This morning Bart and I started on something we call Just Build It. Every week we build a site, a project or a little affiliate site that could potentially become something big. The idea is to build as much as we can and learn from every single build.

We’ve both been building things on our own for quite some time. This year alone that meant directory sites for various categories (one of them taught me that your categories are usually already written down by your users), a couple of shops, and little games and websites where kids can learn and play. Now we’ve decided to do it together, and to make it a habit.

It has to actually work

We’re both technical enough to know that it’s not about creating something that looks nice. It has to work. That is where our experience and the way we use these AI tools matter: we know what good looks like, and we know when something is ready for real people to use.

What’s interesting is how different our interests are. And at the same time, the collaboration has been great and a lot of fun so far.

Why we’re probably not selling dog food

Today we looked into drop shipping products for pets. Bart has a domain he’s been using called Hundgesund.ch, a wordplay on dog health in German, and it’s a fun category to be in.

I know that market quite well. For a number of years I helped the Vegdog team figure out how to grow their vegan pet food business across Europe, through new customer acquisition and community building. So I also know it’s a competitive category with fairly slim margins. Maybe not the best place to start.

Bart has a different take on it anyway. He thinks it’s more future proof to build communities and indexes than to sell products to end consumers.

The idea that stuck

What we both kept coming back to is getting older. Health, mobility, the next stage of life. It’s something I’ve wanted to work on for years. My parents both worked in elderly homes and care facilities their whole careers, so it’s close to my heart. And it’s where all of us are heading.

Some people need mobility products because they’re sick. Others simply need them because it’s part of where they are in life. These products can really help them, and style and individuality matter here too.

You don’t have to look like an old person when you use these things. You have to feel good about them.

Right now most of that industry still has a ’90s vibe. We’d like to give it a more positive twist and pull it into this century. A lot of that comes down to usability: things that are easy to use on the phones and tablets older people actually use. And it’s just as much about the family and friends who are trying to work out what to buy for someone they love.

So this week we’re looking at what we can build for that audience.

Two nights in a row

The format is simple. A little hackathon: two evenings in a row, or a day on the weekend. That rhythm keeps us sharp. It’s where we find new ways to solve problems with Claude and Codex, where we run into the limits of those systems, and where we figure out how you’d actually reach a market.

There’s a lot we can learn from each other and test together. That part is extremely valuable, and honestly a lot of fun.

Why I’m writing this down

I like to document the journey: what’s happening in my life, what I’m going after, and what I think is worth spending time and energy on. Not to sell anything (well, a little), but to take you along.

I’ll report back when the next site is live, including the parts that don’t work. If something gets technical and client-facing, it’ll probably end up on marketing-march.ch. Everything else lands here.

These are my own thoughts, my own words and my own ideas. If you like that, follow along here on Threads.