stk (https://github.com/level09/stk): async Quart + Vue 3 starter i use for everything. auth stack is already wired up (session, 2FA, webauthn, oauth), async sqlalchemy, alembic, no frontend build step. basically the boring part so i can get to the actual product faster.

ziglag (https://github.com/level09/ziglag): self-hosted invoicing for freelancers, built on top of stk. clients, invoices, VAT, PDF, shareable links, MIT. got tired of paying a monthly fee to send a pdf.

idea is to keep chipping away. every subscription that annoys me is fair game. small tools, self-hosted, no accounts, no seats, no upsell. if it's useful for me someone else probably wants it too, so might as well open source it. open to ideas on what to kill next.

Same here. Premium account, years old, barely post, banned with no explanation.

What’s worse: no way to notify followers or export data after a ban.

Lesson here: Never outsource your identity or communication to a platform you don’t control, treat them as disposable channels, that might disappear any day.

I see it differently.

for me AI has been less about building more/fast, and more about unlocking potential that was always out of reach.

Knowledge gaps that would've taken years to fill, new angles I wouldn't have thought to explore on my own. It's not that it makes more software.

it just makes you more capable of tackling things you couldn't before.

agreed, I noticed the max plan doesn't feel max anymore, it can quickly get depleted during hourly sessions, and the week limit seems really limited.

Software startups still work, but only if software is not the point.

Code is now cheap, so the advantage moved into things that cannot be copied by looking, accumulated data, hidden workflows, trust, and judgment earned by staying inside a problem too long.

Big companies copy shapes, not gravity. If your edge is visible, it is temporary. If it only appears over time, you are still early.

Here are mine:

- Build something boring that makes money. Excitement is optional; users are not.

- Use AI less like a chatbot and more like infrastructure, background processes that think while I sleep.

- Go back to fundamentals that compound, graphics, systems, taste.

- Experiment selectively; curiosity without commitment.

- Invest in people, not “networking.” Fewer pings, more real conversations.

- Protect focus like equity.

If you want users, the requirement is sales skills, not product development skills.

What about simply providing value?

At the very least one must connect to people who would find it valuable (either inbound or outbound), and the value has to be communicated to the prospective buyers. People make their decisions based on how they perceive the product, not based on your view. And the value big enough to overcome friction involved in purchasing, including soft factors like people trusting you with their money. There might be habits and other pieces of inertia that has to be overcome also, and why would they pick your thing over the alternatives. And of course you must be able to charge enough to cover the costs of providing said value.

Fair feedback. Demo, video, and use case tutorials are in the works! stay tuned

Agreed!

One differentiator among others: try finding a stack with full self-hosted auth. Most push you toward third parties! I wanted to own my users.

https://medium.com/@level09/the-stack-that-owns-you-7ff06b26...

Awesome, glad it fits! Will be posting more tutorials and use cases soon. Let me know how it goes

Thanks! Felt like a nice break from the usual generic SaaS aesthetic