The Panel

Does vision matter? And how far into the future should your vision be these days? And how do we deal with copycats in the age of AI? And who is our money pin in the Anthropic vs OpenAI vs Google horse race, especially with mythos in the news.Timestamps:YOU ARE THE PANEL – send us your thoughts 🗣️🎤 Send us an audio or video message📧 Email us: [email protected]📺 Leave a comment on YouTube 🦋 Reply on Bluesky Links mentioned in this episode:Quick Sight – AWS https://aws.amazon.com/quick/quicksight/Stripe Sigma https://stripe.com/en-mx/sigma Paddle https://www.paddle.com/profitwell-metricsClaude Mythos https://red.anthropic.com/2026/mythos-preview/ Owner.com https://www.owner.com/ Base44 https://base44.com/

Why doesn't AI prompt us more often if it's so smart? Ryan Hefner joins us to chat about our daily drivers for shoes, IDE, AI provider, getting the news, and planning a vacation. Timestamps:(00:07) - Introducing Ryan Hefner (03:53) - Today's topic: how we choose our daily drivers (04:54) - Updates with Justin (08:54) - Update from Brian (14:16) - Ryan's Launch week concept (23:04) - The concept of daily drivers in life (25:35) - Daily driver shoes (29:58) - Daily driver IDE (33:31) - Remote controlling Claude (44:44) - Daily driver for AI (50:09) - We often stick with a product even when a new one would be more efficient or helpful (53:37) - Daily driver for getting the news (01:04:32) - Daily drivers for vacations (01:15:11) - AI needs to be prompting us more (01:22:01) - Daily driver for voice transcription YOU ARE THE PANEL – send us your thoughts 🗣️🎤 Send us an audio or video message📧 Email us: [email protected]📺 Leave a comment on YouTube 🦋 Reply on Bluesky Links mentioned in this episode:Transistor helps publish TBPN video podcast on Apple PodcastsBrian's job postingRyan's new app: Launch WeeksFreek's new appOpenAI buys TBPN for hundreds of millionsT3 Code editorOpenAI CodexSuperset.shConductorSoloCMUXCodex plugin for Claude CodeSurf.socialTangle newsGround News

Justin's hosting this one and he brought along Ben Curtis from Honeybadger to talk about how AI can be a CRM and also your designer.Timestamps:(00:15) - Introducing Ben Curtis (02:57) - How is Honeybadger using AI? (06:35) - How do you determine which model to use for different problems? (09:33) - How are we using AI in marketing and sales? (24:09) - How Steve Schoger used AI to design (33:32) - How much longer will websites matter? (38:47) - How intelligent are LLMs at product market fit? (44:40) - Transistor Update: Video podcast hosting + Ghost integration (47:18) - What Honeybadger is working on (50:26) - Updates from Brian's work YOU ARE THE PANEL – send us your thoughts 🗣️🎤 Send us an audio or video message📧 Email us: [email protected]📺 Leave a comment on YouTube 🦋 Reply on Bluesky Links mentioned in this episode:Ghost CMSClaude AICodex by OpenAIHatchbox for DeploymentFigmaGoogle StitchTailwind CSSClaude MCP for Figma@SteveSchoger designs with Claude

