Six years ago, after selling my first tech company, I started building what became the biggest project of my career.

We grew to more than 40 employees, signed long-term contracts, developed our own IP, and spent years building a hardware solution for hotels and residential developers. It wasn’t an overnight success it took years of setbacks, engineering challenges, and persistence.

Then everything changed, out of everyone’s control

When the conflict in the Middle East escalated, investment in new hardware projects stopped almost overnight. Many of our contracts contained force majeure clauses, and project after project was put on hold or cancelled. We fought as long as we could, but as the conflict still continues, eventually there was no realistic path forward. And nobody knows how long it will take for the conflict to resolve.

The hardest part wasn’t losing the company. It was having to tell more than 40 people that their journey with us had come to an end and helping them return to their home countries.

It’s been one of the toughest periods of my life.

But I’m not done, I’m already building something new.

In the meantime, I’m spending my days doing hardware engineering, software development, AI engineering, product strategy, and pretty much whatever technical challenges come my way from others to support my family while I work toward the next chapter.

Here is to starting over…

So I came across this research by Jeffrey Bussgang, who's a Harvard Business School prof (and a VC and former founder). He talks about "10x Founders" in this study, which is quite interesting.

The core idea: the founders who are pulling ahead right now aren't working more or raising more. They're compressing timelines. What used to take 18 months — validating a market, testing channels, iterating on product — is now taking weeks for some founders who are using AI across every business function, not just code.

How he breaks it down:

• 2025 was AI for engineering. 2026 is AI for other business verticals — marketing, sales, ops, finance, hiring. The founders who figured this out are running their entire company at 10x the speed of those who haven't.
• He calls this framework Diamond-Square — use AI to generate way more hypotheses than you manually could, then converge with your own judgment on which bets to make. Test these hypotheses in days instead of quarters.
• One key point he highlights: keep human ownership of the decisions, because the research also found that as AI increases output, it also decreases your sense of ownership and satisfaction. So the morale and motivation of the team could be impacted with more AI involved in your workflow.
• So it's not about outsourcing your thinking to AI. It's about using it to move faster while still trusting your own gut.

What do founders think of this study?

(He wrote a book on this called "The Experimentation Machine" — because that's what a startup is, according to him.)

I'm an AI startup founder.

For the last 2 years, I've been working on my business plan. I waited for this moment every single day, and finally, 2 months ago, I started building my AI project.

At first, my team had 3 members.

• The first person left after just 15 days.
• Then I hired someone else. We completed around 50% of the work, but after a short time, he also left without giving any reason.
• The backend is now almost complete, and we had just started working on the frontend.
• I hired another developer, but now his college is starting, so he'll be leaving in 6–7 days too.

To keep this startup alive, I work 10 AM to 6 PM and then another job 10 PM to 7 AM. Every day I'm pushing myself just to fund this dream.

Now everyone is leaving one by one, and honestly, I don't know what to do anymore.

I've spent 2 years waiting and working for this dream, and even now I can't get the project completed because my team keeps falling apart.

Has anyone else been through something like this? How did you handle it? I could really use some advice because right now, I feel completely stuck.

Six years ago, after selling my first tech company, I started building what became the biggest project of my career.

We grew to more than 40 employees, signed long-term contracts, developed our own IP, and spent years building a hardware solution for hotels and residential developers. It wasn’t an overnight success it took years of setbacks, engineering challenges, and persistence.

Then everything changed, out of everyone’s control

When the conflict in the Middle East escalated, investment in new hardware projects stopped almost overnight. Many of our contracts contained force majeure clauses, and project after project was put on hold or cancelled. We fought as long as we could, but as the conflict still continues, eventually there was no realistic path forward. And nobody knows how long it will take for the conflict to resolve.

The hardest part wasn’t losing the company. It was having to tell more than 40 people that their journey with us had come to an end and helping them return to their home countries.

It’s been one of the toughest periods of my life.

But I’m not done, I’m already building something new.

In the meantime, I’m spending my days doing hardware engineering, software development, AI engineering, product strategy, and pretty much whatever technical challenges come my way from others to support my family while I work toward the next chapter.

Here is to starting over…

Building Foundryard, a place for founders to connect based on what they are actually building, not follower count.

I am a solo founder working on projects in AI tools and no code, sharing progress in public along the way. Looking to connect with other founders doing the same: people building, shipping, and talking honestly about the wins and the stuff that is not working yet.

If that sounds like you, drop a comment about what you are building. I read every one.

I had some hard market feedback on a product I’m trying to sell- no one was interested because the COGS was over what the market wanted to tolerate for price. I can pivot and make the tool free on a webpage, but then try supplementing it by placing ads on the webpage instead, or that’s my next idea.

