Adapt or Die: How He Saw Film’s Collapse and Vibe-Built His New Way Out
Build to Launch Friday: Meet Kenny, a 13-year film pro who built his own creator platform when his subscription stopped listening
Welcome to Build to Launch Fridays, where we meet the builders turning domain expertise into AI-powered products.
Every Friday, I'm spotlighting someone from the vibe coding builders collection who's doing exactly what I believe is the future: using AI not as just another tool, but as a true collaborator to transform curiosity, passion, and years of professional knowledge into something scalable and ownable. No VC funding, no technical co-founders, no permission required, just domain experts who decided to build.
Today, meet and his journey from filmmaker to vibe coder.
Do you have an app that you rely heavily on for your personal life and business?
What would you do when you gradually feel the friction of using it, but no good alternatives?
That's exactly what Kenny experienced.
He's a filmmaker by trade, with more than 10 years working in the field. Kenny has spent years producing standout video and podcast content for conferences and creators alike. His work streamlines edtech, business, and digital storytelling through content that supports audiences long after the event ends. His own business serves clients across markets from Las Vegas to Hawaii.
So we're talking about someone VERY DEEP in his field. You can imagine how many remarkable videos he's created, and how much trouble he'd go through finding them when seriously needed. This is when the friction hits, and the builder's DNA emerges.
In my recent note, I said
Everyone — especially non-technical experts — can now turn their years of domain knowledge into scalable, ownable products.
Kenny and his proudwork.io are living proof of this.
You might doubt... he has no technical background, and things will eventually break, why bother trying...
I doubted the same. So I questioned him all sorts of sometimes harsh questions. Let's hear what he has to say.
This kicks off the very first Build to Launch Friday. We have more builders lined up to contribute, and I'm excited to share their stories and see where everyone's journey leads.
Origin & Motivation
Why did you build this product? Where did the idea come from?
For over a decade, V**** has been the only video hosting/player for creative professionals. In the last 3-4 years, the platform became bloated with features that many of us in the field neither needed nor wanted. They chased big corporate accounts and lost touch with their original consumer base.
On July 5th, my wife and I were having coffee in Chiang Mai, and I was dreading having to renew my annual V**** subscription at $130. I literally said, "Hmm, why don't I try building an alternative?"
On July 6th, I dove head in and been obsessed with it ever since.
Did you validate the idea with others, or was it mostly instinct and your own pain points?
I mentioned the idea to a few friends in Chiang Mai (fortunately CM is a good tech/digital nomad hub) and they were receptive and collaborative.
The build was structured based on my personal pain points and need for a video player platform. Initially, it was meant to be a lightweight embeddable player that plays directly from your existing cloud links like Drive, Dropbox, and public sources such as YouTube and Instagram.
Over the last few weeks, it has evolved into a full creator profile platform offering the ability to upload behind-the-scenes images, gear affiliate links, and a customizable tab where you can promote future events (live music shows, screenings, etc.)
His answers were passing for me, because, I’d admit, when I build apps, I don’t validate, I just ask if I like it or not, and then I build on…
Personal Background
What’s your technical (or non-technical) background like?
I have been a DOP (director of photography) and video producer for the last 13 years, producing interviews, testimonials, and event recaps for some of the biggest names in tech.
I started building websites (without coding knowledge) at age 18 using WYSIWYG builders and have created a handful of personal/business websites on Squarespace and Canva.
Hey look at this guy, do you need help creating testimonials? He might be of great help! And… as a developer, I have no idea what WYSIWYG is… do you?
Building & Challenges
What did the budget and timeline for building it look like?
I had no strict timeline since we were spending the next few months in Thailand. I wanted to learn something new as I witnessed the evolution in our film industry. Given the uncertain economic climate, I realized I could not depend solely on my film career for much longer.
I wonder what is his take on the film industry nowadays.
What was the hardest part of building, and how did you overcome it?
The hardest part of building is knowing when to take breaks, eat, hydrate, and set a hard stop time (feels like we need an AI tool for this ;) )
As tempting as it is to fix "just one thing" at 11pm, it could cascade into a series of different issues breaking, resulting in you staying up until 1am trying to fix everything. >.<
Yup, totally relate, my bedtime is getting later and later now that I picked up building
Which tools, frameworks, or workflows did you rely on that others might not know about?
