Random Space Fact 🪐: When a massive star collapses and fails to sustain its nuclear fusion, it explodes into a supernova, scattering elements across the universe that eventually form new stars, planets, and even life itself. Every atom in your body heavier than hydrogen was once forged in the heart of a dying star. We are literally made of stardust.

Sometimes the most spectacular transformations come from collapse.

Failure is just data

I never talk about failures publicly. There are way too many to count, and honestly, it’s often embarrassing.

But looking back, those so-called failures shaped me more than any success ever did.

At one point, I got into the seafood export trade. Unbelievable when I think about it now. How does someone who builds software for a living start their career trading fish across borders?

At 20 years old, I was negotiating with fish farmers and cargo agents and getting quotes for refrigerated shipments. I was knee-deep in red tape, customs regulations, and supply chain logistics.

Well, as you can imagine, I stopped after a year.

Profit margins were thin, problems were endless. I was competing against people who’d been in the field for 30 years, had deep networks and battle-tested intuitions.

At the time, I thought it was my biggest failure. A meaningless chapter in my life. A complete waste of time. I felt like a disappointment to my family who wanted me to scale up the corporate ladder.

But in hindsight, that failed venture gave me an education I couldn’t have paid for. School never taught me how to negotiate with freight forwarders or structure exclusive deals with suppliers. I learned more about international trade, the impact of currency fluctuations, and supply chains from that one year than from every lecture in Economics 101 combined.

Right after that came my other failures. I failed to scale an EdTech product I tried to launch in Asia. I failed to close investment deals even though I had a successful prototype with major VC interest, just because I didn’t have a technical co-founder and didn’t know how to find a good one. At the time, I didn’t know how to code, and AI coding tools didn’t exist for me to vibe code my way into faking it. I later failed at many other things, the list of which could turn into a book.

The thing about failure is that society teaches us to see it as something terrible to be ashamed of. But when I came across the concept of treating failure like a scientist in one of James Clear’s articles, my entire mindset shifted.

When scientists run experiments, they form multiple hypotheses and rule out the failing ones. In fact, failing experiments are a good thing. When you rule out the impossible, you’re closer to what’s possible. So why not do the same for our careers or for figuring out what we’re good at?

Seth Godin puts it perfectly: “Failure is simply a cost you have to pay on the way to being right.”

Here are some actionable ways to develop this mindset:

1. Keep a “lessons learned” log After each failure or setback, do a brain dump: What happened? What did I learn? What will I try differently? This shifts your brain from dwelling on the failure to extracting value from it. I mean, we are human after all. We’re allowed to be sad if something doesn’t go our way, but we shouldn’t let that define us for too long. My failed EdTech venture taught me I needed a technical co-founder and trustworthy partners who are willing to learn on the go.

2. Set experiment goals Instead of “I will launch a successful product,” try “I will test 3 different product ideas with real users, reach out to them for feedback, post about it on socials and see the response.”

I’m actually in the middle of such an experiment now with one of my event-focused apps called Disco! Building is so easy now, thanks to the explosion of AI tools. It has never been easier to just build a prototype and seek feedback. In fact, I’ve had lots of people reach out to me on various platforms like LinkedIn and Reddit to be a beta tester and early user for their products, and I’m doing the same for some of my own.

3. Study failure autopsies I’ve made a habit of reading stories about failed startups and pivots from the original idea to learn the lessons behind them. Was it cash flow problems? Operational? Marketing? Seeing how others extract lessons normalizes the process. I understand that reading failed startup stories is miserable and kinda scary, but look at it through a lesson-learning lens.

4. Time-box your experiments Give each venture a predetermined timeline. “I want to achieve X by Y months or years, whatever makes sense.” This creates a natural checkpoint to evaluate what’s working and what’s not, preventing you from endlessly chasing something that isn’t viable while still giving it enough time to prove itself.

The scorecard isn’t wins vs. losses. It’s experiments run vs. experiments avoided. Keep your lessons log and set your timelines. Run the tests and when something collapses that is alright. Now you know, and you’re closer to what works.

