Travis Fischer

gradient descent for kittens

"The instinct in venture is to never close a door on a founder or investment, because maintaining optionality is in the VC's best interests. From the founder’s perspective, this makes it seem like every VC is a pathological grin-fucker." by @crashdev ⇒ always default to telling the truth and trying to provide value 💪 https://www.founderscoop.com/2020/our-customer-experience-promise-to-founders/

cute lil error message on the bus

Brandolini's law (aka the bullshit asymmetry principle) The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it. – Transitive Bullshit

"One doesn't need to be locked up to be imprisoned." real talk https://x.com/systematicls/status/2004900241745883205

RT Thomas Sanlis 🥐 My indie hacker journey: 2019: $4K 2020: $8K 2021: $10K 2022: $12K 2023: $20K 2024: $39K 2025: $134K Don't give up Original tweet: https://x.com/T_Zahil/status/2007756649772257287

creator of claude code uses 5 separate git clones to work in parallel (separate directory checkouts, not git worktrees)

Merry Christmas from Chiang Mai 🥰

How to tell if an image is AI generated:

1/3 Ted Lasso x Pluribus crossover wen?2/3 3/3

what's the biggest pain point for indie hackers going into 2026?

which is these happens first with AI?

having been a dev for 25 years, i've been feeling this fomo hard lately gotta keep reminding myself it's okay to not use all the shiny new things.. just ease into AI coding and find a balance between my traditional workflows and all the AI-native coding tools.. even if i know it's a local optima with the ground constantly shifting below my feet

i've been using "[email protected]" as a test/throwaway email for years sorry to whoever owns this

for all my founder friends, if you didn't care about venture scale, and just wanted to make millions of $$ with AI what would you be working on?

"This future is often difficult to predict because it always disguises itself as the past."

just build dope shit 💪

WHOAAAAAA my verified whatsapp acct of 10 years just got banned for the second time in a week w/ a real chance at losing access permanently i had no idea this was possible this is likely due to @beeper which i generally love, but it seems a bunch of other people have had the same issue!! beeper's an unofficial third-party client which is def not worth risking losing my whatsapp account over (as a digital nomad, i basically live on whatsapp), but beeper doesn't tell you this could happen even though their support team has to have seen this happen thousands of times already... i've had to resort to switching back to whatsapp desktop + beeper for all other platforms which is awkward and whatsapp desktop UX is just objectively worse has anyone else run into this? any reliable alternatives? i would legit pay whatsapp $$ in order to be able to use a better third-party desktop client ala beeper

1/3 the library nav should be fixed and consistent, not dynamic.. the main content home page should be used for this dynamic stuff to get to my playlists on spotify mobile (ios), i have to click "your library" ⇒ "playlists" ⇒ "by you" ⇒ and then finally select the playlist i want 4 clicks to get to one of my playlists for an app where this is the 95% use case... WTF even worse, the mobile app doesn't remember these nav settings so i have to do this _every single time i open the app_ ... WTF this goes for both desktop and mobile2/3 why can i only have 4 pins? i have literally hundreds of playlists, and this constraint is so arbitrary i should be able to pin as many playlists as i want OR even better, the primary nav should be predictable and FIXED just have the main library nav be persistent so i can order things around instead of the dynamic mess it currently is these are the only 2 nav settings i personally ever use3/3 on desktop, i keep spotify on either the left half or right half of my screen most of the time i often want to view the number of streams for songs at this width as a proxy measure for popularity, but this column is hidden at this responsive breakpoint so i find myself often widening the window just a bit to view the stream counts, then using a hotkey to go back to half width.... but spotify doesn't remember the previous/preferred pane distance on the left-hand side (it keeps wanting to have massive negative space in-btwn my library and the main window). super annoying, and should be a table-stakes UX feature for a company of this scale

RT Florian Darroman We almost lost the co-founder of The Hacker Residency. I was recording a podcast with @transitive_bs, and he suddenly had to extinguish a fire in his hotel. It makes me wonder if being a podcast host is safe... Original tweet: https://x.com/floriandarroman/status/2003068857616122237

RT Daniel This is awesome. We don’t need kids anymore because of AI. Original tweet: https://x.com/growing_daniel/status/2002829907232194591

i'm down 3 whole belt buckles since the start of @HackerResidency 💪

iykyk 😂

in bkk for the next week w/ a small crew from @HackerResidency dm me if you wanna link 💪

every so often you talk to a person about what you're building and just walk away feeling so.. deflated DON'T BE THIS PERSON people are working on their passions for so many different reasons. try to empathize w them, throw out ideas, brainstorm, connect dots, and always try to tap into their excitement 🔥 the absolute worst thing you can do when hearing an idea is to try and crush it to appear smart i love @signulll's framing here so much

just did my first pull-up in ~8 years 💪

pro tip for my fellow autists i like to visualize conversations as a set of threads hanging from above. every time a new topic is mentioned, think of it as a new thread hanging in the convo space it's up to you to choose which threads you wanna pull on to dive deeper

amazing guide on visiting singapore from an OG 💪

in singapore for the next 3 days.. what should i check out?

