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Notes from
the workbench

Building-in-public notes, GTM lessons, and founder reflections — honest and direct.

A person working alone at a desk with an espresso and a notepad, early morning light through the window. Deliberate and focused, not frantic.

I Coached Job Seekers Before I Had to Be One

How 11 years in GTM, presales, and career coaching shaped a different view of what's broken in job search and led to building RoleNavigator.

By Justin Hammon August 13, 2026

#job search
#career strategy
#rolenavigator
#gtm
#consulting
#builder

A solo developer working at a desk surrounded by planning notes and monitors, representing the discipline required to run a one-person product team.

How I Run a Product Team of One

Solo builders skip process to move fast. Here's why that's the trade-off you can't afford.

By Justin Hammon August 4, 2026

#building
#product-ops
#ai-development
#solo-founder

A developer working alone at night, illuminated by the glow of multiple screens showing code and AI chat sessions.

Build in Public Is Dead. Long Live Build in Workflow.

The original build in public playbook stopped working. Here's what's quietly outperforming in 2026. and why workflow-in-public is the version worth betting on.

By Justin Hammon July 15, 2026

#build in public
#x
#indie hacker
#content strategy
#founder

A flat vector illustration of an open cardboard shipping box containing a single folded document, centered on a minimal off-white background. The composition is clean and deliberate, suggesting that one focused thing is enough to ship.

The MVP of Your Job Search

You don't need the perfect resume. You need one crisp, specific thing you can be hired for right now.

By Justin Hammon June 22, 2026

#job-search
#career
#build-in-public

A lone founder sitting at a minimal desk in the early morning, laptop open, warm light from a single lamp, coffee nearby, window showing a dark city outside. The mood is focused and slightly gritty, not polished. Cinematic, high contrast, muted color palette with warm amber tones. Shot from slightly above and to the side. No text. No phone screens. Photorealistic.

The Build Is Done. Now Comes the Hard Part.

Two apps are live. Now the real work starts: 90 days of distribution, in public, with receipts.

By Justin Hammon June 16, 2026

#building-in-public
#distribution
#rolenavigator
#capquick
#founder-journey

A cinematic, slightly gritty photo-realistic scene inside a home office at night. A portable generator sits outside the window near the wall, extension cords running from it through the window to a desk setup with multiple monitors, a NAS unit, and networking gear with blinking LEDs. The screens glow with code and a video call in progress. The room is dimly lit except for the monitor glow and a single desk lamp. Outside the window, dark storm clouds are visible. The mood is focused and determined, not chaotic. Muted tones, deep shadows, warm amber light from the lamp contrasting the cool blue of the screens. Realistic detail, editorial photography aesthetic.

What a 37-Hour Power Outage Taught Me About Building

Storms, generators, and a homelab running on borrowed power. What breaks under pressure reveals what actually matters.

By Justin Hammon June 12, 2026

#building-in-public
#founder-lessons
#solo-builder

High contrast black and white photo of an iPhone screen displaying a video timeline with caption text. Shot from slightly above, angled. Strong shadows. Minimalist composition with negative space on one side for text overlay. Mood: serious builder, not a lifestyle shot.

From Submitted to Live: My First iOS App in Two Weeks

How I built CapQuick, survived three App Store rejections, and shipped in two weeks without knowing any of it two weeks ago.

By Justin Hammon June 8, 2026

#building
#ios
#app-store
#capquick
#ai-tools
#content-creation

Bots in a clean office coding slop that is pouring out into the streets

Vibe Coding Is Everywhere. Here's How to Stand Out.

Vibe coding has lowered the floor for software. Here's what AI slop costs founders, and how the products in 2026 are differentiating themselves from the rest.

By Justin Hammon June 7, 2026