: Celebrating Sam dogs 4th birthday with a couple of treats.
: Testing a new headline and tagline this week. Thoughts?
: You can’t design for everyone. Two pieces of software can solve the same problems in two very …
: This also applies to running a bootstrapped SaaS company.
: Finally got the Kickofflabs AI campaign builder working for waitlist campaigns and able to draft …
: Is it enough for existing companies to add-on AI or do they need to rethink from an AI-first …
: It’s not shipping for a week or so, but here is a pass at the KickoffLabs lead based pricing …
: Over the weekend I had a few minutes so I added filtering to the AI tool (sparks) in Content Spark. …
: Has AI gone too far here? Nah. Just right. youtu.be/EHUPDaXLu…
: The plan for 8/25 Going to try and start small, today, and prioritize a few things. Next two videos recorded for the …
: I’ve done a terrible job of planning my weeks and personal prioritization for a while. As a …
: What’s the first true viral promotion you witnessed on the internet? One that made you say “really? …
: Fidelity has to have my least favorite password system. Long list of rules… but tops out at …
: Been looking for places where people have good discussions questions about generative AI. Thought …
: Today in “texts from my teenager” Ummm….
: Spent a bunch of time with our 5yo niece today and I wonder what percentage of American kids now …
: The framing here does a lot of work. “Biden has ‘legal problems’” implies he caused them. “A law …
: Nice view for a Sunday afternoon. :)
: How long does an average, vaccinated, covid infection stay with you? This is my cardio recovery …
: Distillers that want to produce whiskey often start by making gin or vodka so they can make money …
: Would anyone subscribe to a short, daily, podcast where each episode is a single AI prompting tip?
: Crypto and Web 3 companies all follow the Donald trump pay for services method… delay delay delay… …
: It’s easy to get thrown off by competitors in your space. You watch so closely. To you it looks like …
: Todays internship goal: turn the kids into advanced AI prompt writers for ContentSpark.Ai.
: As a business that has connection points with Twitter/X… Do you go ahead and rebrand/label …
: Dudes pitch was so close. But if he can go lower than zero I guess that’s interesting.
: A huge reason Social Media took over websites for small business… no one ever knew how to update …
: One of the hardest founder skills is learning not to chase every potential customer. You’ll bend …
: The Barbie movie was a blast. “And I assume you are here for Barbie “ - assistant to the regional …
: There’s nothing more motivating to an early stage founder than user momentum. People trying your app …
: What does AI let you do? I hired my kids (11 and 13) to be my content producers. Descript makes the …
: I’ve heard of scaling issues while products are scaling up, but Twitter is having them while …
: If AI is going to take over text based content then how will you stand out? You need to dominate …
: How much effort do you put into automated testing an MVP release?
: AI is both over and under hyped. Some people think #AI is overhyped and that AI products are going to crash hard. AI predictions are …
: You will ship bugs and things that bug you. Probably a bunch. The hardest part of shipping is …
: Added a second intern to the KickoffLabs video content farm today.
: “No fate but what we make” - the hidden founders credo.
: Tonight on operation Content Spark. I’ve been wrapping up the view of individual #ai sparks …
: Do you use AI tools for work? I’d love to know how. Don’t worry. I won’t tell your boss.
: When I just have an hour I always ask myself “what could I ship an an hour”. There’s always …
: Pretty cool - you can now signup to KickoffLabs with your Google account or connect it to your …
: Threads was smart for making one click follows obvious. It will be interesting to see how the vibe …
: Is it me or does the mastodon community really hate seeing others happy and having fun?
: Sometimes we all need a little break from the world. Even good dogs.
: Got some advice from the interns (my kids) last night and started work on cleaning up the Content …
: The most useful #AI prompt: “say the same thing with half as many words.” You may want to run it …
: You think Mastodon is hard to join? Wait till you see a thread you want to reply to on a Lemmy …
: It amazes me that Meta can’t figure out how to stop this form of SPAM that’s gotten way …
: That feeling when you know horrible things are coming.
