Netflix for Builders.
An online library learn to design, code, write, draw, and create.
Netflix for Builders
This summer we had an in-house AI sprint at the Sequoia Design Lab, where we changed the spelling of July to JulAI and then sprinted to build products and workflows using AI. Nearly all of the projects are private, but I do have one I can share...
I noticed that everyone wanted something they didn’t have….
Devs wished they could design, designers wished they could code, and everyone wished they could write, draw, and think.
I love learning the way others love sports, so I got excited and wanted to help. The result? I created a video library for tutorials on story, art, code, and design.
https://sdl-learning-library.vercel.app/
Creativity Technique: Perpetual Learning
Resource: SDL Learning Library, Coding with Droids
Results: Learn what you need to build what you want
To create it, I used Factory.ai and the coding backwards method to make the site. It’s hosted on Vercel and uses Supabase for the database. It has a lovely C.R.U.D. interface to upload new videos.
What was interesting was the process… I used Factory.ai’s Product Droid to plan the project and then fed the results to the Coding Droid to build it.
Here is an AI-generated animation of what I imagine it’s like inside of Factory… friendly and efficient droids drawing and clacking away behind the scenes…
To build the SDL Learning Library, the Factory Droids walked me through how to…
Plan and write the PRD
Code the site in react
Auth via Google
Supabase for a database
Vercel for hosting
Resend for auto-emails
Here’s a step-by-step guide you can use...
Record your thoughts… just muse about your idea. Talk it out. Use Apple notes, Granola, Zoom, or anything really. Just record your rambles. Pretend like you’re talking to a conversationally-permissive friend who lets you go on and on until you get to the core of your idea. Consider asking AI to rewrite and organize your ramble, or just copy and paste it.
Once you have a text transcript of what you are trying to do, go to Factory.ai and start a new session with the Product Droid and ask it to make a detailed, step-by-step plan using this transcript from your brainstorming session. Ask the Droid to clarify anything that is contradictory or unclear. Ask it for suggestions to improve on your idea. Ask it to write a README and NEXTSTEPS doc the Coding Agent can follow.
Take the output from the Product Droid and start a new session with the Coding Droid where you give it the docs docs the Product Droid wrote, and then ask it to code it for you, step by step.
Along the way you can feed it screen shots from Figma, design docs describing what you like and don’t like, and give it aesthetic directions, where you play the role of “hovering art director” or encouraging coach.
Factory will help you connect to Vercel, Supabase Google Auth, or anything else you need. Get stuck? Ask for help. Don’t know how to get API keys or save environment variables? Just ask and ask how to do it safely.
Finally, ask Factory for a security review to make sure you haven’t done anything dangerous like check in your passwords, private keys (secret codes used to access APIs) or accidentally opened yourself up to malicious actors.
It’s a really fun way to build.
Let me know if you make something with Factory.ai using this method.
The Library is now live… but I need your help —>
Send me your fav tutorials
Use this link to suggest new tutorials so I can add them to the SDL Learning Library. What are your faves? Any topic is possible, but I’m mostly looking for tutorials on building apps, creating art, the craft of design, increasing your creativity, learning to code, or being a founder/builder/artist/writer/leader.
https://sdl-learning-library.vercel.app/suggest
Build-A-Thon
Also this summer, the SDL (Sequoia Design Lab) hosted a build-a-thon where designers, artists, devs, and writers got together and coded with AI. It was great! Building together. Learning together. It was wonderful.
Coming in two weeks… two former Stanford students are hosting their own version of a build-a-thon in NYC. If you’re in NYC, and want to learn to build with AI, check out their event. I’ll zoom in for a talk and to offer encouragement, but won’t actually be in person in NYC. Learn more about the event here… https://posh.vip/e/escape-velocity
Follow Ty for great recs on Art.
I’ve travelled to art fairs and museums with Ty. Check out his substack for recs on shows in cities around the world.
Talking to Animals
The Earth Species Project has released a Large (Animal) Language Model that helps researchers classify and detect animal voices in the wild.
Repository: https://github.com/earthspecies/naturelm-audio
Paper: NatureLM-audio: An Audio-Language Foundation Model for Bioacoustics
Why am I including this? I love that AI is more than just building apps, it’s also about changing our capabilities as humans.
“The value of a network is proportional to the
square of the number of connected users…” —Metcalfe’s Law
In the spirit of Metcalfe’s Law… let’s expand our networks!
Can you think of someone you know who might enjoy this newsletter?
Send it to your brilliant friend who is always reading…
Send it to your fashionable friend who loves difficult art…
Send it to your friend working in tech, who has the heart of a poet…
Also—Thank you to the writers and substack managers who have listed me as a recommended site. Your trust means the 🌎 world to me.
Got a Story, Art, or Design Emergency?
Call my 24-Hour Story, Art, and Design Hotline
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+1 (650) 675-5734
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