Hey Reader,

This past week was wild—in a good way. It was one of those stretches where I got more done in a few days than I sometimes do in an entire month. Not because I planned it that way… but because once I got started, I couldn’t stop.

Here’s a quick recap:

My first-ever hackathon

Last weekend, I joined a hackathon for the first time. It started Saturday morning and ended Sunday morning. I was on the hackathon's Discord voice chats, building nonstop. I created a recipe app, met some amazing people, and just had a blast.

It took me most of the Sunday to recover—some time in the garden and with family.

Back to the 9-to-5 (plus… everything else)

Monday and Tuesday were quarterly planning meetings at my 9-5 job, during which our team defined their goals and created strategy and execution for the entire quarter.

Meanwhile, my co-founder, Virgil, and I started brainstorming product ideas again. We spoke about a subscription reminder tool… and, of course, I couldn’t help myself. I built it. 😅

In the process, I became familiar with tools like Twillio, SendGrid, Mailgun, and Amazon SES. I also submitted a full Twilio application and got it approved.

We also decided to rework my Chrome new tab extension—originally called SaaS Inspiration Hub—into something bigger: a Founder Hub. The idea is to help founders discover product ideas and brainstorm—all in one place.

The first draft is done, but now we’re tackling a tricky part: integrating a database without exposing any keys on the client side. At my 9-to-5, we’d usually solve this with microservices across multiple servers—but that’s overkill (and expensive) for a micro-SaaS application.

So I’m experimenting with lighter, more secure ways to manage data—something that’s fast, safe, and simple enough to maintain without spinning up a full backend.

I am getting too many ideas. So I built a tool to talk me out of them

At some point midweek, I realized I had too many ideas flying around in my head. So I bought a domain and built Discourage.me—yes, that’s actually what it’s called.

It’s a little tool that helps me slow down, stay focused, and not chase every shiny new idea. Basically, it’s a reminder to stick to the plan.

Here are a few takeaways from this intense week:

• Building fast gives you clarity. I didn’t overthink—I just shipped.
• Talking to people sharpens ideas. Every conversation with my co-founder pushed things forward.
• Not every idea needs action. Sometimes, you need to not build. Build systems that help you say “no” so you can go deeper, not just wider. Hence… DiscourageMe.

Anyway, I just wanted to share a behind-the-scenes look at my world this week. I hope it inspires you to start something or stick with something.

And if you ever feel overwhelmed by ideas, time, or where to even start, just know that you're not alone. I'm building through the same chaos, too.

See you next week,
Vinod

P.S. If you ever want to chat about what you’re building, just hit reply.