Justin Jackson

@justinjackson.ca

17485 Followers 894 Following

Internet stuntman 🤸‍♂️ justinjackson.ca ⚡ Bootstrapping, SaaS, podcasting, calm companies 🎙️ Co-founder of Transistor.fm (podcast hosting).

90s looking government website
After I'd shared a draft of this article, a reader named Emmett wrote back: "This idea hits hard for me.... Now, I just need to figure out what "the hardest thing" for me is." Doing "the hard thing" means pursuing the highest-value problem you can find that still sits inside your zone of expertise; the hardest problem you're personally in a position to win. Usually, that's a problem space most people won't touch, in a market where the demand already exists.
Book title: “How to master video games” from the 80s
Spoof of the DC Talk song "Nu Thang" - lyrics are: "You know who's doin' it?" (Justin) "Is doing a nu thang."
Vintage 1989 Sharp advertisement featuring a “Cyber Stick” gaming controller setup. A CRT monitor displays a flight combat game, with a large dual-joystick control unit in front and a tower unit beside it. The background shows a grid of squares with lightning imagery. Japanese text appears at the top and bottom, with “SHARP” and “CYBER STICK” prominently displayed.
Gmail filter: Matches: "This company runs autonomously · polsia.com" Do this: Delete it
"A bespoke software revolution? I don't buy it. It'll exist. It already exists. Small consultants and big consulting firms have made custom software for years. It almost always sucks. It’s bloated, confusing, and because the client pays, it’s built wrong in all the ways. Who’s excited about bespoke software? Software makers! Of course they're excited about building bespoke software — that's what they do. Your feed is full of people who love making software talking about making software. Of course they’re excited about the revolution. Echo, echo, echo... Most people don’t like computers. Nobody in tech wants to say that out loud. People tolerate computers. They use them because they have to. Given the choice, most would rather not think about them at all. So when someone suggests that AI means everyone will build their own custom tools, ask who "everyone" is. The three-person accounting firm drowning in client paperwork? They want the paperwork gone, not a new system to maintain. The regional logistics company with 40 trucks? They want the routes optimized, not Joe spouting off about this new system he’s been messing around with. The law firm billing 70-hour weeks? They want leverage on their time, not a software project to design. They don’t hate technology. But building and maintaining their own critical systems isn’t their wheelhouse, regardless of how much faster and easier it’s become. It's another job on top of the job. Will these people use AI? Absolutely, for all sorts of things. Will some outliers go deep and build real custom systems? Sure, but they're almost always people who already had some pull toward software. The curiosity was already there. They were dabblers before. Giving everyone access to software building tools doesn't mean everyone becomes a builder. A powerful excavator doesn't turn a homeowner into a contractor. Most people just want the hole dug. They don’t want the responsibility either."
Youtube is against slop (but only of the AI variety). In his 2026 letter, YouTube CEO Neal Mehta said that one of his big focuses for 2026 is “managing AI slop.” He is committed to stopping the platform from being flooded with “low quality, repetitive content.” This is a worthy goal, and godspeed brother.
Reddit post: “I finally shipped an fully working program with the help of claude. Mass proud of myself. Then I realized something obvious that every builder learns the hard way: **A product without users is just a fancy side project.** I was mass deep in code for months. Debugging. Fixing vulnerabilities. Making the UI pixel perfect with that retro terminal aesthetic. Built a whole leveling system with 10 tiers. And then... crickets. Turns out building is the easy part. Getting people to actually use it? That's the real challenge nobody tells you about when you're mass deep in the code.”
“Traveling confessional screen” $225
Screenshot of Cursor AI
Jon and I went running in Canmore, AB
Beware: a cougar is hanging out around the elementary school. It killed a cat.