https://fromzeronotes.com/ From Zero Notes publishes essays on building from nothing: products, startups, AI, and going from zero to one. en Sat, 23 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000 https://fromzeronotes.com/what-zero-to-one-really-means/ https://fromzeronotes.com/what-zero-to-one-really-means/ Sat, 23 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Ideas The phrase is everywhere and understood almost nowhere. It isn't about ambition. It's about novelty. https://fromzeronotes.com/small-teams-ship-faster/ https://fromzeronotes.com/small-teams-ship-faster/ Thu, 07 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Building Past a certain size, adding people to a project slows it down. The math is brutal and well known, and we ignore it anyway. https://fromzeronotes.com/the-llm-product-loop/ https://fromzeronotes.com/the-llm-product-loop/ Tue, 21 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000 AI The teams winning with AI aren't the ones with the best models. They're the ones with the tightest loop. https://fromzeronotes.com/contrarian-bets-that-paid-off/ https://fromzeronotes.com/contrarian-bets-that-paid-off/ Sun, 05 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Ideas Every obvious success looked stupid at the start. That isn't a coincidence. It's the mechanism. https://fromzeronotes.com/building-before-you-are-ready/ https://fromzeronotes.com/building-before-you-are-ready/ Fri, 20 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Building Readiness is a trap. The people who wait for it are still waiting while others ship. https://fromzeronotes.com/distribution-is-the-product/ https://fromzeronotes.com/distribution-is-the-product/ Wed, 04 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Distribution A great product nobody can find is a hobby. Distribution is a design constraint, not an afterthought. https://fromzeronotes.com/most-ideas-are-one-to-n/ https://fromzeronotes.com/most-ideas-are-one-to-n/ Mon, 16 Feb 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Ideas Not every business needs to be novel. But you should know which kind you're building. https://fromzeronotes.com/the-overnight-prototype/ https://fromzeronotes.com/the-overnight-prototype/ Sat, 31 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Building A working toy built in a night teaches more than a flawless spec written over a month. https://fromzeronotes.com/taste-as-a-moat/ https://fromzeronotes.com/taste-as-a-moat/ Thu, 15 Jan 2026 08:00:00 +0000 Building When anyone can build anything, the scarce skill is knowing what's worth building and what to leave out. https://fromzeronotes.com/when-to-quit-an-idea/ https://fromzeronotes.com/when-to-quit-an-idea/ Tue, 30 Dec 2025 08:00:00 +0000 Founder Life Persistence is celebrated. Knowing when to stop is rarer, and often worth more. https://fromzeronotes.com/compounding-skill/ https://fromzeronotes.com/compounding-skill/ Sun, 14 Dec 2025 08:00:00 +0000 Founder Life Money compounds. So does skill, and for builders the second curve matters more than the first. https://fromzeronotes.com/the-cost-of-meetings/ https://fromzeronotes.com/the-cost-of-meetings/ Fri, 28 Nov 2025 08:00:00 +0000 Building Meetings feel like progress and usually aren't. For small teams they tax the only resource that matters. https://fromzeronotes.com/the-myth-of-the-overnight-success/ https://fromzeronotes.com/the-myth-of-the-overnight-success/ Wed, 12 Nov 2025 08:00:00 +0000 Founder Life The stories that look like lightning strikes are almost always a decade of invisible work with the timestamps removed. https://fromzeronotes.com/why-demos-beat-decks/ https://fromzeronotes.com/why-demos-beat-decks/ Mon, 27 Oct 2025 08:00:00 +0000 Building A slide describes a promise. A working demo is evidence. Everyone in the room can feel the difference. https://fromzeronotes.com/the-first-ten-users/ https://fromzeronotes.com/the-first-ten-users/ Sat, 11 Oct 2025 08:00:00 +0000 Distribution Scalable channels come later. The first handful of users you recruit by hand decide whether there's anything to scale. https://fromzeronotes.com/writing-as-a-thinking-tool/ https://fromzeronotes.com/writing-as-a-thinking-tool/ Thu, 25 Sep 2025 08:00:00 +0000 Craft Founders who write clearly tend to think clearly. The page is where fuzzy ideas get forced into focus. https://fromzeronotes.com/the-feature-you-should-not-build/ https://fromzeronotes.com/the-feature-you-should-not-build/ Tue, 09 Sep 2025 08:00:00 +0000 Building Most roadmaps die of addition. The discipline that keeps a product sharp is the courage to leave things out. https://fromzeronotes.com/speed-as-a-strategy/ https://fromzeronotes.com/speed-as-a-strategy/ Sun, 24 Aug 2025 08:00:00 +0000 Strategy For a small company, moving fast isn't a personality quirk. It's the one structural advantage incumbents can't copy. https://fromzeronotes.com/ramen-profitable/ https://fromzeronotes.com/ramen-profitable/ Fri, 08 Aug 2025 08:00:00 +0000 Founder Life The least glamorous milestone in startups is also the one that quietly changes everything: covering your own modest costs. https://fromzeronotes.com/ship-before-you-raise/ https://fromzeronotes.com/ship-before-you-raise/ Wed, 23 Jul 2025 08:00:00 +0000 Building Building the product before talking to investors costs months and unglamorous effort. It also changes every conversation that follows. https://fromzeronotes.com/open-source-as-a-business/ https://fromzeronotes.com/open-source-as-a-business/ Mon, 07 Jul 2025 08:00:00 +0000 Strategy Giving the core away for free looks reckless from outside. For teams with more talent than marketing budget, it can be the cheapest distribution there is.