: End of an era for marketing? Good read if you run, or are thinking about running, a SAAS business. Things that rang true: Prepare …
: Happy Monday! If you fired up #chatgpt for work today I’d love to talk to you about #ai and …
: 20 minutes in and Wakanda Forever is already 10x better than AntMan Quanumania. #betterlatethannever
: Shitty web3 companies remain shitty web3 companies that run with the wanabee grifters they feed off …
: Went out to eat at the local bar by myself. Decided I’d try and talk to people instead of staring at …
: I’m also building out the ability for people to start with simpler workflows. Input > AI …
: Last night I started re-organizing Content Spark around the concept of AI+Human workflows. …
: And done. Just in time for dinner. #buildinpublic
: Walls built. Then my drill battery died. Time for a break. #buildinpublic
: Step one: shed platform built. #buildinpublic #notallbuildsaresoftwarw
: As a builder I’m excited to ship a bunch of things. I feel pressure on myself to do so. I have to …
: The intern, Gabe, thought our YouTube thumbnails were boring. So, as a good manager, you bring it …
: KickoffLabs Summer Internship Program Someone was told that video games cost money and now KickoffLabs has a summer intern. :) He’s …
: Feed > Posts > Input > Persona + prompts > Output multiple results > Human moderated …
: Gave up trying to teach Chat GPT JSON to get multiple options in responses. Just not reliable enough …
: Do Supreme Court justices ever ask themselves “gee - why do all these billionaires suddenly want to …
: Here’s a nifty little pack of animations from an indie creator: tailwindanimations.co
: Me: “huh. Who could have said CIS is a slur?” “Oh” Me: (giving seriously creepy looks at anyone …
: Where are the best AI and prompt related communities today?
: I’m all about an MVP, but I want to do a little bit of UI cleanup tonight on contentspark.ai. …
: Have you documented the common AI prompts and/or workflows for your business you want your team to …
: Ok - it was pretty similar to the Spark work I’ve got done. Now Sparks support Personas! …
: Tonights goal for ContentSpark.ai is to add support for Personas for workflows. So you are working …
: OpenAI is going to move hard on these deals so create lock-in. Harder for startups to sign deals …
: Do you use AI for work at your company? If so - hit reply here. I’d love to chat. I’m …
: The first Episode of the new Black Mirror “Joan is awful” was very good. …
: AI bias is going to be a much bigger problem than an AI takeover. Trained models tend to exaggerate …
: I think I drove it crazy. It’s time for bed. #buildinpublic
: I really wanted to be able to tell which prompt was generating results since the current UI …
: Didn’t get it done tonight. On the bright side I learned a lot of cool debugging …
: How many people give ChatGPT a “voice”/role to play when writing content?
: Tonight on Content Spark is finishing customizable sparks so you can copy and create them using the …
: Calling it a night on contentspark.ai. Not shippable yet, but you can now create custom sparks for …
: And so it’s begun. #buildinpublic Scaffolds are good. #contentspark contentspark.ai
: My #buildinpublic goal for tonight (I hope) is to move contentspark.ai from all hard-coded sparks to …
: My package - that was out for delivery at 9am - could not be delivered today due to “the weather”. …
: Who doesn’t love waiting till the last few minutes of a 4 hour delivery window?
: Not all AI generated code suggestions are created equal.
: Is there anyone out there that likes the multiple profile Chrome feature? I’m signed into my …
: Confirmed. If you pay the Elon tax you can be visible in Twitter search again. Why not just come …
: Let’s see how it’s going at twitter for our company account. Oh - looks like we’ve …
: Slack seems concerned about my notification detox. Yeah slack. That’s the point.
: Went through and turned off ALL notifications except for texts on my phone/watch. Today has felt …
: Can we please not with articles like this? It goes on to say it’s the equivalent of 123 cars in an …
: Does anyone maintain a library of different AI prompts to be re-used when needed for repetitive …
: And climate change just kept slinking right under our noses. I wonder why. …
: Got my first set of trial customer feedback on Content Spark! Fixed one bug and agreed with his many …
: What’s it called when two runners wave as they pass each other? A runners high! #dadjoke
: What do peas listen to when they go out for a walk? Podcasts. #dadjoke #illbehereallweek
: Is there a tool people use to send personalized, in app, video messages to customers? #sales …
: Was driving to therapy. Saw this plate. Pretty sure I can just turn around now. :) Agreed?
