Justin's brain

Justin Jackson
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Hi, I'm Justin Jackson. Here, I'm sharing brief thoughts on building a better life, bootstrapping, improving society, growing older in tech, being a dad...

  1. Why you should build some fake AI products

    FEB 10

    Why you should build some fake AI products

    I prototyped a full video podcasting app in a couple of days using Claude Code, and it's completely changed how I think about building new features for Transistor (the podcast hosting product I co-founded). 🔥 Timestamps:0:00 – Why you should build fake products first0:27 – The podcast countdown timer experiment0:56 – Taking on video podcast hosting at Transistor1:08 – Just start building it1:47 – Demo: the video podcasting prototype2:32 – What people actually want vs. what I assumed (HLS vs. simple upload)3:53 – "Usage is oxygen for product realizations."4:54 – Live demo: one-click publish to YouTube + Transistor5:57 – Scheduling episodes and real user testing (the church sermon use case)6:39 – Handling 15GB video uploads7:25 – Why everyone should be building fake products7:49 – Private podcasts → unlisted YouTube playlists8:28 – The FreshBooks "compete with yourself" story9:44 – How does this change your product process?10:17 – Claude Code + Slack: anyone on the team can start a PR14:05 – YouTube analytics vs. audio downloads in one view14:51 – Freedom to use a fresh tech stack15:18 – Night and day: old codebases vs. new ones ★ More about me: ★I'm Justin Jackson. I co-founded Transistor.fm (a podcast hosting and analytics platform). I write, podcast, and make videos about bootstrapping, startups, marketing, calm companies, and business ethics. My blog: https://justinjackson.caBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/justinjackson.ca

    16 min
  2. These are the voice memos I sent to Adam Wathan last night

    11/28/2025

    These are the voice memos I sent to Adam Wathan last night

    My friend Adam Wathan has a new podcast called Adam's Morning Walk, and in the last episode he talked about how he's thinking about building with AI: How can someone sit in front of a text area and explain what they want in enough detail that the AI is gonna produce something good?I was listening to this episode last night and it brought up all sorts of thoughts for me. So I opened up telegram and sent him a series of (slightly inebriated) voice memos. I'm publishing these here in case they spark some thoughts/ideas for you as well. F-stop example If you have a response, let me know! Reply on Bluesky

    13 min
  3. How high is customer demand?

    11/26/2025

    How high is customer demand?

    Successful startups don't create demand. They position themselves in the path of existing demand. In a good market, customers provide their own motivation. Your job isn't to create customer motivation; it's to find where it already exists and then build something that satisfies it. Timestamps: 00:00 I was listening to the Offsite podcast. 00:20 What does it take for a customer to take out their credit card?00:46 How high is the customer's desire for the product?01:23 When will a customer buy even when there's friction?01:59 The pitfalls of optimizing a product when there's no demand02:45 A framework for assessing Market Demand03:21 Conclusion Watch the whole episode of Jordan's conversation with Ruben. ★ More about me: ★ I'm Justin Jackson. I founded Transistor.fm (a podcast hosting and analytics platform) with Jon Buda. I write, podcast, and make videos about bootstrapping, startups, marketing, calm companies, and business ethics. My blogBluesky

    4 min
  4. Same effort; better results

    09/04/2025

    Same effort; better results

    There's a strange relationship between the effort you put into something and the outcome you get out of it. You could invest thousands of hours in a project, only to get a tepid response to what you've made. Read the blog post: "The effort-outcome asymmetry"  Have thoughts? Reply on Bluesky

    6 min
  5. "I've changed my mind on AI coding" – Adam Wathan (creator of Tailwind)

    06/27/2025

    "I've changed my mind on AI coding" – Adam Wathan (creator of Tailwind)

