Engineering teams often blame AI tools when adoption fails to improve delivery speed or quality. This episode argues that the missing ingredient is usually process: explicit planning, codebase context, honest documentation of legacy problems, project-specific standards, and a feedback loop that converts engineering judgment into reusable instructions. Execution is getting easier, but experienced engineers remain essential because they define what good execution means.

Your personal operating system might be the reason you are not shipping.

AI makes it easy to brainstorm, research, compare tools, refine prompts, and build enormous backlogs. All of that can feel productive while quietly postponing the only feedback that matters: what happens after you release something.
In this episode, I explain why builders get trapped in tool-hopping and analysis paralysis, when research stops being useful, and how to turn an operating system back into a tool for action.

Today's challenge:
1. Delete one unnecessary part of your process.

2. Ship something before the end of the day.

3. Learn from what actually happens.

Stop perfecting the system. Build what you really want to build.
#StartupsAndCode #AI #BuildInPublic #Productivity #Startups

Want better results from ChatGPT, Claude, or your favorite AI tool? Stop trying to get everything right in one prompt.

Instead, ask the AI to interview you.

Have it ask about your goals, technical challenges, preferences, tone, and working style. Those questions create the context it needs to give you more useful—and more personalized—answers.

Try this prompt:

“Interview me about what I’m building. Ask any questions you need to understand my goals, constraints, and preferences before we begin.”

Give it a try and let me know what happened in the comments.

#AI #ChatGPT #ClaudeAI #PromptEngineering #Startups #BuildInPublic

Startups & Code is back.

After nearly two years away, John Mann returns to talk about why software development feels exciting again, how AI is changing the way we build, and what to expect from the new weekday show.

New short episodes will explore AI-assisted development, engineering leadership, startups, teams, and the practical lessons that come from building software.

Go build something amazing.

https://startupsandcode.com

A little breakdown of social media expectations, my new substack, and my new schedule for live streams

In this episode, I talk about OBS and live streaming. I had so many issues with OBS and I've learned so much in just a week.

In this episode, I'm announcing my new daily streams.

I'm doing a daily stream about whatever is on my mind about process, code, communication, or production of this podcast

Welcome to Episode 7 of Startups and Code.

In this episode, I give a BRIEF overview of CES 2024, conferences as a whole, and remembering the startup's why.

Talking about Communication

In today's episode, we are going to talk about communication.

Topics:

In this episode, I discuss some common processes that have been followed such as Six Sigma, Waterfall, Agile, Scrum, and Kanban.

I also discuss how to think of your process as a product and iterate on that as you grow.

Here's a link to the github notes:

https://github.com/startupsandcode/podcast/blob/main/5-ProcessAsAProduct.md