We make 2 big announcements about changes to The Panel. Then we debate whether there's a founder branding advantage and how AI will affect small software teams in 2026.

Timestamps:

• (00:46) - Our first announcement
• (02:20) - Why are we bringing Jordan on as a co-host?
• (06:51) - Why did Jordan want to join The Panel?
• (14:48) - What's the new format for The Panel?
• (18:29) - Is there a founder branding advantage?
• (37:03) - How is AI going to affect Saas in 2026 and beyond?
• (43:32) - How small teams can adapt easier than larger teams to AI

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Links mentioned in this episode:

• Bootstrapped Web
• Marketing for Developers
• A Mexican standoff Happening in AI
• The five stages of losing our craft
• Justin is the co-founder of Transistor.fm
• Brian is the founder of Builder Methods
• Jordan is the co-founder of Rosie

Important: we're no longer livestreaming on Justin's personal YouTube channel. Make sure you're subscribed to ​The Panel's channel​ to get notified when we go live:

Subscribe to The Panel YouTube here -->

Join us FRIDAY (tomorrow, Feb 20) at 11 AM Pacific (2 pm EST) for a surprise announcement:
https://www.youtube.com/live/sxASjnzAYkw

We'll be announcing:
- A new ███████ ██████ ████
- And a brand new ████ ███████
- New livestream/recording time: Friday, 11 am Pacific
- Livestreams will now be streamed from ​The Panel YT channel​, not Justin's personal channel

Brian and Justin jump off Matt Shumer's "Something Big is Happening" article to ask questions like is something big happening in AI that even regular folks need to be preparing for? Is this the most important year of your work as a software developer? Should you be getting your financial house in order to prepare for what's about to hit us all?

Timestamps:

• (00:12) - Sick snow
• (02:46) - Something big is happening here (AI edition)
• (21:02) - Not having to be held down by legacy code speeds you up
• (28:36) - Warnings to the non-technical world about AI
• (45:35) - Humans have a hard time assessing their field of view in the future
• (48:55) - This might be the most important year of your work
• (51:12) - AI in education with kids
• (56:05) - Seeing the world the way it is vs the way it was
• (58:23) - Getting your financial house in order
• (01:04:14) - The job market and the economy
• (01:13:00) - Sometimes you have to play the game not on the field

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Links mentioned in this episode:

• Justin's snowboard adventure in Revelstoke
• "Something Big is Happening" – The viral Matt Shumer article (76M views)
• Matt Shumer's blog
• Matt Shumer's company (HyperWrite)
• "Tool Shaped Objects" – The response to Shumer's post
• Justin's new RSS feed
• Builder Methods video library (Claude Code course)
• Moneyball: "Adapt or die" clip
• Justin's post on XSLT going away

Come meet the crew of AI agents Brian has working for him, Justin's building fake apps to experiment and find out what he wants for real apps, and why don't we feel like we can relax now that we're doing ok?

Timestamps:

• (00:45) - What we're talking about this episode
• (03:14) - Brian's OpenClaw setup
• (11:57) - The cost of token usage with OpenClaw
• (17:32) - What makes the memory better in OpenClaw?
• (22:38) - What about Cowork?
• (25:21) - Working with multiple agents in OpenClaw
• (27:07) - The problem of Siri
• (29:25) - The challenges of working is the same across AI or hiring
• (31:28) - The importance of thinking of AI as an employee
• (35:03) - What you'll miss by using AI instead of hiring a human
• (44:14) - Why Justin thinks it's important to build fake products
• (49:57) - Justin's app to publish a video as a podcast
• (53:41) - Building a company to compete with yourself like Freshbooks
• (55:39) - How might Transistor change bringing in new features?
• (01:04:07) - Design OS updates
• (01:09:01) - Why is Brian working all the time and feeling urgency?
• (01:16:26) - Marketing for developers in 2026
• (01:30:37) - Founder led marketing is key
• (01:36:27) - Where are the real products being built with AI? Is AI actually speeding me up?
• (01:46:31) - Do I need to make as much money as possible now?

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Links mentioned in this episode:

• OpenClaw (Clawdbot)
• Brian’s crew of AI agents that live on his Mac Mini
• OpenClaw popularity on GitHub over time
• Demo of Justin’s video hosting app
• The story of how Freshbooks created a fake company to launch a new version of their product
• Caleb Porzio - Everything I feel about AI right now
• Jeffrey Way - I'm done
• Adam Wathan - ui.sh

Jordan Gal joins The Panel to get some thoughts out about how software development feels like it's shifted since the holiday break, the lowering cost of making a mistake, how his team has to get ready for the new AI first workflow, marketing in the age of AI, and what happens to funding startups when anyone can build the app?