Experiments I am currently running

Disco: An app that connects people at in-person events based on their goals for attending. Users create profiles sharing what they’re looking for, whether that’s finding co-founders, landing clients, or learning from experts, so you can meet the right people at the right time. Early validations and feedback are strong, and I’m going to mess around and find out if this thing will actually work. I already have a list of beta testers, and hopefully in 2026 we can do a beta launch.

I don’t know if Disco will work out. I don’t know what failure #67 will look like. But I do know I’d rather have a long list of experiments behind me than a short list of things I was too afraid to try. What experiments are you running? What are you learning from them?

But that professor changed my life.

She used to talk about her experience working as a physiotherapist with older adults . These were people who would’ve lived longer, healthier lives if they had built the right habits when they were young. She would show real examples from her work and research, and actual conversations with people suffering from diseases that were simply preventable through exercise. And over time, something in those stories changed me.

I joined the gym because of her.

I found the courage to push myself through difficult physical challenges like Muay Thai and weightlifting because of her.

I started reading ingredient labels when buying anything from the store because of that one nutrition class. Eventually, I was able to manage my lung and cardiac issues, conditions that had me running from one doctor to another as a child, to the point that I don’t need medication anymore or even remember what asthma feels like.

I never went up and thanked her. She has no idea that I mentioned this exact story to my dad at dinner when he asked why I loved lifting so much, or that she helped me become a better version of myself.

Our habits don’t live in silos; they touch every part of our lives. The discipline and confidence that came from working out spilled into other areas of my life. As I put myself through intense training sessions day in and day out, I rewired my brain to love the pressure and not fear doing difficult things, like taking calculated risks in business. I said yes to many client projects even before I had the skills to pull them off because I had some sort of delusional confidence in myself that I could figure it out as I went.

Someone out there is probably talking about you the same way

You might be quietly inspiring someone you’ve never met. Maybe they see your work online, or maybe they quietly admire you from the corner of a room at work, in school, or at the gym when you consistently show up.

You might be the reason they started creating, or learning, or taking themselves seriously for the first time. Or the person they think about when they make a decision that shifts their life a few degrees in a better direction.

When you post something online, they probably won’t interact with it. But they’re watching and maybe getting inspired by it.

A few days ago, two friends messaged me about projects I recently shared on LinkedIn. I had no idea they were seeing my posts because they never liked or commented on any of them. But turns out they were watching.

You are inspired, now what?

Don’t just sit there with the inspiration, act on it. Passively consuming inspiring content won’t help you if you don’t actually go out there and do something with that information. You can only gain momentum by actively working on the inspiring content you came across, even if the start is rough, shaky, and full of confusion.

Maybe someone inspired by you will talk about you to their family, friends, or colleagues, and in rooms, cities, and languages you will never know about. So don’t underestimate the power of consistently showing up and doing the things that make you better. You never know who’s being changed by your example.

We charged them just $1,000 for a cross-platform application. Looking back, we seriously undercharged. But that wasn’t just any paycheck; it was validation that we could go out there and forge our own path. It was our first dollar made online, our proof of concept. That project became the first of many clients that would soon follow.

Since then, my product studio has grown significantly. We’ve worked with several local startups, built gamified learning apps and fintech apps, designed websites for boutique businesses, and turned one-off projects into long-term partnerships. But the challenges of bootstrapped entrepreneurship are ever-present: hiring the right people, time management, project management, all while meeting deadlines with a small team and keeping myself healthy along the way.

Storytelling

As a product studio owner, I’m always searching for inspiring stories from other creative founders. My quest led me to the eye-opening story of Ueno, a design agency that redefined what’s possible for independent studios.

In 2014, Haraldur “Halli” Thorleifsson started Ueno at his kitchen table in Reykjavik with just $1,000 in the bank. Seven years later, he sold it to Twitter in one of the biggest independent agency acquisitions ever. Before reading about Ueno, I didn’t even know creative agencies could be sold to tech companies for nine figures.