: It’s gotten to the point where I expect the next story to be “Texas governor lowers …
: The government shouldn’t worry. Tik tok is about 3-5 years from a death spiral. How do I know? I’m …
: Today I made the mistake of replying to a VCs post on Twitter. I was immediately “mask …
: Also updated the Content Spark home page last night. Does this speak to you if you work on social …
: What’s the best web (not native) app UI you use regularly on mobile for work? #lazyweb …
: Hit a big milestone with ContentSpark.AI yesterday. You can now connect your blog feeds to Content …
: Who drove it worse? Tesla really missed the branding on all their driver assist and autopilot features by calling it …
: Which is a worse way to start the day? Jumping on the phone with a big Co ? or having to figure out …
: I take any concerns about the MLB pitch clock about as seriously as this article. The game needed …
: Run by this constant memorial all the time.
: Up earlier than usual. Half way through the run with my running buddy.
: What’s a recent “wow” moment or experience you’ve had with a company, …
: Lake Washington seems a little high lately.
: Related note - the service I use to cross post to Twitter is ending in July. So unless Twitter makes …
: There are like 10 people that keep me signed into twitter. I keep waiting for them to migrate …
: Analytics porn… as an entrepreneur when you stare into chart after chart hoping to find something …
: In case anyone is wondering. I’ll happily accept payments from friendly billionaires for private …
: “You can not look for the answer. You must be the answer.”
: Does anyone really believe this answer? That removing Google Analytics will not lower your SEO …
: Good lesson here. growth over savings
: I like that ChatGPT doesn’t judge my spelling. It just rolls with it.
: Had the first person sign up for a trial of contentspark.ai last night! They’ve already …
: I have a love / hate relationship with the advice “just make your business 1% better every day. “ …
: Just soft-launched the contentspark.ai MVP beta. Anyone can sign up for a 7-day (no CC) trial now. …
: A problem I have when I dig into a straightforward task for my company is that I always see related …
: Will Mastodon Evolve? I’ve been enjoying Mastodon so far, but I agree with this article’s warnings: …
: Mention Mastadon on twitter and get a warning? Let’s see.
: It’s happened. No matter how innocuous a thing you say now on Mastadon to inspire people the reply …
: Watching the whole Blue Checkmark thing play out. There so many better ways to add subscription …
: Has a message that starts with “I hope this email finds you well..” ever been anything …
: Stayed up way too late last night, making home page updates to ContentSpark. I’m not sure this …
: What do you use today to manage your social media posting? Buffer? Hootsuite? Nothing? What does …
: Took longer than expected to get S3 up and running in Active Storage for Content Spark. Here’s …
: Tonight’s indulgence (that is totally not required to ship this thing): Spending too much time …
: Sent out a couple of invites to contentspark.ai tonight. Hit me up if you want to get in on the next …
: Celebrating the winners of capitalism... We should build a museum to honor billionaires in DC. A “Capitalism hall of fame” if you …
: The “Invited by Nudge Bar” was just a preview of what we were after. A smart nudge bar …
: Supreme Court: congress should pass laws instead of relying on the court. Congress: Courts: No. Not …
: Kudos to Twitter for releasing the algorithm… its as bad as you imagine There’s all sorts of crap that, while totally believable, is still grating to anyone with good …
: Be a tourist in your own city every now and then.
: Is it wrong to get all my news from the weather app? Looks like a nice day.
: I’ve realized another one of my mental hacks is listening to live music. It tricks my brain …
: Watch this 50-second silent demo of how I’ve been using contentspark.ai to promote long form …
: Starting from zero is a humbling experience, but it doesn’t have to be depressing. Pick a …
: The sun can have an amazing positive impact on personal psychology. Get out and enjoy it while it …
: Built a template on KickoffLabs for people to run “National X Day” sweepstakes like …
: Shameless plug. I got contentspark.ai to publish a week of social media posts in < 20 minutes. If …
: Know anyone with a @buffer account or who does a lot of #socialmedia posting for a company? If so - …
: If control of AI means control of the market and data is required to train better AI then the big …
: Junior developers should switch from Stack Overflow copy paste to ChatGPT. It’s going to become …
: Looking for some 90s video-game-inspired web UI inspiration for an upcoming update to Content Spark. …
: Given the data I saw about how important the home page is relative to just about anything else on …
: Removed our SMS auth for the KickoffLabs Twitter account. Logged out. Logged in with the …
: ChatGPT Tells me what my product is good for... Not bad. Re: My previous post. ChatGPT gives a pretty good answer to the question, “What’s a good …
: In defense of ChatGPT and Copilot technologies It’s trendy for people to attack the use of ChatGPT copywriting, but I believe there are very …
: Our updated video tested well so I pushed a messaging update to the home page to match. What do you …
: I used to revel in writing code. Now I get just as much joy deleting it.