Timestamps:

• (00:06) - Welcome
• (00:20) - Introducing Jordan
• (01:34) - The world changed over the holiday break
• (12:17) - The cost of making a making a mistake used to be higher
• (25:38) - Get ready. This is not optional.
• (28:34) - Senior engineers have to adapt
• (42:18) - How do organizations and teams adapt?
• (47:59) - What needs to change so rapidly about Rosie?
• (55:08) - How AI has averaged marketing
• (01:22:23) - What happens to funding for startups in 2026?

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Links mentioned in this episode:

• ✨ Rose AI
• 👤 Jordan Gal
• 🛠️ Langdock AI
• 🐦 Adam Wathan & Tailwind Sponsors
• 💡 DHH on AI Agents
• 🔨 Builder Methods (Build with AI)
• 🎙️ Transistor.fm (podcast hosting)

Now that the holiday break is over, how are we feeling about 2026? We're talking about the new ideas we have to build or work on, as well as predictions for 2026 in AI, building, normal tech usage, and social media.

Timestamps:

• (00:07) - New year, new excitement
• (01:40) - What has changed since the holiday break?
• (06:18) - Is Justin going to republish Marketing for Developers?
• (11:30) - Building a membership site in Ghost
• (18:37) - How Justin might release the updated content and podcast
• (24:42) - Focus on original instead of the average
• (37:25) - How Brian used Claude to generate visuals for a course on Claude Code
• (46:43) - If everyone is jumping on AI coding in 2026, how is Brian set up to meet the demand?
• (01:00:56) - Prediction for 2026: Standing out from the crowd is going to be key
• (01:05:31) - What's stressing Brian about social media in 2026
• (01:09:36) - Partnerships are going to be very important in 2026
• (01:11:01) - The new media will just become the media
• (01:15:14) - OpenAI will fade from the lead position
• (01:20:36) - AI adoption by normal people needs a better paradigm
• (01:27:13) - AI in music and tv wont' be significant
• (01:29:44) - The problem or the blessing of building even faster with AI in a year
• (01:38:29) - Bootstrapping will become the norm again in 2026
• (01:42:12) - Meta is going to have a big year in 2026

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Links mentioned in this episode:

• Marketing for Developers
• Ghost CMS
• Technical knowledge to build an app
• Acquired 10th anniversary
• Acquired sponsorship rates
• Adam's morning walk episode
• Adam's tweet
• Brian's Claude Code course
• Claude Skills / Design World

We're looking back at what our thoughts were about 2025, and scheming ideas and plans for 2026. How do you hand over decision making in your business in an AI world? How does remote work first affect junior developers? And do you panic when sales slow down? Adjust? Rethink everything?

Timestamps:

• (00:06) - Does Transistor get quiet around the Xmas holidays?
• (02:08) - Dealing with insecurity in business
• (05:34) - The Panel in 2026
• (07:09) - Looking back on 2025
• (12:54) - What kind of person is going to do well in 2026?
• (20:51) - Figuring out how to hand over decision making to junior developers
• (28:10) - Remote work vs local work
• (32:35) - Every business is a people business, every problem is a people problem, every solution is a people solution
• (41:03) - We can make requests and we can have boundaries
• (45:08) - What do I want?
• (48:29) - Should Brian diversify his marketing funnel away from YouTube?
• (01:05:06) - Building a cloud service for my products
• (01:24:04) - Building Inbox Summaries
• (01:28:27) - Rewriting for Marketing for Developers for AI

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Links mentioned in this episode:

• Bootstrapped Web | 2025 recap & 2026 outlook
• Design OS
• Adam Wathan
• Chris Enns / 🍋
• Tuple
• Taylor Otwell
• Obsidian
• Every
• ONCE
• Lars Lofgren
• Marketing for Developers

Justin shares his thoughts on competition crushing his business, Brian contemplates open sourcing an idea for front end AI tooling, and when should you run with a new idea vs knowing when to drop it.

Timestamps:

• (00:00) - Get into it!
• (00:47) - A founder has to worry about threats and opportunities
• (17:55) - What got us here won't get us there
• (28:42) - Why are trials increasing in 2025?
• (34:20) - An update on Builder Methods
• (40:11) - Deciding when to drop or maintain a project
• (51:07) - People want AI on rails
• (01:12:28) - 37Signals new product Fizzy
• (01:15:52) - What's the benefit to open sourcing a project?
• (01:32:59) - Leaving some value on the table

• 🎤 Send us an audio or video message
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Links mentioned in this episode

• Adam’s morning walk podcast
• Brian’s personal site
• Brian’s DesignOS announcement
• 37signals Fizzy
• Nathan Barry “Leave some value on the table”
• Tailwind CSS Insiders
• Rework podcast “picking a price”