I prototyped a full video podcasting app in a couple of days using Claude Code, and it's completely changed how I think about building new features for Transistor (the podcast hosting product I co-founded).

🔥 Timestamps:
0:00 – Why you should build fake products first
0:27 – The podcast countdown timer experiment
0:56 – Taking on video podcast hosting at Transistor
1:08 – Just start building it
1:47 – Demo: the video podcasting prototype
2:32 – What people actually want vs. what I assumed (HLS vs. simple upload)
3:53 – "Usage is oxygen for product realizations."
4:54 – Live demo: one-click publish to YouTube + Transistor
5:57 – Scheduling episodes and real user testing (the church sermon use case)
6:39 – Handling 15GB video uploads
7:25 – Why everyone should be building fake products
7:49 – Private podcasts → unlisted YouTube playlists
8:28 – The FreshBooks "compete with yourself" story
9:44 – How does this change your product process?
10:17 – Claude Code + Slack: anyone on the team can start a PR
14:05 – YouTube analytics vs. audio downloads in one view
14:51 – Freedom to use a fresh tech stack
15:18 – Night and day: old codebases vs. new ones

★ More about me: ★
I'm Justin Jackson. I co-founded Transistor.fm (a podcast hosting and analytics platform).

I write, podcast, and make videos about bootstrapping, startups, marketing, calm companies, and business ethics.

My blog: https://justinjackson.ca
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/justinjackson.ca

My friend Adam Wathan has a new podcast called Adam's Morning Walk, and in the last episode he talked about how he's thinking about building with AI:

I was listening to this episode last night and it brought up all sorts of thoughts for me. So I opened up telegram and sent him a series of (slightly inebriated) voice memos.

I'm publishing these here in case they spark some thoughts/ideas for you as well.

F-stop example

If you have a response, let me know!

Reply on Bluesky

Successful startups don't create demand. They position themselves in the path of existing demand.

In a good market, customers provide their own motivation.

Your job isn't to create customer motivation; it's to find where it already exists and then build something that satisfies it.

Timestamps:

00:00 I was listening to the Offsite podcast.
00:20 What does it take for a customer to take out their credit card?
00:46 How high is the customer's desire for the product?
01:23 When will a customer buy even when there's friction?
01:59 The pitfalls of optimizing a product when there's no demand
02:45 A framework for assessing Market Demand
03:21 Conclusion

Watch the whole episode of Jordan's conversation with Ruben.

★ More about me: ★

I'm Justin Jackson. I founded Transistor.fm (a podcast hosting and analytics platform) with Jon Buda.

I write, podcast, and make videos about bootstrapping, startups, marketing, calm companies, and business ethics.

My blog
Bluesky