Think for yourself (if you still can)
Most people aren't lazy. They're scared.
Scared of being seen starting small. Shipping rough. Looking stupid.
I get it—me too. That fear's kept more ideas locked in drafts than I'd like to admit.
But that's why I changed this newsletter: to force iteration in public.
No polish. No perfection. Just process.
Ryan Hoover calls them "Iterative People"—the ones who show their work before it's ready. He lays out three traits:
- Share early, even when it's ugly.
- Hang out with builders, not critics.
- Chase sparks, not schedules.
Here's my ask: pick one. Use it. Build something this week you wouldn't have dared last week.
Then hit reply and tell me which one you're committing to. I'll be doing the same.
This Caught My Eye
AI is going to break the ladder most people are still trying to climb
"Cancer is cured. The economy grows at 10% a year. The budget is balanced—and 20% of people don't have jobs."
That line stuck with me. Not because it's provocative, but because it came from Dario Amodei—CEO of Anthropic, one of the world's most powerful creators of artificial intelligence.
It's easy to get distracted by the promise of exponential progress. But this piece openly talks about what happens when productivity goes vertical and employment goes horizontal.
You don't have to agree with every point to feel the signal: AI is going to break the ladder most people are still trying to climb.
If you're building anything right now, you should be thinking deeply about where the real leverage is shifting—and what you're doing to avoid being replaced by a shortcut.
This Week I Built
Tightening core components and clearing out tech debt
Jasin's growing fast—but that's come with some pain. This week, I focused on tightening core components and clearing out tech debt.
Here's the breakdown:
- Embed stability: Modularized layout, added Shadow DOM support for better CSS isolation.
- Product logic: Refactored the ProductCard component and added smarter product categorization.
- Admin tools: Improved abuse detection and dashboard metrics.
- Dev hygiene: Cleaned up old test files, updated .env handling, hardened rate-limiting logic on Amazon API calls.
I'm still chasing some polish, but this round of updates pushes me closer to a flexible, fast, and scalable embed experience. Especially for bloggers who want power without bloat.
Want early access? Join the waitlist.
Tools I'm Trying
The best VC positioning I've seen in a while. They're not trying to impress institutional LPs. They're backing dropouts, misfits, and scientific weirdos. In other words: actual edge. "We're a venture capital firm backing dropouts, renegade students, and deep tech scientists." That's what positioning looks like when you know exactly who you're for.
Stupid-simple, useful-as-hell. Lives in your Mac's menu bar and reminds you to take regular eye breaks. No bloat. No accounts. Just helps you not fry your retinas. It's the kind of tool I wish more indie devs made.
Creative Corner
Dustin Curtis wrote this and I felt it: "AI tools have had a dramatic effect on my brain. My thinking systems have atrophied. Because AI can so easily flesh out ideas, I feel less inclined to share my thoughts." I've been there too—thinking something clever, then typing a half-prompt instead. We're outsourcing the reps that sharpen intuition.
Open-source resources curated for designers and creatives. Clean, focused, and super usable.
Anthony Hobday's UI Principles
Still one of the clearest, fastest design improvement guides online. Especially for non-designers.
Stop getting syrupy yes-man answers. This prompt teardown shows how to make AI outputs actually useful for strategy and critique.
Closing Thought
Think for yourself. Before you forget how.
