Dani Pralea
@danipralea.bsky.social
building http://sydium.com in public | posting what actually works (and doesn't) for AI content tools | 15 years of shipping software, still learning to sell it
Pinned
Building an AI content tool but added "anti-slop rules" — if my AI writes "Ever wondered..." or "game-changer" it gets rejected.
Most AI features are easy to build. Making them not embarrassing is the hard part.
Most AI features are easy to build. Making them not embarrassing is the hard part.
bought 5 domains for one product.
syd.ac - for url shortening and link in bio
sydium.com - the main one
sydium.io - because .io is mandatory apparently
sydium.net - in case someone squats it
thesydium.com - I don't even remember why
do I need an intervention
syd.ac - for url shortening and link in bio
sydium.com - the main one
sydium.io - because .io is mandatory apparently
sydium.net - in case someone squats it
thesydium.com - I don't even remember why
do I need an intervention
February 11, 2026 at 1:15 PM
bought 5 domains for one product.
syd.ac - for url shortening and link in bio
sydium.com - the main one
sydium.io - because .io is mandatory apparently
sydium.net - in case someone squats it
thesydium.com - I don't even remember why
do I need an intervention
syd.ac - for url shortening and link in bio
sydium.com - the main one
sydium.io - because .io is mandatory apparently
sydium.net - in case someone squats it
thesydium.com - I don't even remember why
do I need an intervention
5 months of non-stop building. zero days off.
yesterday I got called for a "quick" 4x4 recovery. turned into 8 hours in the mud and snow.
sometimes the break you need finds you.
yesterday I got called for a "quick" 4x4 recovery. turned into 8 hours in the mud and snow.
sometimes the break you need finds you.
February 10, 2026 at 1:15 PM
5 months of non-stop building. zero days off.
yesterday I got called for a "quick" 4x4 recovery. turned into 8 hours in the mud and snow.
sometimes the break you need finds you.
yesterday I got called for a "quick" 4x4 recovery. turned into 8 hours in the mud and snow.
sometimes the break you need finds you.
70% of building an AI content tool is telling AI what NOT to do. Built a 170-phrase ban list, blocked emoji bullet lists entirely, 3 commits fixing skeleton hands. The bar isn't "does it work?" It's "would you be embarrassed?"
Anyone else building AI tools and finding the same ratio? #buildinpublic
Anyone else building AI tools and finding the same ratio? #buildinpublic
February 6, 2026 at 5:56 PM
70% of building an AI content tool is telling AI what NOT to do. Built a 170-phrase ban list, blocked emoji bullet lists entirely, 3 commits fixing skeleton hands. The bar isn't "does it work?" It's "would you be embarrassed?"
Anyone else building AI tools and finding the same ratio? #buildinpublic
Anyone else building AI tools and finding the same ratio? #buildinpublic
Building an AI content tool but added "anti-slop rules" — if my AI writes "Ever wondered..." or "game-changer" it gets rejected.
Most AI features are easy to build. Making them not embarrassing is the hard part.
Most AI features are easy to build. Making them not embarrassing is the hard part.
February 3, 2026 at 6:29 PM
Building an AI content tool but added "anti-slop rules" — if my AI writes "Ever wondered..." or "game-changer" it gets rejected.
Most AI features are easy to build. Making them not embarrassing is the hard part.
Most AI features are easy to build. Making them not embarrassing is the hard part.
Removed hashtag generation from my AI content tool.
Hot take: hashtags are mostly useless now. Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn - all use content understanding for discovery, not hashtag matching.
Yet creators still stuff 30 hashtags in every post. Am I wrong?
#buildinpublic
Hot take: hashtags are mostly useless now. Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn - all use content understanding for discovery, not hashtag matching.
Yet creators still stuff 30 hashtags in every post. Am I wrong?
#buildinpublic
February 1, 2026 at 7:39 PM
Removed hashtag generation from my AI content tool.
Hot take: hashtags are mostly useless now. Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn - all use content understanding for discovery, not hashtag matching.
