How to Run a Project Build Day
How I organize and run a single focused day of building, end to end
All Posts
Everything I've written, newest first.
BUILD LOG
BUILD LOG
How to make your vibe-coded app not look vibe-coded
Your app doesn't look off because of the code. It looks off because of the defaults you never changed. Here's the checklist.
BUILD LOG
How to Stop Chasing Every New AI Tool (And Actually Keep the Ones That Earn It)
I tried about fifteen to twenty AI tools over the past year. Six are still in my weekly rotation. Here's the three-question framework I use to decide whether a new tool earns a permanent place.
BUILD LOG
Playing the Visibility Game
Algorithmic platforms reward signals that have little to do with whether your product is any good. So I stopped trying to become a content creator and built a pipeline instead.
BUILD LOG
Nobody's Waiting for You
I posted polished content and it flopped. Then I posted a voice note transcript in a teacher subreddit and got 87k impressions. Here's what that taught me about the difference between broadcasting and actually going to people.
ESSAY
Empire of AI: Reading About a Machine You're Already Inside
Karen Hao's account of OpenAI's rise reads differently when you're actively building with their tools. Some parts were uncomfortable to sit with.
BUILD LOG
From manuscript to moving characters: in a few hours, for almost nothing
The pipeline to turn your creative work into video just got short enough for a solo builder. Not because the AI got smarter. Because the right tools finally fit a weekend.
ESSAY
The Hype Cycle Is Older Than the Internet
The AI-expert wave looks new because the tools are new. The shape under it is ancient — and recognising the shape doesn't make you immune, it just gives you somewhere to stand.
SYSTEMS
The Forests Are Always Thinning
A podcast about the Maya collapse on a weekend run, and the familiar shape of it — the way discipline quietly unspends itself once the pressure eases.
ESSAY
Rejuvenate With Moon Joy
Watching Artemis orbit the Moon with thousands of strangers online—and finding that same wonder showing up in my AI work.
The Work of Giants and the Living Wiki
On the gap between seeing the ruins and understanding how they were built — and what that eighth-century anonymous poet has to do with how we're using AI right now.
What Do You Do When the Ground Keeps Moving?
Every great civilisation adapted to change. But adaptation has real costs and real losers. The Khmer Empire and the AI moment we're living through have more in common than you'd think.
The Bottleneck Moved: What Karpathy's Agent Workflow Means for People Who Build Things Solo
Unpacking Andrej Karpathy's No Priors conversation on coding agents, AGENTS.md files, AutoResearch, and what the shift to declarative workflows means for solo builders.
Book Review: SPQR by Mary Beard
A thousand years of Roman history that feels uncomfortably relevant to the present. Dense start, brilliant payoff.
Two Months Later: What Happened After Zero Signups
In December, I launched to zero signups. Two months later, here's what the pause taught me and what's different now.
I Built a Product, Got Zero Signups, and Learned More Than I Expected
60 visitors, 0 signups. What my first product launch attempt taught me about positioning, landing pages, and iteration.
No Rules Rules: The Book That Reframed My Leadership Past
A book review that became a reckoning. How Netflix's culture philosophy helped me understand that my past leadership struggles weren't about competence—they were about culture.
How to Pass the PMP in 3 Months: A Practical Study Guide
If you're consistent and study smart, three months is genuinely enough time. Here's exactly how to do it — what to use, how to structure your time, and the mindset shift that makes the biggest difference.
Progress Over Polish
Most people wait to share until everything's perfect. But perfect never comes.
What Coca-Cola's Turnaround Taught Me About Building Small Projects
Lessons from Inside Coca-Cola that apply to building apps, teaching, and making things work better.
October Build Log
Quick update on what I've been building and learning this month.
Building a Thinking Studio in the Age of Noise
What does it mean to think deeply when everything moves too fast to remember? Welcome to the studio.
Skim Culture — We're Consuming More, Understanding Less
I feel like I read everything… but remember nothing. A digital reality check on skim culture and how to reclaim deep thinking.
Book Review: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
This review of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee explores the emotional weight, historical significance, and why every history-lover should read it (even when it hurts).
Book Review: Thinking, Fast and Slow
Daniel Kahneman's groundbreaking exploration of the two systems that drive our thoughts and decisions—and why we make irrational choices without realizing it.
Book Review: Creativity, Inc. - Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
A comprehensive guide to managing creativity in business from Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios. Essential reading for leaders and creatives.
Book Review: Creative Acts for Curious People
A transformative workbook filled with over eighty engaging exercises designed to unlock your creative potential, from Stanford's d.school.