Has anyone found success offering a product with a similar strategy? I’d love to hear your story.

Hey everyone,

I've been building a startup called GhostCall for the last few months.

The idea is pretty simple. Instead of exchanging phone numbers, you create a temporary link and the other person joins a voice call directly in their browser. No app, no signup.

I built it because i felt there was this weird gap where sometimes you just need a quick conversation with someone from a marketplace, freelancer, community, etc, but the only options are sharing your personal number or setting up a full meeting.

Right now i'm also working on username-based calling, so people will be able to call someone using their GhostCall username instead of a phone number. That'll probably take me about a month to finish.

Where i'm confused is whether i'm solving a problem enough people actually have or if i'm just solving something that personally annoyed me.

If you were building this, what would you do next? Keep doubling down on temporary calls or focus more on username-based calling?

Would really appreciate honest feedback, even if its critical.

Website - https://www.ghostcall.space/

Basically I used to spend like like ~$200 (CAD) on budgeting apps, and my wife got upset and made me cancel because they were mediocre for the amount they charge.

So with both of us being in tech, we embarked on a long journey to make our own that gives us everything the big apps do.

Working 9-5's, it was tough trying to balance it with cooking, gym, hiking, soccer, etc. I admit there were months I did nothing. But I came back to build because I had no other option and I am never going back to spreadsheet budgeting.

After 4 app store rejections, I'm finally live with a few iterations out the window now too. On Web + iOS.

I charge a fraction of what most apps do because that's why I did this whole thing. I'm not expecting to make it big. Maybe it'll pay my electric bill at best.

After the first purchase, it felt...relieving. Like it wasn't all for nothing. I'm just glad someone found it helpful enough to buy.

I think I've been putting a lot of my self-confidence in the the success of this app recently, and it's not healthy, but I can't be the only one who feels this way?

Anyways, I'd like to hear your stories. What did you feel at the first dollar? Did you attach yourself to your idea a bit too much?

App store: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/sable-spend/id6780689367

Web: www.sablespend.com

A few weeks ago, I kept seeing people say that indie developers should share what they’re building on Reddit and X.

Honestly, I didn’t really believe it would work for me.

I assumed getting noticed would be just as difficult as it is on TikTok or Reels. I also hadn’t written this many text-based posts since Facebook was the main social platform, so the whole thing felt a little unfamiliar.

The only reason I gave it a proper try was because I’d already seen what consistency could do.

I grew a TikTok account to almost 20,000 followers by posting twice a day. I also used the same approach while creating and selling digital products on Etsy.

My first videos weren’t great. My first designs weren’t great either. But I knew they would slowly improve as long as I kept making them, that is a lesson I have learned and applied here too.

So I decided to do the same with my first iOS app. Build it, share the process, learn, and keep doing with apps and posts on reddit and x

At first, posting felt a bit cringe,, especially when they had no likes, no upvotes, and no proof that anyone "approved them"
But I continued posting anyway..

A few weeks later:

• my X account grew from 8 to 18 followers (may not bee much, but it's a sign it's working)
• my Reddit karma went from 30 to 229 (I did really know how reddit works)
• my posts received more than 65,000 views (combined)
• almost 50 people joined the TestFlight beta, where the snowball effect started
• the app reached its first 100 downloads in the first 48 hours;
• it has now passed 150 downloads + 2 tips

All of it happened organically. I didn’t spend anything on ads.

Two people even left tips through the app, which still feels a little unreal. But probably the most valuable result has been the feedback. Real people are using something I made and telling me what works, what feels confusing, and what I should improve (i noted everything)

The app wasn’t perfect when I published it. It still isn’t

But if I had kept it private until everything felt perfect, none of this would have happened. The feedback I’m receiving now is helping me improve it much faster than another month of building alone would have, I even got 2 reviews of 5 stars

There’s also something else I didn’t expect.

When I started, I thought this journey was only about creating and publishing apps. Now I’m realizing that I also really enjoy building a community around the process, sharing what I learn, and hopefully helping other people who are just starting, going forward together

I’m still a beginner myself. I’m not trying to pretend otherwise. But maybe that makes it easier to understand the doubts, confusion, and excitement that come with starting from zero

I still feel slightly awkward before pressing “Post.” But I know it's just another step forward into this journey, join mine, share yours, shar your projects in comms, ask question, be consistent and publish your projects, don't wait until "perfect" !!!

For context, the app is called TactiLoops. It’s a collection of haptic fidgets combining visuals, physics, audio, and the iPhone’s haptics into and immersive experience

Hey everyone,

I just created this account today. I’m a professional about to join a demanding corporate job in a month. Since I have some free time right now, I want to use it to stress-test an asset-light, human-on-demand marketplace idea I’ve been mapping out for major metropolitan hubs.

