Karo, thank you for featuring my journey in your Build with Attitude series!! How fun to see my own stepping stones from "chiphead" to clean-up crew, and vibe coder to builder. An excellent job capturing the nuance of my learning path :-D
Great to see a balance of getting your hands on AI without the crazy hype. This is really a “you can just do things” technology, and you don’t have to be an overselling huckster to do big things (and have great Substack content).
This is, by a considerable margin, the most original product series I’ve ever encountered. I particularly appreciate Dee’s refreshing honesty. Thank you.
Dee, I didn't know you were building with AI! I loved reading about your sensible and sane approach. Looking forward to hearing more about what you create.
As always, thank you Karo for this thoughtful series!
Karen, you're one of the builders in public that I learned from! The quote in Karo's post "What kept me going was a mix of stubbornness and watching other Substack builders ship imperfect work in public...If they could learn by doing, so could I." Yup. You're one of my informal teachers 😁
Product orgs and builders, it’s a great reminder to focus on embedding our product’s unique taste and operating model into AI systems, so they can consistently perform as expected. Plus, it’s a thoughtful approach to prioritizing responsible practices and customer value over the excitement and fleeting trends.
This is a strong piece because it refuses the easiest move in this moment: perform certainty.
What stood out most is how clearly this frames judgment as the real product. Not speed, not novelty, not “look what I shipped in a weekend,” but the discipline to decide where not to experiment, where trust boundaries actually live, and who absorbs the consequences when things go wrong.
Dee’s story lands precisely because it’s not aspirational theater. It’s a lived pattern. Big upstream confidence, real downstream cleanup. The way this connects product craft to responsibility, not just capability, feels like the missing counterweight to a lot of AI discourse right now.
This is the kind of work that gives people permission to build without lying to themselves about the cost.
Hey Karo! Thank you for featuring ChatGRP first of all. Second, I really like what Dee had to say about trust boundaries, simplicity, and build-vs-buy. I worked with a team in 2025 who wanted to DIY every. single. thing. And, it eventually made me realize we were never going to get anywhere together with thinking like that. SO important to know when and where each makes sense for each project.
Appreciate your comments and insights, Christopher. I actually flinched when you mentioned working for a team that wanted to "DIY every.single.thing"! 🤪
I've been toying around with the idea of building out an app outside of my day-to-day role as a side project, but I've been hesitant because I still feel as though there's so much I don't know about what could go wrong! This is a very thoughtful framework though and one that will be helpful as I move towards action.
I'm so happy to hear that you found this post useful, Sydney! Do feel free to DM me if you'd like more details of this framework that didn't make it into Karo's piece. It might help you to avoid unnecessary gotchas. But I would still encourage you to jump on in--the learning curve is part of the fun :-D
Loved everything about this. There's sooo much pressure right now to vibe code everything and prove you can build fast. And I fall into the FOMO often (I'm grateful for my husband who's always like "you're already good at what you do, you don't need to do EVERYTHING. I'll build it" 🤣)
Judgement is exactly what's sometimes missing from most ship fast advice :)
I actually see the revolution of automation bottom up. I've been hiring what I refer to as "Ops Hackers" for 3 to 4 years. They're typically young (under 30 & my average is 25) and are predisposed to automate themselves in their role with or without permission. Totally comfortable consuming AI/apps that do the work or done once updates many times. When I get it right they're 10x more effective than those who're not predisposed to automate. So in my line of sight (small data point) the kids are leading the adults in this revolution
Thank you Dee McCrorey and Karo (Product with Attitude) for such useful lessons. For long I was hesitant but then took the leap and that’s where Dee’s point on respecting user’s cognitive load matters most IMO for any app. Learning from lessons of actual builders offering simple and effective tips matter most when growing. The builder summaries are awesome.(BTW, thanks for the feature too at the end, means a lot)
Karo, thank you for featuring my journey in your Build with Attitude series!! How fun to see my own stepping stones from "chiphead" to clean-up crew, and vibe coder to builder. An excellent job capturing the nuance of my learning path :-D
Thank you for agreeing to be a part of this! We need more builders like you!
Thank you, Karo :-D
Great to see a balance of getting your hands on AI without the crazy hype. This is really a “you can just do things” technology, and you don’t have to be an overselling huckster to do big things (and have great Substack content).
Thank you Alex! It was great to have Dee as a guest. Thank you for reading and commenting 🤗
This is, by a considerable margin, the most original product series I’ve ever encountered. I particularly appreciate Dee’s refreshing honesty. Thank you.
That makes me very happy! Thank you Adam! And you're right, Dee's honesty is what makes this interview so valuable.
Thank you, Adam 😁
Dee, I didn't know you were building with AI! I loved reading about your sensible and sane approach. Looking forward to hearing more about what you create.
