Episode Stack: https://stackl.ist/405NzHu
AI is moving so fast that it's hard to know what to pay attention to and what to tune out. In this episode, Michael Hoy (co-founder and CEO of Atlas) and I dig into what it feels like to build a company during the most disorienting moment in tech most of us have ever experienced.
Michael shares the full Atlas origin story, from winning Product Hunt's product of the day, week, and month, to the humbling realization that 1,200 users didn't translate into a single paying customer.
We discuss why the startup advice machine creates more noise than clarity, how AI is shifting from exciting to existential, and why the founders who win are the ones who learn to trust their own signal over everyone else's opinions.
We also get into Michael's vision for where Atlas is headed: a trust layer for the coming agent-to-agent economy, and why that future might be closer than most people think.
Topics we cover:
- Why this month felt like AI truly woke up.
- Building 12 projects in a week and what that means for everyone else.
- The gap between Product Hunt traction and real product-market fit.
- Education-based marketing that leads with curiosity, not fear.
- Doing things that don't scale on purpose.
- Michael's advice to founders: trust what you're feeling and shut out the noise.
