A few months ago, a SaaS idea got into my head and it simply wouldn't leave me alone. So I made a "dangerous" decision. I decided to allocate just 0.001% of my time to see if I could take that idea and turn it into a product that actually generates revenue. Fast forward to today: It’s live. It’s built. And it’s already generating revenues. In a world where 99.9% of startups never even earn a single dollar, how did this happen as a "side quest"? It wasn't luck. It was a strict adherence to 3 core principles that most Founders skip: • The "Vibe Coding" Rule: I didn't touch a single line of code. I used AI-first tools to build a battle-hardened application without getting stuck in the engineering weeds. • The Core Product Loop: I ignored 90% of the "cool" feature requests and focused entirely on the one habit that moved the needle for my users. • The Built-in Performance Coach: I didn't just build a tool; I built an AI layer that actually understands the user's context and coaches them to be better. I know what you’re thinking... "TK, won't a side project distract me from my main goal?" I had that same fear. That’s why I set "Golden Rules" to protect my core business while I built this out. In today’s Unstoppable Sunday episode, I’m pulling back the curtain. I’m walking you through the exact behind-the-scenes of how I noticed the gap, the vibe-coding prompts I used, and the 10-point checklist I ask myself before I spend a single minute on a new idea. If you want to see how to go from Idea -> Product -> Revenue without losing your mind (or your main business), this one is for you. Watch the full episode here 👇 https://t.co/Bc8wvdrYLK
ICYMI -0India’s homegrown AI startup, Sarvam AI, is close to raising $300 million to $350 million as it seeks to build a domestic player that can compete with leaders from the US and China. https://t.co/7h7U8WoDWI
Marshall tells me about its decision to enter into the party speaker segment, and how it's attempting to stand out from the crowd. https://t.co/mlitZ6Kgt8
I'm 40. Born in '85. And you won't find this on my resume. 5 AM weekends for 1.5 years. Startup went nowhere. Left my city at 27. Procrastinated my own dreams for 6 straight years. Built a SaaS to €3K MRR. Elon's API pricing killed...
The hardest part of being indie isn't the tech, the marketing, or the sales. It's waking up every single day whether you feel like shit or great and choosing to build anyway.

These guys used a $10,000 credit card debt to start a business in 2002. That company is now worth $60B. In 2020, they dropped their biggest surprise yet: They told all employees to stop coming to work. Everyone thought it...
Most people start a business with a solution. That’s backwards. Every business is 3 things: a person, a painful problem, and your solution. Talk to people with money and ask about their problems. Solve one painful problem for one specific person, and you have...

@partiful is betting on connecting people to groups and local live events. This clip is from the newest First Time Founders episode, 'How Partiful Is Fixing the Loneliness Crisis.' Watch ad-free on Substack: bit.ly/3NMMwtD
"we pitched investors when it was just a drawing on a napkin" Think we'll be hearing this a lot less if you can draw it on a napkin, you can prompt it into existence. No excuse to be pre-product unless you're building...
at what point does SF's NIMBYism make it a hostile and too expensive place for new startups? Certainly makes it hard for the unfunded eventually the California undersupply of housing becomes the primary obstacle to tech and innovation (and thus the...
Before: move to SF. have an idea. look for a tech cofounder. build a deck in the meantime. Months pass... After: codex/claude in one window, X in the other. Build demo. Make a video of the demo. Announce it online, make it go...
Capital-intensive businesses can keep competitors out. But it's even better when a business is asset-light AND protected from competition. That's the real sweet spot. Low capital needs plus a wide moat.
first wave of non-technical founders who learned to code from AI are now starting companies. their technical ceiling is much lower but their iteration speed is 10x. (or infinity if you consider they couldn't build software before). that trade-off changes...
At no other time in history was this possible. Obsidian is a $350M company built by 3 engineers, and their operating system is wildly unconventional: • ~1 million users per employee (7 full-time staff total) • Fully remote with only 1 in-person...
I’ve replied to 3 cold emails from aspiring VCs in the last year. But I’ve received hundreds. Here’s what the ones that didn’t get a reply looked like: → “I’m really interested in learning more about VC and would love to pick...