Why you should build some fake AI products

An update on what we're building at Transistor

Hey friends, wanted to give you an update on what we're building over at Transistor.fm [https://transistor.fm/?via=justin]. The big thing I'm really excited about is video podcasting. Transistor customers will soon be able to publish video podcast episodes on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and any other apps that support HLS video. We have a waiting list here if you're interested --> [https://forms.reform.app/pF4xrZ/video-podcasting-beta/wogs9l] We were one of only about five hosting platforms to get an HLS video show working inside Apple Podcasts, and uniquely, Transistor is the only one that also placed the HLS feed inside the RSS tag, meaning independent apps like Pocket Casts and Fountain can also pick up and play those HLS video feeds. We also just shipped a Ghost integration that connects Transistor to one of the most popular platforms for independent publishers. The integration was born out of a real overlap in customers (like 404 Media and The Lever), and the partnership was sparked by a lunch conversation with Ghost's John O'Nolan at Laracon. Links: * Apple's launch of HLS video podcasts [https://transistor.fm/apple-podcasts-video/] * Does Transistor.fm support video podcasts? [https://support.transistor.fm/en/article/does-transistor-support-video-podcasts-1fzbqj4/] * Transistor's integration with Ghost [https://transistor.fm/changelog/ghost/] This is a clip from The Panel podcast. Listen to the full episode here [https://panelpodcast.com/39].

Marc Andreessen: "There's Mexican standoff between roles on a software team"

AI coding tools like Claude Code are blurring roles on software teams. As Marc Andreessen said on Lenny's podcast: " There's a Mexican standoff happening between those three roles: product manager, designer, and coder." Links referenced in this episode: → Mark Andreessen on Lenny's Podcast [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Pm0SGTtN8] → "The Five Stages of Losing Our Craft" [https://debuggingleadership.com/blog/the-five-stages-of-losing-our-craft] → Kent Beck's tweet on 90% of skills becoming irrelevant [https://x.com/KentBeck/status/1648413998025707520?s=20] → Good vibes, bad vendors [https://werd.io/good-vibes-bad-vendors/]

Why you should build some fake AI products

I prototyped a full video podcasting app in a couple of days using Claude Code, and it's completely changed how I think about building new features for Transistor (the podcast hosting product I co-founded). 🔥 Timestamps: 0:00 – Why you should build fake products first 0:27 – The podcast countdown timer experiment 0:56 – Taking on video podcast hosting at Transistor 1:08 – Just start building it 1:47 – Demo: the video podcasting prototype 2:32 – What people actually want vs. what I assumed (HLS vs. simple upload) 3:53 – "Usage is oxygen for product realizations." 4:54 – Live demo: one-click publish to YouTube + Transistor 5:57 – Scheduling episodes and real user testing (the church sermon use case) 6:39 – Handling 15GB video uploads 7:25 – Why everyone should be building fake products 7:49 – Private podcasts → unlisted YouTube playlists 8:28 – The FreshBooks "compete with yourself" story 9:44 – How does this change your product process? 10:17 – Claude Code + Slack: anyone on the team can start a PR 14:05 – YouTube analytics vs. audio downloads in one view 14:51 – Freedom to use a fresh tech stack 15:18 – Night and day: old codebases vs. new ones ★ More about me: ★ I'm Justin Jackson. I co-founded Transistor.fm [https://transistor.fm/?via=justin] (a podcast hosting and analytics platform). I write, podcast, and make videos about bootstrapping, startups, marketing, calm companies, and business ethics. My blog: https://justinjackson.ca Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/justinjackson.ca

These are the voice memos I sent to Adam Wathan last night

My friend Adam Wathan has a new podcast called Adam's Morning Walk [https://adams-morning-walk.transistor.fm/], and in the last episode he talked about how he's thinking about building with AI [https://adams-morning-walk.transistor.fm/episodes/what-should-we-build-with-ai]: How can someone sit in front of a text area and explain what they want in enough detail that the AI is gonna produce something good? I was listening to this episode last night and it brought up all sorts of thoughts for me. So I opened up telegram and sent him a series of (slightly inebriated) voice memos. I'm publishing these here in case they spark some thoughts/ideas for you as well. F-stop example [https://f-stop.vercel.app/] If you have a response, let me know! Reply on Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:nr55rexy4s2we22j56d4n46b/post/3m6pk2a5ygx2k]

How high is customer demand?

Successful startups don't create demand. They position themselves in the path of existing demand. In a good market, customers provide their own motivation. Your job isn't to create customer motivation; it's to find where it already exists and then build something that satisfies it. Timestamps: 00:00 I was listening to the Offsite podcast [https://pod.link/1822851694/episode/aHR0cHM6Ly9wZXJtYWxpbmsuY2FzdG9zLmNvbS9wb2RjYXN0LzY1NTQ5L2VwaXNvZGUvMjIzMjQ1NA]. https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UC1MLC2TEdrvAyKU8R0ID3Pw 00:20 What does it take for a customer to take out their credit card? 00:46 How high is the customer's desire for the product? 01:23 When will a customer buy even when there's friction? 01:59 The pitfalls of optimizing a product when there's no demand 02:45 A framework for assessing Market Demand 03:21 Conclusion Watch the whole episode of Jordan's conversation with Ruben [https://youtu.be/NHNsKAPMkMk?si=ywelTQj_lw5p3DzH]. ★ More about me: ★ I'm Justin Jackson. I founded Transistor.fm [https://transistor.fm/?via=justin] (a podcast hosting and analytics platform) with Jon Buda. I write, podcast, and make videos about bootstrapping, startups, marketing, calm companies, and business ethics. My blog [https://justinjackson.ca] Bluesky [https://bsky.app/profile/justinjackson.ca]