I'm finally ready to share it..
No-code AI | Avoiding startup failure | Competitor playbook | Notion AI experiments | The iPhone slayer + loads more…
🆕 Personal Updates
This is my first issue of 2024 and it feels great to be writing again. Firstly, a huge thanks to my boy Troy for stepping in a putting together a fantastic January edition while I took some time off for the birth of our baby boy.
For all parents out there, I have a huge amount of respect for you all. To say this is an adjustment is an understatement.
I’m currently writing this between 10pm - 1am each night while he sleeps.
Lastly, I’m finally ready to share what I’ve been working on for the last couple of months. Truth be told, it’s been years in the making. I’ve included more about my new project below.
Right, let’s get to it - time for this month’s roundup 👇
🔥 Top post last month: the stunning Runway.com website.
📓 Articles
What to do if your product isn’t taking off
Lenny Rachitsky is an ex Product Manager turned newsletter and podcast creator who shares his wisdom on product, growth, and career growth. In this post, Lenny provides seven steps you can take today to try to turn things around if your product isn’t meeting your expectations.
It’s a daunting experience which I’ve personally and professionally experienced. Given the number of variables at play and various levers to consider pulling within your arsenal, it can be a fraught and overwhelming challenge to overcome with the odds stacked against you. However, the simplicity of this post pairs back with the potential options you have available to consider and Lenny does a great job outlining a series of concrete actions you can take today to try to turn things around.
How non-technical people are using AI to code
After spending almost a decade in the no-code space I can’t help but think it’s yet to live up to its promise despite all the value propositions of the countless no-code tools out there touting their advanced capabilities and simple user experience. However, it’s not to say they aren’t providing value, it’s more that they still have a long way to go to deliver on their promise and trust me it’s no easy task building no-code software products, I’ve spent years trying to tackle that challenge professionally.
A world where only 0.3% of people can create software is a world missing 99.7% of its potential." ― Adalo
However, the advancements in AI over the past two years have brought new capabilities for non-technical folks which most didn’t think would be possible this quickly. Earlier last year I tested a few AI tools to create this landing page and produced an article outlining how I did it, but the advancements have since progressed even further with the latest models and even more is possible.
In this post, Ben Tossell, founder of Makerpad crowdsourced a bunch of first-hand accounts from non-technical creators by asking them “How AI has enabled them you use code for real-life projects and use cases?”
🎁 Bonus content: Max Haining recently launched the The No-Code x AI Bootcamp - An immersive, hands-on, personalised learning experience for creators and operators who want to master the power of no-code and AI to build their MVP or side project.
🔗 Hyperlinks
Year-in-review compilations
One year I’m going to carve out the time during the holiday period to write my personal year in review. I’m certain there is a huge amount of value in undertaking yearly retrospectives which help calibrate your next year’s goals and ambitions. Until then I’m going to binge other creators’ years in reviews. Below are some fantastic year in reviews from some creators I respect.
Andrew Askins: 2023 year in review (plus free Notion template)
Packy McCormick: My lessons from 2023, the year the momentum stalled
ChatGPT and Notion AI Experiments
I’ve been a huge admirer of Linus for some time now. He’s a prolific researcher and creator who has been sharing his insight and prototypes on his blog and has built over 100 side projects to date. Recently he joined Notion’s AI team and went quiet for a while until I discovered this YouTube interview discussing how AI might augment our thinking, how he thinks about prompting to get the best results, and how he uses ChatGPT and Notion AI in his work and life.
🎁 Bonus content: Dan Shipper and Geoffrey Litt build an app together using ChatGPT and Replit in under 60 minutes during an interview.
Competitor Research and Strategy Playbook
There is no doubt the best content is created by people with real experience. Furthermore, it’s content which goes deep on a particular subject. Lastly, and this is somewhat rare - it’s content which is created with no motive, it’s pure. It’s just someone with a lot of valuable experience looking to share their learnings.
Patrick Campbell, built and bootstrapped ProfitWell, and sold to Paddle for over $200M. He’s a fascinating character and in my opinion, one of the most undervalued X follows.
In this post, Patrick provides a detailed breakdown of his competitor frameworks process and methodologies, including every tool, calculator, email/survey copy, etc. This will be the last guide you'll ever need on the topic.
“Competition is for losers…so don’t focus on competitors” Yet, it’s also the dumbest piece of business advice I’ve ever heard.
Be warned, this is a dense meaty read so don’t expect to fly through this, however, if you are looking for a comprehensive guide to competitor analysis this is it. I’ve personally been taking countless notes throughout reading this guide.
Gumroad Q3 2023 Public Board Meeting
Ever been curious to eavesdrop on a tech company’s quarterly board meeting? Well, today is your lucky day fellow business nerd. Sahil Lavingia, founder of Gumroad, likes to do things differently, and I love it. Previously he used Clubhouse to host a live user testing session, was the first startup to raise crowdfunding on Republic and started issuing dividends to investors and now he’s sharing his board meetings publically.
