Michal Balšianka

Michal Balšianka

CTO at Younics
159 points

Forums

What’s the point of “build in public” if nobody’s watching?

Everywhere I look, people say build in public to grow your product and audience. Sounds great except when you re starting from zero and literally nobody cares yet. From what I ve figured out, it s less about getting likes right now and more about leaving a trail, progress updates, decisions you ve made, even mistakes. Most of it will get ignored in the moment, but it builds a record that people can stumble on later. Also, public doesn t have to mean blasting it to Twitter. It could be small niche communities, Reddit threads like this, or a tiny newsletter. Basically, don t measure it by immediate engagement. Think of it as planting seeds for your future self. Anyone here actually started with no audience and made build in public work? What did you do?

One of Free Tools - instantly capture website screenshot across devices

Try out this Link Screenshot tool: just paste in any URL, pick your device (mobile, tablet, desktop), choose options like full-page, dark mode, and delays, and capture a crisp, accurate screenshot in seconds.

Have a use case? Perfect for:

  • Designers checking responsive layouts

  • Marketers previewing landing pages

  • Devs testing OG visuals or mobile optimizations

  • Anyone needing clean, pixel-perfect previews

Why are simple online tools so bloated these days?

Ever tried to format JSON or count words, and ended up stuck on some page filled with ads, popups, cookie banners, or premium only buttons? Somehow even the most basic utilities like case converters, color pickers, or timestamp converters have become exhausting to use. Well, here s a free suite of tiny, no-nonsense tools: https://copyber.com/tools Feels like how the internet used to be, right?You re welcome.

📣 Beta is Live: Copyber is Now Available on macOS & Windows!

After weeks of polishing the basics, I m opening the gates!
Copyber, my take on a modern clipboard manager, is now in public beta for both macOS and Windows.

No subscriptions.
No accounts.
Just a fast, clean, local clipboard tool that works right out of the box.

If you're the kind of person juggling copy-paste chaos across apps (and constantly losing that one snippet you copied 20 minutes ago) this is for you.

Right now it's the core version only no sync, AI, or fancy extras just yet. But the foundation is stable and I d love to get your feedback before going further.

What’s a tiny tool or hack you use every day that most people don’t know about?

I m talking about that weird shortcut, underrated browser extension, a script you wrote once and now can t live without No matter how small or niche, share it I m genuinely curious, and I bet a lot of us will end up discovering something super useful today.

🛠️ Makers, how do you actually know when it’s ready to launch?

I ve been in the almost done zone for a while now, that weird spot between polishing features, fixing edge cases, and suddenly rethinking the UI at 2AM. I ve got the Launching Soon badge on my profile now, and I m both hyped and slightly terrified. So I m asking the community: How do you decide it s ready to ship? Do you wait for perfect or launch fast and iterate? What gave you the confidence to hit publish? Would love to hear your war stories, near-launch chaos, and what helped you push through.

Want to break something before it launches? 😅 Help test Copyber!

Hey folks! I m close to finishing the first version of Copyber, a desktop clipboard manager I ve been building to solve a very real problem: losing useful stuff you copied just 30 seconds ago. It s desktop-only for now (Windows/macOS and Linux coming soon), and the core basics are in place: Clipboard history Fast search Clean, responsive UI Local storage (no account required) That s it, no fluff, just a focused tool that does its job well. Things like Spaces, cross-device sync, and AI features are planned, but only after this foundation is tested and stable. Want to help test it? I m inviting early testers next week. If Copyber sounds like something you d use (or break ), join the waitlist here: https://copyber.com Found a bug? Got feedback or ideas? Drop them in the public tracker here: https://github.com/Wreit/copyber...

Copyber - Your clipboard. Everywhere. Securely.

Copyber is a next-gen clipboard manager for desktop. Clean UI, searchable history, smart previews, and zero setup. Built for multitaskers and power users. Sync, AI features, and Spaces coming soon to supercharge how you use and move information.

🔥 How long is your streak?

Mine s at 858 days and it s personal.

Currently sitting at 858 days which puts me at #29 on the Product Hunt streak leaderboard.

Nika

6mo ago

A more personal topic: Having (or not having) a family while building a business?

I ve been fairly active on Twitter and have come across several founders and creators who hold very different views when it comes to having a family.

The opinions vary, and I really appreciate that people are open about discussing it.

Everyone’s building with AI but is anyone actually using it daily?

Feels like every other product launch now has some kind of AI baked in summarizing, generating, guessing what we want before we want it. I m building with it too, and it s impressive but I keep wondering how often users really come back for it. So here s the question: Are you actually using AI features in the tools you rely on daily? Or do they feel more like a cool extra than a core habit? Even better: Have you seen a product where the AI feels like it belongs like it s genuinely useful and not just a checkbox? Curious what s really sticking and what s just surface-level hype.

I almost skipped building desktop apps... until I realized this

Most of the hype lately is around AI, web tools, and mobile-first everything. But I keep noticing a growing number of small, focused desktop apps especially for productivity, dev tools and utilities.
Maybe it's just the niche I'm in, but people seem more open to native tools again. Performance, offline access, cleaner UX, better keyboard support stuff that's still hard to replicate in a browser.
I ve been building one myself recently, and honestly, it s been refreshing. No browser quirks, no CSS gymnastics, no worrying about five different viewport breakpoints. Just focusing on the actual experience.
Is it just me? Or are you seeing this shift too?
Curious if anyone else here is building or using more desktop-native tools lately

Desktop apps - stores or direct downloads?