I later learned that Molly Studio was acquired by Shopify too. Apparently, this is a real exit path.

Ueno grew from Halli’s apartment to 50 employees across four cities, working with Google, Apple, Airbnb, Uber, and other major brands. But here’s what set them apart: their incredible storytelling and their meticulous case study process. They only took on projects interesting enough to merit a case study. Every client success became a story that attracted even bigger clients.

Halli credits Ueno’s rapid growth to investing heavily in internal culture, finding the right people, branding, and collaboration, which led to consistently high-quality work. Once Ueno proved it could handle large-scale projects while maintaining quality, more big clients followed.

The agency also stood out through its commitment to social and cultural values, which helped it build a distinctive brand and attract clients who shared its principles.

For example, Haraldur founded Ramp Up Iceland, a project aimed at building over 1,500 wheelchair ramps across the country to improve accessibility, inspired by his own experience living with muscular dystrophy and using a wheelchair.

Function + Feeling

That paragraph from their website struck me deeply. Thoughtful yet emotional, technical yet human.

When I build products now, I often catch myself asking the same two questions without realizing it: Does it work? and How does it make people feel?

That invisible layer of care, intention, and art is what turns something from well-built into well-loved.

The Reality Check

Of course, it’s not always possible to be hyper-selective about clients when you’re juggling a dozen bills. In the early stages, you take the projects that keep the lights on and grow from there.

But as AI democratizes coding and makes it easier than ever to spin up prototypes, design and storytelling are becoming the ultimate differentiators. Working with clients to not just build but also tell stories is crucial.

In a world where AI can spin up a landing page in five minutes, what actually cuts through is not one more feature list, but a story that people want to see themselves in.

The best campaigns today, from Shot on iPhone to Airbnb’s Made Possible by Hosts and Spotify Wrapped, all do the same thing: incredible storytelling.

Learning to Storytell

Storytelling isn’t an afterthought to design. It’s part of the design. It shapes how people perceive the work, how clients connect with it, and how teams find meaning in what they build.

Case studies that tell stories don’t have to wait until the end of a project; they can be an integral part of the process. Think of them like a working journal; a way to document the journey as it unfolds. Writing a few lines each day about what was accomplished, what hurdles appeared, and what decisions were made helps preserve the story in real time.

Taking lots of photos, recording small milestones, or noting what inspired a specific design choice makes the narrative richer later.

Here are elements you should aim for:

1. Clear Challenge/Context

   • What was the business situation?

   • Who was the user/customer?

   • What problem were they facing?

   • This ties to Function - the work had to do something.

2. Process & Story

   • What did you actually do? (Workshops, discovery, design, iteration)

   • What were the emotional/intangible parts? (How did it feel for users, what changed in perception)

   • Show your storytelling layer - the narrative of getting from challenge → solution.

3. Outcome and Feeling

   • What metrics changed? (Conversions, engagement, retention)

   • How did people feel? What changed in behaviour or perception? This ties to Feeling.

   • Use real quotes or visuals of people in action.

4. Visuals & Narrative Flow

   • Hero image or video that pulls people in.

   • Before & after, or journey visuals.

   • Consistent layout. Use your brand’s voice and visual style

5. Call to Action / Next Steps

   • What do you want the reader to do? Contact you, view more work, download full story?

No Budget, No Problem

I’m all about being a scrappy founder and I definitely don’t have a dedicated case study team. What I’m doing right now is taking lots of pictures of the process, documenting everything I’m learning, even if it’s just one paragraph or a quick voice note. I also keep an entire folder of demo videos and Loom walkthroughs of the work in progress.

Solo or bootstrapped founders often document their builds using LinkedIn, Twitter, Notion, Loom and other social media platforms. These grassroots updates often outperform high-budget marketing campaigns because they feel raw and real.

Studios and Case Study References I Love

• MetaLab Work Archive – Clear, process-driven storytelling showing decisions, not just deliverables.

• CaseStudy.Club – A curated library of modern product design stories.

