Loved the concept and the way you brought it to life. New builders are going to start thinking differently because of this. letting the community shape the meaning of attitude instead of imposing one is a smart move.
I’m getting the gamification nudges as well and honestly, the sameness is creeping in. First in writing, now in interactions and what the apps look like. So many of them are converging on the same “Lovable look.”
Really looking forward to how this series evolves. It's powerful.
I’ve been following Jenny (and you too, Karo!) and I’m genuinely inspired by the evolution - especially the willingness to share not just the wins, but the messy middle.
I spent four hours yesterday wrestling with what I swore was a “simple” feature, only to ceremoniously delete the entire git branch by evening. A very normal day in the life of a builder 😅
That frustrating, invisible part rarely makes it to the feed, so I really appreciate you both for showing it anyway.
Thank you so much, Finn! That—spending hours on something that seems “simple,” only to scrap it entirely—resonates with me so much. I’ve put myself through that so many times, and every time I tell myself this is the last time, I’m done. Of course I’m not done.
You brought Jenny's story to life so beautifully, Karo, and the “ship fast but don’t ship what you don’t understand” line is such a great north star for building with AI. Would expect anything less from Jenny! ❤️
"I want to ship fast, but I refuse to ship what I don't understand" - this is the tension every AI builder faces right now.
I've been trying to cut through the hype around AI tools. Everyone shares their wins, but the real learning comes from honest assessment. Claude Code is genuinely powerful - I built an entire autonomous agent system with it - but I also had to understand every piece before trusting it.
The validation insight from Jenny is fascinating - builders fear their AI-assisted work lacks legitimacy. I've felt this too. But I've found the cure is showing your work: documenting the process, the decisions, the human judgment calls. The AI didn't make those choices. You did.
That's a solid process Pawel! And the validation insight is the most fascinating part of the interview. If Jenny didn't uncover it (and didn't act on it) she'd end up building a completely different thing - a showcase, not a community. That's a powerful reminder that talking to users is one of the most important parts of building a product, even with AI. Thank you for reading and commenting!
Thanks for sharing this Jenny. So nice to debunk social media narratives and show the real side of building. I can relate to the late nights :) Oh and thanks for shedding light on the vibe coding stigma too. Folks got to get easy on that!
Loved this write up Karo and Jenny. Particularly the publish vs perfection. I don't believe in perfection but the beauty of imperfection & so it's strikes chord with me to push things out, learn, adjust, pivot and slowly polish. Take care..keep building 👏
Wow - that's so cool. I just love the fact theyre so valuable to people. Paid Subscribers get access to over 200 of the visuals. We were getting so many individual requests it was a simple decision. We've already dropped 10 + assets into the Founder Toolkit too. Things like a AI that will analyze a Pitch Deck and make recommendations - super popular. Might be good if my builder and you have a chat some time - imagine what we could build together 🤓
Love the principles, Jenny. I agree saying no is a core PM capability. Clear values act as a decision framework and help us rally and focus on what truly matters.
Thank you, Poojitha. I really do prefer focusing on actual value rather than building without a clear focus.
However, I understand how hard it is to say no, especially in a corporate environment, where refactoring can make the code look much more beautiful and tidy.
Karo, I so love how you've woven Jenny's journey into a format that flows and is fun to follow. Attitude *will* look different for the builders in the series and for those experiencing it through your storytelling. Big kudos to you for building this with purpose! 🙌
Really grateful to be part of this! Excited to join the movement and contribute alongside everyone here.
Very grateful you're a part of the series, Jenny, you're on of the people of shaping this space!
Loved the concept and the way you brought it to life. New builders are going to start thinking differently because of this. letting the community shape the meaning of attitude instead of imposing one is a smart move.
Thank you Ela! And thank you for reading and commenting!
I’m getting the gamification nudges as well and honestly, the sameness is creeping in. First in writing, now in interactions and what the apps look like. So many of them are converging on the same “Lovable look.”
Really looking forward to how this series evolves. It's powerful.
Thank you Lulu!
I’ve been following Jenny (and you too, Karo!) and I’m genuinely inspired by the evolution - especially the willingness to share not just the wins, but the messy middle.
I spent four hours yesterday wrestling with what I swore was a “simple” feature, only to ceremoniously delete the entire git branch by evening. A very normal day in the life of a builder 😅
That frustrating, invisible part rarely makes it to the feed, so I really appreciate you both for showing it anyway.
Thank you so much, Finn! That—spending hours on something that seems “simple,” only to scrap it entirely—resonates with me so much. I’ve put myself through that so many times, and every time I tell myself this is the last time, I’m done. Of course I’m not done.
Thank you so much for reading Finn! I've been following your journey too, it's fascinating!