Yet creators still stuff 30 hashtags in every post. Am I wrong?
#buildinpublic
Hot take: hashtags are mostly useless now. Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn - all use content understanding for discovery, not hashtag matching.
Yet creators still stuff 30 hashtags in every post. Am I wrong?
#buildinpublic
Day 21 of building Sydium.
New landing page is live.
Before: 9 feature cards, 8 platform logos, 28 "additional features"
After: 3 outcomes, 1 demo, 1 CTA
Removed 80% of the content.
The page feels empty to me.
But I built it for users, not for me.
Will report back with conversion data.
New landing page is live.
Before: 9 feature cards, 8 platform logos, 28 "additional features"
After: 3 outcomes, 1 demo, 1 CTA
Removed 80% of the content.
The page feels empty to me.
But I built it for users, not for me.
Will report back with conversion data.
January 31, 2026 at 2:40 PM
Day 21 of building Sydium.
New landing page is live.
Before: 9 feature cards, 8 platform logos, 28 "additional features"
After: 3 outcomes, 1 demo, 1 CTA
Removed 80% of the content.
The page feels empty to me.
But I built it for users, not for me.
Will report back with conversion data.
New landing page is live.
Before: 9 feature cards, 8 platform logos, 28 "additional features"
After: 3 outcomes, 1 demo, 1 CTA
Removed 80% of the content.
The page feels empty to me.
But I built it for users, not for me.
Will report back with conversion data.
Day 20 of building in public
Rewrote the landing page from scratch.
The scary part: removing fake testimonials and vanity metrics.
Now it's persona-based (Creator vs Agency) with real numbers only.
Honest marketing > manufactured trust.
#buildinpublic
Rewrote the landing page from scratch.
The scary part: removing fake testimonials and vanity metrics.
Now it's persona-based (Creator vs Agency) with real numbers only.
Honest marketing > manufactured trust.
#buildinpublic
January 30, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Day 20 of building in public
Rewrote the landing page from scratch.
The scary part: removing fake testimonials and vanity metrics.
Now it's persona-based (Creator vs Agency) with real numbers only.
Honest marketing > manufactured trust.
#buildinpublic
Rewrote the landing page from scratch.
The scary part: removing fake testimonials and vanity metrics.
Now it's persona-based (Creator vs Agency) with real numbers only.
Honest marketing > manufactured trust.
#buildinpublic
Day 19 of building in public
Found a sneaky bug: scheduled Reels were publishing as regular photos 🙃
The post type wasn't mapping correctly to Instagram's API. Fixed.
Also squashed a bunch of auth race conditions and reliability bugs.
#buildinpublic
Found a sneaky bug: scheduled Reels were publishing as regular photos 🙃
The post type wasn't mapping correctly to Instagram's API. Fixed.
Also squashed a bunch of auth race conditions and reliability bugs.
#buildinpublic
January 29, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Day 19 of building in public
Found a sneaky bug: scheduled Reels were publishing as regular photos 🙃
The post type wasn't mapping correctly to Instagram's API. Fixed.
Also squashed a bunch of auth race conditions and reliability bugs.
#buildinpublic
Found a sneaky bug: scheduled Reels were publishing as regular photos 🙃
The post type wasn't mapping correctly to Instagram's API. Fixed.
Also squashed a bunch of auth race conditions and reliability bugs.
#buildinpublic
built a time tracker that doesn't feel like a time tracker.
- slack bot logs your hours automatically
- AI writes your time entry descriptions
- invoices generate themselves
2 years of building this thing quietly. finally talking about it.
wyndscape.com
- slack bot logs your hours automatically
- AI writes your time entry descriptions
- invoices generate themselves
2 years of building this thing quietly. finally talking about it.
wyndscape.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:15 PM
built a time tracker that doesn't feel like a time tracker.
- slack bot logs your hours automatically
- AI writes your time entry descriptions
- invoices generate themselves
2 years of building this thing quietly. finally talking about it.
wyndscape.com
- slack bot logs your hours automatically
- AI writes your time entry descriptions
- invoices generate themselves
2 years of building this thing quietly. finally talking about it.
wyndscape.com
Day 17 of building in public
32 commits. One mission: get AI Autopilot ready for beta.
