iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 29/09/2026

Breaking: news from Near Future towers this week. We're evolving again.

Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 20/07/2026

Just a few days left of early bird for our 'Build Your Own tools' AI workshop. As Tom and I speak to more design leaders at AI-forward companies, the pattern is clear. You need an internal tool-making capability.

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 08/05/2026

It's pretty easy to spot AI slop actually. It usually looks like 'too much'. Too much animation Too many words Too much code Too many pages Too much enthusiasm

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 20/04/2026

Finally: Hack Weeks is evolving. This time last year Tom and I started running 4 day hack weeks for anyone that wanted to learn more about and build with AI. People learned. But so did we. We saw how not just individuals but whole teams needed support with this change.

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 31/03/2026

Found Up North is back! This time we're on a F.U.N day out on 27th April, working together for a whole day at Department Campfield, in the heart of Manchester.

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 12/02/2026

Figma has ~90% market share today. And it's dying. Not because of a single 'Figma killer' (I don't believe one will exist), but because the category itself is dissolving.

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 18/12/2025

I just launched a half caff coffee brand in under a week. Why? I like to have 4-5 cups of coffee a day. I like the ritual, and I don't like having to switch to tea.

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 10/11/2025

Kae Tempest was absolutely spellbinding tonight. 90 minutes, non stop. Couldn't look away. And he didn't even play my favourite track!

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 22/10/2025

First thoughts on Atlas, the chatGPT browser. This really blurs the lines between web browsing and chatting, with shared conversation history across both. Makes me feel a bit funny — right now I'd rather a separation of church and state.

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 02/09/2025

Northern founders, unite! (again) After a couple of months off while we navigated school summer holidays, wedmin, house moves and various other life events, Found Up North is back with another meetup for northern founders on 7th Oct. Grab a ticket at foundupnorth.com, see you there!

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 10/07/2025

Liminal space. That in-between state, neither one thing nor other. How do we hold ourselves in an in-between place? As humans we're terrible at this. "It's the not knowing that's hard."

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 24/06/2025

Hack Week #1 was a belter. (And #2 is live - see thread) So many good builds, but more than that, what a brilliant group of people.

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 03/06/2025

FUN is back again On 26th of June we'll be once again descending on Ape and Apple in Manchester for our Found Up North founders meet up. Expect more group discussions, interesting talks (to be announced soon) and opportunity to deepen connections with the founder community.

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 28/05/2025

This pricing is just so good. No scary cliffs, just $1 per 1000 emails. Solid docs, simple UI. Well done Plunk.

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 28/05/2025

Two ways to get your Hacker Hat 1. Go to our shop and buy one 2. Join a hack week and get one for free hackweeks (dot) com

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 27/05/2025

I can't get this idea out of my head. We're all going loopy on the socials about AI disrupting us all, yet seemingly everyone I talk to who's actually in a company with a mandate to 'use more AI' is feeling disillusioned and alienated by it.

A slide showing the jump from 'most employees' to 'company advocates on an AI adoption scale.

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 25/05/2025

Make things for each other Jony and Sam's announcement this week (and the 9min video which I did eventually watch) gave me not much more than an eye roll. (I dont have much time for SA tbh). But...

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 24/05/2025

The long death march of Pocket is finally nearly up. In October it will shuffle off this internet coil. Might have to build myself a replacement.

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 23/05/2025

The flow in the granola iOS app to test and enable live activities is fkin glorious. Made me do an audible 'huh'

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 22/05/2025

Guys if you were to attend a fun hack week and then you got a free dad hat, which of these would you like it to be?

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 21/05/2025

Anyone want to watch 9mins21 of Sam and Jony blowing smoke up each others arses? Nope me neither

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 08/05/2025

I don't understand why apple aren't building a Siri iPhone app clone of chatGPT - powered by an on device AI. Install it on iPhones - power of defaults. Even if not the best models, it would be good enough for most, for now.

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 17/04/2025

I now text my wife pictures when I've 'dialled it in'. What am I becoming

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 16/04/2025

New toy! Still shit at the milky flower art thingy

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 15/04/2025

Always dreamed of vibe-coding your way out of your 9-5? Not sure how to make your first internet pound? Want to raise some money but based up north?

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 09/04/2025

Pristine CS2 spotted at my parents house. Better days.

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 27/03/2025

Do what you wanted to do, OR do something completely different and unrelated because AI

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 27/03/2025

Is there a more patronising word in the english language than snazzy?

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 26/03/2025

It's now clear: we need more *founder* community in the North. Tech community sure, but specifically founders. It's just a unique and lonely journey that demands likeminded folks to be able to bare your soul to.

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 24/03/2025

How was everyone else's weekend?

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 15/03/2025

I appear to have just taught my three year old the meaning of "shot not". This doesn't bode well for future obedience...

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 06/03/2025

Going from "Have a thought" to "Get it on the internet" has never been quicker. Except if you're rolling your own markdown based blog out of the box. Then it's 'find a computer' -> 'fire up IDE' -> 'manually create and link images'. Sure there are CMSs but they're either paid or complex to set up

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 04/03/2025

When composer can't work something out (like just now, wrong version of a package causing an error) and then I work it out, I want to let it know what the issue was. But does that help it, me or anyone?

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 28/02/2025

Starting to do more in person meetings and coffees again (hooray!) and remembered that I'm terrible at not overrunning irl. I never want to check the time mid flow (feels rude) and love a chat. Literally having to set alarms for myself now

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Reposted by Jonny Burch

FᎪᎢ ᏩᎪNᎠᎪᏞF @sofarrsogud.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

[First day working in an optometrists] Me: They’re called reading glasses but they don’t actually read. You still have to do that. Optometrist: Can I see you in my office? Me: *nudges customer* I would hope so lol

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 31/01/2025

I'm trying to break my foot-gun of never blogging because 'who cares'. I'm going to start treating my blog more like a space to blurt and think a bit more. Also for shits & gigs I rewrote my whole site in Astro last week. So here's a post to celebrate. jonnyburch.com/a-faustian-...

jonnyburch.com

A faustian pact?

On throwing ourselves into the AI abyss

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 28/01/2025

For Europeans, the schadenfreude around the Deepseek story is just too delicious. The timing especially is just *chefs_kiss*. robertreich.substack.com/p/american-c...

robertreich.substack.com

American capitalism just got a black eye

The story behind today’s stock market tank

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 27/01/2025

One goal for mine for 2025 is to meet fellow entrepreneurs in Manchester and the north. Having not found anything particularly compelling for 2+ years, alongside @a7fort.bsky.social I've started foundupnorth.com with a goal to bring together northerners making internet money.

foundupnorth.com

Found Up North

For founders and makers in the North of England

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 26/01/2025

I have two tickets for @phlaimeaux.bsky.social show in Manchester, Sunday 16th Feb. Absolutely hilarious live, must see. Gutted to miss it but emergency half term sunny holiday was called for.

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Jonny Burch @jonnyburch.com · 25/01/2025

First act of 39yo me: attempt a Hyrox with no training. Maybe wisdom kicks in at 40?

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