Interview with a Moroccan YC startup founder, Amine Benjellon

Chapters:00:00 Introduction05:24 What hooked him on code09:13 The idea behind tiun10:22 Funding the early days11:30 Beyond media payments13:42 Building a great checkout15:39 The pivot18:58 How to choose investors21:46 Angel round or VC first24:15 What "Tiun" means24:42 From two founders to three27:06 The Product Hunt launch29:23 Handling launch-day traffic33:12 Building with AI agents34:55 Codex vs Claude Code37:57 Three best moments39:36 Handling the tough days42:57 Building from Switzerland45:23 Choosing where to build49:29 Advice for young founders51:10 Books and learning resources54:02 Open mic54:58 ConclusionShow Notes: tiun: https://tiun.ioDeep Work by Cal Newport: https://calnewport.comStripe Press: https://press.stripe.comYC Startup School: https://www.startupschool.orgETH Zurich: https://ethz.chProduct Hunt: https://www.producthunt.comChris's LinkedIn: https://ch.linkedin.com/in/christian-heiduschke

If your kid or your closest friend came to you tomorrow and said, "I want to switch into software engineering as a career", what would you actually tell them? Our guests answer that question.Show Links:https://fortune.com/2026/05/26/uber-coo-ai-spending-tokens-claude-code/https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/29/satya-nadella-says-as-much-as-30percent-of-microsoft-code-is-written-by-ai.htmlhttps://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2026/03/20/our-commitment-to-windows-quality/https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/aws/aws-service-outage-ai-bot-kirohttps://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/state-of-the-job-market-2026https://www.businessinsider.com/jensen-huang-500k-engineers-250k-ai-tokens-nvidia-compute-2026-3https://x.com/steipete/status/2055346265869721905/photo/1https://youtu.be/FQpZdCKgc6wFollow our guests:- https://x.com/boredabdel- https://x.com/soub4i- https://x.com/el_ateifSara- https://x.com/saidbouig

In this episode, we talk honestly about what it takes to build a global product from outside Silicon Valley, why he changed his mind about solo founders, the mistake almost every technical founder makes when they bring in a "business" co-founder, and how AI tools have flattened the geography of software.Chapters: 00:00 Introduction02:50 Starting on an MSX, fixing CRT monitors, and studying math before CS05:18 Binary Interactive Studio 07:50 Jobland: video-CV app10:35 POS Rocket12:45 Raising from local VCs vs. the US14:18 The secret sauce of POS Rocket15:55 Switching from builder to investor 22:38 Why he co-founded Xpand Conference 27:30 Leaving Propeller to start Maza VC31:30 Why pre-seed is both more impactful33:30 The advantage of building from your home country38:48 Did he miss coding? 42:00 Solo founders: red flag → green flag46:25 The countries producing the best founders right now48:18 The #1 mistake technical founders make51:35 Mountain biking55:50 New Section: Paul Graham, vibe code, mountain biking56:50 ClosingShow Links: - LinkedIn: https://jo.linkedin.com/in/tambijalouqa- Maza VC: https://maza.vc- Maza VC Handbook: https://handbook.maza.vc/about/introduction- Propeller VC: https://propellervc.com- Xpand Conference: https://www.xpandconf.com- Claude Code: https://claude.com/claude-code- Y Combinator: https://ycombinator.com- Paul Graham essays: https://paulgraham.co

In this episode, Amin Benjellon shares his inspiring journey from growing up in Morocco, navigating the challenges of startups as a foreign student in France, to successfully joining Y Combinator. He discusses the importance of mindset, jumping on waves of opportunity, and the impact of YC on his entrepreneurial trajectory. Links - Amine on X: @BenGeekly - Rolling Dice Club: https://rollindiceclub.com - MailWarm: https://mailwarm.com

If you're a developer, indie hacker, or SaaS builder, this is a must-watch. You'll learn:- The strategy he used to niche down and find his first clients- Why he started a t-shirt business to learn Shopify- The moment he discovered a Kardashian was using his theme- His raw, unfiltered advice for anyone wanting to build their own software productShow Notes:- Bricks Space Lab:https://brickspacelab.com- Follow Thomas's journey on Twitter: https://x.com/kimurathomas

We're joined by Sean Rosenthal, the co-founder of Native PHP. He shares his incredible journey from a career in sales to co-creating a framework that allows developers to build native desktop and mobile apps using the PHP and Laravel skills they already have. Sean provides a candid look at the entrepreneurial grind, the technical challenges he and his partner Simon Hamp overcame, and what the future holds for PHP outside of the web.Show Notes:What You'll Learn:How personal drive and a problem-solving mindset are crucial for success in tech.The real story behind what inspired Native PHP and how the project got started.A deep dive into the technical solutions used to compile PHP for iOS and Android.Sean's experiences working on complex projects for major organizations like Pfizer.The importance of building a support infrastructure, not just a product.Links Mentioned:Native PHP Official WebsiteSean Rosenthal on X (Twitter)Sean's YouTube Channel - Laravel OnlineThe New Boston (YouTube Channel)

In this episode, I interviewed with Simon Hamp, a seasoned software engineer with 25 years of experience in PHP. Simon shares his incredible journey from being a self-taught programmer in the days before YouTube and Stack Overflow to becoming the owner and maintainer of Native PHP and the founder of Laravel Dev.Show Notes:LinksSimon Hamp's Website: simonhamp.meSimon Hamp on X: @SimonHampNativePHP: nativephp.comLaravel Dev: laradevs.com

In this episode, we're joined by Ayman Ben Amor, a software developer and the visionary founder behind the BeJS (Belgian JavaScript) community. Ayman shares his incredible journey from a movie-loving kid who wanted to be a hacker to organizing some of Europe's and Africa's most prominent developer events, including React Brussels, React Paris, and the inaugural React Africa.He pulls back the curtain on the immense effort required to run a successful tech conference, detailing the 9-12 month planning cycle, the stress of sales and marketing, and the complex logistics of securing venues and speakers.Show Notes:BeJS Community: https://bejs.ioReact Brussels Conference: https://react.brusselsReact Paris Conference: https://react.paris/React Africa Conference: https://react-africa.comAyman on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/Aymen_Ben_AmorBook Recommendation: "Personality Isn't Permanent" by Benjamin Hardy

In this episode, I had Pierre Burgy, the co-founder and CEO of Strapi, the leading open-source headless CMS. Pierre shares his incredible nine-year journey, from starting a side project as a student to building a globally recognized company. He dives deep into the early challenges of fundraising for an open-source project (including being $30k in debt), the evolution of their business model, the power of community, and his vision for the future of content management with AI.Sponsor of this episode: SASS Insights: Get the metrics that matter for your Shopify app. Try it for free at https://saasinsights.comShow Notes: Find Pierre on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/pierreburgyFind Pierre on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pierreburgy/Website: https://strapi.io/GitHub Repository: https://github.com/strapi/strapiJoin the Strapi AI Waitlist: https://strapi.io/aiStrapiConf: https://strapi.io/confThe GitLab Handbook: A comprehensive resource on how to run a remote-first, transparent company. https://about.gitlab.com/handbook

In this special episode, we dive deep into the phenomenon of "vibe coding" - using AI assistants to write code through natural language prompts. With our today's guest, Mohamed Aboulaid (Backend Engineer at Spotify & Community Catalyst behind GeeksBlaBla), for an honest discussion about AI-assisted development's current state and future.Show Notes:GeeksBlaBla Community: geeksblaba.comFollow Mohamed Aboulaid: https://x.com/laytoun