Podcast – techzing tech podcast

408: TZ Discussion – The Space Closet

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 22:29:57 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss how Justin has been helping out with the new Math Academy designs, why Jason finally pulled the trigger on buying his dream car, the latest progress on Lightwave and thoughts on future usage models, the upcoming Math Academy machine learning course, plans for 2025, and the challenge of developing talent while scaling. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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407: TZ Discussion – Welcome to the Party, Pal!

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:06:04 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the possibility of Jason starting a Math Academy podcast or YouTube channel, ideas on how to solve Math Academy’s latency issues in China, what tool to use for creating mockups, Justin’s health update, finding a workout schedule that works, how the PlayStrong SEO is starting to show results, Jason’s project superhero update and how less has turned out to be more, the surprising benefits of taking a magnesium supplement, the struggles of young men and dating in the current version of society, how humans eventually adapt to technologies that initially show negative consequences, Lightwave and the importance of not giving up, Justin’s music aspirations and his struggle with working (and working out) alone, the shows Arcane and The Franchise and the movies Caddy Shack, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, The Fall Guy, and The Hit Man, Math Academy’s upcoming machine learning course and the plans to integrate coding into all (or at least most) math courses, Jason’s bias towards maximizing information gain, and how he’s learning to focus on one fire at a time no matter how many are burning, and finally the simultaneous exhilaration and misery of running a startup that’s realized product-market fit. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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406: TZ Discussion – Unkillable

Thu, 24 Oct 2024 01:36:24 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Math Academy, Playstrong, Justin’s new band, and Jack’s burgeoning interest in coding. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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405: TZ Discussion – Dude, Where’s My Code?

Fri, 30 Aug 2024 16:11:05 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss how Jason solved his slow Internet problem, their recent COVID experience, Jason’s reaction to intense stress, the challenge of working with other coders, creating a new technical foundation for an existing project, Jason’s contrarian opinion on code comments, why clean, correctly abstracted code is the key to maximizing productivity, Math Academy’s current MRR and how to address the churn issue, the shows Sunny and Brooklyn 99, and the web series Red vs. Blue. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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404: TZ Discussion – Episode Not Found

Sun, 28 Jul 2024 04:14:59 +0000

Justin and Jason talk about how Justin thought it was Independence Day for real, his early life as a struggling musician, and the story of how he hustled his way into the technology industry, Math Academy’s Twitter/X push, recent growth and future goals, Colby the intern and the possibility of bringing on a freelance developer, Ray Kurzweil’s new book The Singularity Is Nearer, the show Time Trap, season 3 of The The Bear, and the movie No Hard Feelings, why Jason couldn’t stand watching the series Palm Royale, the 30 for 30 documentary on Lance Armstrong, and the series Tour de France Unchained. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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402: TZ Discussion – Hello Robot

Sun, 09 Jun 2024 04:23:01 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Izzy’s high-school graduation, the new Math Academy robot character and the upcoming math facts functionality, the Methods of Proof course, and why Jason isn’t impressed by LLM tutors, the recent development work on Lightwave and thoughts on the permissions system, why creating anything of value takes years and the importance of doing things that don’t scale, health and fitness updates, why Justin likes Star Trek so much, the Netflix series Bodkin, the documentaries Bad Vegan and The Jinx, and the shows Better Call Saul, Dance Monsters, Is It Cake, and Conan Must Go. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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401: TZ Discussion – Going Deep

Tue, 21 May 2024 16:57:10 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Justin’s design choices and roadmap for Lightwave, the latest with Math Academy, including the technology beyond the proofs course and the plan for drilling math facts, the primacy of winning, the future of search in the age of LLMs, fitness updates, and the shows Residents Alien, The Jinx, Allen vs. Farrow, and Shogun. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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400: TZ Discussion – Reignition

Mon, 29 Apr 2024 15:14:28 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Math Academy’s churn analysis and retention roadmap, Justin’s decision to use Laravel’s Reverb for Lightwave’s real-time collaboration, why he’s mocking up the entire new phase of UI development, and what was wrong with his initial weight-lifting plan, the effects of writing on less sleep, brain activity after death, the prospect of AI-generated video, girlfriends, music, and drip emails, how Jason is attempting to train around his tendinitis and why blood-flow restriction might provide an answer, the streaming series Winning Time, Shogun Fallout, and Foundation, and why Jason recommends the Pilgrim Pass YouTube channel. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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399: TZ Discussion – Vaporware

Wed, 10 Apr 2024 00:05:17 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss how Justin is transitioning PlayStrong’s backend to Laravel’s Vapor framework and how long it will be before he’ll get back to working on Lightwave again, how Jason reduced his AWS footprint, and some preliminary numbers from Math Academy’s churn analysis, Justin’s realization about his fitness routine, and the shows 3 Body Problem and Winning Time. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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398: TZ Discussion – Riding Rough

Mon, 25 Mar 2024 22:24:50 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss some performance improvements made to the Math Academy service, an embarrassing email debacle, Jason’s self-diagnosed ADHD, Justin’s newly established workout habbit, Jason’s gout flair up, the most important things that effect health, why Jason recommends The Gentlemen and Justin recommends Mythic Quest, the difficulty with general advice and best practices, and the idea of hosting online Math Academy competitions. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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397: TZ Discussion – The Big Race

Mon, 11 Mar 2024 22:47:33 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the current state of Lightwave, why Justin is implementing the backend in Node.js, his experience hiring a contractor to pair code with, and plans for the future, the latest with Justin’s fitness journey and why he decided to stop taking Metformin, Math Academy’s upcoming Methods of Proof course, a major code refactoring, whether there will ever be a Math Academy Discord server, and customer support challenges, Jason’s pending race with his kids, how he tweaked his quad, and why no one likes to do back squats, and finally the shows Slow Horses and Mythic Quest. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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396: TZ Discussion – The Green Card Blues

Sat, 17 Feb 2024 22:42:26 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss their recent health and fitness escapades, the latest with Math Academy and Lightwave, the pointlessness of GDPR, why we may have to kick Justin out of the country, a bunch of stuff Sam Altman wishes someone had told him, why Jason recommends the series Gaslit and the YouTube channel Clownfish TV, and Justin’s much-belated review of Ready Player One that exactly zero people asked for. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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395: TZ Discussion – The Dream

