Ivan Vanderbyl
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ivan.dev
Ivan Vanderbyl
@ivan.dev
Artisanal software craftsman and adventure seeker 🧑‍💻🌏 spent 12 years as a digital nomad, built 6 companies, sold 2, 3 still active.

🏔️Based in Queenstown NZ.
🛠️ Building intelligent automation for private client firms https://alcova.ai
🔗 https://ivan.dev
I’d argue it has never been valid, but also could be driven more by imposter syndrome than stealing of ideas.
February 2, 2025 at 9:04 AM
✈️Travelled the least distance in 10 years
🏔️Spent more time outdoors
☠️ Only 2 near-death experiences, 2x change on 2023.
January 1, 2025 at 7:25 AM
I’m not a .NET dev, but for all other languages I use Sentry. They seem to have good .NET support
December 21, 2024 at 1:04 PM
I do the opposite: block: extension://
December 17, 2024 at 10:50 AM
If you’re building AI products that deal with customer data or anything that is sensitive/bound by Privacy regulations, it’s the only LLM with a stated commitment to not use your prompts for training cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/ge...
Generative AI and data governance  |  Generative AI on Vertex AI  |  Google Cloud
cloud.google.com
December 17, 2024 at 10:31 AM
Your ability to make an impact at a product is inversely proportional to how many people work on the problem.

Small cross functional teams with strong mission get the best work done.
December 15, 2024 at 11:49 PM
What are your thoughts on www.fillout.com
Fillout | Forms that do it all
Create powerful forms, surveys and quizzes your audience will answer. Store responses directly where you need them.
www.fillout.com
December 14, 2024 at 5:36 AM
I have a copy of that somewhere, definitely helped my early career
December 11, 2024 at 8:02 AM
I was curious if you had started building a form product. I cut my teeth on forms early in my career, still seems to be a lot of opportunity.

I’m building alcova.ai
The AI Assistant for Professional Services - Alcova AI
Alcova AI
alcova.ai
December 11, 2024 at 12:27 AM
What are you building?
December 10, 2024 at 7:34 PM
This seems like a crowded space, what’s your insight?
December 10, 2024 at 7:21 PM
Only Lenny’s newsletter
December 9, 2024 at 9:51 PM
The Apple Watch definitely has a better UX and nicer hardware, but it’s designed for the majority of the population, not the 2% of people who actually run more than 5 kms or want to measure training performance.
November 22, 2024 at 12:27 AM
Apple Watch Ultra
November 20, 2024 at 8:21 PM
- Constantly asks if I'm still working out when doing a long hike up a mountain.

Apple Watch Ultra is a watch for people who want to look like they do hard things. Feels like it was built and tested in a lab on a treadmill.

It's the Park Run of watches.
November 20, 2024 at 8:21 PM
- Workouts longer than 60 minutes go into low power mode making basic stats unavailable. I typically run 10-20kms every Saturday morning, so 1 to 2 hours.
- Track back is limited to 5kms. I tried it on a 19km hike and it was useless.
November 20, 2024 at 8:21 PM
Apple Watch Ultra: I've used this for 2 years and started to get frustrated when doing any sort of training that exceeded what they probably only tested in a lab in Cupertino.

Examples:
November 20, 2024 at 8:21 PM
- Training readiness and sleep insights are native, not an external app

Forerunner cons:
- Notifications, can't really control what appears from my phone on the watch
- No Apple Pay — there is Garmin pay but I haven't set it up
- No music controls while working out. Not really an issue.
November 20, 2024 at 8:21 PM