We chat with Tim Leland who runs a link shortener (t.ly) and a weather extension. We cover how he came up with the ideas, how he developed and marketed them, and where he sees the future of his products and Chrome extensions in general. 00:00 Intro 00:22 Tim Leland's start as a developer 05:24 The Chrome Extension Marketplace 09:52 Security concerns about Chrome extensions 16:21 Chrome change create opportunities for new developers 20:13 400k active users 21:48 How t.ly works and compares to oth...
Apr 21, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 70
We both share our takeaways from Microconf. 00:00 Intro 00:37 Microconf growth '22 07:46 Takeaway #1: Focus instead of niche 13:16 Takeaway #2: Buying is harder than selling 19:35 subpoint: have a buyers guide 27:18 Takeaway #3: It's OK to optimize for experience instead of growth 39:05 Tall poppy syndrome 41:37 Excited for SaaS again 46:20 A nice little Italian restaurant on the internet 50:28 Hot take #1: Google voice style frontend for Twilio 55:20 Hot take #2: Tree map for expenses in QuickB...
Apr 14, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 69
Chris almost has Acorn Chat feature complete and ready to submit to the Slack app store. Christian is getting close to finishing the serverless FileInbox v1. Also we talk about RSI and using voice commands as a potential way to limit injury. 00:00 Intro 00:37 Expectation maximization 06:06 Acorn Chat 09:10 Screenshots and video marketing 12:55 Simple can be a differentiating factor 17:50 New Kaggle competition - are patents good or bad? 28:21 AI can be both good and bad 31:48 All the Music 33:49...
Apr 08, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 68
Chris is almost ready to submit his Slack app to the Slack app directory. Christian tries to figure out how to charge for work he wants to do for a friend. Christian also has ideas about home automation. 00:00 Intro 01:08 Kaggle essay competition 08:16 Building a Slack app 09:32 The amount of time things take to get done 17:09 Administrative poms 20:12 Home automation 37:50 Doing work for friends: paid or free? 52:48 Fileinbox update 55:36 Naming things is hard Timestamps created with https://cl...
Mar 31, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 67
MeetingPlace is sold, so Chris is working on his next SaaS. Christian keeps getting stuff done on FileInbox, and wonders when he can actually fly with his paramotor. 00:00 Intro 02:28 Microaquired 09:29 SaaS feelings 13:23 Why developers are bad at marketing 16:31 What is the core functionality? 17:58 AcornChat development roadmap 22:31 Kaggle update 28:50 Getting work done one step at a time 44:42 Hobbies Timestamps created with https://clips.marketing by @cgenco...
Mar 24, 2022•53 min•Ep. 66
Chris finalizes the sale of MeetingPlace. Christian worries that he's getting too productive. 00:00 Intro 01:03 Completing the sale of MeetingPlace 11:33 Should Christian sell something? 15:01 Data science 16:14 Coworking progress 21:30 Open vs closed mode of working 32:09 Admin work 38:49 Three Body Problem 40:29 Paramotor Adventure Timestamps created with https://clips.marketing by @cgenco
Mar 17, 2022•42 min•Ep. 65
Chris sells a SaaS! Christian tries to figure out what makes him productive. [Sorry for the audio quality! - it gets better next week] 00:07 Slava Ukraini 03:31 Selling MeetingPlace 08:43 Advice for selling a SaaS 11:21 Strategy to build apps just to sell 13:53 Motivation to sell 16:15 SaaS valuation calculations 20:30 Data competitions 22:51 Accountability buddy effectiveness 27:03 Time estimates are hard 30:41 Another app idea 33:05 So easily tricked 34:16 Open vs Closed mode 36:58 Goals for t...
Mar 10, 2022•51 min•Ep. 64
Microconf is in 40 days! We talk about what we want to accomplish before then, and come up with a strategy to hold each other accountable and get stuff done. 00:00 Intro 01:18 MicroConf in 1.5 months 04:07 The next 40 days 10:22 Accountability buddies 15:13 AI competitions 19:13 Tesla safe driving score 24:20 Writing mini blog posts 31:42 Paramotoring 33:45 Flashcard app 38:54 The big SaaS idea for a flashcard app 42:17 Neuroticism Timestamps created with https://clips.marketing by @cgenco...