: Made a video about the Invited By feature in the Nudge Bar: youtu.be/OECs5Mjeo… Referrals are …
: Here’s a stat that will depress anyone working to restructure their SaaS websites about …
: No one wants to put in the real work Consider ignoring this old man as he yells at his lawn… Does anyone have any magic bullets to …
: My favorite new KickoffLabs feature: The nudge bar featuring “invited by” encourages …
: Day 14: Horizon on the lake.
: I tell my kids all the time there is often no such thing as “the correct way” to get something done. …
: The weather app is on point again today.
: Day 10: ritual. It’s never drinking alone when you have friends.
: Please don’t “TikTokify” everything. Your app could just, you know, do what …
: There’s nothing wrong with the faster horse business. twitter.com/asmartbea…
: As a parent with 2 kids on the verge of getting phones I hope we can all adapt. …
: “Elon Musk asked managers at Twitter to nominate their best employees for promotion, then …
: Good take on Signup UX for apps. nathanjpowell.com/blog/how-…
: A social media client that injects your local phone pics of the day into your feed to remind you …
: What to do instead of tutorials? Good contextual help you can find again. Good post: …
: If you get 80% of the way on something and then run into an issue, it’s worth considering if …
: Testing out a walking video. What do you think? A good format for small announcements and tips? …
: Engineering. And history. Day 6.
: On hold with twitter.com/grasshopp… to cancel our account. We moved to Google Voice for …
: Had a few tabs to close this AM. I’m unsure what it means to say I’ll be logged out in …
: Let’s see how our recent posts on Twitter from Kickofflabs are going… Oh… I see. …
: You don’t always need to improve the product. You may need to improve the experience of using the …
: Build rails with VSCode? TIL you can use actually use VSCode debug tools to step through your apps. …
: Photo challenge “tile”. Umm it’s behind the beer.
: People love looking for blueprints to success in product, business, marketing, etc Then they waste …
: Sharing our new product intro once more with the YouTube link that will cross post better. :) …
: I love the new product intro for KickoffLabs, even if I can’t stand the sound of my voice. :)
: Day 3: Lucy likes her #solitude getting back in bed after we’ve all gone to work and school.
: For the Micro.blog photo challenge. Starting on day 2 with “weather”. This was #weather …
: Draft script for kickofflabs home page video - feedback welcome Ok - I’m more than a couple hours into this. I do product demos all the time, but condensing …
: Is demo script writing an all-day event or is that just me?
: The last post on “dumb” features was inspired by this read on Duolingo’s growth: …
: Don’t sleep on “dumb” features if they bring joy. I once presented a reporting …
: It’s been “Video Week” for me at KickoffLabs. In addition to updating tutorials I’m bringing back a …
: You can only do so much to stop your customers from shooting themselves in the foot. Sometimes you …
: This is one of the biggest entrenched incumbent gifts to startups and competitors of all time. …
: Do you need it to look a certain way or do you need results?
: Do you need another feature or do you need better docs and training on existing ones?
: At least this one wasn’t ME on TikTok. www.tiktok.com/@kickoffl…
: I just posted a video on TikTok for Kickofflabs. God help me.
: It’s always good to know a feature is well used even if you find out by fucking it up first.
: Some thoughts on a modern Windows PC Got a windows laptop as a gaming/school PC for my oldest. First time in windows seriously for years …
: I saw the question posted so I have to answer. There is no such thing as a “lightweight” Wordpress …
: The kids and I will sometimes do a “build challenge” in Minecraft where we all do a part of a scene …
: Think we could charge an extra $15 a month for KickoffLabs Verified Contests with blue check marks?