📱 Products
Validation Co | Product validation for non-technical creators
I haven’t shared this with anyone yet as I still have a few tweaks to make to the copy and layout. In the meantime, before I go public I would love Creator Club readers to take an exclusive sneak peek at my staging environment.
I've obsessed over product validation. The art and science of finding the answers to our riskiest assumptions and ultimately de-risking the probability we build something no one wants or needs. Validation Co is taking my 15 years of building software products and distilling them into an education and resource platform and beginning my mission to educate as many founders and creators as possible.
Validation Co is a dynamic launchpad for Founders looking to validate conceptual ideas, providing validation tools and resources to transform ideas into successful market-ready solutions.
Let me know your honest feedback. Think of this as a landing page roast. What do you like? what do you dislike? what could be improved? do you even understand what it is? Hit reply and let me know.
Rabbit R1 | A pocket companion
This year’s biggest CES 2024 launch has to be the Rabbit AI R1. A "pocket companion" that aims to upturn the dominance of smartphones in our lives by using artificial intelligence to complete tasks. Basically, using it as an always-on digital PA to whom you can outsource your digital life admin (in theory). But before we dive into the software, we can’t gloss over the hardware. Rabbit collaborated with Teenage Engineering to create the R1 - who in my opinion are up there with Apple’s product design team creating some of the most desirable-looking hardware products on the planet.
They’re not trying to replace your phone It’s AI-enabled hardware that understands interfaces & can complete tasks for you. For example, booking hotels, flights and car hire, ordering an Uber, ordering food, and booking restaurants. It’s also multimodal, meaning it can process images, text, speech, and numerical data. You can even teach it through screen sharing using its camera (AKA Rabit eye). Additionally, you don’t need to interact via the device, you can also email your Rabbit agent and ask it to complete tasks.
And before you assume this device is going to be the price of an iPhone, think again. It’s only $199 (albeit it’s sold out currently).
Honestly, I could write an entire newsletter about this device. I haven’t been this excited about a hardware launch since the iPhone.
However, it does beg the question of why we need another stand-alone device given most smartphones could run this software (some good suggestions here). Although, it does seem like every AI companion company is building their own hardware (Humane, Meta, Tab, Rewind). Perhaps the current state of mobile is just too restrictive for big ideas
🎁 Bonus content: Check out the keynote launch, it’s a masterclass in presenting and positioning (check out this thread of listing out the hidden marketing tricks in the keynote) and lastly this podcast interview with the founder of Rabbit Jesse Lyu.
Volv | The anti social media app
Gone are the days of discovering written content through social media. Call me old-fashioned but I don’t just want 10s video shorts, and virally manufactured threads, I’m looking for fresh and interesting content to read free of social algorithms.
Volv is an anti-social media app created by founders Priyanka & Shannon. Volv curates interesting content across the internet and delivers it in 9-second reads using AI saving you time deciding if it’s worth delving deeper into without doom scrolling on social media.
The app reworks published news stories so that only the most important component parts remain. The bare essence is distilled into a few sentences that can be read by the user in no more than 9 seconds. Personally, I love this reductive approach.
Beta Directory | Discover the latest tech products
This month’s latest early access beta products brought to you by Beta Directory are:
Gal: a personal computer that is web-integrated, Ai-augmented, and owned by you.
Formulator: Build, browse, and generate UI components and landing pages, fast.
GalaxyBrain: A powerful mix of a notes + basic programming concepts + database.
🐽 Other links to consume
🔮 Flashback
This month I’ll leave you with the Tamagotchi. This tiny-looking device was first launched in Japan in 1996 by Bandai and quickly became a social phenomenon. Just Bandai alone sold 82m units. Talk about creating a sticky product, the entire game involved ensuring you kept your digital pet alive and well which required consistent care and attention. Tamagotchi’s pioneered this type of gameplay, where the game does not pause even if you turn off your device. This was largely unheard of before the Tamagotchi’s release but now lives on in some of the world’s most popular games
“The success, according to Bandai, is because it appeals to the human nurturing instinct, in this case the urge to care for a digital pet—following its growth and development and making sure it doesn’t die.”
Check out this odd new Tamagotchi concept for sale which you can apparently touch.
💡 Bonus fact: tamago means egg in Japanese and uotchi is watch (the original version was initially meant to be a wristwatch).
That’s it for this month!
Don’t just stare, share!
There is genuinely no easier and better way to help the Creator Club than sharing this issue far and wide. If you liked it or even if you hated it but think someone you hate might like it?
I'll keep writing if you keep reading.
If you made it this far, hit reply or jump into the comments and tell me what you thought of this edition. Was this 🔥 or 🗑. I read every response 👀
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💬 Need some advice on building products. Grab some time with me.
🧪 Looking to validate an idea for a new business or side project? Check this out.
Until next the next issue,
Sam | @thisdickie 👨💻