As always, thank you Karo for this thoughtful series!
Karen, you're one of the builders in public that I learned from! The quote in Karo's post "What kept me going was a mix of stubbornness and watching other Substack builders ship imperfect work in public...If they could learn by doing, so could I." Yup. You're one of my informal teachers 😁
Thank you so much! 🤗 So glad that I was able to make building feel more accessible!
My pleasure, thank you for reading Karen!
Dee and Karo, your post is fantastic! For
Product orgs and builders, it’s a great reminder to focus on embedding our product’s unique taste and operating model into AI systems, so they can consistently perform as expected. Plus, it’s a thoughtful approach to prioritizing responsible practices and customer value over the excitement and fleeting trends.
Thank you, Soumya--appreciate your nice comments and reminders! :-D
Thank you so much Soumya, it means a lot!
This is a strong piece because it refuses the easiest move in this moment: perform certainty.
What stood out most is how clearly this frames judgment as the real product. Not speed, not novelty, not “look what I shipped in a weekend,” but the discipline to decide where not to experiment, where trust boundaries actually live, and who absorbs the consequences when things go wrong.
Dee’s story lands precisely because it’s not aspirational theater. It’s a lived pattern. Big upstream confidence, real downstream cleanup. The way this connects product craft to responsibility, not just capability, feels like the missing counterweight to a lot of AI discourse right now.
This is the kind of work that gives people permission to build without lying to themselves about the cost.
Thank you for that thoughtful comment Mark! Glad you enjoyed it!
I love Dee's responsible stance and how your format mirrors the thesis, no performative certainty, just clarity.
Me too! Some of Dee's answers were almost identical to the ones I'd give myself. Really enjoyed this interview.
Thank you, Cara, for noting this and for reinforcing Karo's format--this is just one of the ways that makes her series so powerful!
Hey Karo! Thank you for featuring ChatGRP first of all. Second, I really like what Dee had to say about trust boundaries, simplicity, and build-vs-buy. I worked with a team in 2025 who wanted to DIY every. single. thing. And, it eventually made me realize we were never going to get anywhere together with thinking like that. SO important to know when and where each makes sense for each project.
Appreciate your comments and insights, Christopher. I actually flinched when you mentioned working for a team that wanted to "DIY every.single.thing"! 🤪
I've been toying around with the idea of building out an app outside of my day-to-day role as a side project, but I've been hesitant because I still feel as though there's so much I don't know about what could go wrong! This is a very thoughtful framework though and one that will be helpful as I move towards action.
That's wonderful Sydney!
I'm so happy to hear that you found this post useful, Sydney! Do feel free to DM me if you'd like more details of this framework that didn't make it into Karo's piece. It might help you to avoid unnecessary gotchas. But I would still encourage you to jump on in--the learning curve is part of the fun :-D
Thank you so much for the mention! 😊
Yaaay, collab with Dee :)
Loved everything about this. There's sooo much pressure right now to vibe code everything and prove you can build fast. And I fall into the FOMO often (I'm grateful for my husband who's always like "you're already good at what you do, you don't need to do EVERYTHING. I'll build it" 🤣)
Judgement is exactly what's sometimes missing from most ship fast advice :)
Thank you both for a great read this morning!!
Thanks Mia!! You & hubby are the right feisty balance to one another 😆 🙌
I actually see the revolution of automation bottom up. I've been hiring what I refer to as "Ops Hackers" for 3 to 4 years. They're typically young (under 30 & my average is 25) and are predisposed to automate themselves in their role with or without permission. Totally comfortable consuming AI/apps that do the work or done once updates many times. When I get it right they're 10x more effective than those who're not predisposed to automate. So in my line of sight (small data point) the kids are leading the adults in this revolution
Here’s to the 10x effective young’uns leading us into the future—hopefully, responsibly 🥂
I'd be your perfect employee, if not for the...yhm...age thing 😂
Wonderful and inspiring as always. Thank you.
Thank you, Iwette 🙌
Awesome post. Thanks for laying out so clearly about Dee's journey "vibe coding" actual useful stuff.
Thank you Dee McCrorey and Karo (Product with Attitude) for such useful lessons. For long I was hesitant but then took the leap and that’s where Dee’s point on respecting user’s cognitive load matters most IMO for any app. Learning from lessons of actual builders offering simple and effective tips matter most when growing. The builder summaries are awesome.(BTW, thanks for the feature too at the end, means a lot)
Thank you, Dheeraj for the nice comments :) Congrats on your new build!
Thank you, cheers to keep building "Product with Attitude" :)
Love it. Especially about making simplicity and value the primary marker. When we move that way, we can't fail.
Thank you Dennis!