iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

I’m a checklist kind of person, so to keep me motivated with my side project I hooked AI up to Linear and fed it my project plan (also created by AI). It created projects and tasks for me in the right order, and broke them up by day. It’s super motivating to be able to check a few off each day!

031

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

The older I get, the more I realize that success is not about money or status. It’s about freedom.

020

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

My brain has two modes: “I can build anything” and “I forgot how to write a for loop.” There is no in-between.

000

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

The dreaded “Summarizing conversation history…” in Copilot AI ⏳

010

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

A work colleague and I re-purposed a work meeting that nobody else showed up to, to vent about some frustrating stuff going on lately. Meanwhile, Gemini was dutifully recording and summarizing everything we said… and sent to all participants at the end 🤦‍♂️ Luckily it wasn’t too bad, but be careful!

010

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

I asked AI to create a pitch deck for my project. Not because I plan on raising money, but because it'll help me focus on the core ideas. I think it did pretty well! runbooky.com/runbooky-dec.... See if something similar could help you! For context, see my pinned post. #buildinpublic #runbook

runbooky.com

040

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

I’m partial to Copilot but I totally get it. An in-IDE AI agent already feels like something I can’t imagine *not* using any more

010

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

If this sounds like something you've experienced as well, I'd love to hear from you! #buildinpublic #DevOps #OnCall #SRE

041

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

If you're stuck on what to build, try this approach. Let AI do the heavy research -- but push it hard. Ask for sources. Validate technical feasibility. Check legal risks. Make it earn your confidence. Then build with conviction. I'll be posting updates as I go!

110

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

So now I'm building Runbooky (www.runbooky.com ): a unified discovery platform for runbooks. Find the right doc in seconds, no matter where it lives. It's the tool I wish I had during those 3 AM incidents.

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

Am I 100% certain this will work? No. This isn't a slam dunk. But I'm more confident than I've ever been starting something new. The research is solid, the problem is real, and I've personally felt the pain. That's as good as it gets before you start building.

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

Could I have done all this research myself? Sure. But it would've taken weeks, and I would've brought my own biases. I would've hit dead ends and convinced myself to ignore red flags. The AI did it in hours, objectively, and without attachment to any outcome.

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

The data was compelling: $9,000/minute average downtime cost, $3.3B TAM, and most importantly -- Reddit full of engineers asking "Does anyone have a tool for this?" The problem wasn't theoretical. It was validated by real people with real pain.

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

I also asked about pricing strategy. Should it be per-user? Per-integration? Usage-based? The AI analyzed competitor pricing, researched willingness-to-pay studies, and explained why usage-based pricing creates perverse incentives for this product.

110

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

Next question: "Why wouldn't a big company like Atlassian just build this?" The AI explained the Innovator's Dilemma: the market is too small for them to care ($5-10M is life-changing for me, a rounding error for them), and their platforms are too horizontal.

110

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

Then: "Would this violate any Terms of Service?" It analyzed GitHub's Developer Agreement, Notion's API Terms, Atlassian's policies. Found precedents like Glean and Raycast. Verdict: Low risk, as long as you use official APIs and respect data deletion.

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

But I didn't stop there. I asked: "Is this even technically feasible?" The AI researched GitHub, Notion, and Confluence APIs -- rate limits, webhooks, authentication. It came back with a full technical feasibility report. Answer: Yes, very feasible.

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

One idea kept surfacing: runbook discovery for on-call engineers. The AI found Reddit threads like "Senior SRE who knew all our incident procedures just left -- now we're screwed" and G2 reviews complaining about scattered documentation.

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

That was actually reassuring. It wasn't just telling me what I wanted to hear. It was giving it to me straight. And that's the benefit of this approach -- no ego, no confirmation bias, just cold, hard research.

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

Here's the thing: I had my own ideas too. I pitched a few to the AI, expecting it to validate them. Instead, it shot them down hard. Explained why the market was too crowded, why the problem wasn't painful enough, why I'd struggle to compete.

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

The AI came back with 7 initial ideas. But I didn't just pick one. I asked it to validate each with real evidence: Reddit threads, G2 reviews, market data. It provided actual links -- not vague claims. I could verify everything myself.

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

My initial prompt was simple: "I'm a Ruby developer who wants to build a B2B SaaS. Analyze potential opportunities, validate market need, and recommend ideas with real pain points." Then I pushed it to go deeper on each recommendation.

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

First, a caveat: ChatGPT won't cut it for this. You need an AI that can independently research the web, pull real sources, and come back with evidence -- not just confident-sounding hallucinations. I used Manus AI and gladly paid the $40/month for this.

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

After years of failed startup ideas, I tried something different. Instead of building on a hunch, I let AI run a full market analysis to find a validated problem worth solving. Here's what I learned and how you might do the same. #buildinpublic

171

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Yeah, I have no problems with swings where some weeks are heavy and some light. That’s just part of the job. My problem was them putting the blame on me without recognizing that they were the ones that caused it. I pushed back on the timeline so many times up front, but they were always indifferent

010

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

I really blame myself for thinking something would change. Thank you for the kind words though!