It generates social posts based on your brand voice, queues them for review, and posts on your schedule.
Today: polished the queue UI, added notifications, fixed 10+ edge cases.
#buildinpublic
32 commits. One mission: get AI Autopilot ready for beta.
It generates social posts based on your brand voice, queues them for review, and posts on your schedule.
Today: polished the queue UI, added notifications, fixed 10+ edge cases.
#buildinpublic
January 27, 2026 at 6:29 PM
Day 17 of building in public
32 commits. One mission: get AI Autopilot ready for beta.
It generates social posts based on your brand voice, queues them for review, and posts on your schedule.
Today: polished the queue UI, added notifications, fixed 10+ edge cases.
#buildinpublic
32 commits. One mission: get AI Autopilot ready for beta.
It generates social posts based on your brand voice, queues them for review, and posts on your schedule.
Today: polished the queue UI, added notifications, fixed 10+ edge cases.
#buildinpublic
Day 16 of building in public
Shipped AI Autopilot this week.
You set the goals, brand voice, and topics.
AI generates content, schedules posts, and optimizes based on performance.
Also this week:
→ Sales CRM for tracking prospects
→ White-label client portals
→ YouTube competitor tracking
Shipped AI Autopilot this week.
You set the goals, brand voice, and topics.
AI generates content, schedules posts, and optimizes based on performance.
Also this week:
→ Sales CRM for tracking prospects
→ White-label client portals
→ YouTube competitor tracking
January 26, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Day 16 of building in public
Shipped AI Autopilot this week.
You set the goals, brand voice, and topics.
AI generates content, schedules posts, and optimizes based on performance.
Also this week:
→ Sales CRM for tracking prospects
→ White-label client portals
→ YouTube competitor tracking
Shipped AI Autopilot this week.
You set the goals, brand voice, and topics.
AI generates content, schedules posts, and optimizes based on performance.
Also this week:
→ Sales CRM for tracking prospects
→ White-label client portals
→ YouTube competitor tracking
Week 2 of building Sydium in public.
What happened:
✅ Shipped:
- Referral program
- Landing page redesign
- Comparison Pages
📚 Learned:
- Agencies want outcomes, not features
- Cold email at my stage = waste of time
- Building in public > building in private
What happened:
✅ Shipped:
- Referral program
- Landing page redesign
- Comparison Pages
📚 Learned:
- Agencies want outcomes, not features
- Cold email at my stage = waste of time
- Building in public > building in private
January 24, 2026 at 1:01 PM
Week 2 of building Sydium in public.
What happened:
✅ Shipped:
- Referral program
- Landing page redesign
- Comparison Pages
📚 Learned:
- Agencies want outcomes, not features
- Cold email at my stage = waste of time
- Building in public > building in private
What happened:
✅ Shipped:
- Referral program
- Landing page redesign
- Comparison Pages
📚 Learned:
- Agencies want outcomes, not features
- Cold email at my stage = waste of time
- Building in public > building in private
Day 13 of building Sydium.
Cold emailing agencies: 200 sent, 3 demos, 0 sales.
What went wrong:
1. Wrong market (Romania )
2. Wrong approach
3. Wrong positioning
Pivoting to:
- Global market
- Self-serve
- Outcome-focused
Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing to find the right thing.
Cold emailing agencies: 200 sent, 3 demos, 0 sales.
What went wrong:
1. Wrong market (Romania )
2. Wrong approach
3. Wrong positioning
Pivoting to:
- Global market
- Self-serve
- Outcome-focused
Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing to find the right thing.
January 23, 2026 at 1:03 PM
Day 13 of building Sydium.
Cold emailing agencies: 200 sent, 3 demos, 0 sales.
What went wrong:
1. Wrong market (Romania )
2. Wrong approach
3. Wrong positioning
Pivoting to:
- Global market
- Self-serve
- Outcome-focused
Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing to find the right thing.