Tue, 30 Jan 2024 21:56:51 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the fallout of Gabe’s blog post about Math Academy and other company issues, Lightwave’s formalized roadmap, Justin’s new workout equipment and routine, Jason’s project-superhero progress, the importance of having concrete goals, the shows Loudermilk, Bye, Bye Barry, Mr. A & Mr. M: The Story of A&M Records, and Killer Robots, and the Kosmo channel on YouTube. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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394: TZ Discussion – Falling off the Wagon

Wed, 17 Jan 2024 18:32:53 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Areli’s recent gymnastics struggles, Colby’s go-kart project, how Justin has been organizing a conference for his day job and his new idea for implementing styling palettes in Lightwave, Jason’s project superhero updates, his new back rehab program, and why he’s interested in sprinting again, how and why Justin has fallen off the weight-loss/workout wagon, the development of Math Academy’s annual plan, the problem with pausing accounts, and why they’ve decided to re-prioritize the Methods of Proof course, the movie The Family Plan, how Taylor Kitsch became such an underrated actor, and why Jason continues to recommend the series Bosch / Bosch Legacy. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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393: TZ Discussion – Never Miss a Workout

Mon, 01 Jan 2024 22:04:48 +0000

Justin and Jason review and grade the progress they made over the past year on their respective health, fitness, and startups, detail their goals for 2024, discuss the shows Only Murders in the Building, Band of Brothers, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul, and Jason explains how he thinks Hollywood will adjust its strategy in the coming years. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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392: TZ Discussion – Firestorm

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 21:04:28 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss how Justin and his family had to leave town to avoid a forest fire, the show Welcome to Wrexham, how Justin is tiptoeing into his new diet program, the latest on Project Superhero, the professional dunker who increased his vertical from 25 to 45 inches and then later to 50 inches, Justin’s reaction to Alex Jones being allowed back on X and some thoughts on free speech, Lightwave’s features and usability and whether it would make sense to build in the open, creating a strategic plan for Math Academy and the foundational document The Science of Math Academy, the progress that's been made on climate change and why Jason is much more concerned about micro plastics and nano plastics, the latest season of Rick and Morty, the second season of Invincible, and the movie Interstellar. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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391: TZ Discussion – Rogue AI

Mon, 27 Nov 2023 04:25:45 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Justin’s new weight-loss coaching service, why Jason got a coronary heart scan and his experience so far with the ATG program, the series Welcome to Wrexham, why Justin is wary of Sam Altman not least of which because of World Coin, a recap of the recent Open AI coup and counter-coup, and some speculation around Q*, the coming battle between swarms of good and bad AI agents, Justin’s recent progress on Lightwave, Jason’s opinion on the recent respiratory outbreak in China, the second season of Invincible, the new series Gen V, and the movie Napolean, and finally the idea of building a critic-matching service and a “pandering critic” detector using ChatGPT 4. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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390: TZ Discussion – Into the Lightwave

Tue, 14 Nov 2023 05:23:27 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Justin’s progress on Lightwave (nee List) and the near-term development roadmap, why Jason thinks Justin would benefit from a diet coach, and why he believes the hype around Hoka running shoes is entirely justified, the latest with Math Academy including the prospect of building a distraction detector, and the shows Generation V, Welcome to Wrexham, and the Yogi Berra documentary It Ain’t Over.. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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389: TZ Discussion – The Struggle Sessions

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 15:48:52 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss how Justin has been listening to The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy audiobook, their respective project superhero updates and the latest with Lightwave and Math Academy, the problem with mobile-first web development, what makes a great student, and the movies Donny Darko and Friday Night at Freddy's. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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388: TZ Discussion – Fighting the Madness

Mon, 16 Oct 2023 17:43:08 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss how emotion fuels Justin’s process and why that may ultimately be to the detriment of long-term progress, Justin’s thoughts on the Steve Job biography, the latest with Lightwave, project superhero updates, why Jason believes de-optimizing our lives could lead to better health, Math Academy’s upcoming Methods of Proof course and how to build a cheat-detection system, the audiobooks Control Freak and Sid Meiers Memoir, and the shows Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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387: TZ Discussion – Who’s Afraid of Elon Musk?

Mon, 02 Oct 2023 14:55:10 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Jason’s birthday, reactions and takeaways from the Elon Musk biography, the new Ray- Ban smart glasses, Lex Friedman’s metaverse interview of Musk Zuckerberg, the latest project superhero updates, how Justin got excited about List again, and John Romero’s Doom Guy.. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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386: TZ Discussion – Going Tribal

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 05:06:58 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss walking as a weight-loss strategy and Justin’s health-journey hiccups, Isaacson’s Elon Musk biography, why Justin changed his Discord photo, the latest with Math Academy, why Justin hasn’t been working on List/Nitro and whether he’s planning to continue with the project, Balaji’s latest Gray Tribe ideas, what Colby accomplished over the summer with Galactic Conquerors and how he’s been preparing to take some advanced, for-credit math exams, and Apple’s streaming Foundation Series. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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385: TZ Discussion – Flipping the Switch

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 21:41:41 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Justin’s new morning walk/run, Jason’s college track career, Justin’s diet regime, and Jason’s new focus on lowering fructose intake and uric acid, the latest with Galatic Conquerors, and technical limitations of a web-based game, and how struggle is an integral part of the learning process, the prospect of the emergence of human-level AGI within 3 to 7 years, how the LK99 team is not giving up, Elon’s plan to strip headlines and other metadata from Twitter/X posts, the image preprocessing library that will prevent AI mimicry and the power of AI image generation with tools like Midjourney, Eric Weinstein’s criticism of String Theory, the latest with Math Academy, including locale-based courses, and the growth firm they’re working with, the rom-com When In Rome and the sci-fi movie Zoe about the synthetic humans, the book Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties, how untrustworthy the mainstream news has become, how their viewership has plummeted as a result, and why this is driving the push for censorship. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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384: TZ Discussion – The Breakthrough That Wasn’t

Tue, 22 Aug 2023 19:26:48 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Justin’s plan to integrate daily physical exercise, how excess fructose could be the primary driver for elevated levels of uric acid and metabolic diseases generally, the million-dollar prize for a solution to the Riemann hypothesis, Justin’s idea for a website called AmISheeple.com, the non-replication of the room-temperature superconductor, whether AI is a solution in search of a problem or the exact opposite, Elon Musk's response to the anti-Tesla ETF closing its doors, his decisions to change the name of Twitter to X and to get rid of the bock functionality, and how he's paid more taxes than anyone in history, why a wealth tax is unworkable, how Justin has absolutely, positively not given up on NitroNote, Math Academy's free-response functionality, whether Jason’s approach to automated testing has changed, and the upcoming marketing push, how Justin once brought down his company’s entire network (by accident), Colby’s work on his game’s tech tree and how his play testing is working out, the movie The Godfather and the Hulu series The Bear. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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383: TZ Discussion – Welcome to the Doom Loop