I heavily rely on Canva for all mockups – creating page mockups saves both time and money. I then share these mockups with ChatGPT, asking it to create a Replit prompt that matches my design exactly, before implementing it in Replit.
I also make extensive use of both basic and advanced AI assistants. Many people waste money without realizing that Assistant can perform most of the same functions as Agent, but often better. Assistant has helpful guardrails and asks for your approval, while Agent tends to operate independently without supervision.
Great strategy, I learnt something new! Did you?
How do you handle things like storage, infrastructure, or scaling? (e.g., database, videos, files)
Currently I'm using Replit's native Object storage, which provides Row-Level Security (RLS), isolation buckets for individual users, and strong security features.
I'm limiting upload capabilities to photos only for now, but plan to securely migrate object storage to AWS or Supabase buckets (since I'm already using Supabase for auth). I'm specifically looking for storage solutions that can seamlessly handle videos, as we plan to offer video hosting in the future.
I’ve been avoiding handling images and videos storage, it can be expensive! (I imagine)
Feedback & Adoption
Did you receive any pushback or disapproval along the way? How did you handle it?
I received numerous pushback, mainly from actual dev friends who snubbed their nose at Vibe Coding, but I’ve been a business owner of almost 20 years; people are scared of what they don’t know and thats ok - its your job to process and move on.
I’m also very active on reddit filmmakers, replit etc - and forewarning, if you want to post on reddit - be prepared to have very thick skin lol.
Haha, I get it, on both points!
How did you get your first users?
My first users were friends on Substack, Reddit, and Twitter. I remain very active in Build in Public communities, offering advice on builds, sharing tips and tricks I've learned, and generally keeping up with users' main concerns to provide helpful alternatives.
Yeah, we should all do more of that.
Do you already have active users on the platform?
yes! we’re up to 20 users - and i’m beefing up security, removing cache, speeding up the platform via lazy loading to improve the performance of the website as I know traffic will continually grow.
Good for you! Keep me posted, I hope to re-feature you when you achieve 100, 1000 users.
Business & Growth
How does your paid plan look?
Currently we offer a Freemium model and a $25 yearly plan as I'm still improving security, adding features, and structuring the next pricing tier. This upcoming tier will include an AI chatbot that responds to inquiries from potential clients!
I want proudwork to be the home for creatives—a place where they can receive inquiries for future projects, share their portfolio link, or document their band through videos and photos while promoting their merch and live shows. All this while maintaining a minimal, straightforward approach.
Built for creatives, by a creative.
$25 per year sounds so little, I wonder how does he make ends meet at all.
Do you already have paying users?
Not yet, and i’m ok with that - I still want to offer great value while learning; this is a passion project that I hope will help others with their business/endevors :) btw - you, the reader - could be my first paying user ;) or donate; please and thank you!
Yeah, that’s how we learn and grow, got to shamelessly promote ourselves!
What’s your strategy for distribution or community building?
current strategy is keep doing what i’ve been doing - hands on with active users, connecting with creatives and offering creatives a free membership in exchange for going through proudwork and finding bugs, glitches and providing feedback.
Right, here’s the boring reality. Just learn, iterate, repeat.
What’s your future plan — do you want to scale it, or keep it small and focused?
I plan to scale it, but always with users and creatives in mind. I want the platform to fulfill its original purpose—serving creatives who are tired of paying for platforms that don't prioritize their needs. My vision is to build a supportive, vibrant community where people can help each other grow their businesses.
In a future version, I'd like to implement a geographic search directory for all creatives using Proudwork. This would help clients find talent in their area, potentially leading to new gigs. We already have a working submission form for this feature.
As a creative who loves earning through my skills, I want to help you make money too.
My entire Substack is dedicated to being your freelance friend!
Surfacing creatives is an interesting idea, and probably a working one. I’m curious to see the first step.
You chose to share a public roadmap — what’s that about? Why did you decide to make it visible? How did you connect it to your site?
