blog index

Articles from building Madman Studio alone: shipping small products, burying the failures, and writing each lesson down before it rots into an excuse.

article archive

Field notes

The thinking between the launches and the shutdowns — what shipping actually taught.

articles
27
path
/notes
latest
Oct 22, 2026
  1. My stolen OpenRouter key cost about $7 After Railway's October 21 security disclosure, my OpenRouter activity showed unauthorized model usage. OpenRouter blocked the key, limiting my loss to about $7. API securityOpenRouterRailwayincident notes
  2. PopSmart Shopify App Store dashboard with three active search campaigns: AI Upsell & Bundles, Size Chart Fit Finder, and AI Virtual Try On. How I'm marketing PopSmart right now A PopSmart marketing update: small-budget Shopify App Store keyword ads, store cold emails, and agency collaboration outreach running in parallel. shopifymarketingbuild in public
  3. Pagegloss launch illustration about sharing a website's information with AI agents. Pagegloss: a small tool for the agent-readable web I made a free tool for giving compatible AI agents a clearer introduction to a website. Start with its address, review the information, and copy the install code. PageglossWebMCPshipping
  4. The PopSmart AI Upsell & Bundles launch film poster, one of the three public PopSmart apps. The three-app PopSmart family is live PopSmart AI Upsell & Bundles and PopSmart Size Chart Fit Finder are now public, joining PopSmart AI Virtual Try On. Three apps for three distinct merchant jobs. ShopifyPopSmartshipping
  5. Astra vs Opus+Remotion: two PopSmart videos A personal comparison of two videos I made for my Shopify app listings and PopSmart promotion using almost the same source material. AIRemotionbuilding-in-publicPopSmart
  6. Claude Startups acceptance message beside the note Approved after 3 rejections. What Changed When Claude Startups Finally Approved Me After three Claude Startups rejections, I applied again through popsmart.ai and linked the live product landing page instead of a general company page. The new application was approved on its first try. AnthropicClaudeStartupsBuildInPublic
  7. What Claude Startups actually includes: 12 months of Claude Team, $1,000 in API credits, and weekly office hours. What Claude Startups Actually Includes A concise look at the Claude Team plan, API credits, technical office hours, and third-party Startup Stack offers shown in my Claude Startups member dashboard. AnthropicClaudeStartupsBuildInPublic
  8. I Applied to Claude Startups Three Times. Three Rejections, No Diagnosis. I applied to Anthropic’s Claude Startups program three times, was rejected three times, and still do not know what part of the application failed. AnthropicClaudeStartupsBuildInPublic
  9. Two more PopSmart apps are in Shopify review An upsell bundle app and a size chart and recommender are in Shopify review for a planned October 2026 launch, while a separate research service for small ecommerce operators is also in development. ShopifyBuildInPublicVibeCodingPopSmart
  10. Clerk belongs in the graveyard now The first PopSmart Clerk version is moving from Live to the Graveyard because demand was not clear enough, and the product has fully pivoted. Two Shopify apps are being prepared for a joint public announcement. ShopifyBuildInPublicVibeCodingPopSmart
  11. The cold email signal is not zero After contacting about 1,500 Shopify stores, the cold email strategy is not proven yet, but weekly demo and proposal requests are enough signal to expand the test. ShopifyBuildInPublicVibeCodingCold Email
  12. AIWAR Goes to the Graveyard AIWAR is shutting down after three months of bot-heavy traffic and no clear ordinary user demand. The resources move to NBFS. AIWARgraveyardBuildInPublicNBFS
  13. Photo Try-On got sharper. Live Try-On is open. PopSmart Try-On update: a wider accuracy pass for Photo Try-On across product types and a new Live Try-On modal for real-time product-page fitting. ShopifyBuildInPublicVibeCodingPopSmartVirtual Try-On
  14. NBFS launch card showing the line Good apps hide below the rankings and cropped product screens. Good Apps Hide Below the Rankings NBFS is a small independent discovery surface for Shopify apps that are not Built for Shopify yet, built around evidence instead of popularity. NBFSShopifyApp discoveryBuildInPublic
  15. AIWAR Now Has a Daily Debate Engine AIWAR now generates a daily debate prompt for discussing the U.S.–China AI war, with each debate shared on @aiwargg for public participation. AIWARAIUS Chinaartificial intelligenceBuildInPublic
  16. AIWAR Daily Hook, PopSmart Real-Time Try-On A build-in-public note on strengthening AIWAR's Daily Hook and content layer while developing real-time camera-video try-on for PopSmart AI Virtual Try On. AIWARPopSmartShopifyBuildInPublicVibeCoding
  17. ASO Changed Studio. I Took Clerk Private. Shopify App Store optimization gave PopSmart Studio a clear virtual try-on job and gave me a reason to take PopSmart Clerk private while I pivot it now. app store optimizationshopifyproduct positioningpivot
  18. 300,000 Shopify stores is not permission to spam them A build-in-public operating note on preparing cold email for Shopify merchants by tightening app listings, pivoting Clerk, and deciding whether to lead with one app or the family. ShopifyBuildInPublicVibeCodingPopSmartColdEmail
  19. One month into two Shopify apps: the Clerk signal is hard to ignore After a month building PopSmart Studio and PopSmart Clerk, the Clerk install signal is forcing a pivot from attention toward clearer merchant demand. ShopifyBuildInPublicVibeCodingPopSmartProduct
  20. AIWAR command board showing U.S. Frontier versus China Open-Weight, live wire signals, and an editorial impact index. AIWAR Is a Live Board for Reading the AI Race AIWAR turns the U.S.–China AI competition into a source-first command board: evidence cards, editorial impact scores, and user calls without pretending to be a benchmark. AIWARlive serviceAIUS Chinaevidence
  21. Shopify app ad dashboard showing $483 spend, 7 installs, $69 cost per install, 14.6% install rate, and $10.06 cost per click from Jun 10 to Jun 17, 2026. I Spent Almost $500 on App Ads in One Week I spent $483 on app ads for PopSmart Clerk and Studio in one week. The result was 7 installs, one pricing signal, and a clearer short-term marketing plan. ShopifyBuildInPublicEcommerceProductMarketingSaaS
  22. Nobody Searches for My Brand. PopSmart Studio and Clerk have been live since May to almost no traffic. The product was not the problem — the name was. I named the listings after my brand, which no merchant types into Shopify search, so I renamed them after the job they do. Now I watch the numbers. distributionapp store optimizationshopify
  23. The Gate Opened. The Excuse Went With It. Meta's review took about forty days. While it ran, I had a reason not to do the part that actually scares me — telling people PopSmart exists. The gate just opened, and the excuse left with it. shippingplatform reviewdistribution
  24. AI Builds in a Weekend. Review Takes a Month. Building is no longer the slow part of a launch — the platform's human review queue is. shippingplatform reviewai development
  25. My Rules for Shipping Rules for launching small products before the idea becomes too expensive to question. shippinglaunch systemsoperating rules
  26. The Graveyard Is Part of the Studio Why shutdowns should stay visible instead of disappearing from the story. graveyardpostmortemsproduct judgment
  27. Why I Keep Launching Small Products Why small launches make product truth arrive faster, reduce expensive guessing, and keep solo founder decisions grounded in public evidence. shippingproduct tastearticles