The Good Stuff, with Pete and Andy - Episode 18: Building and Shipping

Hosts: Pete and Andy (recorded at City Beach, Perth - the van is back!)

Episode Overview: A follow-up to their accountability session from last week, Pete and Andy report back on actually shipping products to completion. This episode covers their successes with Fat Controller and Hype Man, explores new development workflows with Claude Code, and discusses the evolution of AI-assisted coding practices.

• Follow-up from last week's therapy session about finishing projects
• Pete releases Fat Controller 20 minutes before recording
• Andy gets Hype Man operational as an autonomous CMO
• The importance of shipping something people can actually use and pay for

• Built to solve Pete's timezone posting problem on Nostr
• Features: GIF support, satellite CDN integration, secure keychain storage (Mac only)
• Evolved from local-only to supporting remote signers for hosted version
• Redesigned signing architecture for better remote compatibility
• Released as open source with value-for-value model

• Andy's first official week on Nostr - hasn't felt compelled to check Twitter
• More invigorating and motivating environment
• Zap payments add meaningful interaction layer
• Less negative energy compared to Twitter/X

• Multi-agent system that extracts insights from podcast transcripts
• Creates and publishes social media content automatically
• Iterative improvement process: removed research agent, added review agent
• Cost-constrained testing with DeepSeek, upgraded to Claude for better output
• Reflection agents as key pattern for improving AI output quality

• Claude Code excelling at small, targeted changes
• Cursor better for complex, orchestrated implementations
• Claude Code's agentic loops provide better multi-step problem solving
• Both tools serve different phases of the development process

• Mac Mini as dedicated AI development server with 24/7 availability
• Terminal-based workflows accessible from phone via voice transcription
• Menu-driven system for common development tasks
• Segregated environment philosophy: give AI full access to designated machines
• Mobile coding: voice-to-terminal transcription enabling "vibe coding" from anywhere

• Three modes: drunk idea capture, sober editing, drunk coding
• Need for seamless idea-to-implementation pipeline
• Tutorial mode: AI explaining reasoning behind architectural decisions
• Balancing speed vs learning in AI-assisted development

• Danger of spending more time optimizing AI workflows than building actual products
• "Sharpening the axe forever" - when process improvement becomes procrastination
• Finding balance between efficiency and productivity

• Debate: Transform existing businesses vs. build AI-native competitors
• Unit economics advantage of AI-native companies
• Venture funding opportunities for dramatically improved cost structures
• Private equity interest in AI transformation strategies

• Weekend project to replace Screen Studio subscription
• Real-time vs post-processing architecture decisions
• Part of broader strategy to reduce SaaS subscriptions and build local tools
• Working prototype with keyboard shortcuts and lightweight toolbar interface

• Vision for idea-to-prototype pipeline
• Speed Run workshop concept: build entire company in one day
• Integration of existing tools (Pipeline, Wingman, Claude Code) into cohesive workflow
• Vibe startups: from idea to launched product with full departments

Hosts: Andy and Pete (recorded on the balcony at an undisclosed location)

Episode Overview: Pete and Andy explore the challenges of shipping projects in the age of AI, discussing their experiences with Claude Code, the paradox of infinite possibilities versus completion, and strategies for moving from ideation to deployment.

Opening & AI Agent Development (00:00-12:00)The hosts discuss Pete's "Hypeman" project - an autonomous agent that ingests podcast transcripts, conducts web searches, and tweets throughout the day. They explore the challenges of managing Claude Code's tendency to over-engineer solutions and add unnecessary features.

Claude Code vs Planning Environments (12:00-24:00)Discussion of using different environments for planning versus execution. Claude Desktop for read-only planning and code review, Claude Code for implementation. The "dog with two dicks" analogy - Claude Code's overwhelming enthusiasm to build everything immediately rather than following structured plans.