Fri, 18 Aug 2023 18:02:01 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the rise in criminal activity and related factors that have led to the reduction in commercial activity and the general downward spiral of San Francisco, whether there’s an agenda to end remote work, why people are avoiding the news, and how subscription-news outlets are eventually captured by their audience, thoughts on the TechZing Discord, what Justin and Jason do and don’t enjoy about their work, thoughts on marketing Math Academy, various lifting strategies and what they’re supposed to achieve, Justin’s glucose charts, Project Superhero updates, why Justin loves Korean romantic comedies, and the movies Grand Toursimo and Barbie. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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382: TZ Discussion – Layering on Success

Sat, 12 Aug 2023 00:15:05 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Justin’s multi-pronged approach to getting healthy, Jason’s surf lesson and back injury, Math Academy's Twitter strategy, new screencast help system, and legal counsel, how Colby helped Justin solve a tricky technical problem and how building a multiplayer video game has leveled-up his coding skills, Justin’s plan to implement NitroNote's real-time collaboration using Elixir, and the shows Mark Cavendish: Never Enough, Star Trek: Lower Decks, My Name, and Cyberpunk Edgerunners.. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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381: TZ Discussion – K-Pop as Death Cult

Thu, 20 Jul 2023 04:57:34 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the idea of using List for show notes and thoughts on how to build in real-time collaboration, why working for a FANG would probably suck, the challenge that kids present at different ages, the potential progress on age reversing chemicals, and the tech founder who is trying to reverse his own aging process, why Justin thinks hiring a personal chef is a super hack, how extended lifespans could help balance out the dropping replacement rates, the theory that K-pop stars are causing South Korea’s low replacement rate, Justin’s continued streak of alcohol/coffee abstinence and his plan to better manage his blood sugar, whether and where to do another TZ Summit, Math Academy’s seasonality, and growth and plans to create a series of number-sense games, the shows Strange New Worlds, White House Plumbers, The Big Door Prize, and Silo, the movies Extraction and Extraction II, and the YouTube show Pitch Meeting. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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379: TZ Discussion – Detoxification

Wed, 05 Jul 2023 23:12:27 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss why Justin is trying to give up coffee and alcohol, the odd side effects he experiences when drinking (and not drinking) coffee, how Jason hit a wall with his weight loss, Justin’s progress with List/NitroNote, the latest with Colby’s game and how his first year at college went, why large companies can’t innovate, more on the Musk/Zuckerberg cage match, recent progress in cryopreservation, Jason’s thoughts on the possibility of an AI future, the shows SAS Rogue Heroes and Silo, and the Tetris documentary. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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378: TZ Discussion – Toaster Lovers Anonymous

Mon, 26 Jun 2023 17:21:40 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Jason’s trip to Palo Alto, the prospect of a Zuckerberg/Musk cage match, the TITAN submarine tragedy, the new direction of List/NitroNote and how implementing dark mode has reignited Justin’s enthusiasm for the project, the release of the Math Academy proof editor, why Justin can no longer talk to Georgie about his projects, the Reddit kerfuffle and the fundamental misalignment between commercial social networks and their users, why solving imaginary problems is so common in technology, whether life was better before the Internet, and finally why Justin enjoys Ted Lasso and Jason doesn’t. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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377: TZ Discussion – Predicting the Unpredictable

Mon, 19 Jun 2023 17:40:52 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Justin’s short-lived List/Nitro Notes partnership, his plans moving forward and a new brand concept, reactions to some of the predictions made on the Discord channel including what numbers Jason thinks Math Academy will hit by this time next year, the likely fallout of a full or partial UFO/UAP disclosure, the latest project superhero updates, the compounding evidence in favor of the Lab Leak hypothesis and why Jason thinks the story is so important, the shows Fubar, Manifest, and Schmigadoon, and the documentaries Arnold and Tour de France: Unchained. Artwork by https://sonsofcrypto.com. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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375: TZ Discussion – How the World Went Soft

Wed, 24 May 2023 02:53:00 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss their respective weight-loss journeys, the weight-loss app Lose It, the power of combing concrete goals with an effective process, the importance of attacking problems at their root cause, why Jason believes most people suffer largely because they’re unwilling to accept responsibility and solve their own problems, the loss of purpose for males and the consequences for society, why generative AI can’t seem to generate Justin’s face, whether Jason’s hold-the-line position on Math Academy can be made into a manageable pick-a-fight marketing strategy, what’s left to do before an HN launch, why Sandy serves the role of project manager, how Jason is going to implement proofs and how he was wrong about encompassing topics, how Justin is adding image support to List (and why it’s all Jason’s fault), and the shows Silo, Slow Horses, 100 Foot Wave, Barry, and the Rookie. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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374: TZ Discussion – Holding the Line

Fri, 05 May 2023 03:52:25 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the latest with PlayStrong and TrueSpace, improving the Math Academy diagnostic communications, the lowering of standards and lack of honesty in modern education, Justin’s workout struggles, Jason’s inner trial lawyer, Justin’s idea for using AI to generate weekly cover art, Justin’s new login strategy, optimizing Math Academy’s response times, when shoplifting comes to town, and why, despite his antics, Elon Musk is by far the most important person alive. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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373: TZ Discussion – It’s a Ping Pong Life

Thu, 20 Apr 2023 17:28:29 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss how Jason lacks an inner voice and how his brain work generally, Jason’s recent knee problem, Justin’s solitary ping-pong workout, what current AI can and can’t to it, Justin’s AI ping-pong story, the potential negative impact of AI companions on the next generation, AI, genetic engineering, and futurism, the challenges and likely downsides of AI regulation, the latest with Math Academy, Justin’s continual disappointment with Star Trek: Picard, the series Barry, and why Jason is excited about Rogue Heroes. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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372: TZ Discussion – The Road to Jarvis

Mon, 10 Apr 2023 02:31:49 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the latest progress on Operation Superhero, Jason’s new iPad, Justin’s calculated life expectancy (it doesn’t look good!), an update on PlayStrong, setting the terms for the AGI bet, the potential boom and doom if AGI is realized, how Sandy solved the Math Academy email problem, and the shows Unstable and Perry Mason. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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371: TZ Discussion – The Big Bet

Fri, 07 Apr 2023 05:14:16 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Balaji’s BTC bet, Jason’s problem with “frameworks”, Areli’s gymnastics, why Justin wants to increase his bet that full AGI will be achieved within the next 5 years, PlayStrong’s recent success, Math Academy’s positioning and the new diagnostic report, the shows The Consultant and DragonBall Z (Abridged), and how The Mandalorian and Start Trek: Picard both suck now. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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370: TZ Discussion – Thank you, Mr. Helpful!

