Joe | Dad Who Builds

Bus driver by day. Builder by night. Dad always.
I make simple websites & AI automations for parents & local businesses.

[Joe | Dad Who Builds @thejoedavini]

I told myself I needed a bigger block of time.

I waited two years for it.

The thing that finally shipped got built in 40 minute pieces after bedtime.

The block was never coming.

[Joe | Dad Who Builds @thejoedavini]

Somewhere in the last few months I stopped saying 'I drive a bus' when people ask what I do.

I say 'I'm building something.'

Still the same job, same 5am alarm. But something changed when I opened that laptop enough nights in a row.

You start to believe it about yourself.

[Joe | Dad Who Builds @thejoedavini]

@alex_prompter Pasting 47 rambling sentences about my app at midnight and waiting to see what comes back.

[Joe | Dad Who Builds @thejoedavini]

The polish was for me. It let me feel like I was working without the risk of showing anyone.

[Joe | Dad Who Builds @thejoedavini]

Now I send the ugly version to five people before I touch the design. Two of them tell me I built the wrong thing, which saves me the three weeks.

[Joe | Dad Who Builds @thejoedavini]

I built the ugly version of my last project in one night.

Then I spent three weeks making it pretty.

[Joe | Dad Who Builds @thejoedavini]

The ugly version worked. Rough buttons and one page that did the thing.

[Joe | Dad Who Builds @thejoedavini]

@naps000 I feel this 100% it's definitely the most difficult part. I'm here to see what others say.

[Joe | Dad Who Builds @thejoedavini]

@HeyAliux Yeah it truly does especially when we are all building different things.

[Joe | Dad Who Builds @thejoedavini]

If your project has been almost ready for a while, that's the tell.

Send it to one person tonight.

[Joe | Dad Who Builds @thejoedavini]

I built the ugly version of my last project in one night.

Then I spent three weeks making it pretty.

[Joe | Dad Who Builds @thejoedavini]

Now I send the ugly version to five people before I touch the design. Two of them tell me I built the wrong thing, which saves me the three weeks.

[Joe | Dad Who Builds @thejoedavini]

@chams_builds Ha, took me long enough to figure that out.

[Joe | Dad Who Builds @thejoedavini]

@LucaCaponeX Killing the others is the hardest part. Feels like giving up but it's actually the work.

[Joe | Dad Who Builds @thejoedavini]

Everyone thought AI meant you could build ten things at once.

I tried that.

You get ten mediocre things instead of one that actually works.

Markets got noisier. Competition got faster.
The only way to cut through is to go deeper, not wider.

One thing. Built well. By someone who cares.

Still the move.

[Joe | Dad Who Builds @thejoedavini]

@BrunoLabs Audiobooks on the route is already happening. The driving time is where I do most of my thinking.

[Joe | Dad Who Builds @thejoedavini]

@TimoBuilds_ Honest answer: both.

Some drives I solve the whole problem. Some drives I spiral and arrive more confused than I left.

The difference is usually whether I have one specific thing to think about or just "the project" in general.