Mar 02, 2022•46 min•Ep. 63
Chris has to relearn a bunch of math and tries to figure out how to teach it as well. Christian has a new way to try to get things done by delaying work on his fun projects. 00:00 Intro 03:08 ML Math 08:16 Teaching as you're learning 17:57 Games that you can't lose 22:08 Anki flashcards app 31:55 New tactic to get things done 36:04 Making clear priorities for Christian's assistant 40:18 Have you ever made a french fry? 45:11 Tesla roadtrip 50:53 Paramotoring 57:08 FSD Beta 10 Timestamps created ...
Feb 24, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 62
Chris tries to figure out how to learn the math he needs for ML by teaching it. Christian buys a new domain name, then works on another project for 16 hours and tries to figure out how to deliver it. 00:00 Intro 03:38 Benefits of taking a break 08:28 How to teach math? 12:52 Am I a web dev or actually shifting to AI? 14:07 Snow water equivalent competition 19:23 Doge wordle 26:50 Feeling like a BOSS 34:45 Nerdle solver 38:31 Magic robot arm 43:10 Some people are controversial 52:17 Don't make wo...
Feb 18, 2022•59 min•Ep. 61
Christian had a really productive week and would like to figure out how to have more weeks like that. Chris is doing well in a Kaggle competition and had to learn a bunch of math for ML this week. 00:00 Intro 02:11 ML math is like coding 08:45 How Kaggle promotes code and idea sharing 18:12 Balancing family life and work 27:20 Christian's super productive week 33:04 Stripe extension vs coding your own 35:36 How to handle feature flags 37:20 What can an executive assistant do? 43:10 Attaboy 49:07...
Feb 10, 2022•57 min•Ep. 60
Christian's executive assistant experiment is going great. Chris has to learn a lot more math to do his ML class. Christian has great LEGO aspirations. 00:00 Intro 00:42 LaTeX 06:44 How to learn by teaching 13:28 ML for essay classification 19:39 Folding data into bins 25:22 Christian's executive assistant is great 38:13 FileInbox Stripe integration 46:33 Harry Potter LEGO Timestamps created with https://clips.marketing by @cgenco Correction: 59 is prime 😆...
Feb 02, 2022•55 min•Ep. 59
Christian finally gets an executive assistant! Chris finishes the pet kaggle competition and prepares to start the next semester of his masters program. 00:00 Intro 02:47 Chris cleans up 07:13 Adam Savage's rules for putting things away 13:16 Kaggle top 6% 18:34 Overcoming futile feelings 21:08 Public and private leader boards are different 27:13 Crypto trading is still gambling 28:46 AcornChat Slack App Store 30:48 Morning pages 34:33 Executive assistant for Christian 41:44 Stripe integration w...
Jan 26, 2022•55 min•Ep. 58
Can we only get a lot accomplished if we have something more important to do that we are ignoring? Both Chris and Christian had productive weeks, but only by ignoring other things that we were supposed to do... 00:00 Intro 01:07 Getting stuck on features 07:25 Why features feel good 10:03 Next steps for AcornChat 11:04 Frustrated at Kaggle competition 17:21 Difference between cats and dogs 18:13 Applying AI to business 21:09 MeetingPlace features 22:18 Best way to do HTML embedding 23:15 Product...