Mon, 13 Mar 2023 01:56:42 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Star Trek, Math Academy, PlayStrong, List, SVB, the Wuhan Lab Leak, and Operation Superhero. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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369: TZ Interview – Jack Ellis / Fathom Analytics

Wed, 08 Mar 2023 18:16:11 +0000

Justin talks with Jack Ellis, co-founder of Fathom Analytics, about how two indie founders were able to get their indie analytics project installed (and scaled) on over 500k websites. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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368: TZ Discussion – Let’s GO!

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 19:56:58 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the two HN comments that led to a recent surge in Math Academy subscribers, what remains to be done before there’s a proper Show HN post, the tradeoffs of the pick-a-fight marketing strategy, and the possibility of setting up a Math Academy Discord, using a documentary as a marketing tool, Justin turning 54 and what age he is in his head, the massive efficiency gain of hiring an expert to mentor you through an unfamiliar technology, and the shows The Last of Us, Shrinking, Wolfpack, and Outerbanks.

Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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367: TZ Discussion – Check and Delete

Thu, 16 Feb 2023 18:20:18 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss why Justin is so inspired by his day job and his big marketing idea for the company, Math Academy’s accreditation, the Math Academy drip-email system, and addressing Math Academy feedback, thoughts on the article Fundamental Math for Game Developers, the recent tech layoffs, the challenge of managing remote workers, the social problems that AI can’t solve, and Jason’s trip to Cancun.

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366: TZ Discussion – In Your Dreams!

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 05:13:45 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss ElevenLabs speech synthesis technology and the brave new world of AI-generated audio and video, recent advances in anti-aging research, the prospect of creating a Math Academy course in Geometric Algebra and the power of niching down, the benefits of SQLite being built from scratch, the Math Academy moat, how email is going to be the primary user experience for Math Academy parents, Sandy’s role in Math Academy and how she keeps Jason on the rails, what Colby is learning by building Galactic Conquerors, the shows The Last of Us, and The Shooter, the documentaries Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street, and Don’t F*ck With Cats, why Justin likes Korean movies, why Jason and Izzy are going to AlienCon, and how Izzy is getting back to creating animations, how much Justin liked The Boys, and Jason’s recent Escape Room experience with his daughter Areli.

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365: TZ Discussion – ChatJVM

Mon, 16 Jan 2023 16:26:05 +0000

Justin and Jason talk about the future of AI, its potential near-term impact on coding and technology, and a bet on whether AGI will be achieved within the next 5 years (mark your calendars, You People!!), the cost and benefits of serverless vs cloud vs bare metal, why Justin has decided to focus on PlayStrong over List, the potential market and why he plans to build rather than buy, the latest with Math Academy, some thoughts on product market fit and where growth really comes from, the shows The Recruit, Madoff, The Protector, and Extraordinary Attorney Wu, Musk, Twitter, and why Justin can no longer buy a Cybertruck, the bureaucratic bloat that encumbers big business and government, and finally how Jason’s daughter doesn’t give a [bleep] what you think.

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364: TZ Discussion – Freakout in the Fediverse

Sat, 31 Dec 2022 05:32:17 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss why Justin moved (yet again), the surprising success of Playstrong and why Jason thinks Justin should consider doubling down on it, an update on Math Academy and the plan for the next few months, the latest release of Colby’s game and how his first quarter at college went, how Ben Boyter’s Fediverse project went sideways, and the shows Andor and The Recruit.

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363: TZ Discussion – Hey, That Reminds Me About Me!

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 01:43:09 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss how Justin is getting good at Twitter, yet another example of why emojis seem kinda necessary, what Justin learned from List’s recent marketing launch, where he should be spending his time, and whether he should build in the open or not, recent Math Academy milestones, why Jason isn’t currently focused on marketing, Jason’s question-rendering problem, how the TZ Discord is like The Lone Gunmen from the X-Files, Jason’s communication efforts or lack thereof, making decisions using data, the prospect of recent AI advancements, hitting approximate breakeven with Math Academy, why Sandy wants Jason to move the marketing site to Webflow, Justin’s new MacBook Pro, why we don’t need new technology, just less dust, how the M1 doesn’t support multiple monitors, how Jason is forcing his daughter Izzy to watch old sci-fi movies with him – The Blob, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, King Kong, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and War of the Worlds, and finally how The Quatermass Experiment scared Justin to death when he was a kid (and probably still would). Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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362: TZ Discussion – Migrations? We Don’t Need No Stinking Migrations!

Wed, 30 Nov 2022 05:06:32 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss how Justin is preparing List for the next big launch, why he paid an editor to edit his blog post, and some upcoming development challenges, the Math Academy money-back guarantee, building features to reduce customer support, what Jason likes about Andor and why he finds so many of the recent superhero and science fiction movies and tv shows lacking, why Justin is offended by Elon Musk’s meme habits, and the Jason’s Twitter bet. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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361: TZ Discussion – Back It Up

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 00:15:19 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, why Justin thinks he’s finally found the right project with List, and Math Academy’s current growth trajectory. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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360: TZ Discussion – Black Screen of Death

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 04:07:13 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Math Academy since the Washington Post article, Ben Boyter’s code analysis tool, and Justin’s failed attempt to onboard Jason to List. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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359: TZ Discussion – ListyMcListface

Mon, 17 Oct 2022 17:49:47 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Justin’s progress on List (formerly known as TaskFlow), Jason’s idea that List should be renamed to ListyMcListface, the Washington Post article about Math Academy, the subsequent traffic, and the emotional rollercoaster of it all. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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358: TZ Discussion – Today’s Special: Hacker News Surprise

Wed, 05 Oct 2022 05:38:26 +0000

357: TZ Interview – Colby Roberts / Galactic Conquerors

Sat, 24 Sep 2022 23:11:07 +0000

Justin talks with Colby Roberts about his game Galactic Conquerors, and asks various questions submitted by TechZing listeners. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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356: TZ Discussion – Bear in a Chair

Mon, 12 Sep 2022 04:45:36 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the latest with Taskflow, Colby’s game, and Math Academy, as well as the movies American Sniper, Wrath of Man, Crisis, the documentary House of Hammer, and the series Invincible. Join our Discord, chat with us and fellow listeners! https://discord.gg/2EbBwdHHx8

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355: TZ Discussion – Content Impossible

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 06:27:22 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the latest progress on TaskFlow, Math Academy, and Colby’s video game.