If you re launching a desktop app (Windows, macOS, or Linux), how do you prefer to distribute it? Some devs publish to official app stores like Microsoft Store, Mac App Store, or Snap/Flatpak. Others skip that entirely and just provide executable downloads directly from their website. Each route has pros and cons: App stores can build trust, offer updates, and sometimes bring in new users. But they also come with submission processes, review delays, and platform restrictions. Direct downloads give you full control and faster iteration, but some users might hesitate to install an app from a website, especially if it s not open source or well-known. I m building a cross-platform app and thinking carefully about this. Curious to hear from others: What do you prefer when launching or downloading desktop software? Any lessons learned from doing it one way or the other? Would love to hear your take. Especially if you ve had to balance visibility, user trust, and update flow.

Have you ever built something small and then realized it could be much bigger?

I recently started a small project, something I thought I could finish over a weekend just to fix an annoying part of my workflow. But a few days in, it hit me: the thing I was building wasn t just solving a small problem... it was opening up a whole new way to work. What started as a utility tool is now turning into something a lot more ambitious. And honestly? Kinda intimidating.
So I m curious, have you ever built something with a small goal in mind only to realize halfway through that it had way more potential than you expected? How did you handle that shift? Did you lean into it, or keep it small on purpose? Would love to hear how others have navigated this. Always fascinating how big ideas sneak up on us through small projects.

What’s one thing you wish you’d started doing way earlier in your career?

You know those habits, tools, or mindset shifts that seem obvious after the fact but took you years to adopt? For me, it was writing things down not for documentation, but just to free up my short-term memory and think clearer. Total game changer.
So I m curious, what s something you wish you d started doing earlier?
And as always, following folks who drop underrated gems

Started building simple app and accidentally uncovered something bigger

Like a lot of devs, I started this project just trying to scratch my own itch. I couldn t find a clipboard manager that looked good, worked reliably, and most importantly synced across devices. Nothing quite fit, especially bouncing between Windows and macOS daily. So I started building one. But the deeper I got, the more I realized something: the clipboard is kind of this invisible layer of our daily workflows. It s where everything passes through code, logs, notes, links, screenshots, snippets, thoughts and yet it s treated like a dumb buffer. What if it wasn t? Now I m exploring how to build an AI layer on top of clipboard history. The idea is simple: Instead of feeding AI tools data every time you need help The system quietly collects and organizes your interactions in the background. So when you need something a summary, a reformat, a search, a decision the AI already has the context. Still early, but I feel like this could change how we interact with our machines. Less prompting, more getting. Would love to hear what you think

If you could automate one annoying part of your workflow, what would it be?

We ve all got that one thing we still do manually that makes us groan every time - formatting copied text, renaming files, setting up tasks, writing the same message again and again. If you could wave a magic AI wand and automate just one repetitive thing, what would it be? Bonus if you ve actually hacked a solution for it, I love learning from clever automations. Also: I m working on something in this space, so I m not just asking for fun Following anyone who shares something cool or teaches me something new.

Built to solve a small pain. Turns out, it might change how we work.

I didn t start Copyber with the goal of building an AI tool or productivity platform, I just got tired of constantly losing track of the things I copied, switching between devices, and dealing with clipboard tools that looked and felt stuck in the past. But the more I worked on it, the more I realized something: If you want to change the way people work, you don t always start big. You start by solving something small, something that hurts quietly every day. Copyber is about fixing that invisible workflow friction. It s cross-platform (macOS, Windows, Linux), clean, privacy-conscious, and being built with a vision: to become the foundation for smarter, context-aware interaction including AI-assisted workflows in the future. Right now, I m focusing on getting the basics right: Beautiful UI Snappy history and search Optional sync Native feel on every platform But don t be fooled AI is coming. And when it does, it s going to be a game changer. I m building toward that. Are you interested?

What’s your #1 secret for promoting a product BEFORE it’s even ready?

We ve all been there, excitedly developing a product, eager to launch, but not quite there yet. Promoting early can make or break your launch, and everyone s got their own secret sauce. I m genuinely curious: what s been the absolute BEST strategy you ve used or seen for promoting a product that s still in development? Is it building hype through social media? Creating buzz with exclusive waitlists? Engaging communities through open development updates? Or something completely different and innovative? Drop your top strategies and let s uncover the most effective methods together!

Copyber – A modern clipboard manager I built because none of them felt right

I m currently working on Copyber, a clipboard manager designed for people who live in Cmd/Ctrl+C land and bounce between macOS, Windows, and (soon) mobile.

It s not launched yet but I ve just put out the promo site.

What I m building with Copyber:

  • Cross-platform clipboard manager (AvaloniaUI-powered)

  • Clean, glassy UI inspired by Apple s LiquidGlass and Windows Fluent

  • Local-first with optional sync

  • Focused on practical UX: history, search, and super fast access