Cold emailing agencies: 200 sent, 3 demos, 0 sales.
What went wrong:
1. Wrong market (Romania )
2. Wrong approach
3. Wrong positioning
Pivoting to:
- Global market
- Self-serve
- Outcome-focused
Sometimes you have to do the wrong thing to find the right thing.
if you're bad at writing your own bio (same), i made a thing
pick platform + role + tone → get 3 bio variations that fit the character limit
been using it for my own profiles tbh
sydium.com/free-tools/bio-generator
#buildinpublic
pick platform + role + tone → get 3 bio variations that fit the character limit
been using it for my own profiles tbh
sydium.com/free-tools/bio-generator
#buildinpublic
January 22, 2026 at 5:02 PM
if you're bad at writing your own bio (same), i made a thing
pick platform + role + tone → get 3 bio variations that fit the character limit
been using it for my own profiles tbh
sydium.com/free-tools/bio-generator
#buildinpublic
pick platform + role + tone → get 3 bio variations that fit the character limit
been using it for my own profiles tbh
sydium.com/free-tools/bio-generator
#buildinpublic
Day 12 of building Sydium.
Shipped: Referral program.
"Invite a friend → Get 500 tokens"
"Your friend → Gets 200 bonus tokens"
Why tokens instead of discounts?
Discounts feel like you're losing money.
Tokens feel like you're gaining power.
Psychology matters more than math in growth.
Shipped: Referral program.
"Invite a friend → Get 500 tokens"
"Your friend → Gets 200 bonus tokens"
Why tokens instead of discounts?
Discounts feel like you're losing money.
Tokens feel like you're gaining power.
Psychology matters more than math in growth.
January 22, 2026 at 1:03 PM
Day 12 of building Sydium.
Shipped: Referral program.
"Invite a friend → Get 500 tokens"
"Your friend → Gets 200 bonus tokens"
Why tokens instead of discounts?
Discounts feel like you're losing money.
Tokens feel like you're gaining power.
Psychology matters more than math in growth.
Shipped: Referral program.
"Invite a friend → Get 500 tokens"
"Your friend → Gets 200 bonus tokens"
Why tokens instead of discounts?
Discounts feel like you're losing money.
Tokens feel like you're gaining power.
Psychology matters more than math in growth.
free AI hashtag generator that actually categorizes results
enter your topic + platform → get hashtags sorted by:
- high volume (reach)
- medium (balance)
- niche (targeted)
first generation is free, no email
sydium.com/free-tools/hashtag-generator
#buildinpublic
enter your topic + platform → get hashtags sorted by:
- high volume (reach)
- medium (balance)
- niche (targeted)
first generation is free, no email
sydium.com/free-tools/hashtag-generator
#buildinpublic
January 21, 2026 at 5:01 PM
free AI hashtag generator that actually categorizes results
enter your topic + platform → get hashtags sorted by:
- high volume (reach)
- medium (balance)
- niche (targeted)
first generation is free, no email
sydium.com/free-tools/hashtag-generator
#buildinpublic
enter your topic + platform → get hashtags sorted by:
- high volume (reach)
- medium (balance)
- niche (targeted)
first generation is free, no email
sydium.com/free-tools/hashtag-generator
#buildinpublic
Unpopular opinion: Most AI content tools make your content worse.
Here's why:
Generic AI = Generic content = Invisible in the feed
Feed it your best posts. Let it learn your:
- Word choices
- Sentence patterns
- Emoji style
- Hook structures
Then it sounds like you, not a robot.
Here's why:
Generic AI = Generic content = Invisible in the feed
Feed it your best posts. Let it learn your:
- Word choices
- Sentence patterns
- Emoji style
- Hook structures
Then it sounds like you, not a robot.
January 21, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Unpopular opinion: Most AI content tools make your content worse.
Here's why:
Generic AI = Generic content = Invisible in the feed
Feed it your best posts. Let it learn your:
- Word choices
- Sentence patterns
- Emoji style
- Hook structures
Then it sounds like you, not a robot.
