
The Panel
When it comes to bootstrapping and building software, there's rarely one right answer.
Justin Jackson, Brian Casel, Jordan Gal · Justin, Brian & Jordan
Show overview
The Panel launched in 2025 and has put out 53 episodes, alongside 2 trailers or bonus episodes in the time since. That works out to roughly 70 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a fortnightly cadence.
Episodes typically run an hour to ninety minutes — most land between 1h 9m and 1h 33m — and the run-time is fairly consistent across the catalogue. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Business show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 5 days ago, with 23 episodes already out so far this year. Published by Justin, Brian & Jordan.
From the publisher
When it comes to bootstrapping and building software, there's rarely one right answer. We want to dive into the nuance. In every episode, veteran founders Justin Jackson, Brian Casel and Jordan Gal tackle thorny topics – from pricing and product strategy to work-life balance. No gurus, no easy answers – just real conversations we'd normally have behind closed doors.
Latest Episodes
View all 53 episodesI Want it That Way
Price Fixing FTW!
BIG CITY ENERGY
I spend money. People see the product. They buy. We grow.
Vibe coding is not a real business model
Burning Out Doing Lines of Code
A series of miracles (with Jason Cohen)
Marinating in the sauce
You Down With ICP?
The power of attention
Ep 41Is "vision" overrated?
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/
Ep 40Respite from the Dopamine Machine
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
Ep 39Can AI be your CRM?
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
Ep 38Scam or no scam? (with Jordan)
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

Ep 37The money tunnel
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

Ep 36A rainbow of internet fantasies
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

Ep 35Embracing our AI business owning bots
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 👇🏻"

Ep 34A surprise announcement
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

Changes coming to The Panel podcast
bonusImportant: 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

Ep 33Get to the sauna!
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