• Molly.Studio – A creative studio acquired by Shopify, known for its minimal aesthetic, storytelling-driven campaigns, and thoughtful brand work.

• QodeInteractive – Examples of Online Case Studies – A gallery of case studies across web, agency and design work with commentary on what makes them effective.

I’m not an expert in storytelling yet, but I’m aiming to get just one percent better each day. No matter what you’re building, document the process, because the small notes, screenshots, and reflections you capture today become the stories that inspire others tomorrow.

Sources

• Awwwards – Interview with Haraldur Thorleifsson

  https://www.awwwards.com/haraldur-thorleifsson-interview.html

• Dribbble – Ueno Portfolio

  https://dribbble.com/ueno/shots

• Ueno Official Website (Archived) https://www.ueno.co/

• Dave Benton – “How Global Design Studio Ueno Maintains Its Creative Soul”

  https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-global-design-studio-ueno-maintains-its-creative-soul-dave-benton/

She crochets, knits, bakes, cooks, sews dresses from scratch, does embroidery, grows her own lemons and chillies. She makes butter from scratch.

She enjoys every step of the creative process.

She’s my perfect definition of an artist - yet she never claimed to be one. She’s my role model for sustainable living - yet she doesn’t know what that term means. Growing up, that was just the default.

She raised her own chickens, ducks, cows and lived right beside a lake where she could fish. “Don’t buy shit you don’t need” - she’s strongly against overconsumption.

I used to be like her.

Growing up, I’d help her with everything. Tracing fabrics and cutting them for new dresses. Making batik with molten wax, watching it drip and harden into patterns. My hands knew how to create things.

Until my 12th birthday, most of my dresses were handmade from scratch by my mom. I used to wear bespoke pieces of art without ever really knowing or stopping to appreciate how truly special these were.

Then somewhere along the way, I lost that touch.

Art was removed from my life and replaced by math and science. Society told me which skills mattered. “Science was the only way for financial success and anything artistic is a risk,” they said. So I stopped creating art, thinking it was a waste of time.

Now I’m constantly impatient. My mind is overstimulated. My attention is fragmented across many tasks.

Can you blame me? We’re surrounded by distractions and sensory overstimulation. Everything in our lives - from the way we communicate, to booking appointments, to making payments - revolves around our phones.

Life is different and very fast now.

“Hey, the deadline is end of day!” So I rush myself and my team to just get it done.

“Sam, did you hear about this new AI tool?”

“No, but tell me about it.”

With 50 tabs open, I switch between topics trying to keep up with all that is new.

The slow process of baking, sewing, cooking a multi-step meal? That’s all too much of a hassle now. Everything’s reduced to 15-minute recipes. Just pour, heat and eat.

Spending the weekend with my mom put a lot into perspective and brought back good old memories. It also allowed me to sit down with my thoughts and write something different than my regular startup blogs.

Humans reap incredible benefits by doing tasks with their own hands. The gentle, therapeutic process of completing tasks step by step. The satisfaction of watching something take shape over hours, days, weeks.

My mom still has that.

Our hands literally evolved for this. For 2.6 million years, human hands developed their unique dexterity specifically to create, shape, and manipulate tools. Our brains are wired to perceive tools as extensions of our bodies. When my mom holds knitting needles or a crochet hook, her brain literally experiences them as part of her hands.

Studies show that 45 minutes of hands-on creation significantly reduces cortisol levels. It doesn’t matter if you’re particularly “good” at it. Your skill level doesn’t determine the benefit.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love being a tech entrepreneur and right now I have my absolute dream job of running my own product development studio. My artistic soul is still there, just translated to a digital plane. And it’s very much visible in the UI/UX workflows I design.

Clients who started working with my company from day 1 are still here with me on day 380. This journey is beautiful.

But here’s the paradox - I need the calm that comes from creating slowly to actually do my best work in tech. So how can I make space for slow creation while running a startup that demands constant growth and increasing MRR?

Honestly, I don’t know yet. But here are some things I’m trying:

1. I bought crayons to start creating art again

2. I started cooking more often

   Not the generic throw-everything-in-a-pot-and-forget-about-it kind. But the ones that require me to slow down, measure ingredients and have multiple steps.

