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In this episode, Christian reflects on his career path, prioritizing work-life flexibility over a traditional full-time job. He shares his deep passion for building software and introduces his current obsession: creating an AI agent system using the Model Context Protocol to autonomously interact with computers. The discussion also explores the potential of leveraging LLMs to tackle marketing challenges for his existing SaaS, FileInbox, and the surprising application of AI in game development.
Chris finished his CS masters! Christian tries to figure out if he wants a "real" job, and what that might look like. 0:00 Intro 2:10 Chris finished his masters 4:50 Santa Kaggle competition 9:30 NVIDIA Blackwell 15:45 Smart vs dumb light bulbs 19:30 Christian had a rough month 21:20 How to better manage consulting projects 39:42 No longer a co-founder of Rootabl 1:02:06 Potential benefits of a "real" job 1:07:16 What kind of job would Christian want? 1:18:42 Different work options 1:24:20 Optio...
Chris got a puppy and is almost done with his masters. Christian switches back to Ruby on Rails, and tries to convince Chris to use more AI to write code. 0:00 Intro 1:24 Chris got a puppy 5:20 Why do people like pets? 11:59 Are AI coding assistants worth it? 42:07 How Chris' job is going 47:14 Finishing up a CS masters 54:20 Fatherhood 1:03:07 Consulting for Stacks and paying people 1:10:00 Rootabl and affiliate programs 1:19:37 Ruby on Rails vs Serverless js 1:39:59 Going through the pain to g...
Muppets Treasure Island is the best movie ever. Chris just got back from Iceland and just re-started his masters classes. He's also considering getting a 3d printer (which Christian is definitely in favor of). Christian's experiments to find new customers aren't going great. Pricing is hard. Christian expands his consulting practice.
Christian continues to try to reach target customers for FileInbox. He's also still full steam ahead on the serverless transition before his baby gets here. Chris is prepping for a trip to Iceland.
Chris is prepping for a couple of photo trips. Christian is trying to figure out how to talk to his ideal FileInbox customer. He's also wondering how much consulting to do and what that means for his time working on his own SaaS.
Chris and Christian both went on vacation. Chris is getting back into Photography. Christian is creating user personas for FileInbox, and is getting more consulting gigs too. correction at 27:45 NVIDIA doesn't even manufacture their own GPU chips! They rely on 3rd party manufacturers too. 0:00 Fun number fact 122: Ozymandias 8:13 Chris vacation update 13:00 Photography as a hobby 23:42 tinygrad ML framework 28:28 Fileinbox user personas 36:15 Christian consulting 44:36 Home Depot adventure...
Chris is prepping for a trip to Iceland. Christian is trying to figure out exactly who is the target customer for fileinbox. Christian then tries to convince Chris that Firebase is the best platform on which to build a SaaS.
Christian has been looking at ALL THE BABY GEAR and has opinions. Also, he's working on the serverless transition for FileInbox and is struggling with estimating how long features will take.
Chris totally switches his diet and loses 17 pounds in 3 weeks. Christian went to Craft and Commerce and and takeaways for his business. He also figured out that his time estimates for FileInbox were way off.
Chris finished the StableDiffusion Image competition, but realized he was seriously outmatched in GPU power. Christian has renewed energy for FileInbox after talking with Asia Orangio. We both walk through how to plan to get things done, and how to actually follow through on those plans. Christian is trying to hire an assistant and tries to figure out what he needs to do that, and actually pay them money.
Christian wants to update Ruby and Rails, but has run into frustrating issues. Should he just... not upgrade? Chris gives up on the latest Kaggle competition, and is already eyeing another one. Also, Christian gets an update on the Bitcoin he lost.
Christian has a big announcement! (@ 36 minutes). Chris is done with Linear Algebra, working on Kaggle, and thinking about what type of AI course to make. Christian discovers that FileInbox already has a lot of traffic, but his trial to paid conversion rate is too low.
Chris tries to figure out which AI course he should make first; i.e., what skills would give developers superpowers? Christian starts talking to Asia Orangio about FileInbox to see where it can improve. What is his backwards plan?
Attaboy.ai gets a bunch of users, and Christian is wondering how to charge for it. Chris tells Christian to talk to users of the video clipper in order to see what is valuable to them.
Chris and Christian talk about using AI for therapy, and re-ignite attaboy.ai (which is now a thing! visit it and send it some texts). Also: AI coaches, the Pope in a puffer jacket, AI doctors, and how AI is coming for all of us. Also: a reminder to TALK TO CUSTOMERS!
An update from Tim Leland (originally on episode 70) about his link shortener t.ly, and his journey creating a potentially new API for detecting malicious links. T.LY https://linkshieldapi.com/ Highlights: - How to launch a new API service - Doubling MRR in 6 months! - 5 ideas for how to use a malicious link API to create a new business
Christian continues to build the video clipper with Remotion and is experimenting with using ChatGPT to create good clips. We also talk about what it would take for him to sell FileInbox. Chris is considering buying another GPU for Kaggle.
Chris starts a new Kaggle competition using stable diffusion. Christian makes progress on how to use AI to automatically suggest clips for the video clipper.
Christian is about to launch thevideoclipper.com, but is feeling "The Resistance". Chris is learning linear algebra for his master's, and is trying to learn it by creating a plan to teach it. We talk about just "doing it badly" for both: and adjusting as we go.
Google did a 12k layoff. Chris started a new master's class about advanced linear algebra. Christian was on vacation, and was wondering the best way to learn AI in order to keep up with all the recent advances. He also helped his wife launch https://gymnastcode.com/
Christian is trying to find a few consulting clients to make some extra money. He's also made progress on the video clipper, and signed a new $99/mo account for file inbox! Chris just started a new linear algebra class and finished the gravity waves kaggle competition.
Christian launches a new podcast! He also got a first customer for the video clipper! AND he's also thinking about making more course content, so we talk about how much money can be made with technical courses. Chris is almost done with the gravity wave Kaggle competition. Also: How long is the coastline of England?
Chris talks about how work at Google is different than a small project or company. He's also working on the gravity waves kaggle competition. Christian tries to figure out how to backup all of his projects and files, and how to promote the video clipper.