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354: TZ Discussion – This Is Not The Div You’re Looking For

Mon, 01 Aug 2022 17:02:40 +0000

Justin and Jason (while playing the best free solitaire they could find together) discuss how Justin’s return to music after a long break and without proper equipment seems to have unleashed a new level of creativity, his recent challenges with TaskFlow and specifically the hand-to-hand combat he’s been engaged in with contentEditable, how Colby’s internship has been progressing and the YC-inspired project/venture that Jason has set up for him, the latest with Math Academy and how Jason resolved the Stripe custom-payments integration issue, and finally the movie The Gray Man and the streaming series The Terminal List.

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353: TZ Discussion – With Some Interruption

Mon, 18 Jul 2022 19:04:26 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss why Justin had to take some time off from working on TaskFlow, the importance of momentum and the performance improvements that have resulted from the simplified FastNode data model, the latest with Math Academy, the problem with large updates, and the resulting communication problems they incur, how Colby’s internship is working out, the problems with Jason’s MacBook Pro and the how Jason and Sandy binged 10 episodes of The Offer.

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352: TZ Discussion – Thought Bomb

Mon, 27 Jun 2022 07:29:02 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Jason’s recent trip to Belize, Jason’s literature review of SEO and CRO, Justin’s work on the TaskFlow DOM and how to make it work in a real-time collaborative context, the latest with Math Academy, Jason’s sleepy feet, and a little bit about various tv shows.

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351: TZ Discussion – Nodesy

Mon, 13 Jun 2022 03:14:06 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the reasons why Justin feels his past startup efforts fell short, the user interface, data model and future use cases of TaskFlow, the new gamification model for Math Academy and how the system has been made more responsive and efficient, and the shows Stranger Things, The Boys, and Severance.

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350: TZ Discussion – The Virtual Irish Pub 2.0

Tue, 31 May 2022 01:57:31 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss why Justin is having so much fun working on TaskFlow and some potential features and functionality, the importance of refining the inner loop of a product and making the experience customizable, Mark’s top three frustrations with his Math Academy experience, how Jason is making the system more efficient and responsive, why Justin is simultaneously skeptical about whether Math Academy will ever be released and why he thinks it’s going to be HUGE, why Justin thinks it should be debuted on Product Hunt (if it’s ever done), Jason’s idea for creating user-story videos, why he’s held out so long on releasing Math Academy publicly, and why he prefers Stanger Things to Severance, and finally, why Justin doesn’t watch anything anymore.

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349: TZ Discussion – Death by Mockup

Tue, 17 May 2022 03:52:23 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the TechZing Discord server, the rebirth of TaskFlow, why Justin loves Laravel, Jason’s approach to designing UI, why he wants to grow Math Academy without hring a lot of people and the latest improvements to the software, the series WeCrashed and Severance, and the heatmap software HotJar.

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348: TZ Discussion – The Great College Wipeout

Mon, 02 May 2022 19:54:19 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Areli’s push to be a division I gymnast, why Justin is moving back to London, what he’s doing with Georgie’s online course and how his trainer is too busy trading crypto to train him anymore, the latest with Math Academy, how Jason hacked together a math expression parser and evaluator, how to keep students motivated and making progress, the disaster that was this year’s college admission’s process, the shows Slow Burn, Fyre, We Crashed, Contact, Erin Brokovich, The Dropout, Super Pumped, and Severance, and why Jason STILL hasn’t managed to set up his new MacBook Pro.

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347: TZ Interview – Brett Kennedy / Head of Robotics, JPL

Fri, 04 Feb 2022 20:32:54 +0000

Jason talks with Brett Kennedy, head of robotics at JPL.

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346: TZ Discussion – Better Late Than Never (not a repeat)

Sat, 29 Jan 2022 03:37:59 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the fire that burned down Joe’s house, the death of Morning Brief, what killed AppIgnite, why Justin is leaving his mountain life behind, the latest with Math Academy, why Jason thinks Money Ball is the best startup movie ever made, Justin’s desire to start recording music again, and why Jason still hasn’t managed to set up the MacBook Pro he got for Christmas.

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345: TZ Discussion – Schedule Free

Tue, 26 Oct 2021 00:46:59 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the possibility of Jason bringing on a new developer to Math Academy, how Jason is allergic to any kind of bureaucracy, formality or scheduling, the challenge of building newsletters for certain verticals, Justin’s anticipated pivot towards customized newsletters and premium memberships, what colleges Colby is applying to, how difficult it is to get into a decent computer science program these days, and the TV show The Boys.

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344: TZ Discussion – Morning Joe

Sat, 09 Oct 2021 05:12:34 +0000

Justin, Jason and Joe discuss Morning Brief, Math Academy, and … a lot of other stuff.

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343: TZ Discussion – Analytics Matter, Especially When You’re Not Looking at Them

Sat, 25 Sep 2021 22:07:19 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss why Justin is reinvigorated about a premium version of Morning Brief and some of the new features that are on deck, how the first few weeks of the Math Academy beta launch have been going, and thoughts on how to structure and run a startup.

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342: TZ Discussion – The Hell That is a Beta Launch

Thu, 02 Sep 2021 07:55:19 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the launch of the Math Academy online learning system and the pivot of Morning Brief.

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341: TZ Discussion – Morning Brief Goes Live!

Tue, 03 Aug 2021 21:02:12 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Jason’s trip to the Pacific Northwest and Colby’s first college tour, why kids are maturing more slowly these days, the launch of Morning Brief, initial feedback from users, pricing, and thoughts on the future, the implementation of the Math Academy knowledge-graph algorithm and preparing for the upcoming commercial launch, John Carmack’s article on static analysis and the relationship between code size and code quality, Jason’s recent efforts to remove old and unused code from the Math Academy codebase and thoughts on how to better modularize code in a large web application, using a job service like Amazon SQS to process non-real-time tasks, how Justin injured himself gardening, why Jason is teaching his 13-year-old daughter calculus over the summer, the first legitimate math research done by a Math Academy high-school student, and billionaires in space.