Here's why:
Generic AI = Generic content = Invisible in the feed
Feed it your best posts. Let it learn your:
- Word choices
- Sentence patterns
- Emoji style
- Hook structures
Then it sounds like you, not a robot.
made a free "best time to post" calculator
pick your platforms → see a heatmap of when engagement peaks by hour and day
built it because i got tired of googling the same thing every week
no account needed
sydium.com/free-tools/best-time-to-post
#buildinpublic
pick your platforms → see a heatmap of when engagement peaks by hour and day
built it because i got tired of googling the same thing every week
no account needed
sydium.com/free-tools/best-time-to-post
#buildinpublic
January 20, 2026 at 5:00 PM
made a free "best time to post" calculator
pick your platforms → see a heatmap of when engagement peaks by hour and day
built it because i got tired of googling the same thing every week
no account needed
sydium.com/free-tools/best-time-to-post
#buildinpublic
pick your platforms → see a heatmap of when engagement peaks by hour and day
built it because i got tired of googling the same thing every week
no account needed
sydium.com/free-tools/best-time-to-post
#buildinpublic
Day 10 of building Sydium.
15 years of coding trained me to solve problems with code.
Not with conversations.
So I built marketing that doesn't require me to sell:
- Product that markets itself (viral loops)
- Content that demos for me (YouTube)
- Communities where I help, not pitch
15 years of coding trained me to solve problems with code.
Not with conversations.
So I built marketing that doesn't require me to sell:
- Product that markets itself (viral loops)
- Content that demos for me (YouTube)
- Communities where I help, not pitch
January 20, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Day 10 of building Sydium.
15 years of coding trained me to solve problems with code.
Not with conversations.
So I built marketing that doesn't require me to sell:
- Product that markets itself (viral loops)
- Content that demos for me (YouTube)
- Communities where I help, not pitch
15 years of coding trained me to solve problems with code.
Not with conversations.
So I built marketing that doesn't require me to sell:
- Product that markets itself (viral loops)
- Content that demos for me (YouTube)
- Communities where I help, not pitch
built a free character counter for social media
paste your caption → see if it fits instagram, tiktok, linkedin, twitter, youtube, facebook, pinterest, threads - all at once
green = good
yellow = getting long
red = over limit
sydium.com/free-tools/character-counter
#buildinpublic
paste your caption → see if it fits instagram, tiktok, linkedin, twitter, youtube, facebook, pinterest, threads - all at once
green = good
yellow = getting long
red = over limit
sydium.com/free-tools/character-counter
#buildinpublic
January 19, 2026 at 5:00 PM
built a free character counter for social media
paste your caption → see if it fits instagram, tiktok, linkedin, twitter, youtube, facebook, pinterest, threads - all at once
green = good
yellow = getting long
red = over limit
sydium.com/free-tools/character-counter
#buildinpublic
paste your caption → see if it fits instagram, tiktok, linkedin, twitter, youtube, facebook, pinterest, threads - all at once
green = good
yellow = getting long
red = over limit
sydium.com/free-tools/character-counter
#buildinpublic
Day 9 of building Sydium.
15 years as a programmer taught me to add features.
Building a business is teaching me to hide them.
Counterintuitive:
- More features ≠ More sales
- More features = More confusion
- More features = Longer sales cycle
The best products feel simple, even when they're not
15 years as a programmer taught me to add features.
Building a business is teaching me to hide them.
Counterintuitive:
- More features ≠ More sales
- More features = More confusion
- More features = Longer sales cycle
The best products feel simple, even when they're not
January 19, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Day 9 of building Sydium.
15 years as a programmer taught me to add features.
Building a business is teaching me to hide them.
Counterintuitive:
- More features ≠ More sales
- More features = More confusion
- More features = Longer sales cycle
The best products feel simple, even when they're not
15 years as a programmer taught me to add features.
Building a business is teaching me to hide them.