3. I started this newsletter

   Starting this newsletter is in itself a creative pursuit.

4. I’m joining more art workshops

   Toronto offers incredible art, knitting and pottery workshops. I used to shy away from them. But I am making more effort to attend them.

5. I stopped juggling a million productivity apps

   I am simply sticking to Apple Notes, a physical daily planner and app blockers now! I only allow notifications from apps that are absolutely crucial to my business.

The same brain that learned to crave constant stimulation can be retrained to slow down. If you can learn bad habits and behaviours, you can unlearn them too.

So I’m asking myself, and maybe you’re asking too:

What would you make if you gave yourself permission to slow down and create something from scratch for just one day?

We also formed our first pilot partnership with York University, which helped validate the idea early on and gave us real-world feedback to shape our next steps.

What Disco is hoping to solve 🪩

As an introvert, I’ve always found networking events overwhelming. The awkward small talk, the frantic search for someone new to speak to, and the pile of business cards that I collect but never look back at.

As a product studio founder, I love meeting potential collaborators or clients, but there’s no good way to meet the right people at the right time during events. Most of the meaningful connections I’ve made at events happened completely by chance, and that always made me wonder:

What if meeting the right person at an event didn’t depend on luck? What if I knew who was coming to the event and what their goals were?

That’s exactly what Disco aims to solve. An app that connects people at in-person events based on their goals for attending. Users create profiles sharing what they’re looking for, whether that’s finding co-founders, landing clients, or learning from experts, so you can meet the right people at the right time. This will be super helpful for trade shows, conferences, hackathons, and even student events.

Behind the studio ✨

For the past two weeks, I’ve been building Disco with two friends. A small, scrappy team that believes in the idea as much as I do.

As I started sharing Disco more, demoing it at friends’ parties, at the Startup Open House event that recently took place in Toronto, and even to incubators, new ideas kept coming in, and the feedback was amazing.

The more I shared, the clearer the vision became. Every conversation helped me refine what matters most for our MVP and where we should focus next.

I used to be afraid of talking about my ideas in public and sharing work in progress. However, I soon realized that creating an app is just the beginning. There’s so much more than just the coding part.

Finding the right team members, setting a clear vision, getting partnerships, and staying disciplined to do the work day in and day out without going insane all matter in the building process.

Also, I have the best team! ♥

How did we land the pilot partnership?

Whoever said that we kill more dreams in our head than failure ever could was absolutely right. A lot of educational institutions, small businesses, and startups are genuinely open to helping others who are just getting started.

From day one, we were very intentional about getting a partnership before releasing the app. We didn’t want to assume what people wanted — we wanted them to test it out with their own hands.

Is this scary for us? Absolutely. But if we don’t try, we’ll never know.

I’ll be sharing weekly updates on building Disco, lessons learned, and behind-the-scenes progress. If you’re interested in trying Disco at your next event or have feedback to share, drop a comment — I’d love to hear from you.

Until next time 💙

I have a consistency problem.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I decided to blog, vlog, and consistently post about my work on social media.

In this increasingly noisy world, it’s becoming important to stand out by being seen. But being seen requires showing up—again and again. Even at times when I am lazy or think it is cringe to post.

James Clear talks about how “every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.” My inconsistent posting has been voting for someone who starts but doesn’t finish. That’s not the entrepreneur I want to be.

So I’m setting myself a different kind of challenge this time: one post per week on Instagram starting now, one Lonely Blue Pixel blog per week, one vlog per month as a wrap-up/reflection, and a few different social media posts across LinkedIn, Threads, and Instagram.

What Does It Take for a 7-Person Design Studio to Catch Shopify’s Attention?

I am always looking for inspiring founder stories to motivate myself to work harder.

This week, I discovered an inspiring exit story: Molly Studio recently got acquired by Shopify to become the new Shopify Product Design Studio.