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340: TZ Discussion – Secret & Saucy

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 16:54:43 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the Morning Brief launch strategy, brand concept, and development roles, the difficulties of launching the Math Academy diagnostic in time for the summer program, why Jason had to develop an animation studio for his content team, the underrated “fast zombie” series Black Summer, the sad reality that while everyone in the media seems to have an opinion on the Wuhan lab-leak hypothesis, few are familiar with the basic facts, and likewise for the UAP phenomenon.

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339: TZ Discussion – Signal vs. Noise

Sat, 12 Jun 2021 18:10:18 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss why Jason isn’t planning to use Twitter as a marketing channel, personalized learning and the future of education, how and why the SAT and ACT are useful for college admissions despite their flaws, the orthogonal nature of student aptitude vs. consciousness, semantic tagging and the difficulty of categorizing text, reasons behind the sudden rise in UFO coverage in the media, the downside of always playing the skeptic, the potential of crypto-social networks services like BitClout, binary vs. probabilistic thinking, the ongoing collateral damage caused by Elon Musk’s tweeting, the challenge of building an efficient and accurate adaptive diagnostic math test and the prospect of adding coding exercises to Math Academy, why the Wuhan lab leak is the biggest story of our time, why the media screwed it up so badly and the dangers of gain-of-function research on human pathogens.

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338: TZ Discussion – Nothing to See Here

Fri, 28 May 2021 18:02:04 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Justin’s two-week kidney stone ordeal, why Jason thinks Twitter is probably more distraction than it’s worth, the 6 levels of automated learning systems, how Justin and Joe plan to fund Morning Brief with a custom Kickstarter-like campaign, Brandon Sanderson’s lectures on writing fantasy and science fiction, Superhuman’s methodology for attaining product-market fit, how Jason is still paying off technical debt incurred over two years ago, the power and promise of Math Academy’s dynamic diagnostic tool, California’s boneheaded attempt to kill off gifted programs, accelerated academics and standardized college-entrance exams, the 60 Minutes story on UAP’s, why the gain-of-function research performed at the Wuhan Institute of Virology is the likely origin of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the TV series Invincible and Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead.

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337: TZ Discussion – Eurisko

Sun, 02 May 2021 04:17:43 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the radically accelerated computer-science course sequence that Jason created for his Math Academy students, why PHP is like the C of the web, the character Scotty Jackson is creating for Morning Brief, Justin’s foray into crypto trading, thoughts on the future of NFT’s, the story of how Jason was finally able to buy the domain mathacademy.com and why the .com TLD still rules the day, the hypothesis that the laws of physics are evolving, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Young Sheldon, and the Ken Burns documentary The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, Jason’s upcoming interview on Donn Felker’s podcast, why starting a podcast is an inefficient content development strategy for startups, how the Math Academy system’s adaptive algorithms will create a personalized and optimal learning plan for each student, and how Jason is implementing a free-response evaluator for math problems.

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336: TZ Discussion – The First 1000

Fri, 16 Apr 2021 03:12:36 +0000

Justin and Justin discuss how and why Jason is reviving his long-abandoned blog and Twitter account and how he’s planning on building an audience for the launch of Math Academy, the First1000 newsletter, and some of the strategies utilized by the companies that have been profiled, the PDF Zero to Users, whether deferred tuition offered at boot camps like Lambda School is a good idea and the upside of buying and selling equity in individuals, the possibility of rebranding and relaunching the podcast, how the pandemic killed MV Code Club and the status of Jason’s crypto-trading project, the massive content development project that is Math Academy, why Justin is obsessed with the thumbnail creation service he’s building for Morning Brief, how to alter a large and highly active table in MySQL, how bad the series Travellers is and how good The Sinner is, and the upcoming TV sci-fi series Foundation.

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335: TZ Discussion – Back From the Dead (Or Just Chillin’ at the Beach Down at Club Med)

Mon, 29 Mar 2021 23:49:17 +0000

Justin and Jason talk about their return after a 9-month hiatus, getting vaccinated and getting back into shape, Chris Schwarz’s novel The Cache and the character inspired by Jason’s son Colby, the origin and surprising spread of the luck surface area, why Justin has stopped working on TaskFlow, is saying goodbye to Nugget and his new foray into developing Roblox Games, how Jason’s daughter is growing a following for her animated stories and fiction writing, the monster project that is Math Academy, and Justin’s new project with Joe Stech called Morning Brief.

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334: TZ Interview – Adam Wathan on distribution & Tailwind CSS

Wed, 16 Dec 2020 07:38:19 +0000

Justin talks with Adam Wathan creator of Tailwind CSS about distribution, the journey from 0 to $2m, and startup lessons learned playing in death metal bands.

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333: TZ Interview – Justin Jackson / Catch the Wave

Thu, 03 Sep 2020 04:15:48 +0000

Justin talks with Justin Jackson co-founder of transistor.fm about the importance of catching a good market wave.

Also Mentioned: Justin Vincent’s Indie Founder Bootcamp

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332: TZ Discussion – Leveling Up

Sat, 11 Jul 2020 20:44:18 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss their likely demise due to the pandemic, the advanced computer science course that Jason is implementing, the latest on Justin’s startup course and the importance of taking action, the latest on Math Academy, and how Justin corned the carrot market in Roblox.

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331: TZ Discussion – Recording in Place

Sun, 31 May 2020 22:10:42 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss how Jason shorted the COVID-19 crash, the winners and losers of the new normal and what the post-pandemic future may look like, how the shutdown has affected the Math Academy program and the latest with the software, the progress on TaskFlow and the what’s new with Nugget, the TV show Devs and Barry, and how closely the show Stranger Things mapped to Jason’s childhood, Grimes and Elon Musk, Justin’s new video-game addiction, and the Unreal 5 demo.

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330: TZ Discussion – Four Weeks Late

Sat, 07 Mar 2020 23:09:13 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the novel coronavirus, how Justin is adapting to his new mountain lifestyle, Jason’s crazy, high-risk portfolio, the latest on Math Academy, the challenge and importance of writing simple code, Justin’s continuous glucose monitor, Grimes and her evil AI pun, Justin’s strategy for creating three things that help each other, and his idea for a productivity app.