Jan 19, 2022•56 min•Ep. 57
Chris re-learns that to go fast you have to slow down. Christian rediscovers who his best customers are and tries to focus on getting more like them. Then he tries to sell a laptop... 00:00 Intro 00:27 Chris did nothing 01:26 Go slow to go fast 05:55 Software is magic 11:04 Dropbox api upgrade 19:01 Won't you be my boss? 31:16 Dude, where's my laptop? Timestamps created with https://clips.marketing by @cgenco
Jan 13, 2022•51 min•Ep. 56
We talk to Brian Casel about launching ZipMessage and growing a SaaS business (vs a productize service). We talk to him about his previous business successes, how he got started programming, and how he's thinking about growing ZipMessage. 00:00 Intro 01:08 Brian's backstory 05:35 Scaling by hiring more people 09:40 ZipMessage 12:22 Audience Ops 13:14 Move towards software businesses 18:14 Christian's backstory 20:42 Chris's backstory 21:38 Tech stack: Rails vs React vs Laravel 28:24 ZipMessage c...
Jan 07, 2022•55 min•Ep. 55
The exciting finale of "Dude, Where's my Car???"; plus we talk about crypto: is it gambling? or is there a way to make money with it? 00:00 Intro 00:25 The Matrix Resurrections 03:49 VR Movies 08:29 AcornChat next steps 12:38 Work time vs vacation time 13:45 AI competitions 24:04 Crypto Trading Compeition 30:03 Efficient vs inefficient markets 32:01 Why you can't make money trading crypto 34:16 Markets and crypto 38:27 Crypto breads discipline in normal markets 40:53 FileInbox Dropbox deadline 4...
Jan 04, 2022•56 min•Ep. 54
SaaS is complicated... Christian has FileInbox go down and has to figure out what that means. Chris works on his final lab and runs into issues. Also: what would you do if your car got stolen? 00:00 Intro 00:46 SuperTuxKart AI 13:05 Acorn Chat 17:47 FileInbox was Down! 21:06 SaaS is... complicated 28:25 Programming languages for SaaS 32:49 Dude Where's my Car? 43:28 How to deal with a car thief? 48:54 Health issues are like cold taffy Timestamps created with https://clips.marketing by @cgenco...
Dec 29, 2021•52 min•Ep. 53
Chris finished his final lab using MPI (used in supercomputers). Christian tries to get his car back, and then we both ask: do you have to be kind of a terrible person to be a billionaire? 00:00 Intro 01:47 MPI to solve the n-body problem 12:40 Dude where's my car? 17:02 Spending money to make money is hard 21:25 Road trip in a Tesla 30:11 The relaxed pace of Barbados 33:54 Steve Jobs was kind of a terrible person Timestamps created with https://clips.marketing by @cgenco Brains: Talking Money w...
Dec 25, 2021•40 min•Ep. 52
Chris builds an AI to play virtual go kart icy hockey. Christian wants to track his mood and talk to customers. 00:00 Intro 01:29 SuperTuxKart AI Control 13:51 Kittens idle game 20:06 Kaggle Superpermutations 27:22 Youtube good? Youtube bad? 34:50 The formula for retention 36:45 Christian's projects 41:10 Mood tracking 46:40 Theranos 51:23 Deploy Empathy 54:47 Talking to customers Timestamps created with https://clips.marketing by @cgenco...
Dec 25, 2021•58 min•Ep. 51
This was supposed to be an interview with Michele Hansen, co-founder of Geocodio and author of "Deploy Empathy", but due to interview issues that part was lost :(. Instead, Chris and Christian talk about the book and do a customer interview exercise from it - which worked way better than either of us thought it was! 00:00 Intro 01:24 Don't just ask what people want 05:10 You have to be bad before you're good 07:11 Customer interview exercise 08:31 Q1 Can you tell me about a product you bought re...
Dec 05, 2021•33 min•Ep. 50
Chris has been learning Rust and has thoughts about strongly typed languages. Christian has been building "Treebooks" - a new way to read ebooks - and is wondering how to get customers and authors onto this new format. Also and update about Christian's passive income experiment of renting out his card 00:00 Intro 01:36 Chris's update 03:21 What has Chris's GPU been doing? 06:53 Does GPU mining of cryptocurrencies make sense? 12:08 Rust and strongly typed languages 19:08 Deploy Empathy book 24:51...
