u/Suitable-Original-97

I’m not looking for a job or another freelance client.

I’m already working full-time and doing freelance work, but I have some time in the evenings and I’d like to put that time into something more interesting: building with a small startup team.

I’ve previously been a CTO & Co-Founder, so I’ve already been through the messy part of taking an idea, figuring out the technical side, building an MVP and getting it into users’ hands. I’ve also built a product that ended up being used by 800+ students.

What I’m looking for:

A founder/team with a problem they genuinely care about and are actively trying to build around.

I can help with the product and technical side, from figuring out what the MVP should actually look like to architecture, development, APIs, databases, AI integrations, deployment, etc.

And if your product needs some technology I haven't worked with before, that's not really a blocker for me. I’m comfortable researching, learning and figuring things out as we build. Startup building rarely comes with a perfectly labelled toolbox anyway.

I’m not asking for payment or equity initially. I’m mainly looking for a good team, an interesting problem and the experience of building something from zero.

If things work out and the product eventually makes money or raises funding, we can figure out a reasonable payout/equity arrangement based on my contribution.

If you're building something and think an extra technical/product person could genuinely help, DM me what you're building and where you're currently stuck.

I'd rather hear about the actual problem than receive a generic job description.

I've been noticing a trend lately that I find a little weird.

Someone builds a workflow like:

Google Sheets → n8n → ChatGPT → Gmail

…and suddenly it's called "AI automation."

I'm not saying tools like n8n, Make, Zapier, etc. are bad. They're actually useful. But I think we're sometimes learning the tool before learning the actual concept of automation.

Take something simple like a bulk email system.

If the requirement is:

- Read 10,000 users

- Process them in batches

- Personalize the email

- Call an email API

- Handle rate limits

- Retry failures

- Log the results

That's not necessarily an "AI automation" problem.

As a developer, I'd first understand the process and build/automate the core logic with code and APIs. Maybe it's a few hundred lines of code, maybe less depending on the requirements.

Then I'd ask:

Would n8n/Make/Zapier make this easier to maintain, deploy, monitor, or hand over to a non-developer?

If yes, use it.

But I don't think the right approach is:

«"Everyone is using n8n, so I should learn n8n and connect a few apps."»

I think the order should be:

Understand the manual process → understand the APIs → automate with code → identify bottlenecks → then choose the right automation tool.

And there's an even bigger distinction:

Automation ≠ AI automation.

A workflow like:

"Trigger → API → transform data → API → database"

is automation.

Something like:

"Trigger → retrieve context → LLM analyzes/classifies → make a decision → execute action → verify result"

is much closer to AI automation.

The AI should actually be doing something that requires reasoning, classification, extraction, generation, or decision-making.

Otherwise, we're just putting an LLM in the middle of a workflow because "AI automation" is the current buzzword.

Maybe I'm looking at this too much from a developer perspective, though.

Do you think people should learn automation concepts/code first and then use tools like n8n, or are these platforms actually the better starting point?

I'm curious to learn how other founders think about product building.

If you're building a startup, share:

• What you're building

• The biggest challenge you're facing right now

I'll reply with my thoughts on:

• Product direction

• MVP scope

• UX

• Technical architecture

• AI opportunities (where relevant)

I'm not selling anything or promoting a service. I simply enjoy discussing products and learning from other builders.

Hopefully this thread can also help other founders facing similar challenges.

I'm curious to learn how other founders think about product building.

If you're building a startup, share:

• What you're building

• The biggest challenge you're facing right now

I'll reply with my thoughts on:

• Product direction

• MVP scope

• UX

• Technical architecture

• AI opportunities (where relevant)

I'm not selling anything or promoting a service. I simply enjoy discussing products and learning from other builders.

Hopefully this thread can also help other founders facing similar challenges.

Hey everyone! 👋

I've been working on an AI-powered video editor and wanted to start sharing the journey instead of waiting until it's "perfect."

Right now, I'm focused on building features that actually save creators time.

Current progress:

* 🌍 Multi-language AI captions * ✂️ Automatic silence detection & removal * 🎬 AI B-roll suggestions (in progress) * 🎵 Trending music recommendations (in progress)

This screenshot is from the current version of the editor. There's still a lot left to build, but it's exciting to see it slowly come together.

