One of the most impactful ways that I've changed the way I build anything on the internet is through this idea that everything is a playground for skill development.
I adopted this mentality in my mid-20s when I had severe shiny object syndrome.
I wanted to make money online so bad.
As a result, every 3 months I'd try to start a different business. None of them worked because I never gave them enough time to work.
Today, I treat everything I build (directories, youtube videos, even this newsletter) as a playground to have fun and make money.
But above all else, it's to become fluent in the skills I'll need to continue playing this game of finding a problem, thinking of an idea and turning it into an online businesses.
In 2022, I learned a little bit of SEO but had zero technical knowledge so I built my directory websites manually. I lacked skills in SEO + Wordpress.
In 2023-2024, I evolved from manually creating Wordpress pages when I started learning about programmatic SEO (this is when I discovered Geodirectory in Wordpress). I now understood how SEO worked, but was severely limited by Wordpress plugins.
In 2025, I spent half the year convincing myself I wasn't ready to build with AI coding tools. But once I seriously tried to build with them, I realized that for the first time in my life, I felt zero constraints.
made this with chatgpt ✌️
Conceptually, I've known what I wanted to build for years now.
In 2022, the dream has always been to master one skill for distribution and one skill for building.
More specifically, I've always wanted to be able to build directories and SaaS products because I think they make a great combo.
Clearly, I chose SEO & directories (for distribution) and knew that I'd stick to it.
But I hit a hard ceiling with the "building" part of my skillset for some specific directory-related things like creating city-specific pillar pages and nicely designed featured listings.
These were things I knew would work from an SEO perspective, but were too difficult to figure out using Wordpress.
That is, of course, until I started learning how to "vibe code" with Claude code.
Now there's quite literally no mental barrier as to how I'm going to build something.
If you asked me today what my five-year goals are, nothing has really changed since 2022.
It's still to be so fluent in building SaaS and distribution (SEO) that I can reasonably pivot in a world where AI impacts everything.
I want to be like Luke Nichols (of Outdoor Boys) where you can drop me in any harsh environment and I'll be able to figure out a way to survive and enjoy some nice honey butter and fresh baked bread...except the online business version of that.
Who knows what the world will look like in 2030.
All I know is that people with the skills to build and distribute will be in leveraged positions to succeed.
How I maintain a play-first, money-later approach to building
There's something to be said about having low expectations whenever you chase a new venture - I mostly agree with the idea, but it's missing an important half of the recipe that makes for successful bootstrapping + solopreneurship.
I've always felt like this line of thinking was designed to prevent disappointment if you don't get quick results, but it simultaneously encourages you to not try your hardest to succeed.
For me, the second half of the recipe circles back to the intense desire to build forever-skills that allow you to adapt if everything goes away tomorrow.
If my goal is to make money quickly, I'm easily removed from the process of learning skills that can create repeatable monetization opportunities.
But if my goal is pure skill-development, then it's way easier to take the "scenic route" when building things because now I'm just curious what will happen if I do XYZ.
I learned this lesson in 2021 after I quit my $25k/month footwear company to start flipping items from garage sales and estate sales full-time.
Did I devolve? Oh yeah.
I was literally buying used Hokas for $5 and reselling them for $45 on eBay.
Once I even drove 75 miles one-way to buy a rare beanie baby from a garage sale listing on Craigslist that I thought was worth $2500.
It was actually worth $5! 😭
But what (still) isn't obvious to my friends and family are the forever skills that I gained from flipping items for a year-and-a-half.
If I lost everything tomorrow, I'd know exactly how to make $3k-$6k/month starting with $100 by just hammering garage sales, flea markets, estate sales and thrift stores all week.
That’s the thing about having a play-first, money-later mindset, you can lose the game and still keep playing.
