I took every dollar I made as a designer and poured it into a show that no one might watch.$4k+ to bring Bernabe to New York. Three hours of sleep filming with Colin and Samir. Casey Neistat in the room. 30 interviews unedited. Revenue at 50%. The voice saying "you're going to wipe out" won't shut up.I'm 38 but feeling brand new. Money is tight. Fulfillment is high. This media project is changing me in ways I don't understand yet.I appreciate all of the support.This is Taste Episode 1 drops Monday, October 27th. CHAPTERS:00:00 - Red eyes and three hours of sleep00:37 - Pitching Colin and Samir: 48 hours embedded01:36 - Processing the biggest set of my life04:46 - This crew06:29 - Bernabe's story07:17 - Casey Neistat09:02 - State of Play progress11:48 - The voice: "You are going to wipe out"13:15 - The unintended spiritual journey15:32 - Why I'm doing thisABOUT TOMMY GEOCOI spent 15+ years in tech and design. Former military. Father of five. Now building Internet Enjoyers, a weird little media + product studio rediscovering soul in creative tech.LINKS:UX Tools Newsletter: https://uxtools.coPodcast (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgUMsheG88s&list=PLQ2ljYiRguo8tP6tZXv0qWkzHmQF42lXVPodcast (Apple Music): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-play/id1829478829Podcast (Spotify): https://open.spotify.com/show/3zDPTGHDSHgBekUxZQxUAN?si=2bcd212c472e464fSPECIAL THANKS:Agustin Eguia: https://agustineguia.comAdam Stewart: https://www.instagram.com/adnastu/Tom Fox: https://catalog.tomfox.site/FOLLOW ME:Instagram: https://instagram.com/itsdesignertomX / Twitter: https://x.com/designertom_LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tommygeocoTikTok: https://tiktok.com/@designertomThreads: https://threads.net/itsdesignertom
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Why I trashed the Figma episode
I'm running low on money and just scrapped an entire episode.This week I made an executive decision: postpone the Figma episode. We're getting worse, not better. I launched a UX tools bundle at 5am, kept D&D night sacred, and realized I might just be a Dungeon Master LARPing as a founder (still not ready to accept how accurate that is).This is what it looks like trying to balance play with reality.CHAPTERS:00:00 - Executive decision: We're postponing Figma00:53 - The morning chaos with four teenagers01:44 - Why we're getting worse, not better02:42 - "Optimize for chaos, not process"03:29 - The real cost of on-location shoots04:56 - Skeleton crew breakdown05:38 - Overwhelm sets in06:32 - UX Tools Bundle: Down to the wire07:03 - 11:30pm and still debugging07:23 - 5am: Time to hit publish07:53 - Why D&D night stays sacred08:13 - "Maybe I'm just a Dungeon Master LARPing as a founder"09:18 - The Figma multiplayer controversy parallel10:04 - "If you want to make the wrong decision, ask everyone"ABOUT TOMMY GEOCOI spent 15+ years in tech and design. Former military. Father of five. Now building Internet Enjoyers, a weird little media + product studio rediscovering soul in creative tech. ABOUT STATE OF PLAYHost Tommy Geoco discovers what fuels the internet's most interesting designers and builders, and shares the messy reality of building in public.SPECIAL THANKS:Agustin Eguia: https://agustineguia.comAdam Stewart: https://www.instagram.com/adnastu/Tom Fox: https://catalog.tomfox.site/LINKS:UX Tools Newsletter: https://uxtools.coFOLLOW ME:Instagram: https://instagram.com/itsdesignertomX / Twitter: https://x.com/designertom_LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tommygeocoTikTok: https://tiktok.com/@designertomThreads: https://threads.net/itsdesignertom
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10:56
[Full Interview] Why this designer CLONED himself with Cursor - Ryo Lu
Ryo Lu went from Notion's founding designer to cloning himself with AI at Cursor. This is the full conversation.From building anime fansites at 11 to architecting Notion's core systems to creating his own OS in a browser - Ryo reveals why the best designers are actually tool makers in disguise. We dig into creative burnout, why he stopped asking permission, and how AI is turning designers into parallel processors of their own brains.Get the UX Tools Newsletter (written by me)Join 100,000+ designers for weekly insights on creative software and the people shaping it: https://uxtools.coCHAPTERS:00:00 - Building websites at 11 years old02:00 - The Chinese Apple fanboy community03:50 - Failed startups and depression07:00 - Creating "Chinese Stripe" in Shanghai09:00 - How payment friction created China's internet boom11:00 - Ivan's daily 4:30pm design critiques at Notion14:00 - "I was not wrong either" - handling creative friction17:00 - Becoming a sponge for information20:00 - The fog of war problem in design24:00 - "There is one ultimate solution"27:00 - Why all SaaS tools are the same underneath30:00 - From Figma to code - killing the abstraction layer35:00 - Building prototyping environments38:00 - Why Notion and Cursor solve the same problem42:00 - What is RyoOS really?45:00 - "Constant flow state" - rediscovering creative joy48:00 - Designer burnout and serving too many masters50:00 - 16-year-olds will out-build senior engineers52:00 - "We're just builders and makers"ABOUT TOMMY GEOCOI spent 15+ years in tech and design. Former military. Father of five. Now building Internet Enjoyers, a weird little media + product studio rediscovering soul in creative tech. This show is how I'm rediscovering my love for the game.ABOUT STATE OF PLAYHost Tommy Geoco discovers what fuels the internet's most interesting designers and builders.SPECIAL THANKS:Sam Chapman: https://x.com/editedbysamMapal Berenson: https://youtube.com/@mapalBernabe Bolanos: https://youtube.com/@bernabebolanosAdam Stewart: https://youtube.com/adnastuTom Fox: https://catalog.tomfox.site/LINKS:UX Tools: https://uxtools.coFollow Ryo: https://x.com/ryolu_Try Cursor: https://cursor.comSee RyoOS: http://os.ryo.lu/FOLLOW ME:Instagram: https://instagram.com/itsdesignertomX / Twitter: https://x.com/designertom_LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tommygeocoTikTok: https://tiktok.com/@designertomThreads: https://threads.net/itsdesignertom
