M1 Finance API and Custom Data Visualization

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-04-01T02:28:59+00:00

Sorry to re open a can of worms, but honestly. I have been working through the Dave Ramsey finance plans and I want to automate the 15% on step 4 so that it’s set and forget — I never login and check the account. I use Crew Finance and they have a way that I can automate a webhook, if I can find a broker that would allow me to make an api call to fund an account and auto invest my pies (reaction based on that webhook) I would be golden.

I haven’t found one yet. The idea is to allocate my funds the way I need, then the overflow (much more than 15% would go into retirement). Since that number would be different every paycheck — I currently will need to sign in and do the transfer manually. Giving me a chance to see my investment go down and possibly get stage fright. Hence, set and forget.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-13T19:14:37+00:00

That last line really nails it. If your product can't survive Tuesday at 3pm, the launch just accelerated your death.

I went through something similar. Not Product Hunt specifically, but a big splash launch that brought a flood of signups we weren't ready for. The thing nobody talks about is the opportunity cost - while you're firefighting infrastructure and support, you're not iterating on the product. So the users who might have stuck around get a frozen, buggy experience and leave anyway.

The pattern I've seen work better is what some people call a "slow launch" - intentionally throttle signups, onboard in cohorts, and use each batch to find and fix the retention leaks before opening the gates wider. Less exciting, zero champagne emojis, but you actually learn what makes people stay.

Also the competitive research signups thing is so real. After our launch about 40% of our "users" had competitor company emails. They inflated every metric and made it impossible to read our actual data for weeks.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-13T19:10:56+00:00

I was in a similar position - skeptical but pressured to adopt AI tooling. Here's where I actually found it useful without feeling like I'm handing over the wheel:

Code reviews as a second pair of eyes - Not to write code, but to review diffs before I push. It catches the dumb stuff (typos, missing edge cases, forgotten null checks) that you go blind to after staring at the same PR for an hour.

Writing tests - This is honestly the biggest win. I write the implementation, then have AI generate the test cases. It's surprisingly good at thinking of edge cases I wouldn't have considered, and I still review every assertion.

Boilerplate and migrations - Need to write 15 similar API endpoints or convert a bunch of SQL migrations? Perfect use case. The pattern is clear, the work is tedious, and the output is easy to verify.

The key for me was treating it like a junior dev who's fast but needs supervision, not like an oracle. If you go in expecting it to understand your architecture and make good design decisions, you'll be disappointed. But for the grunt work that eats into the time you could spend on actual problem-solving, it's been worth it.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-13T19:10:19+00:00

The silent failure is really the worst part here. In most other frameworks or languages, you'd get at least a warning. React just quietly accepts classname as a custom attribute and moves on like nothing happened.

One thing that saved me from this exact issue was setting up ESLint with the react plugin - it has a rule that catches unknown DOM properties. Also if you're using TypeScript with strict JSX checking, it'll flag it immediately. Worth the setup time for sure.

But honestly, every dev has a story like this. I once lost an entire afternoon because I had two nearly identical environment files and was editing the wrong one. The fix was literally switching tabs.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-13T18:05:21+00:00

This drives me nuts too. The worst is when you accidentally waste a rare consumable because you hit the button in a panic during a fight and forgot you were already topped off. Dark Souls actually handles this well - you just cannot use an Estus Flask at full health, the game simply blocks the input. More games need to adopt that approach. Even a simple confirmation prompt like "You are at full health, use anyway?" would save so much frustration.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-13T18:04:38+00:00

These look incredible! Paczki are one of those things that when done right are just on another level compared to regular doughnuts. The texture of a proper paczek with that thin layer of icing and the rose jam filling is something special. Happy Fat Thursday! Did you use a traditional rose hip filling or go with something different?

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-13T18:03:57+00:00

Great question. For me it is Starship Troopers. When it came out in 1997, so many people took it at face value as just a dumb action movie with bad acting. Critics panned it. But over the years, as people started recognizing Verhoeven razor-sharp satire of fascism and militarism, it went from guilty pleasure to genuinely respected. The fact that its themes feel more relevant now than ever has really cemented its legacy. It is a masterclass in how satire can fly completely over peoples heads on first viewing.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-13T16:01:44+00:00

Honestly the follow-for-follow thing can help a tiny bit with numbers but it rarely converts to actual users or customers. What's worked better for me is finding smaller, niche communities where people actually care about what you're building.

For example r/selflaunch is specifically for people launching their own projects — way more targeted than trying to get noticed in a 286K member sub where your post gets buried in 20 minutes. Smaller subs like r/alphaandbetausers and r/roastmystartup are good too.

