Hey,

Last time I wrote, I told you about building my own invoicing tool with Claude — replacing Harvest after ten years as a customer. A few of you replied saying you’d done something similar, which was fun to hear.

Well, I kept going.

The first version of my tool worked fine. It did what Harvest did, just tailored to me. But it still followed the same patterns — click to create a client, fill out details, click save. Standard stuff.

Then it hit me: I was building software that lived by old rules. Rules designed for tools that serve thousands of users. Mine serves one. What I did next changed everything about how I think about software.

I wrote a full post about this: Build something silly.

It’s about why I think the most important thing non-technical people can do right now isn’t reading about AI or worrying about it. It’s building something with it. Even if it’s small. Even if it’s just for you.

I’m back to client work starting Monday, so the off-season is officially over. But it’s been such a treat to have this stretch of time to just play around with these tools without any pressure. No deadlines, no deliverables — just curiosity and a lot of trial and error. I think that’s actually the best way to learn this stuff.

Anyway — if you’ve built something, no matter how small or silly, I’d love to hear about it. Just reply to this email. We’ve also been talking about this kind of stuff in the newsletter Slack — if you’re a subscriber and haven’t joined yet, you’re welcome to.

Talk soon,
Anton

Five things

1. ​Competitive Brand Audit​
2. ​We left the cloud​
3. ​Something big is happening​
4. ​The Complete Guide​​to Building Skills​​for Claude​
5. ​Why Jony Ive put buttons in the electric Ferrari​​​