Learning first means you're not shipping based on assumptions.
You're shipping based on what actually breaks when real people use it.
Thank you so much for reading and commenting Ruben, it means a lot!
You brought Jenny's story to life so beautifully, Karo, and the “ship fast but don’t ship what you don’t understand” line is such a great north star for building with AI. Would expect anything less from Jenny! ❤️
Thank you so much Daria! I look forward to learning from yours!
It's a great north star indeed! Thank you for reading Daria, can't wait to feature you too!
"I want to ship fast, but I refuse to ship what I don't understand" - this is the tension every AI builder faces right now.
I've been trying to cut through the hype around AI tools. Everyone shares their wins, but the real learning comes from honest assessment. Claude Code is genuinely powerful - I built an entire autonomous agent system with it - but I also had to understand every piece before trusting it.
The validation insight from Jenny is fascinating - builders fear their AI-assisted work lacks legitimacy. I've felt this too. But I've found the cure is showing your work: documenting the process, the decisions, the human judgment calls. The AI didn't make those choices. You did.
Wrote about my honest take on Claude Code here: https://thoughts.jock.pl/p/claude-code-review-real-testing-vs-zapier-make-2026
That's a solid process Pawel! And the validation insight is the most fascinating part of the interview. If Jenny didn't uncover it (and didn't act on it) she'd end up building a completely different thing - a showcase, not a community. That's a powerful reminder that talking to users is one of the most important parts of building a product, even with AI. Thank you for reading and commenting!
I love how you treat AI’s processes Pawel! Thank you so much for sharing it.
Shipping with purpose and delivering the right value matters more than speed. Great read!
Exactly. Thank you Just J for reading and commenting, we appreciate it 🤗
Thanks for sharing this Jenny. So nice to debunk social media narratives and show the real side of building. I can relate to the late nights :) Oh and thanks for shedding light on the vibe coding stigma too. Folks got to get easy on that!
Thank you Chintan!
Thank you for reading Chintan! 🤗
Happy belated Substack anniversary, Jenny!
Thanks for the mention, Karo!
Thank you so much Hodman! I look forward to our future Substack anniversaries!
Pleasure! I love what you're doing!
Loved this write up Karo and Jenny. Particularly the publish vs perfection. I don't believe in perfection but the beauty of imperfection & so it's strikes chord with me to push things out, learn, adjust, pivot and slowly polish. Take care..keep building 👏
Thanks so much, Chris! 🙌
And wow, you’ve got some really cool stuff coming out. I definitely need to catch up on your work!
Love that approach too. Thank you for reading Chris. Btw - shared your pitch infographics with my team at work 🤗
Wow - that's so cool. I just love the fact theyre so valuable to people. Paid Subscribers get access to over 200 of the visuals. We were getting so many individual requests it was a simple decision. We've already dropped 10 + assets into the Founder Toolkit too. Things like a AI that will analyze a Pitch Deck and make recommendations - super popular. Might be good if my builder and you have a chat some time - imagine what we could build together 🤓
Uuuu, that's a really good idea!
Love the principles, Jenny. I agree saying no is a core PM capability. Clear values act as a decision framework and help us rally and focus on what truly matters.
Thank you, Poojitha. I really do prefer focusing on actual value rather than building without a clear focus.
However, I understand how hard it is to say no, especially in a corporate environment, where refactoring can make the code look much more beautiful and tidy.
It is! Thank you for reading Poojitha 🤗
Fantastic read! I love this mindset: "I want people to stop hiding the fact that they used AI and start celebrating what they actually built."
Thank you so much Anastasia! This is my favorite one in the entire conversation!
Thank you Anastasia! 🤗
Karo, I so love how you've woven Jenny's journey into a format that flows and is fun to follow. Attitude *will* look different for the builders in the series and for those experiencing it through your storytelling. Big kudos to you for building this with purpose! 🙌
Yes, everyone should have a chance to contribute to the definition. Thank you for your kind words and for reading Dee!
You have such an awesome skill at creating these illustrations, I love the cartoon Jenny.
And I love even more the quote of “not shipping hwat I don’t understand”
It hits right on the nail’s head.
That “build fast, break things” mentality needs to go.
What a great collab!
Haha, thank you Juan, I also love the cartoon Jenny 🤗
Thank you, Juan, this awesome skill really belongs to Karo 😄 But I’ll happily enjoy trickles of the admiration here.
And you’re right, I’m really glad we ended up pulling out those quotes and the mentality I didn’t emphasize elsewhere.
Jenny’s approach shows that thoughtful product thinking matters more than speed or hype.
Thank you so much Michael! AI granted us speed and hype, now it’s on us to provide the thinking :)
Exactly, it really does. Thank you for reading Michael 🤗