It's Jordan's turn to host and he's got some AI companies he's not sure about...Timestamps:(00:06) - Jordan's episode to host! (01:19) - Business update from Brian (05:45) - Justin's business update (14:09) - How Jordan advertises to his existing customers (21:50) - Jordan's business update (28:48) - Is Polsia fake or real? (40:47) - Adam Wathan announces ui.sh (58:12) - Is Delve AI compliance a scam? (01:14:45) - Where is OpenClaw today and what's the point? YOU ARE THE PANEL – send us your thoughts 🗣️🎤 Send us an audio or video message📧 Email us: [email protected]📺 Leave a comment on YouTube 🦋 Reply on Bluesky Links mentioned in this episode:GStack — Turn Claude Code into a Virtual Software Development TeamPolsia — AI That Runs Your Company While You SleepThis AI generates $689K - Business Podcast for Startupsui.sh — Turn your terminal into a design engineerStitch - Design with AIBasecamp — Basecamp CLI and Agent Skill: Agent first, agent nativeDelve | SOC 2 Compliance, HIPAA | Automated Compliance for AI, Startups | Get GDPR, ISO 27001, Cybersecurity Compliant & More | Delve Automated ComplianceDelve - Fake Compliance as a Service - Part IGusto | Online HR Services: Payroll, Benefits and everything elseOpenClaw AI - Open Source AI Assistant | Formerly Clawdbot & MoltbotClaude

Brian, Justin, and Jordan talk about the opportunity costs in business decision-making, the impact of AI on marketing channels and strategies, and building custom internal tools with AI versus SaaS solutions.Timestamps:(00:44) - Brian takes the lead (02:17) - Opportunity costs (17:29) - What is Brian's opportunity on Twitter? (21:41) - Figuring out what Builder Methods is and who it's for (24:53) - Should Brian hire someone to help achieve his goal? (28:47) - How is AI killing Saas (39:54) - People will want their own agent to use the softare, not a company's AI (51:07) - Jordan's CRM experiment YOU ARE THE PANEL – send us your thoughts 🗣️🎤 Send us an audio or video message📧 Email us: [email protected]📺 Leave a comment on YouTube 🦋 Reply on Bluesky Links:Builder Methods ProBrian's YouTube

What happened to you in Mexico? Justin is back from his co-founder retreat with Jon on Holbox Island. He gets vulnerable about the drift that naturally happens in a remote co-founder relationship, the big conversations they'd been avoiding, and the realization that alignment isn't a one-time thing (it requires constant investment!). Jordan and Brian weigh in on co-founder dynamics, decision-making in a 50/50 partnership, and why strategy has to belong to a key decision maker. The conversation then spills into the "Mexican standoff" happening on teams as AI reshapes who does what and whether that's something to fear (or lean into).Timestamps:(00:06) - Introduction (01:47) - Justin and Jon's founder retreat (06:44) - Using video as an example of how to communicate with cofounders (09:45) - It's not a marriage, it's a dictatorship (12:12) - What do goals look like for a company? (20:48) - Video is hard and heavy... should we do it? (24:22) - What Jordan's done to help alignment on his team (29:46) - What about Jon's side of the conversation? (39:46) - Navigating new work dynamics with the speed of AI (46:56) - There are smart developers resisting AI - why? (54:24) - A Mexican standoff on teams (01:06:47) - Company design and system design YOU ARE THE PANEL – send us your thoughts 🗣️🎤 Send us an audio or video message📧 Email us: [email protected]📺 Leave a comment on YouTube 🦋 Reply on Bluesky Links mentioned in this episode:Holbox IslandPhotos from co-founder retreatArticle: The five stages of losing our craftArticle: Will Claude Code ruin our team?Jack Dorsey lays off 931 workersPolsia - this weird AI driven SaaS making $2m! (You give it an idea, provide a budget/credit card, and it autonomously launches the business) More on Ben Cera, founder of PolsiaThe Amazing Money Machine book cover