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

This is more than just a vent. It’s a reminder to not give your employer more than they deserve. They won’t pay it back. Be selfish with your time.

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

This left me with zero time for my indie hacking, which left me even more frustrated and drained. Something inside me broke. No more pouring my heart into my day job. All they’ll get from me now is an hours-for-dollars trade. No more “above and beyond”. This is how innovation (for them) dies.

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

I don’t want praise or a shout out. I want leadership to make a change so that it never happens again. Instead what I got was hinting that it was my problem for not setting boundaries. How am I supposed to do that when the guy that signs my check is asking for these deadlines?

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Last week I put in 70 hours of work (excluding working through the previous weekend) because it was literally the only way to meet an insane timeline. I was hoping that it was a one-time slog that would cause things to get better. Instead, they just want more of the same with unrealistic deadlines.

120

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

No shots fired, but plenty of people yelling that there was a shooter and running out of fear (can’t blame anyone for that). My wife and daughter were there and it was terrifying for them either way. I feel so bad for everyone involved. I hope the my arrest and ban the two idiots who started it

110

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

My wife and daughter were there. People were screaming and running out yelling that there was a shooter. Even though we now know there wasn’t, everybody just panicked.

010

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

Nope, it’s pulled from the salaries that companies publicly provide in new job listings. I grab it from a variety of different job boards, clean it, aggregate it, and store it in a way that can be searched/filtered

120

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

Thanks! I’ll take another look. There’s also levels.fyi but the difference there is it’s based on self-reported salaries from engineers

110

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

And to be honest I don’t know what this really is (or could be yet). I know the raw data itself is interesting and valuable, but am still thinking through how to present it in the most valuable way to the right people.

110

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

I was not able to find examples that show current salary trends based on actual salaries listed in new job listings. It’s totally possible I wasn’t looking in the right places, so if you have an example or two I’d love to see them!

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

I think too many fail because the solution to an irk may not be enough for others to want to pay for. Or the person who solved the irk doesn’t know how to market, position, or sell the thing they built so it eventually just dies out

110

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

I think they tend to be people (or maybe bots) that follow you just because they hope you’ll follow them back. Other than for spam, I don’t get why people do this, because they’re not going to get followers that are genuinely interested in them 🤷‍♂️

010

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

…which is actually what inspired me to build it in the first place

000

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

One interesting takeaway for me is that I’m grateful for the salary I currently have. I had a feeling that I was paid higher that the typical salary for my position, but this confirms it with more than anecdotal data

120

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

It’s fully automated, which is nice. It’s delayed by about a day due to the amount of data processing that needs to happen, but I don’t have to trigger anything myself And I totally agree. I could even provide info on what percentile above or below the median salary you are.

110

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

Thanks! If this ends up being something that is worth investing more time into, then I can definitely pull in more data I actually don’t have analytics hooked up yet so I’m looking for more qualitative/verbal feedback over something like page views (although that will also be interesting over time)

120

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

Exactly. I could notify someone of new jobs that meet their salary needs based on their criteria (location, tech, etc) But I’d love to avoid charging devs. I’d prefer to find a way to make it valuable to hiring managers and businesses, because that’s where the money is

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

Launched a POC to get initial feedback on the idea. It tracks software engineer salaries based on actual salary ranges that employers advertise on job boards and lets you filter by location/seniority/tech/etc so you can see how yours compares dgaxik927ls9y.cloudfront.net

dgaxik927ls9y.cloudfront.net

Software Salary Trends

View software engineer salary trends based on the most recent job listings.

110

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

You found a bug! Thank you If you search in lowercase (“ny” instead of “NY”) it should work for now. I’ll push up a fix. I appreciate you testing it out! What do you think of the concept? Is it actually useful, just kind of interesting, or meh?

110

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

I’m not sure I’m following. Do you mean other solutions already do the same thing with more data?

100

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

Thank you! I’m curious if it’s something you’d return to periodically, or if you’d just use it to look up your expected salary once and then just keep that in mind going forward (?) One other thing I could do is send job alerts that meet your specific salary expectations for a set of criteria

110

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

What I’m trying to confirm is whether this is: A) Sort of interesting in a passive way, as in you look at it once and move on with your life Or B) Interesting and useful enough to be something you would come back to periodically and share with your friends/co-workers

000

Solo Web Dev @solowebdev.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

And managers or companies can use this data to benchmark new positions they want to offer against current salary trends based on their specific criteria (location, seniority, tech used, etc) #buildinpublic dgaxik927ls9y.cloudfront.net

dgaxik927ls9y.cloudfront.net

Software Salary Trends

View software engineer salary trends based on the most recent job listings.

230