Before AI, I always thought I would NEVER learn how to code. I genuinely admired technical people, watching them code felt like watching magic. I remember wishing that maybe one day, I could do something like that too.
I ve never had any formal education in programming, and I had zero experience building apps. But with AI, I was able to start from just an idea and slowly figure things out on my own experimenting, setting things up, and eventually creating my first interface that I could actually interact with.
It honestly felt magical. It made me realize how fast the world is changing. Coding is no longer something completely out of reach. AI is making it possible for people like me to turn ideas in our heads into real, tangible drafts for the first time.
I notice a weird pattern in myself and people around me in tech: there s always a new course, book, newsletter, or even playbook . We consume more than ever, but I m not sure we apply more than before. It feels productive to always be learning , but sometimes I wonder if it s just a smarter form of procrastination.
On the flip side, tech moves so fast that if you don t keep learning, you can fall behind quickly.Do you set a hard line where you stop researching and just execute? Or if you had to guess, what s your ratio of learning time vs doing time?
I put together a digest of the last few months building Ting - the good, the meh, and the lessons I can imagine me wanting to tell future founders so they can dodge the bruises and get to the good stuff quicker...
The good: - Nearly 1,000 users - ~50% MoM growth with no ads. - Added Outlook, Teams, Zoom + multi-calendar. - Launched Memories, micro product moments when the AI remembers small details + you feel seen. - Team is now 2 founders, 2 engineers, AI QA + day-one consultant. Oh, and a baby was born yesterday! - Inbound pilots from a top 10 tech company, top 3 ad network, top 3 bank. - Great investor convos at Web Summit + SF.
In a recent issue of The Breakpoint, we talked quality software.
Does design matter to developers? In my opinion, yes. Take Stripe, Linear, and Resend for example. Both dev-first products made craftsmanship a first principle.
I've recently seen more cities that are growing teams and building offices that seem to be growing rapidly? SF seems like it's one of many hubs that have been growing in the recent years. I'm trying to see which cities people are looking into and where people think will be the next startup hub? I've seen mixed opinions on cities like New York and Toronto but would love to hear what other people think as well!