The Brooklyn-based team will now operate as an “internal agency” within Shopify, reporting directly to Chief Design Officer Carl Rivera. But what made this small studio acquisition-worthy for a commerce giant?

The AI expertise advantage. Half of Molly’s projects over the past two years have been AI-related, and they developed internal frameworks for how AI and product design teams should work together. This gave them a competitive edge as brands scramble to integrate AI into their products.

The relationship-first approach. Shopify was already a client of the studio before the acquisition. Molly built trust through collaboration, not just pitches. They even hosted events together at their Brooklyn studio, including Demo Nights and Behind the Scenes gatherings. When acquisition conversations began, they were already proven partners.

Why Shopify made the move: “Design is the main differentiator in the age of AI,” says Rivera. Shopify bought Molly “for the way they solve problems as a unit” and believes the team will serve as a template for the rest of Shopify’s design structure.

The lesson for agencies: Build expertise in emerging technologies, develop genuine relationships with potential acquirers, and position yourself as a strategic partner, not just a vendor.

Our 3-Month Project Just Became a Year-Long Engagement

We teamed up with Vision Us to develop Pebblz—an app for youth employment that makes soft skills learning and resume building fun. What began as a simple 3-month project has now extended for a year, and here’s why that matters.

Vision Us came to us with a challenge: how can we help young people develop soft skills and make resume building fun?

Together we built version 1.0 of Pebblz in just 10 weeks.

Obsessive Communication
This client came in with serious skepticism. They’d previously worked with a dev team that failed to deliver for an entire year. Knowing this, I provided daily updates, no matter how small the progress. Showing proof of work being completed and breaking down each piece weekly assured them we’d deliver on time.

Fast Bug Fixes
We didn’t let bugs sit for days. If something was simple, we fixed it while the client was still on the call. With today’s AI tools, it’s easier than ever to quickly identify and ship fixes.

Valuable Strategic Advice
Since the client was non-technical, we provided extensive guidance on technology choices for cost savings, future-proofing the system, and optimizing product experience. This consultative approach showed we cared about their long-term success, not just completing the project. This also helped the client see us as true partners and not just a one-time vendor.

Kindness Goes a Long Way
Being genuinely kind and maintaining a sense of humour during client interactions creates lasting relationships. It sounds simple, but it’s often overlooked.

This 10-week project evolved into a true partnership. We’re now responsible for building Version 2 with more robust features.

The transformation happened because we treated the client as a partner from day one, not just as another project to complete.

I get it — it’s not always possible to go from a one-time project to a long-term engagement due to budget constraints or other issues from the client side. However, if you show this level of care, you will also end up being recommended within their circle. This is another great outcome that happened to us, and it’s been incredibly valuable for growing our business.

So here’s my question for you: What are you voting for with your actions this week?

Until next time 💙

Last week, I did the opposite. We built a networking app called Disco in 3 days, pitched it at York University with a barebones demo, and walked out with a partnership in under an hour.

If You Have an Idea, Build It

As an introvert, I find networking events overwhelming. The awkward small talk, the frantic search for the next person to speak to, the business cards that end up in the trash. All of it feels draining. Yet I understand its importance and the role it plays in opening doors to opportunities. In fact, most of my work opportunities came through people I met at events.

Last week, we showed up at York University with an idea: Disco, an app that makes networking at events actually work. I’ll discuss more about its features as we get closer to the launch date.

We built a barebones demo in just three days and had one shot to pitch it to decision-makers.

We presented the demo to the heads of engineering student clubs and the manager of the entrepreneurship program at the Lassonde School of Engineering. Their eyes lit up as they watched the app in action, and within an hour, we walked out with an agreement to pilot Disco at their upcoming events.

If You Don’t Try, You’ll Never Know

For years, I’ve struggled with self-doubt, imposter syndrome, and a persistent sense of confusion about what I truly want to pursue in life.

I get new ideas. I start a project. I find competition. Then self-doubt creeps in, and I stop.

But every time that shroud of negativity begins to take over, I remind myself: If I don’t try, I’ll never know.