: Been thinking for a while that the pandemic broke so many good habits. As a parent there’s less …
: Content management and blogging for business is a shitshow. All I want is an easy client tool that …
: I’ve been enjoying drafting posts on my personal blog to see what sticks and turning good ones …
: It’s a race My kids now prefer to ask ChatGPT for things than search google. My daughter, who likes cooking, …
: What company or service do you use that makes you cringe every time you pay them? But you feel stuck …
: One downside of trying to provide a support experience that’s over and above expectations is …
: Avoid falling into the trap of thinking “I need X to succeed”. It creates a stuck …
: Just starting something is clarifying. If you feel blocked by a complex task just start with a small …
: If you are working on something right now ask yourself how you could ship it in an hour, a day, or …
: Optimizations get thrown out the window As soon as they reach end users… “Google says my page is slow. “ Me: you have 5-6 5MB images …
: A pretty good superbowl so far.
: Is this the future of advertising with AI? I was coding some changes to our Helpscout integration to …
: Late to the game, but gave Descript a spin today and had to upgrade. I’ve got a backlog of …
: Every #saas business is feeling the squeeze in this economy. Not even Mailchimp escapes. …
: Really need something else besides “rise and grind” and with a more positive connotation. “Wake and …
: Twitter is getting desperate. They’ve started using the “notifications” part of …
: Been playing Overcooked 2 this weekend with my kids and it’s a blast. All of you have to work …
: Yup. Went through all 6 stages today and I’m still not sure how it ever worked.
: Can you sell it? 100% this tweet: twitter.com/earthling… It’s a big reason we started KickoffLabs. a. It …
: I keep coming back to this line. So funny. “There’s always money in the banana stand!” Don’t burn …
: The death of search engine marketing. Prediction: within 3 years google will start seeing ad revenue truly decline. Eaten away by apple, …
: Just shipped a few Mugs out to contest winners for KickoffLabs. Also gave away one in a big group …
: What does everyone use for rewarding customer referrals/affiliate software these days?
: Me: Apple Music. Play this song. AM: Here’s a totally different song. Me Clicking: I want this …
: It’s important to dedicate some time to things that just bug you in your app. I was never …
: I don’t even want to show you the before version of this page. This is a huge improvement for …
: Also this week: After a couple of iterations I’m putting down the KickoffLabs dashboard …
: Took a pass at making the KickoffLabs referral program more obvious in the dash. We gave away a …
: If you are on twitter I’m not sure you’ll be able to read my posts anymore after Feb 9th. It’s a …
: I’ve been trying to live January with the mantra “Create. Don’t consume.” It’s hard, but gets easier …
: The “Upside Down” is actually in Ballard?
: Planting seeds Yesterday I said that now is the time to plant seeds for your business. I had a couple of replies …
: Now is the time to plant seeds for your business. #startup #marketing #growth
: Does your product have instructions for drunk users like this pizza? #ui #design #accessibility
: Is there a German word for the feeling when things feel both simple and impossible at the same time?
: With the release of Ivory I’m really enjoying Mastadon more. The sad realization, however, is that a …
: Dear #lazyweb - Does anyone know of a good solution for testing those terrible, no-good, …
: Been adding some finishing touches to this new @kickofflabs@twitter.com feature. End a campaign and …
: Love checking out all the street end parks that meet the water in Seattle.
: Just bought a subscription to Ivory from Tapbots apps.apple.com/us/app/iv… It’s good. I …
: What entrepreneurs could learn from an Airbnb host I’ve been running an AirBnb out of my basement for almost 6 years now. Last year we added a …
: Lake WA is super calm today.
: We do a lot of work to prevent fraudulent/spammy/illegal campaigns from getting created at …
: Want to create themed color palettes quickly? Pick a theme and starting color for your palette and …
: I’m seeing strong negative reaction to ChatGPT charging $49 a month… by people that make way more …
: Hyper-focused on simplification this week. For example: Less text for people to fill/worry about in …
: Really enjoying “Buy Back Your Time” from Dan Martel. It forced me to rethink hiring. I’d always …
: Is loom still what everyone is using for longer instructional videos meant for sending out to teams …
: Photobombing ground squirrel says good morning. What are you working on today?
: And it worked this time! Just shipped a totally new customer onboarding UI and dashboards customized …
: Ok - Briefly broke part of production for the first time in 2023. Let’s try that release again …
: If you rely on Facebook alone to tell you how great your Facebook ads are doing, then you are going …
: Ups and downs are rough as a founder. Two dumb mental hacks that help… Be the person the AI thinks …
: Today in Seattle. “The Light is Back”.
