Welcome to build with Alvin
A few days ago I posted something on LinkedIn which is unusual because I am not exactly the type who wakes up thinking "can't wait to post today." Someone told me I should try putting my name out there more, so I gave it a shot. I figured the worst case scenario would be that ten people see it and ignore it.
Introducing Ask Alvin
The thing I shared was a small side project called Ask Alvin (see it in action at https://alvinhartono.com/ask-alvin). It lets people ask me questions about growth without worrying about waking me up or catching me between meetings. I basically uploaded my thought process to my site so it can answer you any time you want. It breaks down experiments the same way I do, looks at funnels the same way I do, and thinks through SEO and product strategy the same way I do. It is basically the inside of my brain but faster and without the constant need for caffeine or snacks.
After sharing it, I got a couple more DMs than I ever do. People were asking how I built it, usually with a polite version of "wait I swear you studied neuroscience, right?". That made me realize that maybe I should start sharing more of this stuff instead of letting it sit in my notes app forever. So here we are. A blog. Ugh. I never thought I would be someone who says "welcome to my blog" in the year 2025 but life comes at you fast.
Why I build with AI
Most evenings in my free time I mess around with AI for about an hour. Partly because it is everywhere now and partly because I grew up with dial up internet and rotary phones, so staying quick on my toes feels like a survival skill. But honestly I also like building tiny things that answer tiny questions I run into during the week. Things I would normally text a friend or Google at 2 AM in the morning. My day job is all about solving problems that thousands of customers have. This space is for building things that solve a problem that only I have or that someone suggests in the comments. It is the opposite of scalable but that is exactly what makes it fun.
Quick side note, AI coding is not a replacement for software engineers. They are far more talented than I am. I am just here pressing buttons and seeing what happens.
The first project: A grocery ingredients game
To kick this off, I am starting with something tied to my 2025 health kick. I have been going to the gym every weekday morning (transparently only started last month but it still counts) and paying more attention to what I buy at the grocery store. I check ingredients and nutrition now which feels like a very adult thing to do. Food is a big part of my identity and I will never be an only salads and chicken breast person but I am trying to be a bit smarter about it.
Which leads to the first project. A simple little game where you look at a list of ingredients and guess which grocery item it belongs to. The same curiosity I have when I pick something off the shelf and think "what is actually in this and why is the ingredient list twenty lines long." If my pantry is going to surprise me, it might as well become content. I'll go over my thought process, the tools I use, the research I do, and the many, many challenges (and solutions) along the way.
Follow along at https://alvinhartono.com/build-with-alvin. More fun things coming soon.