at the end of for 2025, i wrote one big goal:
build something that's mine
then i spent most of 2026 not doing it. too busy, too tired, not the right time. the usual.
//how it started
my sister linh was working at a high school. then the process changed. she wasn't into it anymore.
she likes design. i like building. we talked, and we found it.
a month ago we started doan, a small software lab. two people, no outsourcing, just curious about worlds and exploring it.
//the hard part
the hard part wasn't time. it was too many ideas in a slop world.
with frontier models, every idea looks doable in a weekend. so you start five, finish none, and wonder which one matters.
and there's the quiet fear: can a product-only lab in vietnam really last? most of the software here is built for someone else.
//balancing it with my main job
the first weeks were messy. two jobs pulling at the same brain.
it's good now. i don't have a clean rule for why. it just feels right, and we're still figuring it out.
what surprised me: the lab makes me better at my main job. not just skills. it changes how i think about building.
a small product doesn't have to compete with a big one. it can be a part of it.
//the world right now
anyone can grab a frontier model and build almost anything. the limit isn't the tools anymore. it's imagination.
so we have to move fast. and we have to get it right.
both, not one.
we keep building.