Playful Software

I came back to code because AI made it possible for me to build at a level I couldn't before. I'm not coding despite being CEO of YC. I'm coding because this is the most important technological shift since the internet and I'd be an idiot to experience it from the bleachers. I'm 45, running the most important startup institution in the world, and I can ship production software at 2am. That's not a distraction from the job. That is the job understood correctly.

“Taste is the only moat” - VCs right before investing in gambling apps, AI to raise kids, and startups with 12,000 fake GitHub stars

I know it's meant to seem an annoying habit, but I'd like it if I had a friend who was constantly teaching me random facts like Sheldon Cooper does.

If I could wave a magic wand to bring the future into the present faster, iPhone would become an open platform with open APIs and real consumer choice instead of a walled garden that is increasingly behind the times like the travesty that is Siri

With AI coding, it’s possible every app / website becomes an App Store. The second and third order effects of this are interesting to think about.

There’s a new kind of burnout now. Not from working too much. From trying to keep up with tools, models, frameworks, launches, and 600 people saying “it’s over” every morning.

Why would you build an app that you are not passionate about? Like ik so many people who are building apps for cash grab purposes (Ex: looksmaxing/pure slop apps) Why not put your energy into building for an audience you are apart of? (Genuinely curious)

Coding an app is the new starting a podcast.

You’re offered $5 million to uninstall Instagram from your phone forever. Would you do it???

no one talks about the biggest risk of vibe coding building so fast that you skip validation entirely speed is a superpower until it helps you build the wrong thing faster make sure people actually have the problem you’re “solving” before firing up claude code

The joy of sharing things you made with your friends is exactly why I got hooked on programming as a kid, and now everyone can do it.

the internet right now is basically a cheat code for anyone willing to treat it as a playground rather than just a broadcast medium. professional & personal are converging in a way that benefits people who are genuinely themselves online. the personal brand cringe era is giving way to something more like just being interesting which is way more sustainable & way harder to fake.

The ultimate status symbol is being able to stay offline while still remaining connected Can you still find tasteful places to eat or the right brands to shop at, the right people to know, the right places to go? Those who are truly connected don't need the feed because they have the taste that keeps them plugged in without having to log on

I walked past a restaurant and saw a family of three sitting together, all staring at their phones, not talking, drinking Coke. I think in the future there will be fewer financial gaps, but much bigger dopamine gaps. The same technology that makes life cheaper and more comfortable will also widen those dopamine gaps. We’re building increasingly addictive products, and with AI-generated content, resisting cheap dopamine will get harder and harder. Agency is the real moat.

The greatest period of creativity is just about to begin if you believe you can write the prompt for it