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MCP As A GTM Strategy
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| With Dean Grover (Founder, Chanl AI). |
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Aug 11 (Tue) @ 05:30 PM
FREE
| | Fordham Gabelli School of Business, 140 W 62nd St
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| Register |
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Bring your product, API, or idea. Learn how to turn one useful capability into an MCP tool that AI assistants can understand & use.
Hosted by Dean Grover, Founder at chanl.ai with CAST-GNY & Bond AI.
Most people meet MCP as a developer feature: a way to let Claude use your tools. That is true, but it undersells it.
Build one MCP server & it can connect your product to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Copilot, Gemini, Perplexity, & many other AI clients.
One protocol. One build. Integrated with many AI assistants with millions of users.
That makes MCP more than an integration. It could become a new distribution channel for your product.
The honest version is that being connectable everywhere does not make you discoverable everywhere. Each platform has its own directories, approval processes, & rules.
Both sides are worth understanding before you build.
Your tool description is your landing page - & the AI agent or the model is the buyer reading it.
That is why this workshop is both technical & commercial. We will look at what to expose, how to build it, how models decide to use it, & what changes when you make it available to others.
The hands-on challenge
You will work individually or in a small group to turn one product capability into an MCP tool.
You will:
Choose one useful action from a product or API
Define when an assistant should & should not use it
Write the tool name, description, inputs, & response
Build & test it locally
See what happens when the model gets it wrong
Explore different ways to publish it
Add a security or safety guard
Bring your own product or use one of the examples provided.
Connect, Build, & Publish
Connect
Start by using an existing MCP service through a platform such as Composio.
You will connect an application, make its tools available to an assistant, & see how the model decides what to call.
Build
Create your own MCP tool locally using FastMCP.
The goal is not to build a complete integration. It is to create one useful tool & test whether the model understands:
When to call it
What information it needs
When not to call it
What to do when something fails
Publish
Learn how a local MCP server becomes a remote service that other people & assistants can access.
We will compare infrastructure options such as Cloudflare & Vercel with managed alternatives.
Protobox.ai, a beta product, will be available as one optional managed path for publishing & testing your MCP tools - with a free pro account for attendees.
What we'll learn
How MCP connects AI assistants with products & services
How to choose the right product capability to expose
How models decide when to call a tool
Why tool names, descriptions, & schemas matter
How to build locally with FastMCP
How remote MCP deployment works
How Cloudflare, Vercel, & managed platforms differ
How to test ambiguous, incorrect, & unsafe requests
Where MCP fits into product strategy & go-to-market
Security & production Readiness
A local demo & a customer-facing MCP server are not the same thing.
We will discuss:
Authentication & user permissions
Protecting credentials & API keys
Input validation
Read-only versus write access
Confirmation for sensitive actions
Logging, monitoring, & rate limits
You will also test whether another participant can make your tool perform an action it should reject.
Who It's For
Founders exploring MCP as a product or distribution channel
Product managers deciding what assistants should be able to do
Engineers looking for practical MCP experience
GTM, growth, & developer relations teams evaluating MCP
Anyone who has experimented with MCP but has not published a tool
No prior MCP experience is required.
Non-technical attendees can focus on the use case, tool design, testing, & product strategy while pairing with a builder.
What You'll Leave With
Experience using an existing MCP service
A clearly defined MCP use case
A local MCP server built with FastMCP
Practical experience testing model tool calls
An understanding of different publishing options
A security & production-readiness checklist
Optional access to a free Protobox beta account
Agenda
5:30-6:00 PM
Arrival, setup, & pairing
6:00-7:45 PM
Presentation & Hands-on workshop
7:45-8:15 PM
Demos & wrap-up
Before You Arrive
Bring:
A laptop & charger
A Claude account
One idea for something an AI assistant should do with a product
If you plan to code:
Python 3.10 or later
A code editor
A GitHub account
Example use cases & starter projects will be available.
Workshop Lead
Dean Grover is founder at Chanl.ai.
He has spent more than two decades building software products & platforms, including systems delivered through Cisco & Paramount that reached more than 100 million homes.
Today, he builds AI products & infrastructure full-time. He also runs an AI Incubator for Solopreneurs @ Fabrik NYC.
Join us & see all upcoming events at luma.com/chanl
Connect with Dean & ask questions about the event or any help on these topics at https://www.linkedin.com/in/deangrover/
Logistics
Free to attend. Capacity is limited because this is a hands-on workshop.
Fordham Gabelli School of Business
140 West 62nd Street
Tiered Lecture Hall 333
Bring a photo ID & allow time for building security.
Food & drinks are not permitted inside the lecture hall.
If your plans change, please release your registration so someone on the waitlist can attend.
CAST-GNY
Chinese Association for Science & Technology USA(CAST-USA) was founded in 1992 in New York, as an US nonprofit, nonpolitical organization. CAST-USA Greater New York(CAST-GNY) is the founding & one of the most active chapters among CAST-USA's 16 chapters, with a network of close to 10000. It aims to promote learning, innovation, & exchange/cooperation among science & technology professionals & entrepreneurs. It's a platform for education, networking & mentoring, focus on career development/entrepreneurship & empowering next generation in Science & Technology & leadership, through events such as knowledge sharing seminars, career development events, entrepreneurship exchange, youth STEM project competition & summer camps, startup competition & annual summit.
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