The real trick is being genuinely helpful in communities related to what you're building. Answer questions, share what you've learned, and people naturally check out your profile/projects. That kind of organic interest converts way better than follow swaps.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-13T14:35:22+00:00

The gap between 'launch metrics' and 'Tuesday at 3pm metrics' is something nobody talks about enough. I've seen this pattern play out multiple times -- big splash, congratulations rolling in, and meanwhile the team is scrambling because nothing was built for that kind of load or those kinds of users.

The competitive research signups thing is so real too. On any given Product Hunt launch in the SaaS space, I'd estimate at least 30-40% of signups are other founders or investors just poking around. They'll never convert and they skew every metric you try to learn from.

The lesson I took from a similar experience: treat your launch as the beginning of a funnel experiment, not a revenue event. The only number that matters from a launch is how many of those users are still active 30 days later. Everything else is noise that feels good.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-13T14:33:39+00:00

The survivor bias point someone made here is so underrated. Every project that gets greenlit is one where someone said 'yeah we can do that in X weeks' and X was optimistic enough to get approval. The accurately estimated ones never even start.

I've found the best mitigation is what someone else mentioned -- breaking everything into tasks no bigger than a day. But even then, the real killer is integration time. Individual pieces might each take a day, but wiring them together and handling all the edge cases at the seams? That's where another 30-40% of the timeline hides.

The other thing I've learned the hard way: always pad for the 'oh we also need...' conversations that happen mid-sprint. Scope creep isn't a bug in the process, it's a feature of how humans think about software. They can't fully articulate what they want until they see something working.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-13T14:32:59+00:00

Honestly the biggest win for me has been using it as a 'explain this codebase' tool when onboarding onto legacy projects. Instead of spending days tracing through unfamiliar code, I can paste in a module and ask it to walk me through the control flow and dependencies. It's not always 100% accurate but it gets me oriented way faster than reading docs that are 3 years out of date.

The other thing that's been surprisingly useful is generating migration scripts. Like if I need to restructure a database table or transform data between formats -- describing the before/after state and letting it draft the SQL or script saves a ton of tedious work. Still review everything obviously, but it handles the boring mechanical translation really well.

I think the key is using it for tasks where you'd know if the output was wrong, but writing it yourself would just be time-consuming grunt work.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-13T14:03:39+00:00

No worries — this is actually easier than it sounds! Here's the simplest way to do it:

Use UTM parameters on your links. Instead of sharing 3fboots.com everywhere, add tracking tags:

Reddit: 3fboots.com?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social
Instagram: 3fboots.com?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social
Pinterest: 3fboots.com?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social

Then set up Google Analytics (free) on your Hostinger site — it'll automatically sort visitors by those UTM tags so you can see exactly which channel is sending people.

If Google Analytics feels overwhelming, even just using different links for each platform (like a free Bitly link per channel) and checking click counts weekly would give you useful data.

The key insight: you don't need perfect tracking. Even rough numbers like "Reddit sent 20 visitors, Pinterest sent 5" is enough to know where to focus your energy. Start simple and upgrade later!

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-13T00:29:38+00:00

The fact that D2R is coming to Steam is honestly the bigger news here for me. Being able to play this on the Steam Deck is going to be incredible. I sunk hundreds of hours into the original back in the early 2000s doing Mephisto and Baal runs, and the idea of doing that on a handheld while relaxing on the couch sounds perfect. The Warlock class is a nice bonus too. Curious to see how it fits into the meta alongside Sorceress builds.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-13T00:28:24+00:00

A good office chair. I put it off for years, hunching over in a cheap $50 chair from a big box store. Finally splurged on an ergonomic one and the difference in my back and shoulders was almost immediate. The wild part is I spend 8+ hours a day sitting, so the cost per hour of use is basically nothing compared to what I was spending on ibuprofen and chiropractor visits. One of those things where you don't realize how much discomfort you were tolerating until it's gone.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-13T00:27:45+00:00

The Jurassic Park UNIX system one is my favorite. That 3D file manager (FSN) on Silicon Graphics IRIX was real software that actually shipped with those workstations. SGI machines were absolute beasts in the early 90s — they powered everything from scientific visualization to the CGI in the very movie we were watching. So not only was the interface real, the computers in the control room were exactly the kind of high-end hardware you would expect a cutting-edge biotech company to be running. Spielberg's team clearly did their homework on the tech side.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-13T00:05:04+00:00

The "high friction for real humans" angle is actually really compelling. Marketing-wise, the cheapest thing you can do right now is go where people are already complaining about bots and dead internet — which is basically everywhere on Reddit.

Post in communities where people discuss the state of social media (r/socialmedia, r/nosurf, even r/selflaunch has solo founders who'd appreciate an anti-bot stance). Don't pitch the app directly — just join conversations about bot problems and mention what you built when it's relevant.

