s an MCP server?
MCP stands for Model-Context Protocol, but don’t let the name scare you off. Here’s the simplest way I can put it:
👉 An MCP server is like a USB drive — but for your software.
Just like you plug a USB into your laptop to access files, you “plug in” an MCP server to your app (in my case, the Rocking Portal) to access tools and actions from external services.
- You want your app to fetch all unread Gmail messages? Plug in the Gmail MCP.
- Need to list all Xero contacts? Plug in the Xero MCP.
- Want to reboot a client’s router or check RADIUS auth logs? Boom — plug in the Router MCP.
Each MCP server exposes a list of tools — specific functions that your app can call like “list_contacts” or “send_email”. No more trying to wrangle a spaghetti mess of APIs or automation platforms just to get your stuff talking to each other.
🛠️ Okay, but what does that actually mean?
It means I can now talk to my own portal like it’s my assistant:
“Please add a note to Client A saying we replaced the ONT, reconfigured the MikroTik, and emailed the report.”
Behind the scenes, the portal calls a series of tools:
- Adds the note via the Helpdesk MCP.
- Logs it against the correct client via the CRM MCP.
- Sends the PDF report via the Gmail MCP.
One prompt, multiple services, all talking to each other via MCP servers.
It’s like building a universal remote for my entire business.
🧱 What I’ve Built So Far (and What’s Next)
Here’s what’s already plugged into my version of the Matrix:
✅ Xero MCP
Pulls contact lists, pushes invoices, checks payment statuses.
Essentially: it reads and writes to Xero properly — without trying to teach Zapier how to do accounting.
✅ Gmail MCP
Grabs emails, sends messages, and eventually will auto-reply with smart summaries.
Like giving the Portal its own inbox superpowers.
✅ Helpdesk MCP (Coming Soon)
This one’s juicy. It’ll let us:
- Pull ticket history
- Create and update client notes
- Escalate stuff to the right team
All without opening another damn tab.
🤖 Why This Isn’t Just a Tech Flex
This isn’t just me being a nerd (okay, it’s also that).
But more importantly — this changes how I think about software.
Instead of duct-taping random tools together:
- Zapier here
- Make.com there
- Some random Python script no one’s touched since 2021…
Now everything lives in one place. And more importantly — everything can talk to everything through the portal.
It becomes an OS for the business.
Not a tool we use — but the central brain that runs the whole thing.
💡 The Big Vision
Eventually, I want the Portal to talk to everything:
- AI chatbots powered by OpenAI + Anthropic
- MCPs for WhatsApp, Slack, Notion, Stripe, Zoom
- Internal tools like project boards, Kanban pipelines, etc.
And it won’t just connect to these services.
It’ll use them. On command.
That’s what I’m building.
A system that understands, connects, and automates — without needing to write brittle custom code every time something changes.
🧠 One More Thought Before I Go…
If you’re building your own tool stack — or running a small business that uses more apps than you have employees — this is the future.
Think less about apps.
Think more about interfaces.
Think MCP.
It’s modular, it’s powerful, and it’s way cooler than trying to teach Google Sheets how to send invoices.
Catch you soon,
Shawn