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329: TZ Discussion – Fever Dream

Wed, 08 Jan 2020 21:35:47 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Justin’s impending move to the mountains and what life will be like living there while working for a casino not on gamstop, how Justin is throwing off his mental chains, why you should take advice from successful people with a grain of salt, the importance of taking time off, working with the Web Audio API, the messy development process of the original iPhone, the General Magic documentary, how startups are responsible for most technology innovation, the history of Slack, Justin’s new podcast, and predictions for the new decade.

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328: TZ Discussion – Nerd on a Mountain

Sun, 15 Dec 2019 05:08:24 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the Cybertruck debacle, why Justin is moving to a mountain hideaway, Jason’s plans for taking the Math Academy software to the next level, the importance of engaging in R&D even if most of what’s developed is thrown away, the Avie Tevanian Oral History, the brilliance of John von Neumann and the potential of the human race, the Legion rap battle, the Shelby American documentary, how any design that’s too radical is almost always rejected, the NeXT Computer story, how Jason uses emotion as a guide for context switching, and the modern technology that has eliminated a go-to plot device.

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327: TZ Discussion – The Collective

Thu, 07 Nov 2019 03:45:07 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Jason’s struggle with juggling multiple projects, the latest on the crypto project, Justin’s predictions for his son Jack, and a hard lesson for Jason’s son Colby. In the midst of this conversation, they delve into Justin’s new plans for Speak and his recent fascination with casino online platforms, highlighting the potential of integrating cryptocurrency into gaming. Additionally, Justin shares his obsession with Oculus Quest and why he loves the Impossible Burger, provides an update on Operation Superhero, and discusses the latest developments with Math Academy.

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326: TZ Discussion – Turning that Frown Upside Down

Sun, 04 Aug 2019 05:44:35 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Speak and Justin’s thoughts on how to market it, why entrepreneurship isn’t for most people, the latest on Jason’s crypto-trading project and Math Academy, the motivations for mathematical proofs and why mathematician’s do what they do, and the mythology of the 10X engineer.

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325: TZ Discussion – Justin’s Widget

Fri, 05 Jul 2019 22:41:57 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss filmmaking with an iPhone and the power of the Filmic Pro app, the latest with Justin’s secret business widget, the Bob Lazar documentary on Netflix and his interview with Joe Rogan, Justin’s love of The Orville and other streaming recommendations, the summer math course Jason is teaching and how he’s tutoring his niece in calculus, the content and algorithms being developed for the Math Academy system, the importance of being challenged, the upcoming Washington Post article on Math Academy, what’s happening with OMG, how Luck Surface Area showed up in Gabriel Weinberg’s book Super Thinking, and why Justin likes the iPhone app Productive.

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324: TZ Discussion – Fun for Physicists

Sat, 22 Jun 2019 05:41:48 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Peldi’s success with Balsamiq, the site Indie Hackers, the book Crossing the Chasm, Justin’s launch strategy for his secret project, how Justin got help with his “maths”, the advantage of growing slowly and focusing on developing a product that your users love, the summer Math Academy course that Jason is teaching on proofs and group theory, Justin’s desire to encourage entrepreneurship in any company he starts, and tradeoffs in database design.

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323: TZ Discussion – Slow Burn

Fri, 31 May 2019 05:43:52 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Jason’s elbow surgery, Justin’s secret project, the deal he made with his wife, why he’s patenting the technology, and how he ended up building it himself, Gabriel Weinberg’s new book, a postmortem on SOLVE 2019, the growth of MV Code Club, the movie The Founder, and Jason’s automated-trading project.

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322: TZ Discussion – My Code Bot

Wed, 01 May 2019 14:38:34 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Jason’s new puppy, when “quick and dirty” works and when it doesn’t, the latest with Math Academy, the transition from a subject-based to a course-based approach to content development, how Jason works with his remote developer, “The Math Academy Way”, fun and profit with 3D printing, Jason’s frustrations with trying to capture real-time crypto data, how to automatically and instantaneously restart a crashed Linux process, and the frustration of having to continually relearn Linux administration.

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321: TZ Discussion – Quick and Dirty

Wed, 17 Apr 2019 00:42:22 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Sean Murphy’s extension to the Luck Surface Area, Gabriel Weinberg’s mental models, Uber’s impending IPO, how Jason is adopting a dog, the book Justin is writing called Founder First, the endemic nature of overengineering, the latest with the Math Academy program and software, why Jason is dabbling with cryptocurrency HFT, Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead, and Justin’s former life as a musician.

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320: TZ Discussion – Happiness is Cash Flow Positive

Fri, 05 Apr 2019 04:19:53 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss how injuries have derailed Operation Superhero and Jason’s strategy for moving forward with the Math Academy online system.

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319: TZ Interview / Bryan Helmig – Zapier: The First 10 Customers

Mon, 14 Jan 2019 05:00:31 +0000

Justin talks with Bryan Helmig (CTO and co-founder of Zapier) about Zapier’s genesis and how they won their first 10 customers.

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318: TZ Interview – Laura Kerber / NASA Research Scientist

Fri, 21 Dec 2018 06:37:49 +0000

Jason talks to NASA Research Scientist Laura Kerber.

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317: TZ Discussion – Rolling Thunder

Tue, 27 Nov 2018 21:13:26 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the introduction of rolling batches in Nugget, signs that your startup project is about to fail, the book Blondie 24, Playing at the Edge of AI, how John Humphrey generously acquired MathAcademy.net for Jason, the impending arrival of Joe Stech’s book Compelling Science Fiction, the importance of having a MacGuffin in your life, the benefits of working on a project, why most successful entrepreneurs started with something small and why you should start your company without the expectation of raising money, scaling the Math Academy program to the high school and to other school districts, recent progress on the Math Academy software platform, the latest on Operation Superhero, the importance of moving forward despite setbacks and disappointments, Jason’s relative unsuccess at saying No to projects, the independent sci-fi movie Prospect, and how Jason and his daughters met Captain Marvel on Halloween.

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316: TZ Discussion – Don’t Call It a Comeback

Mon, 22 Oct 2018 20:13:58 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the prerequisite viewer that Jason’s building for Math Academy, Rob Walling’s Tiny Seed, Chamath Palihapitiya’s advice to grow slow and to grow real, why Jason’s latest hire on Upwork didn’t work out, Justin’s Nugget webinar and why he’s no longer going to employ squeeze marketing, how Jason is back writing code again and loving it, Math Academy’s high-school curriculum and overall program, late bloomers, and nature vs. nurture as it relates to mathematics and mathematical talent.