The Old Bull and Young Bull Framework (24:00-30:00)Pete and Andy introduce their management philosophy for AI agents: needing both the enthusiastic "young bull" (execution agent) and the wise "old bull" (planning/orchestration agent) to achieve optimal results.

The Completion Problem (30:00-40:00)Deep dive into the challenge of finishing projects when AI makes starting new ones so easy. The dopamine hit of new ideas versus the grind of deployment. Recognition that they're developing sophisticated vibe coding setups but struggling to ship finished products.

System Development vs Product Shipping (40:00-50:00)Exploration of whether time spent refining AI coding systems is valuable capital development or procrastination. Discussion of calendarizing projects and creating external deadlines to force completion.

Cost Optimization in AI Agents (50:00-56:00)Pete shares how iterating on Hypeman reduced costs from $20-30 per transcript to 50 cents by strategically using different models (DeepSeek vs Sonnet 4) for different tasks.

Social Media Strategy & Nostr Focus (56:00-01:08:00)Comparison of engagement across platforms - genuine human interaction on Nostr versus bot-heavy Twitter. The value of being able to send sats for valuable content. Discussion of LinkedIn's corporate facade versus Twitter's AI innovation content.

The Australian Tech Landscape (01:08:00-01:14:00)Concerns about government surveillance, economic dependency on government spending, and the contrast with AI's promise of infinite leverage for entrepreneurs.

Action Items & Accountability (01:14:00-01:15:36)Commitment to ship projects by next episode. Plans for content recycling tools and increased Nostr presence. Recognition that shipping, not starting, is their bottleneck.

"The cost of doing something goes to zero, then the only real constraint you have is what you should do."

"I feel like the bit that makes it the wrong idea is the opportunity cost... we just narrowed that window down to a few hours."

"You've got to go and spend all your time and energy in the system that you want to win."

Next episode will feature accountability check-ins on shipped projects and progress on deployment systems. The hosts commit to focusing on completion over ideation.

Episode Theme: The challenge isn't building with AI - it's knowing what to build and actually shipping it.

# The Good Stuff Episode 16 - LLM Subscriptions, Goose AI Agent, Beacon & Bitcoin

**Summary:**

In this episode, hosts discuss subscription-based AI services and their rate limits, sharing their frustrations with Claude and Cursor's recent policy changes. They explore their personal workflows using various AI tools for coding, writing, and idea development, discussing the benefits of using multiple specialized tools versus all-in-one solutions.

The conversation concludes with an in-depth look at "Beacon," a project designed to bring AI tools and Bitcoin functionality to users in areas with limited internet access through platforms like WhatsApp.

## Key Themes:

**Subscription Models and Rate Limits in AI Services** (00:00 - 27:00)

- Discussion of Claude implementing weekly rate limits

- Comparison with Open AI's subscription model

- The economic realities of providing AI services

- Issues with communication and "bill shock" when companies change terms

**Personal AI Tool Workflows and Setups** (27:00 - 50:00)

- The hosts' approaches to using different AI tools for specific purposes

- Discussion of Claude desktop vs API performance differences

- Challenges with integration across different platforms

- Running local models on dedicated hardware

**Agent-Based Writing Tools and Philosophy** (50:00 - 73:00)

- Building dialogue-based writing companions versus editing tools

- The importance of focusing on the philosophy behind writing

- How agent-based conversations can help develop ideas more effectively

- Creating systems that don't interrupt creative flow

**Vibe Coding and Game Development** (73:00 - 84:00)

- Using voice-based coding for game development

- The potential of AI for nostalgic game recreation

- Making coding more accessible through voice interfaces

- Teaching coding through game development

**Beacon: AI and Bitcoin for the Underserved** (84:00 - 1:14:00)

- Introduction to Beacon, a system bringing AI and Bitcoin to users via WhatsApp

- How it works around censorship and limited internet access- Creating community financial tools for areas with limited banking

- The importance of bringing information freedom to underserved populations