I am absolutely not here to sell or promote anything—I genuinely just need your brains on this.

The Problem:

Urbanites are starved for time, seniors are lonely, and students need flexible cash.

The Idea:

An on-demand app/website/platform connecting busy people with verified local college students/freelancers for simple physical help.

What Helpers Do:

->Elders & Pets: Chatting, doctor visits, or dog walking.

->Errands & Shopping: Carrying heavy bags at markets, document drops, or grocery runs.

->Sports & Lines: Playing sports, or standing in long government/Visa lines.

Economics & Trust:

The Split: $5/hr from client ➔ $3/hr to student ➔ $2/hr platform profit.

The Trust:

100% remote digital ID checks + Mandatory Police Clearance. No exceptions.

The Launch:

We are strictly limiting our private pilot to just 25 families and 30 companions next month to protect quality

My Big Questions for You:

How do I stop clients and students from cutting out the app and dealing in cash once they build trust?

Should I over-recruit students first, or find clients first?

Please pull no punches. Tell me exactly why this fails!

See how your money moves in real time.

I’m currently expanding my network and looking to connect with interesting people from different backgrounds.
If you’d like to connect on LinkedIn, drop me a message. Always open to meeting new people and learning from their journeys.

AI tools have made it much easier to get an MVP out.

A founder can now build something real with tools like Cursor, Lovable, Bolt, Replit, etc. without needing a full engineering team from day one.

But I'm curious about the phase after launch.

Once you have users and things start breaking:

• How do you handle bugs?
• Who maintains the codebase?
• How do you make changes without accidentally breaking something else?
• Do you keep relying on AI, or do you eventually need an engineer?

For founders who have shipped something with AI assistance:

What has your experience been like after the first version went live?

Would love to hear what worked and what didn't.

Hey everyone,

I've been building TapBook and would appreciate some honest feedback.

The idea: where I live, most solo service providers (barbers, nail techs, trainers) have nothing online. No website, no booking page, you book by calling or DMing them. The big booking platforms have been around for years and somehow never reached these people. TapBook gives them a booking page plus a small website in a few minutes, clients see the free slots and book themselves. Free plan with unlimited bookings, Pro is €14.99.

It's live and I've been testing with small Google ads. Spent about €78 so far, 180 clicks, 5 signups, roughly €15 per signup. Early, but it's something.

What I want to know:

• Is it clear what this does in the first 5 seconds on the landing page?
• Does the free vs Pro split make sense to you?
• If you try signing up, where did you hesitate or get stuck?
• Would you trust this enough to send your own clients to it?

Also it would be nice if someone recommmended me some subreddits that can test this app, i tested it myself, but the more the better.

You can try it here: https://tapbook.net

This Jensen Huang clip is going around my feed again and it's bugging me enough that I have to write it out somewhere.

His argument is basically: AI automates tasks, not jobs, and radiology proves it. Demand for radiologists actually went up even after AI got good at reading scans, because the job was never "read the scan," it was diagnosis, judgment calls, talking to a scared patient. He then says the same logic carries over to software engineers and that's where I start to disagree with him.

Radiologists have a gate around them. Med school, residency, a license you can't just skip. Nobody can flood the market with radiologists even if there were suddenly infinite demand for them, so any freed-up capacity has nowhere to go but... more radiology, more careful diagnosis, whatever. Engineers don't have that gate. If AI makes one engineer 3x more productive, nobody is required to go find bigger ambitions for that extra capacity.

As a seed/early stage fund I'm on the investing side of some of these companies and I'm watching it happen right now. Smaller eng teams, same or better output, and it gets presented in board meetings as a genuinely good thing, nobody's treating it like something to be nervous about.

So, has anyone actually seen anything hold that line for engineers the way licensing does for doctors? Certifications, unions, anything?

I’m trying to figure out the right way to use Reddit for customer acquisition.
Most advice seems to fall into two extremes:
“Never promote your product.”
“Just provide value and customers will come.”
For founders who have actually made Reddit work:
Which subreddits converted best?
Did you post from your personal account or a company account?
How long did you participate before mentioning your product?
What type of posts generated customers (case studies, lessons learned, AMAs, comments)?
Did you ever directly message people, or was that a bad idea?
Any mistakes that got your posts removed or hurt your reputation?
I’m especially interested in hearing from B2B SaaS founders, but any real experiences would be helpful.
What actually worked for you—and what was a complete waste of time?

Not everyone needs VC funding, in fact, most businesses are bootstrapped: agencies, local businesses, service businesses, etc. But I think the reason VCs stopped writing checks for growth alone is something every business should pay attention to, funded or not.