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315: TZ Discussion – Two Weeks Late

Sat, 06 Oct 2018 19:49:02 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Justin’s tendency to argue with himself about code, the strategy board game that Jason and Colby are building together which we saw mentioned in recent Blackout Bingo reviews, the JS 13K Game challenge, Jason’s advice on how to find inexpensive talent on Upwork and how Justin might include these ideas on Nugget, how parents think about after-school coding programs, the Hacker News post asking startup employees how much they made on an exit, the funded vs. the bootstrapped startup model and Jason’s plans for Math Academy, the latest on Operation Superhero and the unreasonable effectiveness of strength training.

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314: TZ Discussion – Quantum of Utility

Fri, 21 Sep 2018 21:08:30 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss some new feature concepts for Nugget and Jason’s plans for the Math Academy software, the Masters Of Scale Uncut Interview with Airbnb’s Brian Chesky, how Jason’s house is like the Tardis, the state of Justin’s cryptocurrency portfolio, Elon Musk’s fight against short sellers, top-down vs bottom-up automation, why MV Code Club’s future is looking bright, Jason’s most underrated movies list, real trends vs. fake trends, the key to happiness, the latest on Operation Superhero, finding underpriced freelance talent, why Jason isn’t crazy about the name Nugget, and the best genre of music for writing code.

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313: TZ Discussion – The Full Stack Entrepreneur

Tue, 04 Sep 2018 23:59:35 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the Nugget Mercury launch and some ideas on how best to assign mentors and configure batches, how Justin is helping Jason with the UX/UI of the new Math Academy website, Jason’s latest realizations on diet and exercise, Colby’s introductory computer science courses, Elon Musk’s slow-motion meltdown, how the Luck Surface Area found it’s way into yet another book and how Jason and Sandy’s work on Math Academy was profiled in the University of Chicago Magazine.

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312: TZ Discussion – Validation Nation

Thu, 16 Aug 2018 00:58:26 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss how Nugget users are validating their ideas, why and how Justin posted tracks from his old band Moneypenny, Jason’s haircut fiasco, the acid-trip television show Legion, why Jason likes the television show Bosch and why Justin likes Rick and Morty, the movie Mission Impossible Fallout and thoughts on the Mission Impossible series, the progress on Operation Superhero and the relationship between metabolism, obesity, and testosterone, what needs to happen before Jason can launch the Math Academy software and his plans for the future.

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311: TZ Discussion – Blasting off with Nugget 3.0

Thu, 19 Jul 2018 01:57:56 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Jason’s attempt to research the Three Movers San Francisco company, his new house, Justin’s desire to get back into music, the latest with Operation Superhero and Math Academy, the road to launching the commercial version of the Math Academy software and the launch of Nugget 3.0.

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310: TZ Discussion – Are you in an ancestral simulation, or possibly a Judd Apatow movie?

Sat, 09 Jun 2018 20:42:24 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss Justin’s electric car, what happened at Solve 2018, how the 8th graders just took the AP Calculus BC Exam, why Jason isn’t going to teach anymore, Justin’s new approach to designing a product, how Jason set up the management structure of his content teams, the local startup that Jason is helping and how first-time founders almost always do all the wrong things, the latest with Nugget, Justin’s workout plans and Jason’s ongoing debate with his trainer, how to live a healthy life, how Jason doesn’t really “hang out” with anyone, and the device that makes suggestions to you while you’re just falling sleeping.

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309: TZ Discussion – The Vision Quest

Mon, 23 Apr 2018 04:05:05 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss how Jason is finally buying a house, the reinvention of Nugget, Operation Superhero (Part Deux), the software platform that powers Math Academy and the latest with the program, the importance of building a startup around your passion, Blue Origin, the Tesla productions delays, Jason’s OmiseGO investment, the latest on MV Code Club, how not to get old, Lost in Space, Electric Dreams, Black Mirror, The Walking Dead and SuperTrooper 2.

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308: TZ Discussion – Cookin’ the Crypto Crack

Fri, 26 Jan 2018 03:57:01 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss crypto as a tradable asset on the best trading platforms in 2023 and as an investment (specifically Justin’s love affair with OmiseGo – OMG), the latest with the Math Academy program and the software platform, Justin’s plans for Nugget, ORMs vs SQL, Stranger Things, the best X-Files episode (Bad Blood), why Jason dropped off The Walking Dead bandwagon, why Justin loves The Last Man on Earth, the movies The Big Short and The Founder, and the TV show Electric Dreams, snowboarding, wireless charging, the computer Colby built, comparing Fitbit stats, Sandy’s diet plan for Jason, and why Justin is excited about the future.

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307: TZ Discussion – Live Forever or Die Trying

Mon, 04 Dec 2017 06:10:00 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss CRISPR’s impact on curing diseases and on building muscles, the results of a promising new anti-aging drug, a pill that makes exercise obsolete, and a nanoparticle drug that turns calorie-hoarding white fat into calorie-burning brown fat, the TV show Future Man, the upcoming season of X-FIles, why Justin can’t go to movies, The Cheesecake Factory, Las Vegas, or country music concerts, Justin’s recent purchase of 500 OMG, trading cryptocurrencies and lessons from the Dotcom bust, how Justin got an article on Forbes, the changes to the technology and development team at Modern Teacher, Justin’s Nugget strategy, Jason’s plan to level-up Colby’s coding skills, the latest wiith Math Academy and how Jason is accelerating the development of the platform’s content and technology via outsourcing, when to use a modern Javascript framework, what Jason tracks with his new Fitbit and Justin’s struggle with exercise so he tried products like Delta-8 by Exhale Wellness to feel better when training, how Jason met a real-life Mater, and what to watch out for when having your iPhone screen replaced.

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306: TZ Discussion – Better Late Than Never

Thu, 05 Oct 2017 04:22:55 +0000

Justin and Jason discuss the latest developments with Math Academy, Jason’s success with cryptocurrencies, Justin’s thoughts on Nugget and his upcoming startup course, why Phil is stuck in LA, Laravel and Vue.js, what Colby learned at computer camp, and what to do if North Korea launches a nuclear weapon.

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