An All-Nighter on Prism — and a Bigger Realization

I’m writing this the way I always do: I speak it first — usually as a memo — then I translate it, transcribe it, and let AI do light grammatical cleanup. Not to “rewrite me,” but to sharpen my words without stripping the tone. And yes… I run it through an AI version of me that knows how I talk, because that part matters. A lot. I want everything I publish to still feel like me — even when the process is modern.

Right now, I’m coming off an all-nighter.

I’ve been deep in the trenches building Prism — updating backend architecture, trying to get my data service stable, and tightening the whole pipeline. The goal is to compile a streamlined process that can harness an entire repository of knowledge — AI-driven insights aggregated across 70–80 PDFs — spanning a messy range of software engineering topics: CI/CD, DevOps, architecture, Kafka, and a bunch of other things that are going to make me faster, cleaner, and more efficient as a builder.

And honestly… this is the era we’re stepping into.

The one-person startup era is here

We’re living in the one-person business, the one-person startup era. Because of AI, you can do more than ever without needing a massive team. And that cuts both ways.

I think two things are going to happen at the same time:

1. A bunch of roles will get replaced, because people will assume “AI can just do it.”

2. A bunch of teams will get upgraded, because smart leaders will say: “Let’s make our people more effective and give them AI as leverage.”

So you’ll have one camp treating AI like a replacement, and another using AI like a multiplier. And in that multiplier world, people won’t just keep their jobs — they’ll expand their scope.

Like… think about salespeople and account managers. With AI, you can start bridging the gap between account management and sales engineering. If you’re in SaaS, that’s huge. The workplace is going to shift — work functions, scope, expectations, the definition of productivity… all of it.

And that brings me back to Prism.

Prism is a systems problem… and a human problem

I wouldn’t call what I’m doing “nerve-wracking.” When you know you’re working on something that can do big things, you understand it’s mostly input → output.

If the market truly needs the thing, then the question becomes: can you distribute it in a way people can actually receive it?

That’s product. That’s positioning. That’s communication.

And communication is a weird parallel to what Prism actually deals with — because people value different inputs. People hear you differently depending on what matters to them. Sometimes the real work is finding what someone cares about most, then speaking in that language so they can actually receive you.

On the technical side, Prism is also input → output: connecting dots, making things make sense, building systems that translate complexity into clarity. But the real challenge is always the same:

Build something that actually embodies the solution for the people you’re solving for.

What Prism originally set out to solve

Prism evolved from trying to solve what looked like “small” problems in a niche psychological space — but in reality, they’re big problems for the people living inside them.

Problem #1: People couldn’t reliably figure out their personality type.

A lot of assessments are inconsistent. People take one test, then another, then another… and still don’t trust the results.

Prism made that part easier.

Problem #2: People were forced to rely on other humans to interpret them.

They’d go to sub-communities, ask friends, do peer-to-peer “typing,” or pay for coaching services — because the test results weren’t enough.

But peer interpretation has flaws. It doesn’t capture seasons of life. It doesn’t track patterns over time. It doesn’t adapt to context. It can be accurate sometimes, but it’s also ambiguous and inconsistent.

Prism set out to solve that too.

You take the Prism assessment. You get solid results. If you run a second round — or even a third if you want to be extra careful — Prism aggregates the data and anchors you into a core profile that actually speaks to you. The goal is consistency and accuracy you can feel. (In my opinion: if we’re hitting ~85%+ accuracy for the right person, that’s not “cute.” That’s real.)

The real revelation I had this week

This week I had a deeper realization about where all of this is going — and it’s bigger than “tests” or “dashboards.”

The future is going to feel dystopian to some people… and utopian to others.

Because we’re moving away from logging into apps and staring at visual dashboards, and we’re moving toward a world that’s conversational, always-present, and sensory-aware.

Right now, AI is mostly visual + auditory: you see it on a screen, you talk to it, it talks back.

That’s changing.

And when it changes, personal development and support are going to change with it.

We’re going to see a major reduction in cost for therapy and coaching. We’re going to see a shift away from inconsistent, black-box experiences — and toward carefully managed, highly specialized agents that are trained for specific outcomes.

