In 2010 Kevin Systrom had an app called Burbn. Check-ins, plans, points, photos. It was running low on cash and people didn't stick around. So he deleted almost all of it. The stripped-down version had 25,000 people sign up on its first day. 18 months later Facebook paid about $1 billion for it, with 13 employees. My first startup did the exact opposite 🧵

The most annoying thing about coding agents: they stop halfway to ask you a question, you're not there, and the task just sits.

So the agent asks by email, I answer with a voice note labeled "claude", and the same Claude Code session carries on within 10 minutes.

People usually tell this as a story about focus. I think the more useful bit is that the users told them what to keep. Photos weren't the plan. They were just the thing people kept doing. Look at your own product this week. What do people do in it without being asked? That's your Instagram. The rest might be Burbn.

I quit a six-figure job (after tax) in 2024 to work on my own products full time. Before that I built on the side while still employed. Two startups and an Amazon store in Australia. Each one lasted 8 to 10 months.

I answer with a voice note from wherever I am, and it picks the answer up on its next check.

Nobody warns you how much of "AI writes my code" is sitting in front of a terminal, waiting for it to ask you something.