I'll be sharing regular updates, progress, wins, bugs, and lessons as I continue building.

I'd love to hear your thoughts:

**If you create YouTube Shorts, Reels, or TikToks, what's one editing task you'd love AI to handle for you?**

Thanks for reading!


**What's one lesson you wish you'd learned earlier?**

Hey everyone! 👋

I've been working on an AI-powered video editor and wanted to start sharing the journey instead of waiting until it's "perfect."

Right now, I'm focused on building features that actually save creators time.

Current progress:

• 🌍 Multi-language AI captions
• ✂️ Automatic silence detection & removal
• 🎬 AI B-roll suggestions (in progress)
• 🎵 Trending music recommendations (in progress)

This screenshot is from the current version of the editor. There's still a lot left to build, but it's exciting to see it slowly come together.

I'll be sharing regular updates, progress, wins, bugs, and lessons as I continue building.

I'd love to hear your thoughts:

If you create YouTube Shorts, Reels, or TikToks, what's one editing task you'd love AI to handle for you?

Thanks for reading!

https://preview.redd.it/rq0ml1yulzhh1.png?width=1717&format=png&auto=webp&s=2111ac45302fe31943886b0bcaa80a9fcc95fde1

What's one lesson you wish you'd learned earlier?

After spending the last few months building products myself and reading hundreds of startup posts here, I've noticed the same pattern over and over.

Almost every product is suddenly an "Operating System for X."

Maybe it's an AI operating system.

Maybe it's a sales operating system.

Maybe it's a recruiting operating system.

At this point, the phrase has become so common that it doesn't really tell readers what you're actually building.

Instead, tell us plainly.

- What problem are you solving?

- Who is it for?

- What does it actually do?

- Why is your approach different?

A clear explanation is far more memorable than another buzzword.

The same goes for co-founder posts.

Instead of saying:

«"Looking for a technical co-founder."»

Tell us the story.

- What are you building?

- What stage are you at? (Idea / MVP in progress / MVP launched / Paying users)

- Have you raised funding?

- Are you bootstrapped?

- Where are you based?

- What's your background?

- What skills do you already have?

- What exactly are you looking for in a partner?

- How much equity are you offering, and why does that percentage make sense?

- How much time are you expecting them to commit?

- Links to your product, GitHub, website, LinkedIn, or demo.

One post should give enough context that someone can decide in a minute whether they're interested.

And one more thought.

Try thinking of them as a startup partner, not just a co-founder.

Titles don't build companies.

Products do.

A great startup partner is someone you'll spend years solving problems with, disagreeing with, shipping with, and growing with. That's a much bigger commitment than simply sharing the title of "co-founder."

The clearer and more transparent your post is, the better conversations you'll have, and the more likely you'll attract people who genuinely fit your vision.

Just my perspective after building and reading a lot of startup posts recently.

Hi everyone! I'm currently looking for freelance, contract, or startup opportunities.

I'm a Full-Stack Developer with experience building production-ready products from scratch using Next.js, React, Node.js, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Prisma, AWS, Docker, and Redis.

Previously, I was the Co-Founder & CTO of an AI startup, where I led engineering, designed the architecture, and built the MVP from the ground up. I also built BruteForce, a coding platform adopted by 800+ students for DSA tracking, leaderboards, and analytics.

I'm currently building Velocut, an AI-powered video editor that leverages speech recognition and LLMs for automated video editing and subtitle generation.

I'm available for:

• Full-Stack Development

• AI & LLM Integrations

• SaaS Development

• MVP Development

• Backend/API Development

• AI Agent Development

• Startup Technical Consulting

Tech Stack:

Next.js • React • Node.js • TypeScript • PostgreSQL • Prisma • AWS • Docker • Redis • Python • Java • LLMs

. RAG

If you're building something interesting or need an engineer who can take an idea from concept to production, feel free to DM me. Happy to discuss your project!

Looking for 50 early testers for my AI video editor.

I'm building an AI-powered video editor and I'm looking for honest creators to break it.

I'll give selected testers 1 month of Pro (worth $XX) completely free.

In return, I only ask for:

Real feedback

Bug reports

Feature suggestions

Maybe a short testimonial if you like it

If you're interested, comment below or DM me with what kind of videos you create.