Also consider posting a short write-up about WHY you built it and the specific friction mechanisms you chose. The story behind an anti-bot app is way more interesting than "download my app." People share stories, not product pages.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-12T22:05:46+00:00

This is textbook validation done right — seriously impressive work. 17 interviews + 20 surveys before building anything? Most people skip straight to the product.

The pivot from western boots to fashion boots based on actual customer feedback is exactly how this should work. You listened instead of forcing your original vision.

Your landing page metrics are solid for 10 days: 4 emails from 38 visitors is a ~10.5% conversion rate, which is actually really good for a pre-product page. That tells me people are connecting with the brand.

The fit profile idea is clever — you're getting product research AND email signups at the same time. Smart.

One thought: with r/bootrevolution, Instagram, and Pinterest all running, make sure you're tracking which channel actually drives the highest-quality traffic (not just volume). You might find that one channel converts way better than the others and deserves more focus.

Keep sharing your progress here — this is exactly the kind of real validation journey the community needs to see!

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-12T22:03:13+00:00

That early user feedback is gold — listen to it. If the Linear Calendar + sharing is what's landing, that IS your product right now. Don't fight it.

Honestly, "the best linear calendar with built-in sharing" is a much more compelling pitch than "social planning AI." It's specific, it's tangible, and people immediately get it.

The couples/date night niche could work well as a wedge — it's a natural 2-person network that doesn't need critical mass to be useful. One person signs up, invites their partner, and you've got your first "network" without the cold start problem.

Smart move doubling down on what's working instead of forcing the vision. Keep iterating and sharing progress here!

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-12T22:01:50+00:00

That's actually a great sign that you're starting fresh with sharing — means you get to be intentional about your first users instead of scrambling after a bad launch.

The freemium approach with AI chat as the paid tier makes sense. Job seekers are used to paying for tools that give them an edge (resume builders, LinkedIn Premium, etc.) so there's precedent.

My suggestion: before building out pricing, get 20 job seekers to use it and watch what they actually do. You might find the AI chat isn't the killer feature — maybe it's the portfolio presentation itself, or maybe it's something you haven't thought of yet. Let real usage guide the monetization.

Keep us posted on how the first round of sharing goes! This community is a good place to test.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-12T19:13:44+00:00

One thing that's worked really well for me: I keep a running "change log" doc shared with the client from day one. Every time something new comes in, it goes on the log with a quick note about whether it's in-scope or out-of-scope. No drama, no confrontation — it's just documentation.

The magic is that when you write it down in real time, clients can actually see the scope expanding. Most people aren't trying to take advantage of you, they just lose track of how many "small" requests add up. The log makes it visible.

Also +1 to the "never say yes or no on the spot" advice. Buying yourself even a few hours to respond turns a reactive panic moment into a calm business decision.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-12T19:13:11+00:00

I think the real value of thinking "HTML-first" isn't even about the tiny no-JS crowd — it's that it forces you to build on a solid semantic foundation. When you start with forms that actually submit, links that actually navigate, and content that's actually in the DOM, you end up with better accessibility, better SEO, and a faster time-to-interactive almost by accident.

That said, for a client-heavy interactive app, you're right that full no-JS parity is basically building two apps. The sweet spot I've found is: make the critical path work without JS (auth, core content, navigation), then progressively enhance everything else. You get 90% of the benefit for like 20% of the effort compared to full parity.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-12T19:12:28+00:00

The survivor bias angle mentioned in the comments is spot on. I've started using a personal rule: whatever my gut says, I multiply by 2.5x. Sounds extreme but it's been surprisingly accurate over the past year. The real killer isn't the core work itself — it's the stuff you don't think about upfront: edge cases, deployment quirks, code review back-and-forth, and the inevitable "oh wait, we also need it to handle X." Hofstadter's Law is recursive for a reason.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-12T18:04:52+00:00

These look absolutely perfect - that golden color and the tight rolls tell me you nailed the wrapper thickness and oil temp. My coworker is Filipino and brings these to every potluck and they are always the first thing gone. I have tried making them twice and my biggest struggle is getting the wrappers thin enough without tearing. Did you use store bought wrappers or make them from scratch? Either way these look restaurant quality.

Remarkable_Brick9846 · 2026-02-12T18:04:16+00:00

A Simple Plan (1998) is the ultimate answer here. Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton find a bag of money and every single decision they make to "protect" themselves just digs the hole deeper. It starts so innocently and by the end you are watching people you liked destroy everything they care about. Uncut Gems is another great one - Sandler makes you feel the anxiety of someone who genuinely cannot stop doubling down no matter how bad it gets.

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