Field Notes
Dispatches from the trenches.
Short notes on building without a safety net — method, mindset, and the occasional lesson learned the hard way.
AI for founders
Use AI to build a business without inventing your evidence
A practical evidence record for founders using AI: separate observations, interpretations and generated proposals, then assign a next check.
ReadFirst customers
Design a first pilot without signing up for unlimited work
Scope a first customer pilot with a clear delivery, support boundary and review. Includes a practical one-page offer exercise.
ReadCustomer discovery
Customer interviews that change a decision, not just confirm an idea
Learn to investigate real customer situations, separate observation from interpretation and choose a useful next test.
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AI-Native Operations
AI is your first hire
Not a magic wand — a tireless junior who does the 80% you shouldn’t.
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Selling
Sell it before you build it
The most honest validation there is: ask for money before the thing exists.
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Mindset
If you’re not embarrassed, you shipped too late
The first version is a question, not a monument. Ask it early.
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Validation
The rule of twenty conversations
Before a line of code, twenty honest talks with the people who’d actually pay.
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Selling
Do things that don’t scale
The fastest way to learn what to build is to deliver it by hand first.
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Distribution
One channel beats your best feature
Distribution kills more good products than competition ever will.
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Mindset
Permission is a trap
Nobody is coming to tell you you’re ready. Proof beats permission.
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Pricing
Price is a message, not a number
What you charge tells people what you’re worth before they try anything.
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Validation
How to run a smoke test this week
A tiny experiment that measures intent, not opinion — in three or four days.
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Pricing
Unit economics on a napkin
If one sale doesn’t make sense, a thousand won’t either. Do the napkin math first.
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Validation
Validate before you build a single thing
The cheapest experiment that tells you whether anyone actually wants what you’re about to make.
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Ramen Profitability
What “ramen profitable” actually means
The founder’s milestone that has nothing to do with scale — and everything to do with freedom.
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