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Founders want to build in public for leverage. Makes sense. Fame = investor attention. Fame = customer trust. Fame = doors opening. But here's the trap. Most founders try to look cool doing it. Polished. Sophisticated. Like they have it all figured out. So they post random insights. Share curated wins. Jump on every trend. No clear thread. No consistent message. The market doesn't care about your aesthetic. It cares about one thing you solve really well. Show up. Same message. Every time. Let people know exactly what you're about. Consistency beats cool every single time.

yes, you need speed. but a big part of that is knowing exactly where you’re going. you’re not losing because you’re slow. you’re losing because you’re sprinting without a map. - speed with no direction = burning energy - speed + clarity + leverage is where you start bending reality. most people just run in circles and wonder why nothing changes.

"im gonna vibecode a studytok app"

you are overthinking your tiktok account setup. we made this account in canada and it consistently pulls 5–10k views, with at least 60% of the audience from the US. no VPN or anything fancy. at first, i was surprised, but i’ve got a working hypothesis/playbook i’m going to test again. rules are simple: 1) only interact with US accounts 2) use trending US sounds 3) post content that speaks directly to US audiences (tone, slang, references) views are nice, but matching your account signals to the audience you actually want is what matters.

Quick question for yall? How do you convert paying users to reviews? The problem we are having is that we have around 450 paid users on IOS right now, with only 30 reviews. Obviously, ~7% review rate is not bad but it is not ideal either. We are aiming for at least 15 to 20%. We have pop-ups for reviews at multiple checkpoints but they dont really convert.

it’s a balance. an old friend of mine moved out, and tbh it was one of the worst decisions ever. when we asked him why, his answer made me almost block him on the spot -- which eventually happened, but that’s another story. he moved out for two reasons: 1) drinking beers at home (broski… just do that outside) 2) avoiding his mom nagging him for gaming 12 hours straight, 8 pm to 8 am fast forward, he got depressed because those reasons didn’t actually make him happy. if you move out, you need a manifesto for doing so. you’re trading comfort, free rent, and free groceries for something. it has to be worth it. if you can’t write down a real, long-term reason for moving out that aligns with your future self, you’re probably just running away from discomfort instead of running toward growth.

just watched a toronto based startup pitch to investors and the whole script was straight out of chatgpt. they didn’t even read it over. by the end they’re like, “we expect the mvp by q4 2024, and our first clients by q2 2025.” broski… we’re almost done with q3 2025. the bar is lower than i expected.

Sundays are for closing the 50 tabs you opened during the week, and organizing your thoughts. Not building another feature that no uses. I have noticed that sometimes we as founders/builders try to - attach our ego to our work ethic. - attach our reputation to our work ethic if you need to show off how hard you work, you fall into this trap, holding you back from doing the shit that’s actually important

very true. our top performing app has 1 feature and 4 screens (value feature (x2), journal, and profile page). onboarding is about 25 screens. if we cannot deliver value in under 4 screens, it does not get built. a common mistake devs, builders, and founders make is telling themselves “if i add one more feature, my app will pop off.” in reality, that is backwards. people pay for an app because it is an impulse buy, triggered by the deep psychological, emotional, and mental investment they make during onboarding. if your onboarding makes them feel, on an emotional gut level, that you understand their problem and will solve it for them in a way no one else can, they will buy on impulse. the sale happens in that moment of belief, not when they explore extra features later.

My early wins came from doing everything myself Now that same energy is why I can't scale When do you stop being scrappy and start being strategic?

A friend once told me: "I need to learn more before I launch." But when we dug deeper, the real fear was: → Looking stupid → Being exposed as a fraud → Failing publicly He shipped anyway, pushing through discomfort, not waiting to "feel ready." His product took off, and he learned the way forward by actually moving. Growth starts exactly where you're most uneasy, and real clarity comes from doing. If you keep hesitating to "learn more," dig into what's really holding you back.

the good thing about going all in on tiktok slideshow content first is you can test and validate any offer insanely fast. every founder who’s actually made money will tell you that distribution is everything. once you hit pmf, the only thing that matters is getting as many eyeballs as possible on your offer, selling inside the content, and collecting cash. after that, you can focus on UGC, meta ads, building the product out more, yada yada. that’s how we cleared 20K in the first 2–3 weeks of our tiktok slideshow offer. i understood distribution, had a repeatable content system, sprinkled in some viral bait, and boom.

