Max_Upside

Building AI products solo. Previously scaled consumer apps to millions. I write about growth, distribution & go-to-market. Optimist by default.

[Max_Upside @maxupsidehq]

I'm building SwimTune an AI swim coach that lives on your Apple Watch.
It turns your stroke rate, SWOLF, splits, and recovery data into a plan that adapts every single session.
Beta opens in the next month 200+ swimmers already in line.
Want a founding spot? 👇
https://t.co/brEcfn7tW4

[Max_Upside @maxupsidehq]

Most swim apps are glorified lap counters.
They show you data. They never tell you what to do with it.
That gap is the entire reason I’m building SwimTune. 🧵
Today’s build problem: how do you explain a threshold set to a beginner without sounding like a textbook?
Our fix the AI coach talks like a human:
“Threshold day. The main set will feel hard. Trust the pace targets.”
Plain language beats jargon every time.

[Max_Upside @maxupsidehq]

I'm running the same playbook now with both products I'm building.
The swimming AI: I am the user. Every session is product research. Every frustrated swimmer is a future advocate.
The life AI: tested with friends before writing a line of code. Their reactions tell me more than any survey.
Build something people can't shut up about. Then get out of their way.

[Max_Upside @maxupsidehq]

The Modatta playbook: How we acquired 3M users with almost no paid marketing budget.We couldn't outspend the competition. So we out-thought them. Here are the 5 acquisition tactics that actually worked:

[Max_Upside @maxupsidehq]

We never paid for attention. We earned it.
MGM turned users into a sales team. Social proof turned users into marketers. Influencers turned users into advocates. Brands turned skeptics into believers.
3M users. $7.3M delivered back to users. Almost all organic.

[Max_Upside @maxupsidehq]

This reframes everything I've been thinking about building my life memory assistant. The "forgetting" piece is what most people miss. When you're trying to maintain persistent memory across someone's entire life emails, conversations, decisions the instinct is to store everything. But that's how you end up with a cluttered attic. The real design challenge is teaching the system what to forget, what to consolidate, and when a memory from 2 years ago suddenly becomes relevant again. Storage is solved. Cognition is the frontier.

[Max_Upside @maxupsidehq]

Building a swimming app taught me something.
The pool is the best QA environment ever built.
You can't fake a lap. You can't fake a split time. The watch either works or it doesn't.
One swimmer. One pool. No excuses.

[Max_Upside @maxupsidehq]

Saturday evening. Kids in bed. Week reviewed. Building in public is weird. You share wins and failures with strangers. But those strangers become your first users, your best advisors, and eventually your community. That's why I do it.

[Max_Upside @maxupsidehq]

@EmilDonche14814 Smart approach. I did that with my first company validated demand before writing a line of code and it scaled to 3M users. This time I'm building for myself first (I'm the user) so the validation is built in. But the silence before anyone else sees it hits different.

[Max_Upside @maxupsidehq]

Building two products is hard. But the hardest part isn't the work.
It's the silence. No users yet. No feedback. No dopamine hit from growth metrics.
Just you and the code and the belief that what you're building matters.
Anyone else in this phase? How do you stay motivated?

[Max_Upside @maxupsidehq]

I track my swimming the same way I track my startups.
Heart rate variability → readiness. Pace trends → progress. Stroke count → efficiency.
The difference? In swimming, the data is clean and feedback is instant. In startups, the data is messy and feedback takes months.
But the principle is the same: measure, adjust, repeat.
Here are the 3 swim metrics that taught me how to run a company:
HRV doesn't lie. Some mornings your body says no. In the pool, I've learned to listen push on a low HRV day and you get injured. In startups, the equivalent is your burn rate. When the numbers say slow down, slow down. Ego kills companies the same way it kills training blocks.
Pace per 100m is the only metric that matters. Not how many laps you did. Not how long you were in the pool. How fast per 100m. In startups, that's revenue per customer not total users, not downloads, not signups. The one metric that actually tells you if you're getting better.
Stroke count reveals efficiency. Fewer strokes per lap = less wasted energy = faster times. In startups, that's doing more with less. The best companies aren't the ones that work the hardest. They're the ones with the least wasted motion.
Swim smarter. Build smarter. Same game.

[Max_Upside @maxupsidehq]

Already living this. No CS degree, started in energy. Now building two AI products simultaneously using Opus for thinking, Sonnet for frontend, Codex for backend. Previously scaled a consumer app to 3M users. The distribution wasn't code it was understanding the problem better than anyone. That's the real moat now.

[Max_Upside @maxupsidehq]

Friday wins:
✅ Swimming AI: workout engine logic mapped out
✅ Life AI: pivoted the UX based on new findings
None of these are huge. But stacked daily, they compound.
What are your wins this week?

[Max_Upside @maxupsidehq]

The 3 question test I use before building any feature:

1. Would I use this myself? (If no → kill it)
2. Can I explain it in one sentence? (If no → simplify it)
3. Does it move the core metric? (If no → park it)

This saved us months at Modatta. Now I apply it daily.

What's your feature filter?

[Max_Upside @maxupsidehq]

Life AI dev log thought capture prototype. The idea: you talk to it like a friend. Random thoughts, ideas, tasks, feelings. It organizes everything. Connects dots you'd never see. "Remember that restaurant idea you had 3 weeks ago? It connects to the business plan you started yesterday." That's the vision. Early prototype working. Capture is solid. The connection engine is next. Ugly but real.