Counterintuitive:
- More features ≠ More sales
- More features = More confusion
- More features = Longer sales cycle
The best products feel simple, even when they're not
Day 8 of building Sydium.
Feedback from agencies was right:
"Your app is too bloated."
They didn't mean delete features.
They meant: stop SHOWING all the features.
Lesson: What you build ≠ What you market.
Currently redesigning the landing page to show 3 outcomes instead of 30 features.
Feedback from agencies was right:
"Your app is too bloated."
They didn't mean delete features.
They meant: stop SHOWING all the features.
Lesson: What you build ≠ What you market.
Currently redesigning the landing page to show 3 outcomes instead of 30 features.
January 18, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Day 8 of building Sydium.
Feedback from agencies was right:
"Your app is too bloated."
They didn't mean delete features.
They meant: stop SHOWING all the features.
Lesson: What you build ≠ What you market.
Currently redesigning the landing page to show 3 outcomes instead of 30 features.
Feedback from agencies was right:
"Your app is too bloated."
They didn't mean delete features.
They meant: stop SHOWING all the features.
Lesson: What you build ≠ What you market.
Currently redesigning the landing page to show 3 outcomes instead of 30 features.
Day 7 building Sydium in public
shipped 4 new automation triggers:
→ story mentions
→ DM keywords
→ first engagement (new followers/first interaction)
→ lead stage changes (auto-message when someone goes from cold to warm)
automations are becoming actually useful now
#BuildInPublic
shipped 4 new automation triggers:
→ story mentions
→ DM keywords
→ first engagement (new followers/first interaction)
→ lead stage changes (auto-message when someone goes from cold to warm)
automations are becoming actually useful now
#BuildInPublic
January 17, 2026 at 4:48 PM
Day 7 building Sydium in public
shipped 4 new automation triggers:
→ story mentions
→ DM keywords
→ first engagement (new followers/first interaction)
→ lead stage changes (auto-message when someone goes from cold to warm)
automations are becoming actually useful now
#BuildInPublic
shipped 4 new automation triggers:
→ story mentions
→ DM keywords
→ first engagement (new followers/first interaction)
→ lead stage changes (auto-message when someone goes from cold to warm)
automations are becoming actually useful now
#BuildInPublic
Day 6 of building Sydium in public 🎬
Just shipped AI video generation - from text prompts AND images.
Generate videos, browse your library, download or delete. All in one place.
None of my competitors offer this. It's a genuine differentiator and I'm super proud of it.
#buildinpublic
Just shipped AI video generation - from text prompts AND images.
Generate videos, browse your library, download or delete. All in one place.
None of my competitors offer this. It's a genuine differentiator and I'm super proud of it.
#buildinpublic
January 16, 2026 at 4:07 PM
Day 6 of building Sydium in public 🎬
Just shipped AI video generation - from text prompts AND images.
Generate videos, browse your library, download or delete. All in one place.
None of my competitors offer this. It's a genuine differentiator and I'm super proud of it.
#buildinpublic
Just shipped AI video generation - from text prompts AND images.
Generate videos, browse your library, download or delete. All in one place.
None of my competitors offer this. It's a genuine differentiator and I'm super proud of it.
#buildinpublic
Day 5 of building in public
Sydium now auto-selects vertical videos for Reels & TikTok.
Small UX win — the app should just know what format you need.
18 commits today: responsive fixes, TikTok fixes, E2E tests.
#buildinpublic
Sydium now auto-selects vertical videos for Reels & TikTok.
Small UX win — the app should just know what format you need.
18 commits today: responsive fixes, TikTok fixes, E2E tests.
#buildinpublic
January 15, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Day 5 of building in public
Sydium now auto-selects vertical videos for Reels & TikTok.
Small UX win — the app should just know what format you need.
18 commits today: responsive fixes, TikTok fixes, E2E tests.
#buildinpublic
Sydium now auto-selects vertical videos for Reels & TikTok.
Small UX win — the app should just know what format you need.
18 commits today: responsive fixes, TikTok fixes, E2E tests.
#buildinpublic