Brian and Jordan talk about the need for developers to adapt to survive, Brian debates how much of a content creator he is vs product seller, Jordan relates his experience talking with investors, and the rise of zero human companies ZHC.Timestamps:(00:18) - Welcoming Justin er Jordan back to the show (02:48) - Companies that we're surprised aren't adopting AI tools (11:49) - Roles are blending together (20:18) - Is Brian a product person or creator? (33:36) - Or should he be doing consulting? (37:27) - Debating taking funding for Saas (48:10) - Zero Human Companies YOU ARE THE PANEL – send us your thoughts 🗣️🎤 Send us an audio or video message📧 Email us: [email protected]📺 Leave a comment on YouTube 🦋 Reply on Bluesky Links mentioned in this episode:Matt Pocock on X: "Something that I think goes under-emphasized is how much AI coding demands a 'lead dev' mentality. If you spent your pre-AI career trying to level up your teammates (through API design, feedback loops, architecture) Then working with AI will feel natural. If you only focused"Extend Claude with skills - Claude Code DocsAbout - Gauntlet AIAusten Allred on X: "Kelly (my AI bot) used 5 subagents to one-shot this app end to end. Zero human involvement. Insane. She’s building App Store worthy apps entirely by herself on the daily now."Tom Osman 🐦‍⬛ on X: "I work on the assumption that the most powerful AI models are far more intelligent than me. My job is just to assist when needed. This morning I gave @JunoAgent a Deep Research model to explore different token design routes based on what we're working on. This came out 👇🏻"

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 YOU ARE THE PANEL – send us your thoughts 🗣️🎤 Send us an audio or video message📧 Email us: [email protected]📺 Leave a comment on YouTube 🦋 Reply on Bluesky Links mentioned in this episode:Bootstrapped WebMarketing for DevelopersA Mexican standoff Happening in AIThe five stages of losing our craftJustin is the co-founder of Transistor.fmBrian is the founder of Builder MethodsJordan 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/sxASjnzAYkwWe'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 YOU ARE THE PANEL – send us your thoughts 🗣️🎤 Send us an audio or video message📧 Email us: [email protected]📺 Leave a comment on YouTube 🦋 Reply on Bluesky 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 blogMatt Shumer's company (HyperWrite)"Tool Shaped Objects" – The response to Shumer's postJustin's new RSS feedBuilder Methods video library (Claude Code course)Moneyball: "Adapt or die" clipJustin'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? YOU ARE THE PANEL – send us your thoughts 🗣️🎤 Send us an audio or video message📧 Email us: [email protected]📺 Leave a comment on YouTube 🦋 Reply on Bluesky Links mentioned in this episode:OpenClaw (Clawdbot)Brian’s crew of AI agents that live on his Mac MiniOpenClaw popularity on GitHub over timeDemo of Justin’s video hosting appThe story of how Freshbooks created a fake company to launch a new version of their productCaleb Porzio - Everything I feel about AI right nowJeffrey Way - I'm doneAdam 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? YOU ARE THE PANEL – send us your thoughts 🗣️🎤 Send us an audio or video message📧 Email us: [email protected]📺 Leave a comment on YouTube 🦋 Reply on Bluesky 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 YOU ARE THE PANEL – send us your thoughts 🗣️🎤 Send us an audio or video message📧 Email us: [email protected]📺 Leave a comment on YouTube 🦋 Reply on Bluesky Links mentioned in this episode:Marketing for DevelopersGhost CMSTechnical knowledge to build an appAcquired 10th anniversaryAcquired sponsorship ratesAdam's morning walk episodeAdam's tweetBrian's Claude Code courseClaude 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 YOU ARE THE PANEL – send us your thoughts 🗣️🎤 Send us an audio or video message📧 Email us: [email protected]📺 Leave a comment on YouTube 🦋 Reply on Bluesky Links mentioned in this episode:Bootstrapped Web | 2025 recap & 2026 outlookDesign OSAdam WathanChris Enns / 🍋TupleTaylor OtwellObsidian EveryONCE Lars LofgrenMarketing 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 YOU ARE THE PANEL – send us your thoughts 🗣️🎤 Send us an audio or video message📧 Email us: [email protected]📺 Leave a comment on YouTube 🦋 Reply on Bluesky Links mentioned in this episodeAdam’s morning walk podcastBrian’s personal siteBrian’s DesignOS announcement37signals FizzyNathan Barry “Leave some value on the table”Tailwind CSS InsidersRework podcast “picking a price”