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52:45
How this startup's 30-day death date unlocked a world record
This founder set an expiration ate for his company… and then hit $40M ARR.Eric Simons (the builder behind Bolt.new) turned “we’re shutting down” into the world’s largest hackathon. In this episode, we break down Eric’s probability playbook and how I’m applying it on my 60‑day clock to keep State of Play alive beyond October 1st. We talk last bets, 100 swings, hackathons that print customers, and the automations I'm using to help me keep swinging.WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:- How an "end date” forces focus (and why it worked for Eric Simons)- The 100‑swing probability game for finding PMF again- Turning ideas into sales leads (not “projects”)- A real automation stack: Polar → n8n → Notion → email for code fulfillment- Why designers are becoming builders and what that unlocksSUPPORT THE SHOW:UX Tools Newsletter (written by me): Join 100,000+ designers for weekly insights → https://uxtools.coCHAPTERS00:00 – “In 60 days, it’s over” (cold open)00:16 – Meet Eric Simons + the $40M ARR plot twist00:30 – The decade everyone ignores (failure before the hockey stick)02:30 – The Dropout DNA (living in an office, working 6am–3am)03:30 – The $30,000 reality check vs a $300 Bolt build05:00 – The Probability Playbook: take 100 swings07:00 – The office‑squatter strategy (desperation, channeled)09:00 – The competitor’s funeral + picking a death date11:00 – The builder uprising11:45 – The million‑dollar tweet (how the hackathon started)13:00 – Meet the 100,000 (designers → builders)15:00 – The only title I wear16:00 – The last swing (countdown to Oct 1, 2025)ABOUT TOMMY GEOCOI spent 15+ years in tech and design. Former military. Father of five. Now building Internet Enjoyers, a weird little media + product studio rediscovering soul in creative tech. This show is how I’m rediscovering my love for the game.ABOUT STATE OF PLAYHost Tommy Geoco discovers what fuels the internet’s most interesting designers and builders—real numbers, real stakes, no fluff.LINKSUX Tools Newsletter: https://uxtools.coFOLLOW MEInstagram: https://instagram.com/itsdesignertomX / Twitter: https://x.com/designertom_LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tommygeocoTikTok: https://tiktok.com/@designertomThreads: https://threads.net/itsdesignertom
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17:42
[Full Interview] How he built the future for 1M freelancers - Ben Huffman
Ben Huffman built a freelance platform with NO fees. Every investor told him it was the stupidest idea they’d ever heard.Now Contra has 1M users and a $120M run rate.We talk about living in the pain cave (the place your ideas live before anyone believes in them), building mission-driven companies, avoiding the “marketplace commodity problem,” and why community-led growth might be the future of creative work.Get the UX Tools Newsletter (written by me)Join 90,000+ designers for weekly insights on creative software and the people shaping it: https://uxtools.coCHAPTERS: 00:00 – The “pain cave” explained 01:12 – Investors called it the “worst idea ever” 04:51 – Why rejection always feels personal 07:32 – Building for the younger version of yourself 10:47 – The humanity problem with commission fees 13:41 – Early internet communities (Themeforest, torrent sites, Newegg) 15:30 – Solving the marketplace commodity problem 18:44 – Going “feed first” to foster authentic connections 20:28 – Becoming an independent discovery engine 24:08 – Partnering with creative tools like Framer 27:26 – Why open networks might win over closed platforms 30:28 – Building leverage as an independent creative 33:53 – The “Hollywood model” for creative projects 37:55 – Resumes are dead, project-based identity is the future 40:39 – Small core teams + specialist networks 43:17 – How indie communities share work and clients 46:05 – Branding yourself to get discovered 48:01 – The story of a 19-year-old making $50K/month from design 50:31 – How Contra makes money without fees 52:21 – Almost out of the pain caveLINKS: UX Tools Newsletter: https://uxtools.co Follow Ben: https://x.com/_BenHQ Try Contra: https://contra.comFOLLOW ME: Instagram: https://instagram.com/itsdesignertom X / Twitter: https://x.com/designertom_ LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tommygeoco TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@designertom Threads: https://threads.net/itsdesignertomNARRATIVE EPISODE:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2CrESEW03tMCrVGMCWlO8d?si=NVpYWxEKSVugGu5okwvh7w Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/he-built-a-freelance-platform-with-no-fees-now-1m-use-it/id1829478829?i=1000719514305
South Africa