There's a strange relationship between the effort you put into something and the outcome you get out of it.
You could invest thousands of hours in a project, only to get a tepid response to what you've made.
Read the blog post: "The effort-outcome asymmetry"
Have thoughts? Reply on Bluesky
"I used to be more skeptical than I am now. Especially when everyone was talking about 'one-shotting' and 'vibe coding.' But then I forced myself to download Cursor and build an entire project without typing any code, making the computer type the code for me. I had to throw myself in the deep end."
All three of us (Adam, Brian, Justin) give our honest takes on AI and software development, and how it's going to affect our businesses.
"AI is like keyboard shortcuts on steroids for the things I am an expert in."
🎧 Listen to the whole episode on The Panel:
https://panelpodcast.com/11
Adam and Brian share how AI lets them program more, not less, by eliminating grunt work. They think experienced developers will have a huge advantage in this AI era.
We also dive into the business implications: how AI is already affecting traffic and sales for Tailwind UI, why building an audience is more important than ever, and what Adam is building next.
This conversation actually got me curious to try Claude Code and Cursor AI.
Chapters
00:00 - Adam's Initial AI Skepticism
01:15 - The Cursor Experiment: Building Without Typing Code
02:45 - Why You Need to Be Specific with AI
03:15 - The Evolution of AI Models (Claude Sonnet 4)
04:00 - Cursor Rules: Training AI to Match Your Style
04:45 - The 90% Grunt Work Problem
06:30 - AI as "Keyboard Shortcuts on Steroids"
07:15 - Why AI Fails for Learning New Technologies
08:15 - Using ChatGPT vs Cursor: Learning vs Coding
09:00 - The Future of AI in Every App
10:15 - How AI Should Work in Design Tools (Figma)
10:30 - How AI is affecting the Tailwind business (traffic is down)
14:00 - Keeping JavaScript Commercial This Time
14:45 - New Ventures: Video Editing Software
16:30 - Removing Grunt Work from Video Editing
17:45 - The Paradigm Shift and New Opportunities
19:00 - AI for Custom Personal Tools
20:30 - Building AI Automation Flows
22:00 - The Future: AI Pull Requests for Tailwind
🔗 Links:
Bryan's new Rails components: https://instrumental.dev/
Bryan's SaaS: https://clarityflow.com/
Integrate Open AI and Anthropic APIs into your Rails applications (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dW1Kkx7utQ
Rob Walling's Stair Step approach: https://robwalling.com/essays/2015/03/26/the-stair-step-method-of-bootstrapping
Vercel's new V0 AI tool: https://v0.dev/
Thorsten Ball's article: How to build an agent https://ampcode.com/how-to-build-an-agent
★ More about me: ★
I'm Justin Jackson. I founded https://transistor.fm (a podcast hosting and analytics platform) with Jon Buda.
I write, podcast, and make videos about bootstrapping, startups, marketing, calm companies, and business ethics.
My blog: https://justinjackson.ca
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/justinjackson.ca
My friend Jeremy Enns and I recently had this conversation about a quote by Thelonious Monk:
"A genius is the one most like himself."
We explored this idea about what it means to find your zone of genius and why being authentically yourself might be the key to your greatest work.
I think a lot of folks assume that people who create content (YouTube videos, podcasts, screencasts, public speaking) are mostly extroverted.
But this conversation I recently had with Aaron Francis, Marie Poulin, and Brian Casel on the Panel Podcast calls that into question.
🔗 Listen to the full episode here: https://panelpodcast.com/4
Timestamps:
In the pursuit of "making podcasts more discoverable," the podcast industry has welcomed YouTube with open arms. But is the industry misdiagnosing YouTube's role? YouTube isn't just "getting into podcasting" - it's a behemoth that's captured consumer attention at an unprecedented level.
Join the discussion:
I don't think YouTube actually cares about "podcasting" as an industry (it's just another content keyword for them). I also think responses like "Let's add video to podcasts" are missing the bigger picture.
This episode contains clips of myself and Jeremy Enns digging into the realities of algorithmic discovery, social media addiction, audio podcasts vs video podcasts, and how the podcast industry might respond to the threat of YouTube as a platform.
Want to start an audio podcast? Read my guide.
The advent of AI coding assistance has introduced a wave of dread in the software development industry, exemplified by Chris Sacca's stark prediction that "we are super screwed" when it comes to traditional coding jobs.
But I'm not convinced.
I wrote a blog post, that ended up Hacker News, called: "What's happening with founders over 40?" I got a lot of comments and reactions to the piece, so I thought I'd respond to those here.
Key moments:
Key Quotes:
Links:
I have an entrepreneurial drive to start many projects.
A formula from my therapist about stress management.
How I use Claude AI to evaluate my life choices.
Key moments:
0:00 - Introduction & One-Take Podcast Format
0:39 - The Stress Formula: Demands vs Resources
1:44 - Entrepreneurial Phase & Sustainability
1:59 - Using Claude AI for Life Planning
2:27 - My Current Responsibilities
3:31 - Desires for New Projects
4:04 - Claude's Analysis of My Responsibilities
5:17 - Resource Management Insights
6:31 - The Only Two Solutions
6:50 - Summer Camp Dream Example
8:13 - Key Lesson: Can't Be CEO of Everything
9:18 - Three Main Takeaways
Key Points:
Links:
tl;dr – I've decided to delete all my Twitter posts, lock down my account, and leave the platform. And I'm going all-in on Bluesky, which (in the last month) has become 1,000x more fun than X.
Links:
Follow me on Bluesky!
https://bsky.app/profile/mijustin.bsky.social
In 1999, I met Chad Muska at Slam City Jam in Vancouver. He was at the height of his popularity. His pro model was selling 10,000 units a month, and he was one of the first playable characters in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game.
But then, all the money and fame ran out.
"Right around the beginning of the pandemic," Chad says, "everything ended in skateboarding for me as far as finances go. My last check came in, and it was done."
So, what's Chad Muska doing now? He's building the Muska brand as an independent company and bootstrapping it just like you or I would.
I initially made this episode as a YouTube mini-documentary. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/14SLpQ-SsiM
Read more about Chad's story on my blog: https://justinjackson.ca/chad-muska
This is my 2022 year in review. I've been writing these every year since 2013. Traditionally, these have focused on my business highlights: what's happening with the podcasting SaaS I run with Jon Buda (Transistor.fm), thoughts on bootstrapping and startups, plus any other personal experiences I feel I can share publicly.
If you'd prefer to read the blog post version, you can find it here:
https://justinjackson.ca/2022-review
What happened in 2022 for Transistor.fm
With a team of four people, we were able to launch a lot more features than in previous years.
I spent the last few months of 2022 trying to improve Transistor's search results for terms like "how to start a podcast" (both on Google and YouTube).
Other links:
Top posts from 2022
When looking at past mistakes, the positive action is to ask: "What did I learn?"
But when we're looking towards the future, we want to be mindful of the kinds of risks we're taking.
When you commit to the wrong thing, you risk burning out or getting crushed.
Watch the whole interview on Sharath Kuruganty's channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M-XsuHVxXM
Listen to the podcast:
https://undefeatedunderdogs.com/6