When AI makes building cheap, it's easy to ship faster than the evidence, and the discipline that matters becomes deciding what not to build and naming the assumption each piece of work tests. This thread includes the site I chose not to code in 2025, Launchling's retirement, and Fold, where I added a fair amount of complexity without checking whether it was warranted.
Is it worth building
When building is this cheap, how do you decide what's worth building?
product discovery · problem framing · build vs buy · user evidence · adoption
Builds
- EXP-005Building · Pilot
Fold
Cheap to build, hard to stop: when AI builds faster than you can learn
A recipe app for vegetarian households with a vegan at the table, built for my own family's needs; once I saw its wider potential, I added a fair amount of complexity without checking whether it was warranted.
- EXP-001Retired
emilybuilds on Notion + Super
Deciding not to build: when no-code is the right call, and when it stops being one
In 2025 I published emilybuilds.ai on Notion and Super.so to start writing sooner; it was live within days, and the complexity moved somewhere I had less control over.
- EXP-002Retired
Launchling
All tests passing: when checking an AI product outgrows the product
An AI tool that turned a founder's rough idea into a plan. The product ran end to end; the evaluation I built to check it grew until it couldn't finish a run.
- EXP-000Parked
Ambient care-plan scribe
Before care had scribes: drafting care plans with AI in 2022
An AI that drafts a care plan while the assessment is still happening, begun in late 2022. Getting it to write was easy; knowing how far to trust the draft wasn't.
Notes
- From MVP to Momentum: A Week of Big Leaps for Launchlingproduct discovery · problem framing · build vs buy2025 post
- Post-Launch Polish: What I’ve Been Improving on TinyLaunchproduct discovery · problem framing · build vs buy2025 post
- From TinyLaunch to Launchlingproduct discovery · problem framing · build vs buy2025 post
- TinyLaunch Is ‘Launched’: From Framer to Fully-Coded Productproduct discovery · problem framing · build vs buy2025 post
- Why I Built TinyLaunch – Helping Tiny Ideas Take Flightproduct discovery · problem framing · build vs buy2025 post
- Building My AI Product Portfolio Site with Notion + Superproduct discovery · problem framing · build vs buy2025 post