anime studios who refuse to try AI tools be like

spent the past 2 days visiting the Network School @ns by @balajis in Malaysia 🇲🇾 (right across from Singapore 🇸🇬) first impression pros: - love love love the mission - 5-star luxury hotel - seriously, i'm a picky bed & pillow guy, and the hotel rooms are solid 🙏 - people & vibes are on point, especially @GordonBergerArt - dope, world-class gym 💪 NS has this "learn, earn, burn" mantra - everyone was super friendly & open to chat!! - a lot of the people i met weren't in tech which was a pleasant surprise 😸 - there were some young kids which was also a very pleasant surprise for this type of community 😊 - the GHOST CITY (forest city) is so dope; modern $100B city made for 700k people with only ~4k people living there... dystopian vibes in a really cool way 👻 - one highlight was seeing @robj3d3 get beat in chess by a robot (rob then went on to demolish me in chess 😂) - i could 100% see myself locking in and working here for a month in the future things which could be improved: - food is okay but could use some work; we were only here for 2.5 days and already ate out twice.. restaurant options nearby are limited, but you can order grab delivery from johor bahru nearby - a lil too much crypto in the kool-aid for my personal tastes - male / female ratio needs work 😂 - would love to see more locals & south-east asians in the program; all of the residents i met were from north america, europe, or india - their north star metric seems to be permanent residents who live in apartments and have visas.. i couldn't see myself settling down here long-term, but i def view it as a hub whose gravity will pull me back to visit in the future 💪

RT Rob Hallam POV: you're locked in at a $100B ghost city next to Singapore 🇸🇬 this is the @ns startup society by @balajis Original tweet: https://x.com/robj3d3/status/2000876435125510562

"if your goal is to have fast MRR, vertical AI SaaS is the goto play right now" ⇒ "and indie hacking is the best path to get there" – @dzhng 💪

RT signüll most ppl completely misunderstand what storytelling means in this era. let me explain in very very simple terms. storytelling is not marketing (people are very confused by this), in fact it’s not really a marketing role at all. people think journalists can be story tellers (maybe, but not really). ppl think it’s creating ai slop, posting to x, creating launch videos, or brand theater. nope. this is pure garbage most of the time. real storytelling is a product & technology function. the real *why* behind anything you do or build. steve jobs was the one of the greatest story tellers ever. look at how he talks about a very simple new feature (the proximity sensor) on the original iphone. before iphone very few phones had it. look at crispness of he talks about a tiny thing… why does this exist? why should you care? then answers them in ~20 seconds flat. the explanation is emotional, practical, & instantly relatable. you feel smart for understanding it. you think, “oh of course.” this moment is storytelling. it compresses complexity into legibility. it turns engineering decisions into human meaning. that’s the storytelling craft. none of it is persuasion, & it’s certainly not hype. just pure sense making. this is why great founders are the greatest marketers. one explains what you should buy. the other explains why reality had to be this way. Original tweet: https://x.com/signulll/status/2000673417847333247

my heart goes out to all the victims affected by the shooting at brown. as an alum, this hits so close to home 🙏

indie hacking has a branding problem

FIFA world cup 2026... USA, Paraguay, Australia, and one of Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, or Kosovo will USA win our group???

this looks dope currently only on Android in the US, Mexico and India. coming to more regions and iOS soon...

the solution to AI alignment is obvious... it's birds in the future, AI agents will be embodied by "real" birds who just show up and stare at you until your prompts are complianta note for my fellow avian aficionados out there: the is directly related to the seminal work done by the "birds aren't real" campaign @birdsarentreal wake up to the truth of our future feathered AI overlords

okay so fifa world cup 2026 ticket prices are... kinda insane?hmmm some of the other matches are a lil more reasonable, but you're still not able to pick your actual seat, so who tf knows where you'll end up... this is such a poor system for ticket sales

these are the vibes we're aiming for in future batches of @HackerResidency (we're starting small but aiming BIG!!) this is a real villa in phuket btw which goes for $13k / night 🤯 if you know any dope villas in SE asia w/ 10+ bedrooms, availability, and vibessss, let us know

would you pay $2M to make this change?