A lot of great products that exist today almost didn’t. Slack started as an internal tool for a failing gaming company. They were about to shut down when they realized the chat tool was actually the product. Discord was built by a team whose previous gaming company had just crashed. They made it for themselves and almost gave up on it. Notion’s founders were down to their last $10K, and it took them two years to get 1,000 users.

There are countless stories like these: teams pivoting, products evolving, and ideas rising from the ashes. The lesson is simple — try, because you’ll never know otherwise.

Early Signs of Validation

A few months ago, I joined several WhatsApp groups where tech founders discuss AI, share ideas, and help each other out.

I shared my idea for Disco, and to my surprise, many of them were interested in signing up. That early signal gave me confidence, but more importantly, clarity. I started to see who our users really were and what features actually mattered.

I also have an incredible team of four working on this project, people who believe in it every single day and keep our Discord project server alive.

AI is making it ridiculously easy to build quick prototypes for feedback and validation. It’s helping us automate repetitive tasks and move faster than ever. There’s never been a better time to just start and figure out the details as you go.

Cultivating a Culture of Building

My partner and I have built a strong culture of collaboration and problem-solving at home.

We set up a cozy double workstation even before we purchased a couch, a TV, or a dining table.

Being in the zone and completely locked in was critical for us. It got us through college, multiple hackathon wins, our engineering jobs, and now building our product studio, Foam On Latte Inc.

Here’s what I want you to take away from this:

If you have an idea sitting in your notes app, your Notion workspace, or just rattling around in your head — build it. Build a rough version. Show it to people. Get feedback. Iterate.

You don’t need perfect timing. You don’t need to wait until you feel “ready” because the stars will never align.

You just need to start.

Because if you don’t try, you’ll never know.

P.S. Building Disco in public. If you’re curious about the progress or want to follow along , subscribe to my newsletter. I’ll keep you posted on what we learn.

— Carl Sagan

Source: The Pale Blue Dot

Welcome to the first edition of Lonely Blue Pixel - a name deeply inspired from the famous 1990 photograph, Pale Blue Dot.

When my science teacher pulled this photograph up and projected it onto the wall to a room full of stressed students before finals week, we did not know what we were looking at. It looked like a distant star in a galaxy somewhere, but our minds could not wrap around the fact that this was actually a photo of Earth.

Captured by Voyager 1 from 3.7 billion miles away, it’s a humbling reminder of our place in the universe.

We are so tiny in this vast cosmic ocean, so, why take things so seriously? We’re all in this together to create something meaningful and enjoy the ride.

We can try new things, make mistakes, take risks, and if we fail, we try again. In our unique journeys, we connect with others doing the same.

So when I’m facing difficult decisions, times when I feel behind in life, worry about mundane things, or feel overwhelmed by the pace of change in our AI-driven world — I think of this pale blue dot.

What This Newsletter Is About

Right now I’m building Foam On Latte Inc, my web and app development studio.

Every week, I’m discovering new business ideas, working with and building for clients worldwide, testing design principles, trying AI tools, and learning what actually works (and what doesn’t).

Instead of keeping these insights to myself, I’m sharing everything about what I am learning along the way.

What You Can Expect Every Week

🥑 Behind-the-Scenes of Building Products - Raw, unfiltered look at building products with a small team. Real revenue numbers, real challenges, real lessons from my studio and other small teams winning big.

💡 Business Ideas & Growth Insights - Business opportunities hiding in plain sight, plus growth strategies from the trenches. Some I’ve tested personally, others I’ve implemented for clients, and the best ones I’m researching for future use.

🎲 Random Learnings & Life Experiments - The unplanned lessons that don’t fit neatly into business or product categories but somehow end up being very valuable.

Why Subscribe Now?

You’re getting in early. This is edition #1. You’ll watch this newsletter (and my studio) grow from its early days.

I’m learning alongside you. I don’t have everything figured out, but I am willing to learn, fail and build loudly in public.

This is a little corner of the internet for builders. Whether you’re starting out, scaling up, or just curious about what works in business and design, you belong here.