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

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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”

Brian and Justin discuss the recent launch of Filterhawk, which Brian built to replace Gmail's built-in filters. They also talk about SaaS marketing strategies (which channels still work?). Justin shares some initial numbers from the Black Friday sale.

Timestamps:

• (00:06) - Follow up on last week's Justin mystery
• (02:51) - Brian launching Filterhawk
• (13:29) - How did Brian build Filterhawk in a week?
• (26:32) - The refinement phase
• (34:59) - Transistor's Black Friday sales
• (44:34) - BuilderMethodsPro Black Friday deal
• (49:34) - Brian's entering phase 2 of Builder Methods
• (01:06:28) - Thinking about where we have gaps in knowledge of our customers
• (01:09:45) - Thinking about marketing to teams and larger companies

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Links mentioned in this episode

• FilterHawk – Take Control of Your Gmail Inbox
• Inertia.js
• shadcn/ui
• Claude
• Cursor
• Google Gemini
• superwhisper
• Wispr Flow
• Improving frontend design through Skills | Claude
• Hatchbox.io
• Forge
• Rewardful
• Stripe Sigma
• Panic – Nova
• Google Antigravity
• From AI skeptic to UNFAIR advantage – YouTube
• How remote work changed my life
• Podscan.fm

Brian and Justin are joined by a surprise guest: Nadav Keyson, founder of Riverside. We had an impromptu conversation about how Riverside launched (and found traction), the impact of funding (vs bootstrapping), how Navad thinks about competition, and whether he thinks having investors leads to more stress.

Timestamps:

• (00:10) - Agenda for the episode
• (02:19) - The future of The Panel
• (16:18) - WE'LL DO IT LIVE!
• (17:22) - Nadav Keyson from Riverside joins
• (22:27) - How much should we think about our competition?
• (26:15) - When did Riverside raise money and invest in content / SEO?
• (28:42) - What were the keys to building a stable product in a competitive space?
• (31:41) - What are the challenges ahead for Riverside?
• (35:00) - How much is AI involved in writing Riverside's code?
• (39:55) - Has Nadav's stress lessened as Riverside has grown?
• (50:47) - Why should someone use your app? Why you?
• (01:06:51) - Forming an opinion about the world vs finding demand for a solution
• (01:14:23) - Brian's building Filterhawk
• (01:26:41) - What happened to Justin?

• 🎤 Send us an audio or video message
• 📧 Email us: panelpodcastshow@gmail.com
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Links mentioned in this episode

• Riverside's original Product Hunt launch
• Rob Snyder blog post: The Physics of Startups
• Brian's new app: FilterHawk
• Brian's tweet