was invited to judge this mega hackathon in KL (kuala lumpur, malaysia) lizzie did such a great job capturing the energy 🔥 "does anyone outside the US stand a chance building in AI?" – really important question for @HackerResidency https://x.com/lizzietanqi/status/1999079256350232576

got to see some dope demos at 500 startups in KL great vibes, world-class talent, and my favorite part was the amazing food afterwards!! if you're in the area, ping isaac for weekly events 💪

amazing quote by the legendary Richard Hamming from bell labs this is why learning in public (working with the door open) is so important and a core part of what we're trying to foster @HackerResidency

planning the next batch of @HackerResidency, and this bird in KL has some AGGRESSIVE OPINIONS

great writeup from thomas on HRG i love that it's not 100% positive, but rather 100% honest and 100% thomas 💕

RT Hassan Bazzi I finally got around to writing my thoughts on the incredible hacker residency. HRG changed my life. Here's why: https://hassan.writizzy.com/p/hacking-in-paradise Original tweet: https://x.com/habazzi/status/1998408764941078666

RT Josef Büttgen Just finished @HackerResidency and honestly it was incredible. Met some of the best people, made friends i know i'll keep for life and got more done than i expected. The subtraction thing really works. Cutting out all the noise and just focusing made such a difference. Going to bring that energy back to my regular work now. Also just being around other great builders made me think bigger and see opportunities i wasn't seeing before. There's something powerful about everyone pushing each other and actually helping each other succeed. Thanks @transitive_bs @phuctm97 @dayonefoundry @tdinh_me for putting this together, it was truly special! Original tweet: https://x.com/josefbuettgen/status/1998295947156296099

any devs in Lisbon should consider stopping by @afonsocrg's weekly meetup 💪

when people ask me how @HackerResidency will make money

RT David in Da Nang HRG Demo Day in 100 second: Original tweet: https://x.com/dayonefoundry/status/1996455559567229348

RT Tony Dinh Our first Hacker Residency DEMO DAY was a huge success! Here's what everyone built 🧵 Original tweet: https://x.com/tdinh_me/status/1996230505084465659

RT Brian Shin new app is finally live! was soo nervous that it wouldn’t be ready by demo day but apple thankfully approved it on the last day 🥲 goal is to reach $10k/month in 100 days and i’ll be sharing my lessons on the way! (super happy that the first photos ever taken on the app are my friends from HRG ❤️) Original tweet: https://x.com/brianshinsh/status/1995522555416080798

RT Ann Nguyen I’m changing my profile pic to a man Currently at 5031 followers. Let’s see where i’m sitting at the end of the year. Only the OGs will know. Original tweet: https://x.com/ann_nnng/status/1995353192763445755

RT Dan Go For the past month I got to hang with the powerful team of founders at the Hacker Residency. Attended their final demo day and was blown away by the insane density of talent they had in that room. Super grateful to @transitive_bs @dayonefoundry @tdinh_me @phuctm97 for opening up their doors and letting me be a fly on the wall. Excited for their future and if you’re an upcoming founder I highly recommend applying for their next mastermind @HackerResidency Original tweet: https://x.com/FitFounder/status/1994755864373366814

RT Rob Hallam pov: you’re prepping to demo your startup to the Vietnam government 🇻🇳 Original tweet: https://x.com/robj3d3/status/1994425034165879134

RT Tony Dinh 🎯 Introducing Ayush at the Hacker Residency (he's 21 and his apps make more than $35k/month 🤯) Original tweet: https://x.com/tdinh_me/status/1994334268072284510

alex @AlexReibman explaining the south park fish sticks joke to the vietnamese @ann_nnng @tdinh_me and @phuctm97 😂😂😂

RT Tony Dinh 🎯 Prepping for demo day at @HackerResidency Original tweet: https://x.com/tdinh_me/status/1994246692330156423

the @HackerResidency villa before & after being built this is the same type of transformation we do for founders 😉

soooo stoked to be building this with friends 💪HRG: Introducing the Hacker Residency Link: https://x.com/HackerResidency/status/1990435817844887586

daily dose of X

easiest way to increase you MRR... change your currency!! 😂

don't just write words. write music – gary provost

RT Travis Fischer don't just write words. write music – gary provost

if you're not coding like this, you're ngmi 😎 featuring ⁦@phuctm97⁩ at ⁦@HackerResidency⁩

who's building moonthot ideas?

khoa is one of the most impressive 17yo founders i've ever met was a pleasure having him visit @HackerResidency for the wkndKhoa Duong: Introducing Graft The top 10 traders on Polymarket made $8.5M last month Graft is the #1 platform to deploy money into the best traders in prediction markets We're the future of social trading Link: https://x.com/virtualkhoa/status/1988277092015108218

come join us for the next hour 💪Rob Hallam: Live from the Hacker Residency (Da Nang) https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1BdGYZPOPBvJX Link: https://x.com/robj3d3/status/1988202860962861058

RT Rob Hallam Live from the Hacker Residency (Da Nang) https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1BdGYZPOPBvJX

RT Minh-Phuc Tran What does the @HackerResidency provide the residents with? • Desk, monitor, & fast Internet • Dope villa, dope vibe, & dope people • (Vietnamese) Food & coffee

RT David in Da Nang Daily Vlog: HRG had our first Friday Social and opened our doors for the first time to local and global founders living in Da Nang. If you're a startup founder living in Da Nang, send me a DM for an invite to the next one!

