Love it! Building for N=1 is always better than building for N=0. The recent Tony fadell interview on Lenny's podcast also talks about this at length - opinion-led product development is the only way to go for a real v1 product.
Great words, Nick! Very true. In the age of AI-powered building, it's much more difficult to hold the line on your values and mission. AI can and will drift, and if you don't care enough, know enough, it's an appealing drift to be carried to. Really glad for your input.
It was awesome chatting about this with you, James!
Honestly, digging into the shared mess of building and seeing how everyone handles the same friction was fascinating. Thanks for bringing us all together for this—such a great read! đŸ™Œ
James, such an honour to appear here alongside so many great builders!! Thank you for inviting me to join the conversation. I love the key insights that you drew out - I think for me personally, when I realised I could just focus on solving the simple problem in front of me, for me, my ideas took off! Number five is my very favourite - friction in the right place is so important and it's so easy to forget as the pace gets faster.
Thanks for contributing, Dallas! We have the same experience: simplicity is such an unlock for AI powered builds. I think the internet tends to overcomplicate it, but the right simple build with friction in the right place does a LOT. For me, the biggest thing was to prevent myself from drifting, which is also another insight this article surfaced :D
When I stopped trying to solve for the whole world and just pulled things right in towards what was immediately in front of me, it also became so much more fun! We definitely are led to believe we have to overcomplicate things to do it well - and yes, simple means one job for it to do!
Right! The point about being more fun is very important. Nothing kills passion and creativity faster than unnecessary complexity. That’s an article idea right there! đŸ‘€
I have built several projects employing AI. It has been a veritable cornucopia of wild success and interminable frustration. That is what I write about…the journey. Old dog. New tricks.
The best AI ideas always seem to come from someone being properly annoyed first.
You can feel the difference when it’s built by someone who’s actually had the problem, rather than someone who just fancied making a clever little demo.
Love it! Building for N=1 is always better than building for N=0. The recent Tony fadell interview on Lenny's podcast also talks about this at length - opinion-led product development is the only way to go for a real v1 product.
When powerful tools become abundant, the next step is ultra personalization!
Featured in this and the best idea isn’t my quote.
It’s this:
AI makes it easy to build the obvious version.
The actual founder shows up in the refusal.
No, we don’t need the score.
No, we don’t need the integration.
No, that friction should stay human.
A lot of AI products feel like they let autocomplete sit in the exec's seat.
This is for the builders who don't.
Great words, Nick! Very true. In the age of AI-powered building, it's much more difficult to hold the line on your values and mission. AI can and will drift, and if you don't care enough, know enough, it's an appealing drift to be carried to. Really glad for your input.
Such great lessons!
Thanks, Joel! Your input here about how you pivoted from outreach automation to partner research automation was gold.
It was awesome chatting about this with you, James!
Honestly, digging into the shared mess of building and seeing how everyone handles the same friction was fascinating. Thanks for bringing us all together for this—such a great read! đŸ™Œ
Thank you, Elena! That was the goal :) I really love this shared, community-driven format.
James, such an honour to appear here alongside so many great builders!! Thank you for inviting me to join the conversation. I love the key insights that you drew out - I think for me personally, when I realised I could just focus on solving the simple problem in front of me, for me, my ideas took off! Number five is my very favourite - friction in the right place is so important and it's so easy to forget as the pace gets faster.
Thanks for contributing, Dallas! We have the same experience: simplicity is such an unlock for AI powered builds. I think the internet tends to overcomplicate it, but the right simple build with friction in the right place does a LOT. For me, the biggest thing was to prevent myself from drifting, which is also another insight this article surfaced :D
When I stopped trying to solve for the whole world and just pulled things right in towards what was immediately in front of me, it also became so much more fun! We definitely are led to believe we have to overcomplicate things to do it well - and yes, simple means one job for it to do!
Right! The point about being more fun is very important. Nothing kills passion and creativity faster than unnecessary complexity. That’s an article idea right there! đŸ‘€
Absolutely!!
Thanks for considering me for this opportunity James, another wonderful collab
Thanks as always, Dheeraj. You've contributed a lot to these! Really glad you think so.
Thanks for inviting me to share my learning. Love the post.
Thanks for your responses, Anfernee. Very insightful.
An incredible collection of builders to learn from James. Thanks for putting us all together and making it happen
A great collection of people!!
Thank you! Hope you make it to the next community survey post if ever :)
đŸ˜
The build worth doing is almost always the one you couldn't stop thinking about.
The problem you care enough about to solve! Thanks for reading, John.
Strong article. Our judgment is the product. AI builds the bricks. We're the one who knows what the building is for.
Exactly, well put. We set the direction, without our vision everything will devolve into the average. Have you built tools/projects with AI as well?
I have built several projects employing AI. It has been a veritable cornucopia of wild success and interminable frustration. That is what I write about…the journey. Old dog. New tricks.
That's very cool to hear. You have an interesting substack!
Thank you very much, James!
Never saw so much alpha from 10+ authors. Amazing post!
Hah, thanks for reading! Glad you've gained something from it.
Solid insights from builders who actually shipped. This kind of raw learning is invaluable.
The best AI ideas always seem to come from someone being properly annoyed first.
You can feel the difference when it’s built by someone who’s actually had the problem, rather than someone who just fancied making a clever little demo.