Building in Public

Customer discovery insights, production DevOps lessons, and honest updates from the journey of finding problems worth solving.

ai-codingdeveloper-experienceprogramming

AI-Assisted Coding Killed My Joy of Programming

AI coding assistants feel like video game cheat codes—exciting at first, then soul-crushing. A raw reflection on losing the joy of programming in 2025 and why I keep going back to my piano.

build-in-publiccustomer-discoverycold-outreach

I Sent 200+ Cold Messages and Got Zero Calls: My Customer Discovery Reality Check

Raw and unfiltered account of sending hundreds of LinkedIn cold outreach messages with zero conversions. Learn from my customer discovery struggles, the importance of validating before building, and why I'm not giving up despite the brutal response rates.

build-in-publicindie-hackerssolopreneur-journey

I Built a Directory Aggregator in One Weekend (Then Made It Open Source)

Spent 15 hours clicking through outdated listicles and $127 PDFs. Got frustrated. Built awesome-directories.com in 10 hours and made it free forever.

build-in-publicindie-hackerssolopreneur-journey

I Used AI to Write My Last Blog Post and HN Flagged It

AI wrote my blog post and Hacker News flagged it for lacking voice — an unapologetic, analytics-driven account and a plan to test AI vs authentic writing.

solopreneurshipbuild-in-publicstartup-idea-validator

No Competition? That's Usually a Red Flag for Solopreneurs (I Learned the Hard Way)

I spent 2 months building FindForce with zero customers. Here's why 'no competition' killed my startup and what solopreneurs should do instead—validated markets, customer discovery, and building in public.

build-in-publicnewsletterself-hosting

Stop Renting Your Audience: Run Your Own Newsletter with Listmonk

After Medium hid my subscriber count, I moved to self-hosted newsletters. Here's how to set up Listmonk on a €12/month server—no vendor lock-in, full control of your audience.

mediumplatformsaudience-building

Medium Hid My Subscribers: Why You Must Own Your Audience

Medium locked away subscriber emails in April 2025. Here's what I learned about platform risk and why every creator needs their own email list.

life-lessonspersonal-growthfatherhood

What I Learned Turning 31 (In a Year I'll Never Forget)

Reflections on fatherhood, failure, and finding meaning in unexpected places.