Jan Builds Digital

Builder of digital products. Sharing my thoughts about business, tech & life. Based in Prague. Let’s build real connections, not just audiences.

[Jan Builds Digital @DigitalJan94]

Indie hackers build and mind their business. Meanwhile, this amazing open source project keeps facing repeated challenges from big tech companies and government authorities.

From a user's perspective, GrapheneOS is a much better mobile OS than any stock Android version I've ever used.

Huge kudos to the founders for pushing through all that resistance and doing such an incredible job!

[GrapheneOS @GrapheneOS]

@Sebo471 @Ced_haurus @getyoti This is complete nonsense. There's nothing illegal about using GrapheneOS and it doesn't do anything interfering with the secure operation of apps and services. It's far more secure than any Google-certified OS. Play Integrity API banning GrapheneOS is an antitrust law violation.

[Jan Builds Digital @DigitalJan94]

@hustle_fred That feeling is incredible. Enjoy and use it productively!

[Jan Builds Digital @DigitalJan94]

A really strong week. The client validation I got in May has been very encouraging:

• Clear confirmation that my product solves a real problem people have
• A much better understanding of my ideal customer profile: their needs, specific use cases, integrations, what they value, and when they don't actually need my help
• A long list of product improvements that I know users will genuinely appreciate, with no more building based on assumptions or guesswork

And the best part? Talking to real people on phone and helping them solve problems has been the most energizing experience I've had in a long time!

Lesson: talking to potential customers can be deeply satisfying

[Jan Builds Digital @DigitalJan94]

@hustle_fred Yep users care about the outcome (fast replies and fixes).

[Jan Builds Digital @DigitalJan94]

“Founder-led customer support” is often described as an indie startup advantage over VC-backed startups. Still, I’ve rarely seen it highlighted on landing pages. Maybe it’s not as compelling as people think, or maybe it only resonates with certain customer segments.

[Jan Builds Digital @DigitalJan94]

It's interesting how different industries seem to create their own archetypes of people.
Physically demanding professions are often associated with blue collar workers who are seen as rough, dirty, or rude.
Software development is often linked with socially awkward nerds wearing plain clothes and sandals.
Division of labor becomes division of personality.

[Jan Builds Digital @DigitalJan94]

It feels great talking to a potential customer on the phone and hearing her say that after doing market research, she likes our solution the best and explain why.

Also, this wouldn’t have been possible without the MVP. Validation is just easier when you have something tangible to show and offer.

[Jan Builds Digital @DigitalJan94]

There are at least two reasons why AI agents won’t replace entire markets across many niches.

1. People still trust other people more than robots, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.
2. AI agents are still tools that need maintenance, and not everyone wants to deal with that.

[Jan Builds Digital @DigitalJan94]

@DmytroKrasun Very cool. I admire that you found time to make this "business" trip

[Jan Builds Digital @DigitalJan94]

@pawelkarniej No doubt about your message. It's just that a creative nation also produces creative politicians who come up with new and creative ways to be corrupt. Creativity comes in many forms.

[Jan Builds Digital @DigitalJan94]

Client validation takes forever and it’s definitely outside my comfort zone 😬

- The email campaign started at the beginning of March.
Product leads were collected throughout March.
- Calls with those leads were scheduled for May because they’re accountants and April is their busiest tax season.
- Some calls are already done, while others are still coming up.
- So overall, it’s been about 2–3 months since the start.

[Jan Builds Digital @DigitalJan94]

@DmytroKrasun Plumbing is actually a really cool skill. Even though I still keep it as a hobby, I make a living from dev and hustling.

[Jan Builds Digital @DigitalJan94]

@jasonleowsg Looks like I never got to experience X golden age. Did I miss out on a lot?

[Jan Builds Digital @DigitalJan94]

Whenever I’m talking to someone and they start swearing at or gossiping about another person, I immediately think they’re capable of doing the same to me. The way people gossip or speak badly about others says a lot about their character, and sometimes they don’t even realize what they’re revealing about themselves.

[@levelsio @levelsio]

My gf is banned from reviewing places in Europe on Google Maps after she gave one restaurant in Portugal a 1-star review

When she reviews inside EU it gets auto rejected, outside EU she can review any place

Free speech in Europe has sadly died a long time ago

[Jan Builds Digital @DigitalJan94]

Serious question: How much business and personal information should you share on social media?

[Jan Builds Digital @DigitalJan94]

Hard skills are easy to learn. Or they are not easy, but they are predictable. The real challenge is working with and influencing people. That’s what excites me and a big part of what keeps me motivated to keep hustling.

[Jan Builds Digital @DigitalJan94]

A good time to ask for customer feedback is right after they request a refund. You don’t know if they’ll share, but there’s always a reason behind the refund, and sometimes customers want to explain it. It’s a great chance to learn more about your product and the overall customer experience.

[Jan Builds Digital @DigitalJan94]

@gregisenberg No doubt new generations of programming made the previous ones largely redundant (even though there are always exceptions). But AI assisted devs that understand code ship even faster than those who don't.

[GREG ISENBERG @gregisenberg]

a post called "the west forgot how to code" is going viral among devs.

the thesis: AI assisted devs ship faster but understand nothing. the next generation will be illiterate at the layer that matters.

tbh, this panic happens every single decade.

- assembly devs said C devs were illiterate.
- C devs said java devs were illiterate.
- java devs said react devs were illiterate.
- react devs said no-code builders were illiterate.

every single one of them was correct. every single one of them was also irrelevant within 10 years.

the pattern is always the same. the new generation abstracts away the thing the old generation spent a career mastering. the old generation calls it dangerous. the new generation ships 10x faster & doesn't care. the market rewards speed. the cycle repeats.

what's interesting is that the "illiterate" generation always wins. they win because they ship faster, build with less ego, & don't carry the baggage of what code is supposed to look like. they haven't been taught what's "proper." so they just build what works.

the mass commoditization of coding is the mass democratization of building. the thing that used to take a team of 10 and $2 million now takes one person and a weekend.

this means more competition. but it also means more weird, specific, niche products that never would have existed because the cost to build was too high. a million micro-products serving a million micro-audiences. the entire long tail of software just got unlocked.

the people writing these posts are mourning a world where knowing how to code was a moat. it was. for decades. knowing how to code meant you had leverage that most people didn't have. that leverage is evaporating and it's uncomfortable.

and I get it. I studied computer science at university.

but the thing that replaced it is way more interesting. the new leverage is knowing what to build, who to build it for, and how to get it in front of them. that's harder to learn from a tutorial. that's harder to automate. & that's where the real compounding happens.

the real question is "what happens when 100x more people can build" and the answer is a lot of garbage and a few things that change everything. that's always the answer. that was the answer with blogs, with youtube, with podcasts, with mobile apps.

the gatekeepers always mourn the gate.

that's terrifying if your identity is "I am a coder."

it's the greatest opportunity in history if your identity is "I build things people want."

okay, i had too much coffee.

back to building.