Donn Felker
Shipping real things, and staying sharp while the world resets. Use AI to accelerate you, not replace you.
Receive one free thought provoking message a week.FOR PEOPLE WHO BUILD AND REFUSE TO GET LEFT BEHIND.
Resources
What I'm Building
Real products & playbooks, shipped in the open.
TRXN
The Freelance Playbook
THE BLOG
Exploration of Thought
Writing on building, AI, and the discipline to stay sharp while in this new frontier.
Ruby Script for Telegram Notifications
In a recent podcast with Pietr Levels he mentioned that he uses Telegram for all his messaging and system notifications instead of paying for expensive third party services for this. This post shows you how to do this with ruby. In short, he writes simple PHP scripts to check for certain uptime, events, errors, etc…Donn Felker - October 15, 2024
The Decline Of Mobile Development
Mobile (Android and iOS) is getting harder and harder to develop for, and devs are leaving the platforms out of frustration and annoyance. With each new OS update a slew of new requirements have to be met otherwise you’ll face “restrictive action” against your app by a particular time. Usually this is in the name…Donn Felker - July 25, 2024
Obtaining More Freedom (and Money) with Freelancing
I woke up the other day after sleeping in (slept until 6:30 AM, I know… that's probably not sleeping in for most people). However, when I woke up, I felt very inspired to work on a problem that I have been solving for a company, not on my own software. I hopped in and got…Donn Felker - May 29, 2024
I Removed JetPack Compose from My App
Ok, I admit, this is a clickbait title, but you’re here, right? So let's keep going. Thanks for joining me. Here’s the TLDR ... I removed an AppBar that was in a ComposeView from my app because using an XML Toolbar is far simpler and required less code. Pragmatism 101. Read on for the full…Donn Felker - April 15, 2024
Why Grandparents Spoil Grandchildren
... and why it's OK. Have you ever wondered why grandparents spoil their grandchildren? As a parent yourself, you might be wondering “Why didn't I get this kind of treatment from my parents? Why do they give it to my child but I didn’t get it?” 🤔 I have a theory on this, and I’m…Donn Felker - January 16, 2024
Make Every Second Count: Strategies to Unleash Creativity and Success at Any Time
If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering how you can make the time to to do something. Maybe its … I’m sure you’ve heard this, but its worth repeating here … we all get the same 86,400 seconds in a day, but its what you do with them that counts. Saying you don’t have time…Donn Felker - November 28, 2023
ABOUT
Who is Donn Felker?
A builder, writer, and the guy who refuses to get left behind.
Hi, I'm Donn.
I’m a builder and a writer. I’ve spent 20+ years shipping software, writing books on technology and freelancing, and running my own companies, and a 15+ year consultancy.
Years ago I was at the center of mobile development, hosting a popular podcast and helping build some of the biggest apps in the world. When the ground shifted to AI, I didn’t wait around. Today I run an AI team at Polygon and build TRXN, a payment product for AI agents.
I write for people who build and refuse to get left behind: using AI for real work, shipping real things, and the discipline to stay sharp in this new digital frontier.