I decided to document the process via roadmap and changelog (through featurebase.app) for my own sanity and to track both the macro view of the roadmap and the micro details of the changelog.
It keeps me structured, organized, and transparent about what's being accomplished daily.
Very brave… I highly respect, but am not doing that.
Are users’ profiles private by default, private on request, or open as a gallery? How do you see that evolving?
They are public by default and open as a portfolio BUT videos can be set to public / private as the users want/need.
Here’s some interesting business logic, the ultimate goal is to achieve maximum exposure with minimum release.
What has been your biggest win so far after building this product?
I'm a person with MANY ideas - this won't be my first or last build. Learning how to build and launch my ideas within just a few months is absolutely a game changer.
Learning vibe coding will create a very bright future for me alongside my existing film career.
Like I always believed, once a builder, always a builder, serial builder.
How has building this changed the way you see your work or your industry?
Adapt or die has always been my motto throughout my entire career.
I shot photography starting my career, then saw how many were getting into photography with the introduction of DSLRs, I quickly pivoted to video and that lasted me about 10 years.
with the next boom of AI, if you’re not adopting/evolving learning something new and pivoting your skills towards that, you’ll get left behind - and its a long way to catch up.
I don’t want to be one of those people who aren’t open minded to new things because of whatever trope/achievement I had accomplished in the past.
So this is as much of a personal journey as a builders journey.
Brutally true!
If someone wanted to build their own small product today, what’s one piece of advice you’d give them?
Technical advice:
One of the most helpful strategies I've discovered is creating a dedicated folder in ChatGPT to serve as your evolving working document.
The chat retains all your questions within that folder, even across new chat sessions! 🤯
If you're using an AI platform like Replit, understand the difference between agent ($$$) and assistant ($0.05c per request) from the start. This knowledge can save you dozens, if not hundreds, of dollars.
Begin organized and stay organized—document your process thoroughly for future reference.
A couple hundred vibe-coding this product versus a couple thousand in conventional dev, and with all the surprises, I know what I’ll choose.
Mindset wise:
Yes, we are all very excited to show off what we’ve done and every day successes; as important as it is to build in public, its equally important to build in private; for your own sanity and prevents from being distracted by posting vs building.
If you’re just starting out, be prepared to have zero or little support AND be ok with that - understand everyone is not as excited about your thing as you are - if you're expecting overwhelming support from friends, family and social; don’t.
over all, provide value, be of help and overall be a nice, good and compassionate person.
I agree. My hubby is very supportive, but he’ll hide my blanket if I stay up building too late.
Reading Kenny's raw answers kept me excited for hours. This is exactly the spirit that I had been feeling and seeing. Being a builder, building an app, living through the pain, cheering on the gains... the process where you realize your personal experience, your domain knowledge, your expertise, your curiosity, your actionability can all turn into your online assets. Leveraged by you, owned only by you.
With AI coding assistance, it's the perfect time to leverage yourself, just like how big tech companies had done over the past decade.
I know Kenny will hit bumps along the way, but I also know he'll eventually succeed. It's that undefeatable spirit, the perpetual learning, the action-taking, the years of pivoting and embracing uncertainty that gets you there.
If Kenny’s building journey and expertise inspires you, connect with him — he's exactly the kind of person worth knowing.
[
The Juggle Is Real with Kenny Tjay
Helping you build a freelance business that supports your creative and joyful life.
By Kenny - Your Freelance Friend
](https://kennytjay.substack.com?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=publication_embed&utm_medium=web)
Also, check out his vibe coding builder’s profile, and his product listing.
But here's what excites me most: Kenny represents something bigger. A growing community of vibe coding builders who are turning their expertise into products without waiting for permission, funding, or technical co-founders.
If you’re turning your expertise into products, building with AI, or helping others do the same, you belong here. Join the vibe coding builders community and get featured on Build to Launch Friday. Curious why it all started? Here’s the full story behind Vibe Coding Builders.
What matters is this: Do you believe your knowledge can become something scalable? Are you willing to build it?
Your turn:
What problem are you tired of living with?
What expertise do you have that the world needs in product form?
Kenny went from coffee shop frustration to 20 active users while traveling Thailand. What will your builder story be?
— Jenny