Nov 26, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 49
Chris is learning Rust for his next lab. Christian has been renting out his old car to someone who uses it to drive for Uber, and it makes us think about wealth inequality. Also: what actually is the metaverse? 00:00 Intro 01:33 Rust 05:28 Process for learning a new language 09:37 Worrying about memory size and resources 14:43 Custom designed silicon chips 19:34 Low level vs high level programming 20:43 Buying vs making wizard wands 26:25 Aliexpress 31:07 What is the Metaverse? 39:26 The best te...
Nov 18, 2021•59 min•Ep. 48
Chris gets a list of all 160 million registered .com domain names and tries to figure out what to do with them. Christian has been looking into Solidity programming and has some hot take ideas. 00:00 Intro 02:39 All the .com domain names 08:31 Using AI to generate new domain names 16:31 Twitter algorithm 17:39 What type of work do you want to be doing? 26:41 Motivation 28:28 Solidity programming 34:56 Hot take #1: unique blockchain auctions 37:52 Squid Game on the blockchain 42:12 Hot take #2: N...
Nov 15, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 47
What makes a tweet thread either go viral or go to zero? Christian talks about his recent tweet thread that didn't get any likes, and Chris talks about some of the ways he's used tweet threads in the past. Also: is twitter really the best medium for what we want to share anyway? 00:00 Intro 00:27 Diminishing returns and catching little bugs 05:43 The Go programming language 10:09 Deleting youtube and twitter experiment 22:26 The feeling of flow 26:37 Why tweet threads do well or poorly 39:04 Why...
Nov 05, 2021•48 min•Ep. 46
We both took a road trip and was able to do some thinking about what he should focus on. We talk about if you should or shouldn't worry about competitors, and some good ways to focus. Then we delete twitter and youtube from our phones in an effort to regain some wasted time. 00:00 Intro 00:38 Deep thinking on a road trip 04:07 Losing interest once you have the end in sight 07:28 Worrying about competitors 11:50 Getting to "done" 15:51 Sticky notes on our monitors 19:38 Focus by being distracted ...
Oct 27, 2021•56 min•Ep. 45
Christian goes through a list of 20 potential marketing channels and we think about ways to make those work for Fileinbox. We also try to figure out what to focus on and how to frame the work we're doing as "experiments": with a hypothesis, success and failure criteria, and a completion timeframe. 00:00 Intro 03:25 Talking to people as an experiment 13:12 How to figure out what to focus on 15:34 Pushing work forward 16:55 Fighting yourself about what to work on 20:41 How to create work experimen...
Oct 22, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 44
We talk about MicroConf Local Austin and MicroConf Europe: Do we need to be focusing on just one thing? We also come up with a framework for doing small experiments with post mortems as a way to push us forward. 00:00 Intro 01:23 MicroConf in 2021 vs before 04:54 Isolation as an Indie Dev 06:17 MicroConf Takeaways 08:45 Focus as a bootstrapper 16:33 Results oriented post mortems 21:39 MeetingPlace, or something new? 24:59 But why is MeetingPlace hard to grow? 29:08 Support Shepard to handle supp...
Oct 14, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 43
Christian has an idea for a financial visualization app and we talk about how to market it. Chris has been doing C++ recently, and has just started GPU programming. 00:00 Intro 00:16 What to do with GPT-3? 05:08 C++ 07:41 Programming video games 09:38 CUDA GPU programming 13:23 AI loss functions 14:20 How Chris learns new things 15:34 Reading an ebook like a tree 24:43 Releasing an audiobook as a private podcast 25:43 Hot Take: visualizing finances with a treemap 30:11 Business accounting - do w...
Sep 30, 2021•48 min•Ep. 42
A short episode this week: Christian is in Europe! He just got access to GPT-3 so he's really itching to play with that. Chris does his first big project for his masters, and is going to Austin in a few weeks. 00:00 Intro 00:51 Christian got access to GPT-3 09:43 C++ threads 15:45 Microconf Local Timestamps created with https://clips.marketing by @cgenco
Sep 23, 2021•18 min•Ep. 41