And with Prism, that’s exactly where this is headed: a hyper-specific agent trained to coach, reflect, and share insights — while ingesting your data through conversation. Your own “Jarvis.” Not in a fantasy way — in a practical way.

An agent that’s with you:

• at home (dock or ambient device),

• in the car (Bluetooth / native integration),

• at work (desktop assistant),

• everywhere.

And it’ll work under you.

The actual problem no one wants to admit: connection is collapsing

There’s a desperate need right now for connection — for co-regulation, for relationships that actually function, for emotional support that doesn’t require you to schedule your healing like a dentist appointment.

So many people can’t afford personal support. If you don’t have healthcare coverage, or the funds, it becomes inaccessible fast. Even if you do have access, scheduling is hard. Travel is annoying. Life is busy.

Some platforms helped by going remote. That mattered.

But the next step is bigger: support on your time, on your terms, with specialized agents that understand you, track you, and help you evolve.

And here’s a key piece: the days of going to a therapist, counselor, or coach — then walking away with nothing but a feeling — are numbered.

People want tracking. Trends. Reflection that doesn’t evaporate. A record of growth you can actually use.

The future of “social” is private, distributed, and meaningful

I’ve also been thinking about something adjacent: a decentralized social layer. Not “another platform,” but a distributed private network for you.

Prism is going to explore this too.

Here’s what I mean: imagine you’re updating your profile through a conversation with your agent. That updates your internal trends — how you’re doing, what’s shifting, what you’re struggling with, what you’re working on.

Now imagine you’ve chosen a small set of people — your real people — who can receive certain updates (only the ones you’ve agreed to share). They get pinged when something meaningful changes. They reach out. Not because they randomly saw your story between memes, but because something actually matters.

That’s an invisible layer of communication that’s real.

And I think that’s where social is going: less public performance, more private meaning. More qualitative, less dopamine scroll.

We’re all busier. More work. More pressure. More survival mode. Even people “living their best life” are still busy. And loneliness is rising at the same time.

AI can help here — not by replacing humans, but by keeping the threads from breaking.

Entrepreneurship is the real plunge

On a personal note: as much as I can see the possibilities, I’m still in the trenches. Inch by inch.

Am I happy with where I am right now? No. Most of the time, I’m not satisfied. But I’m also the kind of person who’s okay with risk. And startups are risk in its purest form: vision + action + problem-solving + execution… in public.

Whether one person buys or no one buys, walking the journey matters. It changes you.

People take cold plunges for growth. Cool. I think everyone should take the plunge of building something at least once — finding a problem that speaks to them and trying to solve it in a way that makes sense to them.

Because at the beginning, before employee #2 and #3, everything is on you:

Product. Marketing. Sales. Time management. Development. Go-to-market. The emotional load. The strategy. The details.

None of it works without resourcefulness.

Resourcefulness is top three for any entrepreneur. Easy.

You put a problem in front of me and it’s not “ugh, I don’t want to do this.” It’s: how do I solve it? What do I need to learn? Where’s the answer? How do I execute?

That mindset is why in 2025 I learned a ton of new skills — and now, ten days into 2026, I’m rapidly leveling up technical skills I didn’t have before. Not because I’m magically gifted, but because the tasks are real, and they need to get done.

You handle problems one at a time. You solve them. And you grow.

Because the problems you avoid don’t disappear — they compound.

Small issues become bigger issues. And later, they’re harder to trace. Harder to fix. More expensive. More entangled.

So the edge is simple: see the challenge → handle it → move forward.

That’s how you become a bulldozer.

What’s next

We’re getting close to launching the first MVP, which is exciting.

Right now I’m:

• finalizing the data service,

• running containers and services,

• setting up the RAG system (agent side),

• building the chat interface,

• and pushing the architecture forward piece by piece.

And yeah — one thing I’m not looking forward to (but will do anyway) is getting Prism onto the App Store. That’s its own universe. Its own role. Its own job.

But you know how it goes.

You figure it out.

Until next time.