iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

My friend, Junaid, is an amazing engineer (CMU and a YC company’s first engineer) who has the passion of teaching software development to people without a technical background. He’s leading a course that is starting next Monday: maven.com/xinran/ai-as... I’ll be his assistant.

maven.com

AI-Assisted App Development by Junaid Dodhia and Xinran Ma on Maven

Gain essential skills to build full-stack apps with Cursor and modern web frameworks.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

"Health, Love, and your Mission, in that order. Nothing else matters." - Naval

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 26/05/2025

Have mixed feelings about the term “building an email list.” Don’t treat people’s trust as just a way to make money for yourself.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

The benefit of starting the day with a hard workout is that things that follow in the day feels easier.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

"Would you rather be the world’s greatest lover, but have everyone think you’re the world’s worst lover? Or would you rather be the world’s worst lover but have everyone think you’re the world’s greatest lover?" — Warren Buffett

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

“First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they ask how you did it.”

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

It's odd that I’ve started using the em dash less often because it's seen as AI-generated, even though it's not. How can our em dash lovers resist peer pressure in this age of AI?

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

Life isn’t just about smooth times when everything is going well. It also comes with misfortunes, struggles, heartbreaks. But it’s in those difficult times you gain clarity. You get to see people’s true character, who truly cares about you, and who you should cherish in life.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

A valuable life skill is to make peace with what you did without regrets.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

"Many of the world’s most precious things are free and can’t be bought. Such as sunlight, air, and parents' love."

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

At some point, we no longer need advice, tips, guidance, or inspiration. We just need to put in the work ourselves.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

Don't lose your soul when automating.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

If you had an infinite amount of money, what would you truly want to do? What is stopping you from doing that today, even if it's just a little bit?

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

The problem with some AI-generated content and automations: While you’ve increased efficiency and gained numbers more easily, you’re also giving away the soul of your writing. And in the long term, you're losing a scarce resource in the age of AI. That is Trust.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Saw my Medium reached 10k followers. Funny cuz it feels like crickets for years. But I just kept publishing regardless. - 1 → 100 followers: 3 years and 7 months - 100 → 1,000 followers: 7 months - 1,000 → 10,000 followers: 5 months This is what time can do.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Fun Fact. My name has been spelled wrong many times over the years as: - Xiran (most common) - Xin - Xinra - Xinrad That happened to my official documents too. That’s why when I spell others’ names, I always look extra closely to make sure I spell them right.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

The louder and more opinionated you are on social media, the more support and interest you'll attract. But at the same time, you'll also draw more controversy. The easiest way to avoid controversy is to say nothing, write nothing, and publish nothing.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

When you are unhappy: - Sleep early - Hit the gym - Walk in the nature You may feel better.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Don’t let anxiety about what might happen in the future ruin the happiness and peace you could be enjoying right now. “The present moment is all you ever have.”

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

There's a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Your job title, salary, talents, or skills don’t give you the right to be a jerk.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

"The more you write, the more you'll learn."

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

Go to bed early → More sleep → Feel recharged the next morning → Use the gym → Eat more → More energy during the day → Work more productively → Tired at night → Go to bed early The positive cycle of going to bed early.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

We still hold a competitive edge over AI (at least for now). - Knowing what looks good, and what doesn’t. - Feeling what other humans feel and truly wanting to improve their lives. - The wisdom passed down from our ancestors. The gut feelings that no algorithm can replicate.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

An observation after writing publicly for over 5 years: The posts that gained the most traction weren’t the ones I spent a lot of time writing and refining. They were usually written on impulse. Triggered by a sudden burst of emotion or inspiration.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

A big news yesterday: ChatGPT can reference all your past conversations. Whether you're excited about the new opportunity, concerned about privacy, or curious how the data is stored long-term, we're entering a new era. What will happen if AI can remember much more and for much longer?

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

I spend about 6-15 hours on every newsletter. I publish almost every week. I’ve earned $1k+ on Substack. That’s about $2 per hour. It doesn’t make sense at all from a business perspective. But I have the faith that writing isn't for the short-term. Otherwise I would have quit a long time ago.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Humanity has never been more important in this world of AI.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

Virality is temporary; quality content lasts.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

I’m not consistent at following up, but I always believe it’s important to check in with the people who’ve helped me in the past—just to check in as I remember their kindness, vs. only contacting them when I need something.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Procrastination isn’t always a bad thing. It can be a quiet guide, revealing what no longer calls to you and what truly deserves your time.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

“When you truly work for yourself, you won’t have hobbies, you won’t have weekends, and you won’t have vacations, but you won’t have work either.” — Naval Ravikant

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

The new ChatGPT image generator can do more than just create Ghibli-style images. In today's newsletter, I’ll show you the UI mockups I generated, the prompts I used, and some surprises and takeaways along the way: substack.com/home/post/p-...

substack.com

🐴 How I created UI with ChatGPT's new image generator (4o)

Prompts, walkthroughs, and surprises

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

After seeing a lot of content on social media, you can instantly tell what has a soul and what doesn’t.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Life is like a river. You once thought it would be a straight line. But sometimes it hits a big rock and turns. Sometimes it hits a mountain and has to take a long detour to get past it. But a river doesn’t follow a straight path. It’s the turns that make a river unique.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

"Execution is cheap, ideas are everything. ...When anyone can execute at 90% perfection with the right prompts, the limiting factor becomes the quality of your ideas. The creative direction. The strategic insight. The unique perspective.” — Greg Isenberg

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

"If I’m not my job, then who am I?" — Brad Didericksen

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

“Everyone should build a to-do list app.” In today’s newsletter, I’ll showcased the to-do list app I built and what others built, along with simple demos. I’ll also share links to the web apps for you to try. 👇 Check it out! designwithai.substack.com/p/everyone-s...

designwithai.substack.com

🐴 Everyone should build a to-do list app

A showcase of what others and I have built

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

In marketing, there is a difference between genuinely caring for your audience and merely pretending to while using them for your own benefit.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

“When a creative instinct grabs a hold of you, let it take you somewhere new.” — Michael Macfadden

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

Your life is a story. When you’re faced with hard times ask yourself: "What story do I want to tell about what happens next?" — Leila Hormozi

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

If someone reaches out to you with no agenda—just to check in—cherish them.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

What you choose not to automate defines who you are.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Again, people asked me how I was able to manage newsletter, course, full-time job, and kids. It was hard work + desire + the pressure of paying mortgage and tuition every month…

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

You’ll become a stronger person when you no longer make excuses just to make yourself look good.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Wife: I discovered something. Me: What? Wife: ChatGPT is more helpful than you.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

"The past happened, but all that’s available to us now is the choice of what to do about it." - Seth Godin

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

Growth hacks exist because people want to build a large audience quickly. Who wouldn’t? But trust takes time to build. The problem with some growth hacks is that they focus way more on yourself than on truly caring for the people you serve.

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Xinran Ma @xinranma.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

Kid looking at the clock this morning: It’s not 8 o’clock. It’s 9 o’clock. Me: Yes. Daylight Saving. Kid: Yay!! One more hour! One more hour!

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