86: Substack and Monetizing Email with ADHD

In this episode Sharon and Jesse explore the world of AI agents, Jesse creates ANOTHER app (that organizes the creation of apps), they discuss the move back to Substack after a change in the way they charge for their service, the general idea of email clients and platforms, and so much more! Stick around for their picks and plugs at the end for some curious products.Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/adhd_foundersFollow us on social media:• This podcast: @adhd_founders• Jesse – @adhdjesse• Marie – @llamalifeco• Sharon – @shelpfulCheck out Wavepal: wavepal.appCheck out Mission Status: missionstatus.appCheck out Llama Life: llamalife.coCheck out Shelpful: shelpful.com ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

You know how you could spot an AI image because it just couldn't get hands right? Is vibe coding doing the same thing for design? In this episode of ADHD Founders, Jesse and Marie dive deep into what they're building (it happens every time Sharon is out), how they use Claude Code or Cowork, the different between those two, and much more. You won't want to miss their picks toward the end of the episode!Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/adhd_foundersFollow us on social media:• This podcast: @adhd_founders• Jesse – @adhdjesse• Marie – @llamalifeco• Sharon – @shelpfulCheck out Wavepal: wavepal.appCheck out Flux: fluxapp.blueCheck out Llama Life: llamalife.coCheck out Shelpful: shelpful.com ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

This episode covers Sharon's obsession with Claude and how it's changing the way Shelpful operates. She's gone from manually creating content to spinning up Instagram carousels in seconds using Fable and her own past videos. They dive deep into Model Context Protocols (MCPs), how they work, and why they matter for the future of AI integration, then Marie reveals a "stupid idea" she's been sitting on for years: a website called that involves taking a shower!Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/adhd_foundersFollow us on social media:• This podcast: @adhd_founders• Jesse – @adhdjesse• Marie – @llamalifeco• Sharon – @shelpfulCheck out Wavepal: wavepal.appCheck out Flux: fluxapp.blueCheck out Llama Life: llamalife.coCheck out Shelpful: shelpful.com ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In this episode, Sharon and Jesse discuss the realities of being parents with ADHD raising kids with ADHD. They explore navigating their children's complex relationships with AI (from building apps to rejecting it entirely) as well as how Sharon leverages AI as the foundation for her company, Shelpful. They give company updates, discuss bespoke tools they use and the temptation to put everything on the app store, then give some amazing picks at the end of the episode. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/adhd_foundersFollow us on social media:• This podcast: @adhd_founders• Jesse – @adhdjesse• Marie – @llamalifeco• Sharon – @shelpfulCheck out Wavepal: wavepal.appCheck out Flux: fluxapp.blueCheck out Llama Life: llamalife.coCheck out Shelpful: shelpful.com ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Is a startup just a small business with ambition, or is there a real structural difference? The main conversation this week is about what actually separates a startup from a small business — and after working through Paul Graham, WeWork, creator economics, and the indie vs. VC divide, the answer turns out to be less about structure and more about who you are. Jesse, Marie, and Sharon have all been somewhere different on that spectrum, which makes it a better conversation than a pure definitional debate would be. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/adhd_foundersFollow us on social media:• This podcast: @adhd_founders• Jesse – @adhdjesse• Marie – @llamalifeco• Sharon – @shelpfulCheck out Wavepal: wavepal.appCheck out Flux: fluxapp.blueCheck out Llama Life: llamalife.coCheck out Shelpful: shelpful.com ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

The ADHD brain doesn't tolerate annoying repetitive work. It either avoids it until everything breaks or engineers the problem out of existence. This week Marie, Jesse, and Sharon are firmly in the second camp: Marie turned her most dreaded support task into a script that genuinely gives her dopamine, Jesse built a custom climate control app in an afternoon because the existing ones were ugly, and the whole thing spirals into a real debate about whether AI just made the SaaS moat a very small puddle. Jesse uses his thermostat app three times mid-episode. It works perfectly.--Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/adhd_foundersFollow us on social media:• This podcast: @adhd_founders• Jesse – @adhdjesse• Marie – @llamalife.co• Sharon – @shelpfulCheck out Wavepal: wavepal.appCheck out Flux: fluxapp.blueCheck out Llama Life: llamalife.coCheck out Shelpful: shelpful.com ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

A reminder that fires at the wrong moment isn't a reminder, it's noise. Sharon's deep in launch mode on Shelpful's automation features, and Jesse's side hustlin' a macOS sports tracker just because he can. The episode goes hard on AI and product development: the death of precious code, why Claude Code gives developers superpowers while designers are still waiting for theirs (even with Figma and Claude Design), and what happens when prototyping gets democratized. Plus some amazing picks from both at the end of the episode.--Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/adhd_foundersFollow us on social media:• This podcast: @adhd_founders• Jesse – @adhdjesse• Marie – @llamalife.co• Sharon – @shelpfulCheck out Wavepal: wavepal.appCheck out Flux: fluxapp.blueCheck out Llama Life: llamalife.coCheck out Shelpful: shelpful.com ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

After a month off the mic, Jesse, Marie, and Sharon are back!. The episode starts with a long-overdue conference debrief and a pitch competition outcome nobody saw coming, then slides into a genuinely good argument about why the most powerful thing a product can do is refuse to do more. They talk founder identity crises, the weird psychology of products that just stay in their lane, and why sometimes the best business move is to stop adding features. Stick around for picks that include a Canadian candy bar and a timer shaped like a hex bolt. --Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/adhd_foundersFollow us on social media:• This podcast: @adhd_founders• Jesse – @adhdjesse• Marie – @llamalife.co• Sharon – @shelpfulCheck out Wavepal: wavepal.appCheck out Flux: fluxapp.blueCheck out Llama Life: llamalife.coCheck out Shelpful: shelpful.com ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Running a business with ADHD means living with a head full of ideas and a calendar full of self-imposed deadlines you'll absolutely move to next Tuesday. This week Sharon, Marie, and Jesse get into what actually works. They share product updates that came out of pure gut instinct, talk about the kind of pressure that genuinely lights the ADHD brain on fire, and unpack why following an idea might be the most underrated founder skill there is. Stick around to the end for a freemium strategy so diabolically clever it should probably be illegal.--Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/adhd_foundersFollow us on social media:• This podcast: @adhd_founders• Jesse – @adhdjesse• Marie – @llamalife.co• Sharon – @shelpfulCheck out Wavepal: wavepal.appCheck out Flux: fluxapp.blueCheck out Llama Life: llamalife.coCheck out Shelpful: shelpful.com ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In this episode, Jesse, Marie, and Sharon kick off 2026 by setting actual intentions. Each host shares a theme for their year, and the accountability that follows is equal parts insightful and chaotic. The conversation winds through the graveyard of good ideas that never got built, the difference between chasing what excites you versus what you think you should do, and why shipping something imperfect beats polishing something imaginary. Expect a detour into ADHD life hacks that may or may not involve accidental vitamin overdoses, and stick around for picks and plugs that you'll love. --Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/adhd_foundersFollow us on social media:• This podcast: @adhd_founders• Jesse – @adhdjesse• Marie – @llamalife.co• Sharon – @shelpfulCheck out Wavepal: wavepal.appCheck out Flux: fluxapp.blueCheck out Llama Life: llamalife.coCheck out Shelpful: shelpful.com ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★