Alex Dernie

product and growth, building @PadelPointer to justify my padel addiction, prev @meetgranola, @swytchbike

[Alex Dernie @AlexDernie]

I'm about to release my first app having never coded before - it took about 2 weeks

This is the optimal process for anyone looking to do the same:

1. Do Apple's Swift tutorial to understand the fundamentals (4-6 hours)
2. Download @antigravity
3. Create a PRD (product requirements doc) with Gemini 3 Pro - define the problem you're solving, the features and objectives - then save it as a .md file
4. Copy and paste the Swift build guide created by @twostraws as a custom instruction for the model
4. Start a new chat and select Claude Opus 4.5 Thinking
5. Ask the model to create a phased implementation plan for the entire project - all future conversations will anchor off this. Ask it to include a task list for each phase, and include instructions like asking you to build and run the app for testing. For these 'core' docs I also tell it we'll be working on the project across multiple conversations and days, and it'll need to pick up where it left off - it tends to then add a session log, capture decisions etc
6. Start a new chat (shorter chats = better focus from the model, and gives you runway to have longer chats if you're troubleshooting a bug)
7. Choose Opus 4.5 Thinking and ask it to start on Phase 1
8. Coach the model through, using @Xcode to build and test the app when it asks you to
9. Rinse and repeat through all the phases

Main lessons:
- Spend time upfront creating and refining documents and task lists; these keep the model focussed and ensure you know what's being built
- Use .md files for planning work that takes multiple conversations/days and use Implementation Plans (Antigravity's native, rich artifacts, where you can give feedback, embed Figma designs etc) for stuff you can one-shot in a single convo
- Start new conversations as often as possible; the model will perform better, and it'll give you runway for when you find a complex bug that needs lots of troubleshooting
- In my experience, the models can't create genuinely great UX (yet); you should go in and fine-tune the UI and feel of the app to take it to the next level (ask the model to guide you in the code to apply refinements)

I could keep going but hopefully that's helpful - good luck!

[Alex Dernie @AlexDernie]

@nickgdwn @Superwall @BusinessofApps @yusuftor @parezem @volhasa Awesome talk, and great to chat afterwards!

[Alec Stapp @AlecStapp]

Just remembered the story about a computer scientist who had his bike stolen and tried to explain binary search to a cop

[Alex Dernie @AlexDernie]

Computer use in the new Codex app is yet another mind blowing AI experience you’ll never forget

Just watched the agent build @PadelPointer from Xcode, go through onboarding then give me feedback on the flow

It even stopped the simulator before it replied 🤖

[Alex Dernie @AlexDernie]

This is wild

[Shay Boloor @StockSavvyShay]

$BIRD is selling its brand and footwear assets renaming itself NewBird AI and using a new $50M convertible facility to pivot into AI compute infrastructure by buying GPUs.

Going from selling wool sneakers to chasing AI compute might be one of the wildest pivots this cycle.

[Alex Dernie @AlexDernie]

I was just out playing padel with my family at a local padel club. Noticed a player tracking the score with their Apple Watch - not that unusual, but thought I'd check which app they're using just in case...

The app was @PadelPointer

First time seeing it in the wild! 🤯

[Alex Dernie @AlexDernie]

@alexchristou_ Is the barnet an April fools too?

[Alex Dernie @AlexDernie]

@nikitabier what’s the reason for not translating posts immediately at the point of creation, so every user doesn’t have to tap to translate?

Would save huge costs on Grok translation and mean more content for us all to doom scroll

[roon @tszzl]

they are really posting on a whole other level

[Alex Dernie @AlexDernie]

Would highly recommend @posthog AI (which appears to be unlimited on the free plan)

The analysis is really strong, and it creates funnels and charts on the fly to explain the numbers

Does a better job than plugging Posthog + RevenueCat + codebase into Codex which is surprising

[Alex Dernie @AlexDernie]

@alexchristou_ Never in doubt 👏

[Alex Dernie @AlexDernie]

This will never get old

[Alex Dernie @AlexDernie]

@alexchristou_ Can massively relate to build trap - currently trying to nail activation and feels logical to slow down acquisition efforts until I’m happy with it

Hard one to balance, cos you also need acquisition volume to get meaningful results on experiments

[Alex Dernie @AlexDernie]

@alexchristou_ Nice how much is DataForSEO costing? Feels like you need a PhD in cryptography to navigate their pricing page

[Alex Dernie @AlexDernie]

@alexchristou_ Lift off 🚀

[Alex Dernie @AlexDernie]

@pomis172 @PadelPointer Such a neat idea, thanks for sharing it! How were you able to achieve the dot matrix interaction?

[Alex Dernie @AlexDernie]

Saw this and had to spin up a version for the Momentum Shift plot in @padelpointer

Dropped some frames from the video into Codex, explained the different elements

An hour later, I've got to this after a few turns

Needs refinement but the pace of development is blistering 🫨

[Roman Ismagilov 💙🇪🇺 @pomis172]

Polishing the streak indicator for my Flutter app. Still haven't started any marketing.

[Alex Dernie @AlexDernie]

UGC is still unparalleled for consumer apps - and you don’t need experience

I started making TikToks/Reels a few weeks ago

3.6M+ organic views, $0 spent

Literally anyone can do it: find viral hooks, apply your own spin, iterate, scale what works