iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 21/01/2026

Working hard doesn’t guarantee success, but it’s definitely required

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 08/05/2025

"You need to talk to someone." Running out of money, failing at Upwork and learning the power of warm outreach. It’s been a month. Find out the mistakes I’ve made and what I’ve learned from them this month in Dev Builds #7. Coming to your inbox tomorrow 📥

100

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 25/04/2025

I want to make websites like artists make paintings. 🖼️ Jenny Saville, Albertina museum in Vienna.

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 23/04/2025

it’s all good and well to value distribution over product But you can’t distribute nothing

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 17/04/2025

Gemini 2.5 Pro is excellent for coding.

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 16/04/2025

I’m going to hedge my bets and look for full time positions in parallel with selling business websites. Today I’m polishing the CV ✨

010

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 12/04/2025

Do something difficult enough times and you start to look forward to it This happened for me with running 🏃 Now it’s happening with gym 🏋️

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 11/04/2025

Dev builds #6 is out now 🗞️ I took a moment to reflect on what I learned from preparing my talk for #EpicWebConf Hopefully, it can help with your AI chats, too ✨ devneill.substack.com/p/3-simple-...

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 11/04/2025

I love the @raycastapp calculator. It always surprises me how many use cases it covers 🔥

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 10/04/2025

I built an app in 20 minutes on stage at #EpicWebConf two weeks ago. To do this, I built the same app 66 times. Tomorrow, I'll share how you can get more predictable, quality results from Cursor too. Tobi says it's time to take prompting seriously 😉 devneill.substack.com/

devneill.substack.com

Dev builds | Devon Neill | Substack

A monthly reflection about building things on the web. Click to read Dev builds, by Devon Neill, a Substack publication. Launched 5 months ago.

021

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 10/04/2025

Would you be interested if I interviewed up and coming Indie Hackers? Not the success stories like @starter_story. They're too far ahead. I'd chat with the ones that are starting to connect the dots, but are just a few steps ahead of us at the beginning.

100

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 02/04/2025

I’ve been nocturnal since getting back to Europe 🦉 Back at the gym to try reset the body clock 🏋️ (I can only lift a quarter of that)

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 28/03/2025

I'm on my way home! I've met incredible people. I've learnt some powerful ideas. I've had a lot of nerves and a lot of laughs. Put yourself out there, do something scary - it will be worth it. Thank you for all the support and an amazing event @kentcdodds.com and #EpicWebConf

191

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 27/03/2025

Such an amazing experience ✨

150

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 27/03/2025

Thank you Annie! 🙏🏼

010

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 27/03/2025

Thanks Tyler! 🙌🏼 🙇‍♂️

010

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 26/03/2025

Amazing talk on the history of JavaScript by @anniesexton.com 🔥 #EpicWebConf

040

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 26/03/2025

✅ Final run through done. ✅ Stage outfit ready. ✅ Told myself I’ve got this. Today is the day!! #EpicWebConf

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 25/03/2025

And we’re off!! Let’s build an AI app with @neondatabase ⚡️ #EpicWebConf

030

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 23/03/2025

✅ Salt Lake City centre explored! Now locking in to some serious talk rehearsal 🗣️ #EpicWebConf

020

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 23/03/2025

Made it to SLC! It’s way past my bedtime time and things are getting a little weird 🎸🫠 Goodnight 😴

140

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 22/03/2025

Touched down in Denver! I left 11 hours ago but the time is only four hours later 🥲

020

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 22/03/2025

And so it begins 🚶 Munich ✈️ Salt Lake City #EpicWebConf

020

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 21/03/2025

Flying to America tomorrow

010

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 20/03/2025

Diving into this whole video thing! 🎥 🎞️ #EpicWebConf

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 15/03/2025

Too much screen time without movement is a really bad thing. You can’t work hard unless you work out.

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 13/03/2025

#EpicWebConf prep is going well 😄 🛠️

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 11/03/2025

OK @windsurfai.bsky.social is really growing on me. The memory system is amazing. It keeps the most relevant parts of your chat history, but manages it's context proactively to avoid the window getting overloaded. No need to start a new chat and rescan the code every 20 minutes 👌

010

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 11/03/2025

So @windsurfai.bsky.social is actually really nice. I had to stop using Cursor because of the Anthropic rate limiting today, and Windsurf has been smooth 🧈

010

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 11/03/2025

We are now software architects.

010

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 05/03/2025

Cursor can now manage my DNS records for me via a Cloudflare MCP server 🤩 This means I can build an app, deploy to fly and connect to a custom domain without leaving my editor 🔥

020

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 04/03/2025

Your .cursor/rules/PRD.mdc is your mission control. It keeps you and your LLM on track. It is a record of: - Your app foundation (tech stack) - Where you want to be (core feature set) - Where you are now (up to date roadmap) - How you will get there (implementation plan)

110

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 04/03/2025

Dev builds #5: You don't know where your opportunities will come from. Where can you put yourself out there this month that could lead to something great?

100

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 28/02/2025

Who decided that ENTER should rename a file instead of open it?

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 27/02/2025

When you pause a @raycast.com focus session it show's a coffee cup. Because of course I'm getting a coffee ☕ I love this kind of attention to detail 🤌

010

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 26/02/2025

I've gone through my YOLO phase now. The speed was exhilarating but working step by step and reviewing your LLMs code as you go is the more sustainable approach – at least for now. 🚶‍➡️

010

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 26/02/2025

LLMs do not clean up after themselves 🚯

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 26/02/2025

I've been stuck on a problem for a few days and was going around in circles with Claude 3.5. Claude 3.7 solved on the second iteration. Things are moving so fast 👏⚡

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 26/02/2025

Just bought the domain for the app I'll be building during my talk at #EpicWebConf 🎉 It's going to solve a very important problem for everyone there ✅

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 25/02/2025

Perplexity is great start for research, but it's not perfect. It makes bold claims and provides sources to back up those claims ...but when you look at the sources, there is no actual evidence for the claim @perplexity_ai states. Remember to do your own research 💡 Example👇

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 25/02/2025

New day, new LLM model. Let's go. 🔥

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 20/02/2025

The historical performance chart is coming together for Know 📈 Built way faster than I could have imagined thanks to @shadcn.com and @zed.dev's AI powers 🔮✨

020

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 19/02/2025

As part of my #EpicWebConf prep, I'm exploring all the AI-powered IDEs out there to find the best. I've been using @zed.dev as my daily driver. I love it and its hard to leave... but from tomorrow I'm going all in on Cursor. Then @windsurfai.bsky.social Any others worth trying?

110

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 19/02/2025

Locking into Epic Web Conference preparation for the the next 34 days 🔒 Lots of AI research and experimentation ahead 🤖📝 ...as well as speaking practice 🗣️ If you are interested in harnessing AI in your web development, it will be live streamed 🚀 #EpicWebConf www.epicweb.dev/conf/2025

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 18/02/2025

This is a goldmine of tips to use Cursor/AI powered IDEs more effectively. "The better you can sync your brain with your assistant, the more powerful it will be." www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYL...

youtube.com

I spent 400+ hours in Cursor, here’s what I learned

Developers, I’m hiring! Apply here: https://forms.gle/NbLaQNwAE6d9kkWs7Work 40% faster with Vectal: https://www.vectal.ai/Wanna start a business with AI Agen...

000

Dev Neill @devneill.com · 18/02/2025

Vim mode in @craft.do would make it the absolute GOAT 🐐

000