Open notebook.

How I write LinkedIn posts that don't suck

Most LinkedIn posts read like a press release fed through a thesaurus. Here's the system I actually use.

How we won the PMs in AI hackathon

Four builders. Six hours. One Saturday. The lesson nobody tells you: the idea that wins is never the most technically impressive one.

Most people go to SF and hit Dolores Park. We built an AI that might save you $15,000.

The original Nyx pitch — posted while we were still in the hackathon. The hidden-fee story, the gym I would have quit, and the antidote to vibes.

The difference between builders and dreamers

Dreamers wait until it feels safe. Builders start before it does. The difference isn't intelligence — it's tolerance for discomfort.

My biggest learning at 23

After running a fraternity, building a startup, and leading squads at nSpire — leadership isn't about being the loudest voice in the room. It's about selection.

I didn't break into PM with a resume

No CS degree. No referrals. No formal PM experience. Here's how I broke in through the side door — and how you can too.

Day 7 — Gamma

A PM's job is not just to make decisions. It's to make decisions travel. In product, communication is not a soft skill — it's infrastructure.

Day 6 — Lovable

Most product ideas don't need a full build first. They need a reality check. A prototype answers the question faster than a 10-page doc.

Day 5 — Mixpanel

Users say one thing. Then they do another. That's not because users lie — it's because behavior is more honest than memory.

Day 4 — Otter.ai

If you're busy taking notes, you're not fully listening. The transcript isn't the insight — it's what lets you be present enough to notice the pattern behind the words.

Day 3 — Figma AI

Users don't experience your strategy. They experience screens. Words can hide confusion — a mockup exposes it.

Day 2 — Notion AI

PM work creates a lot of chaos. Notion AI doesn't magically organize you. It lowers the cost of turning messy information into something usable.

Day 1 — ChatGPT as a PM tool

Most people use ChatGPT like a vending machine. Put in prompt, get output, copy, paste. As a PM the real value isn't answers — it's thinking.

7 AIs I use as a PM to move faster

Not to look productive. Actually move faster. There's a difference. Here's the stack — and the rule that matters more than the tools.

Being early feels like being behind

The part nobody tells you about being early in your career: it feels exactly like you're losing. Compounding is invisible at the beginning.

I didn't get the certification to learn product management

I was already doing it. Experience teaches you the pain. Frameworks teach you the pattern. The two together are the unlock.

PMs used to compete on polish. Now they compete on leverage.

nSpire AI got included in Product School's AI stack alongside OpenAI, Replit, and LangChain. AI-native PMs aren't coming. They're already here.

The future PM is a builder

Not necessarily a full-time engineer. But someone who can make ideas real enough to test. AI raised the bar — and the cost of vague thinking is finally getting exposed.

I didn't have a home for my first year in Silicon Valley

After Closet Compass got acqui-hired, I showed up to the Bay Area with a backpack, no apartment, and the widest eyes you've ever seen. Three uncomfortable truths from year one.

Not all PMs are built the same

You could meet two "Product Managers" doing completely different jobs. PM isn't a job. It's a genre. Twelve flavors and how to pick yours.

Good PMs don't worship user feedback

Users are usually right about their pain. They are not always right about the solution. The PM's job is to translate messy human frustration into a product decision.

We built a product. Validated it. Integrated it. In one week.

We thought we were solving hiring. Turns out we were only solving half of it. Here's how Synthia happened — and what we learned about the other half.

I dropped out of a coding class. Then AI helped me build.

For a long time I told myself "I'm just not technical." That sentence sounds like self-awareness. Most of the time it's just fear wearing a hoodie.

Most PMs check analytics. Great PMs live in them.

Opening a dashboard and saying something smart in a meeting isn't product thinking. It's dashboard tourism. Real analytics is a conversation with the user at scale.

From founder to PM taught me this

Being a founder teaches you urgency. Being a PM teaches you discipline. The combination is more powerful than either alone.

The first feature I shipped as a PM was ignored

Not because it was bad. Not because the team didn't work hard. Because I made the classic early PM mistake — I thought shipping the feature was the win.

Why did you go from CEO to PM?

On paper, going from CEO of your own startup to product manager at another one looks like a step down. For me, it was the opposite. Here's why.

Closet Compass to nSpire

I used to think building a startup meant having the title. Then I actually built one. Here's why the move from founder to PM at nSpire wasn't a step down — it was a bigger problem.