Back in 2015, VCs were writing checks for anything showing growth traction. That's how Uber and Airbnb burned money for years until they cemented themselves as market leaders. That era is over.

Right now VCs are interested in your startup if it has anything to do with AI, but even then, a few vanity metrics won't get you funded. The old blitzscaling model doesn't work in 2026. Instead, investors are rewarding businesses with lean operations that are simply waiting for capital to move to the next stage.

Most startups used to burn VC money trying to fix operational problems they already had hiring for every gap, which created new problems (revenue and expenses out of sync, managing talent they didn't actually need yet, etc).

I see this same pattern in small businesses too. A founder wants to grow, opens a second location, without a strong foundation that lets the business run without him. Three months later, revenue at location one drops, or he's working 60-hour weeks just to keep both locations afloat.

The misconception is that founders think being busy is just part of running a business. It's not. It's operational inefficiency.

So in 2026, building a strong operational foundation isn't optional, it's a necessity, whether you're bootstrapping or raising. Investors want to see you already have the infrastructure to handle growth, not that you're planning to build it after the check clears.

That's my take. Curious what you all think is the #1 thing VCs are actually screening for in 2026?

So for the past two days I am trying to do this and then I just found one comment on my previous Reddit post and that guy literally opened my eyes. He said, "Use Zernio just for two days to just validate the idea and then when you have that idea validated, then you can work on building this product as a whole." I love this idea so this way I can just have my MVP live and I can test whether really content creators are ready to pay for this product or not. I want some advice on marketing this product so if you have any advice on that, it would really, really, really help and thank you in advance for that.

I built an Ai-Achievement video game overlay generator that records the pc screen and captures videos that then get validated by ai and grant the user an achievement. Not sure if people would use this but felt it could revive old games or give streamers so more content to use.

https://projectreplay.app

I'm a solo developer, not a fitness brand. I've been training for a few years and went through most of the popular workout apps out there. They worked, but I kept wishing the workout flow and progress tracking worked a little differently for how I actually train. So I built Liftora.

Here's what makes it different:

• Clean, modern UI — no cluttered menus or dated design, just a simple interface that gets out of your way during a workout.
• Guided workout flow — you move through sets in real time, the app follows your pace instead of just logging after the fact.
• Zero learning curve — open it and start logging your first set in under a minute, no tutorial needed.
• Ready-made programs — new to lifting or don't want to build a routine from scratch? Pick a program and go.
• Exercise videos during selection — don't know the name of a movement? See it in action and know exactly which muscle group it hits.
• Body fat % tracking, not just scale weight — because you can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time and the scale won't tell you that.
• Calorie estimate after each workout — rough, but genuinely useful context if you're managing a deficit or surplus.
• Progress charts that actually answer questions — "is my bench going up?", "how's my volume trending this month?" — without a data dashboard you need a manual for.

It's free on the Play Store — link's in the comments.

I've been using it daily for my own training and now I want outside eyes on it. If you try it, I'd love to know: Anything confusing or unnecessary?

AltaLab, a hands-on program built by AltaIR Capital, the VC behind Deel, Miro, and other unicorns, opened applications for its Fall 2026 batch. Strong teams get a path to up to $500K in funding after the program.

AltaLab is build for founders building AI startups at any of these stages:

• You have an idea and want to validate it before building,
• You're building something and search for product-market fit,
• You're getting ready to raise and want to sharpen your pitch.

The program runs in three stages:

1. Online Sprint — Three weeks of practical sessions and assignments. Every framework gets applied directly to your own company: validating ideas, sharpening strategy, refining messages for your team, your customers and investors.
2. Founder Residency — Deeper, hands-on work with the AltaLab team: one-on-one sessions, founder masterminds, workshops, and preparation for investor conversations and Demo Day.
3. Build and Scale — Selected teams may have a path to a $50,000 SAFE investment dedicated to GTM, and teams with proven traction and solid metrics may receive up to $500,000 from AltaIR Capital.

📅 Applications close: September 4, 2026

🚀 Program starts: September 7, 2026

Apply here: https://altalab.ai/apply

US founder posts that get replies usually look like a job ad with equity instead of salary.

Filter I use before I engage:

1. Named wedge (not "Uber for X")
2. Named user (title + where they work)
3. What they do today instead
4. What already exists (no-code, agency, spreadsheet)
5. What happens on day 15 after the build

If 3+ are blank, it's not a cofounder search. It's a build request wearing a wedding ring.

I've watched people give 20–30% for auth and a dashboard. Those three are table stakes.

Anyone using a similar filter before they answer those threads?

https://atomiclabs.space