RT Rob Hallam You can just do things

RT Minh-Phuc Tran Yesterday was the first Friday Social of the @HackerResidency, it was fun but also a bit overwhelming, I realized that many of us (the nerds) can’t handle socializing for many hours straight. 😂

RT Tony Dinh 🎯 We invited Da Nang local founders and dev community to the hacker resident for a social Friday night. No alcohol, only good vibe 🥰

RT Dave Font Dear founder, Are you letting god flow through you?

edmund went from YC founder to IG influencer w/ over 150k followers, and his story's still just started... we're extremely lucky to have him doing content for us this month @HackerResidency 🙏Edmund Tian: 2 years ago, I quit tech forever. 1 week ago, Vietnam changed my mind. Before I started building my Instagram audience of 150K, I was building a YC-backed startup. The startup failed miserably, and I told myself I’d never write code again. I pivoted into content. My first 20 Link: https://x.com/edmundtian/status/1986551013126643837

david's daily vlogs of @HackerResidency are 🔥David in Da Nang: Daily Vlog: Typhoon Kalmaegi hits the Hacker Residency Link: https://x.com/dayonefoundry/status/1986456235919732759

RT Hassan Bazzi Re @transitive_bs caught me in my founder mode walk late at night at @HackerResidency

YOOOOOOO so our @HackerResidency is well underway on day 6 in Da Nang, Vietnam, and it's going soooooooo freaking well so far!! we've been posting some daily vibes and several of us are vlogging @dayonefoundry @edmundtian @lilianbuilds and more 💕 we also did a livestream on tuesday w/ @robj3d3 which got over 100k views 🤯 we're planning to do this every week to give updates from residents, give people a feel for the vibes, drive some fomo, answer questions, etc most of the time we've been LOCKED IN and BUILDING alongside each other! we've already had 3 product launches so far: @T_Zahil doing a Uneed social launch (PH competitor launch on PH 😂), @phuctm97 doing a beta launch for Vibingbase (Cursor for desktop apps), and @ayysoni launching Reframe (end-to-end design ⇒ mockup ⇒ print-on-demand for ) 🔥 but it's not all coding! some folks have already gone surfing w/ @tdinh_me, cycling w/ @T_Zahil and @fai_ne, badminton w/ @josefbuettgen / @Melanie_Klenner / @brianshinsh, yoga w/ @habazzi and his partner kira coming in from copenhagen 🧘 if you're in da nang this month and want to stop by, we'll be hosting friday socials at the villa. you can _apply_ here: https://luma.com/hrg no guarantees because we have limited capacity, but if you're a founder / investor / creator and really vibe w/ what we're doing, DM me *why* you want to visit and we'll def consider it. aaaaand our in-person demo day will be sat, nov 29th... members of the vietnamese government will be here and VTV, the largest network in vietnam will be broadcasting the event!!! which is crazy btw – all the local vietnamese members @alexcooldev @phuctm97 @tdinh_me and @ann_nnng are excited for their families to see them on TV :) of course, none of this would be possible without the support of our amazing sponsors 🙏 AI devtools like @CodeRabbit, @OpenRouterAI, @StainlessAPI, @n8n_io, @p0, and @cognition 🔥 we also owe sooooo much of our inspiration to @HF0 for paving the way. they've learned so many...

RT David in Da Nang Daily Vlog: All About HRG (Q&A Yapfest)

second launch of @HackerResidency 💪 ayush is crazyyyy experienced AND it's his freakin birthday this week!!!!Ayush Soni: A week ago I landed in Vietnam for @HackerResidency . I promised I’d build something new, fast. So here it is: http://usereframe.app A tool to help print-on-demand sellers make money with AI. No launch party (yet), just shipping in public. Target is to reach $1k MRR in 25 Link: https://x.com/ayysoni/status/1986041935778439302

Stoked to announce our latest sponsor @Cognition, the makers of Devin (an amazing async AI software engineer) and Windsurf, the agentic IDE. Really grateful for their support of our mission @HackerResidency 🙏

RT Tony Dinh 🎯 On a quest to convert everyone I know into surfersJosef Büttgen: turns out @tdinh_me really knows which waves to ride Link: https://x.com/josefbuettgen/status/1985684312927453689