New tutorials from Flavio! + Internet Business Lab updates
Hi there,
You can spend months building an app, launch it, and hear nothing.
No customers. A few visits from people you know. And now you have to figure out whether to keep working on it or start something else.
AI makes it easier to build the next idea. But if you keep getting stuck at the same point, getting better at building won’t answer the question: how do I get people to pay for this?
That’s what we’ll work on in Internet Business Lab, starting next Wednesday, October 28. I’ll tell you more below. First, there’s a lot of new reading on the blog this week.
Before going on, I want to thank Creem and LiveKit for sponsoring this newsletter!
Creem helps you sell software online, it's how I'll sell all my courses and software going forward!
LiveKit gives you the tools to build voice AI agents, it's an incredibly cool technology!
Check them out, also check out my LiveKit tutorial I published a couple weeks ago.
PSA: update PHP!!
If you've got PHP running on a server, like I happen to do on a couple servers which are oldish, make sure you update it ASAP! See PSA: update PHP today
OpenCode and choosing your coding tools
OpenCode published version 2 recently, so I decided to do a few deep dives on it.
How to use OpenCode
Start here: installation, connecting a model, and making your first code change.
How to write an OpenCode plugin with the v2 API
Build a TypeScript plugin with a custom tool and input validation.
OpenCode Code Mode explained: JavaScript instead of repeated tool calls
How scripting tool calls in JavaScript changes an agent’s workflow.
How to use OpenCode with a local model in LM Studio
Connect a local model and check whether its tool calling works.
How to compare OpenCode, Claude Code, and Codex CLI
Compare the tools on the same bug fix, including the work you need to do yourself.
Codex vs Claude Code vs Cursor: how to choose
Judge your tools by finished work and the effort it takes to review it.
How I would evaluate Muse Wonder in Cursor
A way to evaluate a new model against the one you already use.
Meta released Muse Spark Open: what you can run, and what it takes
My look at Meta’s release, its hardware requirements, and its license.
Building and reviewing agents
How to build agents that survive crashes with Pi Durable
Build a TypeScript agent, stop its process, and see how it resumes from SQLite.
Parallel coding agents: how to coordinate and review changes
Coordinate changes and keep the review queue manageable.
A practical review workflow for T3 Code threads
Review the complete branch before merging an agent’s work.
AI coding agent context: how to document project decisions
Leave useful project context for the next session.
How to speed up tests for AI coding agents
Give agents quicker feedback while keeping broader checks before shipping.
MCP server design: tools, authentication, and rate limits
Design tools with clear permissions, predictable results, and useful limits.
How AI agents make existing software more useful
How agents can connect existing tools and make them more useful.
AI-assisted code migration: how to switch frameworks safely
What to check when an agent moves an app to another framework.
Web development and tools
The complete guide to Void: full-stack Vite apps with Hono and Cloudflare
Build a reading-list app with Hono and Cloudflare D1, then deploy it.
Cloudflare Pages vs Workers: which should you choose?
Work out which deployment model fits your site or app.
SPA vs server-side rendering: which should you choose?
Choose a rendering approach around the navigation and state your app needs.
A deep dive into tsrs
Explore the Rust port of TypeScript and build a browser-based type checker.
How to update all global npm packages
Update your command-line tools and check which Node installation you’re changing.
Changing package managers doesn't remove your npm registry dependency
What switching to pnpm or Bun changes when the registry has problems.
A deep dive into OpenSEO
A look through the architecture, data providers, crawler, and self-hosting trade-offs.
What should you build, and who will pay?
There's a lot of talk on the internet about vibe coding your own alternatives of popular tools. Should you?
15 apps you can vibe code instead of subscribing
15 build guides to help you scope a smaller version of a tool you need.
Build vs buy software: when AI can replace a SaaS
Compare the subscription with the maintenance and responsibility of owning the code.
How to compete with AI-generated SaaS clones
What gives a small software business a reason to exist when its features can be copied?
Selling SaaS to developers: how to find paying customers
Look for a problem developers would rather pay to solve than build around.
Let’s work on bootstrapping your own software business
If you recognized yourself in the opening of this email, I want you to join me in Internet Business Lab.
It’s a three-week course for people who want to make a living from their own work.
I’ve been doing this “internet business” thing since 2008, with some successes and some struggles, and I’ve learned a ton along the way. Now I want to share what I’ve learned to help you take your first steps in building an internet business of your own, sharing what I learned from my experience, but also from everything I've read other people say or watched them do.
You might have an app already, a service you could offer, or expertise you want to turn into a product.
You don’t need another idea to add to your list. You need to work out who needs what you can offer, how to reach them, and what would make them pay for it.
We’ll start with the customer. Who are you helping? What problem do they already care about? Where do they look for help? Those answers give you a way to decide what deserves your time before you spend another month building.
Then we’ll work on the offer and the price. You need to be able to explain what someone gets, why it’s useful to them, and what it costs. We’ll cover finding customers, selling your work, and building ways to reach people through content and relationships.
We’ll also look at the money, time, and focus it takes to keep an independent business going. I want you to build something you can keep running, with room for the rest of your life.
You can apply this to software, consulting, freelance work, or a business built around what you know. You don’t have to build a SaaS.
We start Wednesday, October 28, and finish Tuesday, November 17. Every weekday there’s a new video lesson, about 30 minutes long. That’s 15 lessons, with a community where you can ask questions and share your work as we go.
If you keep putting off the business side until the product is ready, give it time on your calendar now. Bring the thing you want to build a business around, and work through these questions with us.
Enrollment isn’t open yet. Join the waiting list and I’ll send you the price and signup details when it opens.
Join the Internet Business Lab waiting list
Flavio