I need to Gary vee max a lot more and just push content. He was onto something man

The gap between where you are now and where your will be in 6-12 months is smaller than you think Most people quit right before their work becomes undeniable proof Here's what actually happens in those final months before a breakthrough: Month 1-3: You're still figuring it out Projects feel mid, nothing stands out yet Imposter syndrome hitting hard Month 4-6: Things start clicking One project goes better than expected You develop a process that actually works Portfolio starts looking less random Month 7-9: The compound effect kicks in People start noticing patterns in your work DMs asking how you did something Opportunities you didn't apply for Month 10-12: Undeniable proof Portfolio speaks for itself Credentials match the work The gap you thought was massive? You just closed it Most people quit at month 5 Right when the boring middle ends Right before everything compounds Don't be most people The next 6 months will pass anyway Might as well have the work to show for it

was just thinking today - do crackheads wake up and say “i can’t get high today, im too broke”? no. they wake up with a mission and make it happen. i was walking the dog and i see this crackhead lock eyes on a half-smoked cigarette across the street. traffic’s flying by. dude doesn’t even flinch. he pushes a shopping cart straight through three lanes like it’s his personal crosswalk, scoops it up, and lights it before the light even changes. if you can’t chase your goals with even half that energy, you might be getting outworked by a crackhead.

is it just me, or does hearing something was made with chatgpt instantly make it feel like slop? we hired a marketing assistant who really knows our industry. she crushed the zoom interview with great ideas. today she sent me hooks and a draft script for our ugc videos, and told me she used ai for parts of it. my first reaction was “meh.” now i’m wondering… would i have felt the same if she never mentioned it was ai? what do y’all think?

Founders want to build in public for leverage. Makes sense. Fame = investor attention. Fame = customer trust. Fame = doors opening. But here's the trap. Most founders try to look cool doing it. Polished. Sophisticated. Like they have it all figured out. So they post random insights. Share curated wins. Jump on every trend. No clear thread. No consistent message. The market doesn't care about your aesthetic. It cares about one thing you solve really well. Show up. Same message. Every time. Let people know exactly what you're about. Consistency beats cool every single time.

My early wins came from doing everything myself Now that same energy is why I can't scale When do you stop being scrappy and start being strategic?

had a weird dream that i was sperm racing with couple of people in SF. i didn’t even know sperm racing was a thing till right now lmao

yes, you need speed. but a big part of that is knowing exactly where you’re going. you’re not losing because you’re slow. you’re losing because you’re sprinting without a map. - speed with no direction = burning energy - speed + clarity + leverage is where you start bending reality. most people just run in circles and wonder why nothing changes.

if you're a startup founder read this building momentum through network effects you create yourself how making something genuinely valuable attracts the right people, investors, and opportunities organically versus relying on existing connections and warm intros 1. build in public ship features publicly on twitter and linkedin share metrics, failures, wins creates FOMO and proof of momentum people start watching measurement of success: DMs from investors you never pitched 2. create content that solves real problems write threads about pain points your product fixes don't pitch, just help your expertise attracts customers first, investors second measurement of success: "can we talk about what you're building?" 3. user testimonials as social proof ask happy users to share their wins repost everything creates network effect where success breeds attention measurement of success: investors reaching out after seeing customer love 4. strategic community building join founder communities, help others genuinely answer questions, share learnings becomes your reputation engine measurement of success: warm intros that YOU didn't ask for 5. product-led growth metrics focus on activation, retention, referral rates when metrics are strong, word spreads naturally investors hear about you before seeing you measurement of success: "I've been hearing about you from multiple people" 6. partnerships with complementary products integrate with tools your customers already use their users become your users creates organic discovery loop measurement of success: partnership requests from bigger players 7. case studies and results publish detailed breakdowns of customer wins specific numbers, before/after attracts similar customers AND their investors measurement of success: investors asking "who else are you working with?" 8. founder brand = product brand your personal content drives product awareness when you grow, product grows when product grows, you attract capital measurement of success: people know your product through knowing you 9. early adopter community give power users special access, make them feel ownership they become your sales team investors notice passionate user bases measurement of success: users defending your product without being asked 10. momentum compounds visibility each win makes next win easier customers bring investors bring press bring customers stop optimizing for warm intros, start optimizing for being undeniable BONUS 11. the "everyone's talking about you" effect when 3+ people mention you to same investor independently that's when term sheets appear build something worth talking about, conversations happen without you in the room track outcomes with: how often you hear "I've been meaning to reach out"

A friend once told me: "I need to learn more before I launch." But when we dug deeper, the real fear was: → Looking stupid → Being exposed as a fraud → Failing publicly He shipped anyway, pushing through discomfort, not waiting to "feel ready." His product took off, and he learned the way forward by actually moving. Growth starts exactly where you're most uneasy, and real clarity comes from doing. If you keep hesitating to "learn more," dig into what's really holding you back.