    "I used to be more skeptical than I am now. Especially when everyone was talking about 'one-shotting' and 'vibe coding.' But then I forced myself to download Cursor and build an entire project without typing any code, making the computer type the code for me. I had to throw myself in the deep end." All three of us (Adam, Brian, Justin) give our honest takes on AI and software development, and how it's going to affect our businesses. "AI is like keyboard shortcuts on steroids for the things I am an expert in." 🎧 Listen to the whole episode on The Panel:https://panelpodcast.com/11 Adam and Brian share how AI lets them program more, not less, by eliminating grunt work. They think experienced developers will have a huge advantage in this AI era.  We also dive into the business implications: how AI is already affecting traffic and sales for Tailwind UI, why building an audience is more important than ever, and what Adam is building next. This conversation actually got me curious to try Claude Code and Cursor AI. Chapters00:00 - Adam's Initial AI Skepticism01:15 - The Cursor Experiment: Building Without Typing Code02:45 - Why You Need to Be Specific with AI03:15 - The Evolution of AI Models (Claude Sonnet 4)04:00 - Cursor Rules: Training AI to Match Your Style04:45 - The 90% Grunt Work Problem06:30 - AI as "Keyboard Shortcuts on Steroids"07:15 - Why AI Fails for Learning New Technologies08:15 - Using ChatGPT vs Cursor: Learning vs Coding09:00 - The Future of AI in Every App10:15 - How AI Should Work in Design Tools (Figma)10:30 - How AI is affecting the Tailwind business (traffic is down)14:00 - Keeping JavaScript Commercial This Time14:45 - New Ventures: Video Editing Software16:30 - Removing Grunt Work from Video Editing17:45 - The Paradigm Shift and New Opportunities19:00 - AI for Custom Personal Tools20:30 - Building AI Automation Flows22:00 - The Future: AI Pull Requests for Tailwind 🔗 Links:Bryan's new Rails components: https://instrumental.dev/Bryan's SaaS: https://clarityflow.com/Integrate Open AI and Anthropic APIs into your Rails applications (video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dW1Kkx7utQRob Walling's Stair Step approach: https://robwalling.com/essays/2015/03/26/the-stair-step-method-of-bootstrappingVercel's new V0 AI tool: https://v0.dev/Thorsten Ball's article: How to build an agent https://ampcode.com/how-to-build-an-agent ★ More about me: ★I'm Justin Jackson. I founded https://transistor.fm (a podcast hosting and analytics platform) with Jon Buda. I write, podcast, and make videos about bootstrapping, startups, marketing, calm companies, and business ethics. My blog: https://justinjackson.caBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/justinjackson.ca

    23 min
  6. "A Genius is He Who is Most Himself"

    05/06/2025

    "A Genius is He Who is Most Himself"

    My friend Jeremy Enns and I recently had this conversation about a quote by Thelonious Monk: "A genius is the one most like himself."We explored this idea about what it means to find your zone of genius and why being authentically yourself might be the key to your greatest work. I ended up writing a blog post about this too: Finding your zone of genius This conversation was a part of a longer episode we did for PMT Explained.

    15 min
  7. Are you an introvert or extrovert?

    03/11/2025

    Are you an introvert or extrovert?

    I think a lot of folks assume that people who create content (YouTube videos, podcasts, screencasts, public speaking) are mostly extroverted. But this conversation I recently had with Aaron Francis, Marie Poulin, and Brian Casel on the Panel Podcast calls that into question. 🔗 Listen to the full episode here: https://panelpodcast.com/4 Timestamps: (00:00) - - Are most content creators extroverts? (00:50) - - Marie's journey from YouTube-resistant to YouTube creator (02:07) - - Brian on the paradox of being quiet in person but public online (03:33) - - Aaron: introvert who loves the stage (05:11) - - It's not about attention, it's about resonance (05:53) - - Am I the only extrovert here? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Are you an introvert or extrovert?🗣️ Leave a comment on Bluesky

    7 min
  8. Is YouTube going to kill audio podcasts?

    02/27/2025

    Is YouTube going to kill audio podcasts?

    In the pursuit of "making podcasts more discoverable," the podcast industry has welcomed YouTube with open arms. But is the industry misdiagnosing YouTube's role? YouTube isn't just "getting into podcasting" - it's a behemoth that's captured consumer attention at an unprecedented level. Join the discussion: Reply on Bluesky Leave a comment on YouTube I don't think YouTube actually cares about "podcasting" as an industry (it's just another content keyword for them). I also think responses like "Let's add video to podcasts" are missing the bigger picture. This episode contains clips of myself and Jeremy Enns digging into the realities of algorithmic discovery, social media addiction, audio podcasts vs video podcasts, and how the podcast industry might respond to the threat of YouTube as a platform. (00:00) - - YouTube's advantage: engrained consumer habits (01:54) - - What the podcast industry gets wrong about YouTube (02:57) - - YouTube as the ultimate content aggregator (04:47) - - "This is not our kingdom": Podcasting in YouTube's empire (06:36) - - The staggering reach of YouTube (98% of US internet users) (07:38) - - What podcasting does that YouTube doesn't (08:30) - - Marketing podcasts as "entertainment for your ears for when your eyes are busy" (09:20) - - Positioning audio podcasting as the calm alternative to digital overstimulation Read my blog post on this topic here:justinjackson.ca/podcast-industry-youtubeWant to start an audio podcast? Read my guide.

    10 min
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About

Hi, I'm Justin Jackson. Here, I'm sharing brief thoughts on building a better life, bootstrapping, improving society, growing older in tech, being a dad...

Information

  • Creator
    Justin Jackson
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    18
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Justin Jackson
  • Show Website
    Justin's brain