: What I want from big social media companies when it comes to “the feed”. A big reset button that …
: I’ve hit the copy/paste/test stage of a big feature update for KickoffLabs, and my current …
: The feeling outside in Seattle today is “dark”.
: Unpopular take: It would be good for #Mastadon to have a better discovery experience for “The …
: I see lots of writers that are fearful of AI and spread FUD with terrible arguements. This is a good …
: Going off grid for social networking This year I took more steps towards going “Off-Grid” for social networking. What …
: Wow. Even the weather app knows. RIP
: Thanks for the replies to my query about screenshot tools yesterday. Bought ScreenShot X, and …
: Avoid design by “what if…” questions. It’s easy to get sucked into the trap of thinking things like …
: This sums up one of the large reasons I’ve been working to extract myself from the larger …
: So Snaggit, from Techsmith, has gotten crazy slow in the latest releases for just capturing and …
: No Code First Impressions with Bubble.io for SAAS Last week I spent a day or so seeing how far I could get with building a SAAS app with a popular …
: Is authentication with 3rd party apps a “microservice” that was accidentally unplugged or did Elon …
: Lucy, part cat, lays on top of the couch when I work there. The look on her face is judgement. …
: In-progress view of what I’m working on today. The more colorful shot is the new UI. Trying to …
: I’ve been playing around with AI. My goal has been to find real-world, practical uses for it …
: What customers do when your product isn’t simple enough.
: New day started with negative covid tests!
: The reaction I’m going for every day when I take a follow-on covid test.
: Torn on this. On one hand, it’s a parent’s job to educate kids about online safety like …
: Spent the evening outlining a series of posts to fill big SEO gaps for @kickofflabs.
: So Microsoft is going all in on AI for search and office. Love it. I will totally replace google if …
: I’ve got lots of motivation to work on things, but soo many different paths to grow the …
: Hate feeling like I’m in Office Space, but you have to keep asking yourself every day… …
: So I built a thing. Takes longer articles and blog entries and turns them into tweetable nuggets to …
: It explains what it feels like attempting computer work with the fog of covid. Hat tip to …
: So much for being the last person in Seattle to get covid. I had a good run. So far I’ve had colds …
: Some of the new KickoffLabs features I shipped this weekend… we showed off in a new contest …
: Great feeling to ship a few small features for @kickofflabs in free time Saturday and already seeing …
: So Kaleidoscope is totally worth watching. www.netflix.com/title/809…
: Busy hike up Poo Poo Point today. Sam only looks that derpy half the time.
: Everyone needs to know the cases for optimism. It helps whether or not you struggle with it. 💡 Kevin …
: And this was just before the new year, but a good one to sign off from posting some of my favorites. …
: Looking back in the Mt Bachelor summit. First time Gabe went to the top.
: A collection of the Washington Monument from a visit to DC.
: Lucy also excels at side eye. I like this photo because it was taken shortly after getting a flat …
: Lucy and Gabe have a special bond. It’s based on sharing food and pets.
: Whistler in the summer does not suck.
: Just more cool trails in western Wa. Sam dog loves a good trail run.
: Just love all the views around broken top outside of Bend. Even if it was a 13 mile trek.
: Couldn’t leave Sam out of my favorite pics.
: Lucy has an almost 3d look in this hike from Little Si.
: Forgot the obligatory wooden covered bridge from the same trip in the last post. :)
: Quintessential view of a small New England town in the fall.
: Good selfie, but a trip to California really highlighted how bad the western U.S. drought is. We saw …
: Such a cool experience going to the “hidden beach” in Mexico where you had to swim in through a …
: Posting some of my favorite pics from 2022. This was from a Christmas Eve stroll through the market …
: I just enabled an email subscription to my blog for family, friends, and anyone else who wants it. …
: Ok, ChatGPT - I’m pretty impressed. You also document your code way better than me.
: If I Ran It: Peloton becomes THE complete fitness platform This is a thought experiments about what I’d do if I were suddenly put in charge of a different …
: Good post by @jthingelstad here. Especially good points about kids and businesses getting captured …
: Quick Thoughts on Tesla A few thoughts on Tesla now that I’ve transitioned from “The Bird Site”. This …
: Finally got around to updating joshledgard.com and creating a new Micro blog with micro.blog hosted …