The best co-founder skill isn't coding or connections It's deciding fast, committing hard, and not second-guessing yourself into paralysis You either lock in and execute or spend 6 months "exploring options" while someone else ships Bias for action > everything else Ship or overthink There's no middle ground

is it just me, or does hearing something was made with chatgpt instantly make it feel like slop? we hired a marketing assistant who really knows our industry. she crushed the zoom interview with great ideas. today she sent me hooks and a draft script for our ugc videos, and told me she used ai for parts of it. my first reaction was “meh.” now i’m wondering… would i have felt the same if she never mentioned it was ai? what do y’all think?

Sundays are for closing the 50 tabs you opened during the week, and organizing your thoughts. Not building another feature that no uses. I have noticed that sometimes we as founders/builders try to - attach our ego to our work ethic. - attach our reputation to our work ethic if you need to show off how hard you work, you fall into this trap, holding you back from doing the shit that’s actually important

Quick question for yall? How do you convert paying users to reviews? The problem we are having is that we have around 450 paid users on IOS right now, with only 30 reviews. Obviously, ~7% review rate is not bad but it is not ideal either. We are aiming for at least 15 to 20%. We have pop-ups for reviews at multiple checkpoints but they dont really convert.

"im gonna vibecode a studytok app"

Kinda low T to shit on people who are just starting. Actually some of the best agencies or people I have worked with were the ones that were just getting started. They have a chip on their shoulder and something to prove.

Either there’s some serious baddie inflation in the US, or people are absolutely cooked. She is considered mid in Toronto (not even a baddie in scarbs)

What founders obsess over vs what actually wins PITCH DECK How many hours did you spend making your deck look perfect? How much of that positioning actually matches what customers care about? THE WEDGE What's the one thing you do better than anyone else in your market? Not "what sounds impressive" - what's actually unfair? Is your entire company built around exploiting that advantage? Or are you distracted by what VCs want to hear? RESOURCE ALLOCATION What percent of your time goes to polishing strategy vs finding your wedge? What percent of your team's energy is on impressive-sounding initiatives vs the unglamorous work that compounds? THE REALITY CHECK If you stripped away everything that "sounds good in a meeting" - what's left? Is that thing defensible? Is it growing? Are you building around your actual advantage or around what you think you should be doing? WINNERS VS EVERYONE ELSE The companies that win aren't the ones with the best decks. They're the ones that found their unfair advantage early, went all-in on it, and let everything else be ugly.

THE GAP NOBODY TALKS ABOUT Most ambitious people are 12-18 months from a breakthrough. They quit at month 11. THE TIMELINE How long have you been grinding with nothing to show? That's not failure. That's the setup phase everyone forgets to mention. THE DISTANCE The gap between struggling founder and successful operator? Shorter than it feels. Way shorter than the gap between zero and struggling founder. You already crossed the hard part. THE PATTERN Everyone who made it has the same story. They were about to quit. Then something clicked. Not because they got lucky. Because they stayed long enough for the work to compound. THE REALITY If you're 8-10 months in and seeing nothing, you're right on schedule. The people who win aren't more talented. They just didn't quit at month 11.

BUILDING IN PUBLIC ISN'T JUST MARKETING. IT'S A FORCING FUNCTION FOR CONVICTION. WHEN YOU'RE PUBLICLY COMMITTED AND MAKING CONSTANT MICRO-DECISIONS IN THE OPEN, YOU NATURALLY LOCK INTO DIRECTIONS FASTER AND EXECUTE WITH MORE CLARITY THAN STEALTH-MODE OPERATORS. YOU DON'T BUILD IN PUBLIC. YOU COMMIT TO A DIRECTION SO HARD THERE'S NO TURNING BACK.