I’m Building 6 Side Projects in 6 Months 🛠️
All designed to spark human connection. All powered by AI. All built – and written about – in public.
👋 Hey, Dan here,
Time for something different.
I spend my days writing with and about incredible founders: their ideas, their stories, their startups.
This work has sparked something in me.
So now I’m building too—6 side projects in 6 months.
All designed to spark human connection.
All powered by AI.
All built – and written about – in public.
Why? 🧐
I’ve always had lots of ideas.
Scribbled notebooks full of them. Domains bought. Websites and decks half-finished.
But I never moved with consistency. Spread myself too thin and too wide. Moved too slowly. Was too uncertain.
But that was before AI.
Now, I can build, test and ship ideas fast. No dev team. No big budget.
Just curiosity, a laptop, and the tools to bring something into the world quickly.
Why Now? 🤷♂️
Writing for founders is still my main thing.
These side projects don’t replace that — they deepen it.
I want to stay curious. And the best way I know to understand things like AI is to build with it – and write as I go.
Also: kind of funny to think I found writing was my thing just as AI did too.
I’m not panicking. But I am paying attention. It’s definitely harder to find clients than a year ago – the tools have advanced, expectations have shifted.
And it got me thinking:
What can I build – that’s more product-shaped, scalable and sustainable – that grows with my writing, not against it?
Because here’s what I see:
The most interesting work right now is happening at the intersection of writing, AI and building.
The Thread? 🧵
From Lonely Planet to Party with a Local, from Airbnb to Techleap, I’ve always been pulled toward the same things:
Exploration. Connection. Belonging.
Now I write for founders, helping them craft stories that move people.
But beneath the content is something deeper:
I build connection.
Between ideas.
Between people.
Between action and identity.
These 6 projects are just an extension of that same thread.
What I’m Building 👀
One project per month for the rest of 2025: 3 B2B, 3 B2C.
All built around human connection.
All designed to bring people back into real conversation, real connection, the real world.
First one’s already live: Dads Night Out — a simple way for dads to reconnect offline.
(3 nights done in Amsterdam so far. Let’s see where it goes.)
The rest? I’ll share them as they launch.
They’ll touch themes like:
Founder identity
Team culture
Parenting and relationships
A few hints:
A tool to help founders shape their stories and surface deeper patterns
Founder Circles – curated groups for founders 40+ with kids
Better date nights for busy couples
I’ll share them as they go live—one project per month, right here in my newsletter.
Yes, This Might Fail ⚠️
Some of these won’t work. That’s the point.
I’m not optimising for safety. I’m optimising for signal – and learning in motion.
If one takes off, I’ll double down. If they flop, I’ll find out fast.
This isn’t a pivot away from writing – I love that work.
This is about building something alongside it.
One project per month.
If something gets traction, I’ll grow it.
If not, I’ll drop it and move forward.
I know the classic startup advice:
“Focus. Pick one thing. Block everything else out.”
But honestly? I’m not really that guy. And with AI, you don't need to be anymore.
I get energy from moving between ideas — as long as they’re connected somehow.
These are. That’s enough for me.
What You’ll Get If You Follow Along 📬
Behind-the-scenes updates as I build
Honest reflections, lessons and feedback
Stories about using AI to create human connection
Tools, workflows and ideas you can steal
If you’re into:
Building in public
Tech with heart
Using AI to build something that matters
Then follow along for the ride.
Let’s make tech a little more human – one side project at a time.
One More Thing ☝️
If this starts to work, long term I’d love to turn it into something more:
A small studio where writing, AI and products collide.
But I can’t (and don’t want to) do that alone. So if one of these projects resonates – or sparks something in you – let’s talk.
I’m always up for connecting with brilliant, curious people who want to build things that matter – maybe even future co-founders.
Cheers,
Dan
P.S. ‘Fit Founder’ will be back next week — with a focus on fitness for founders over 40 with families 💪
