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Dan's Ikigai Journey

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Discover your own purpose and create a meaningful path forward with our AI-guided Ikigai framework.

Their Ikigai

Your Ikigai is building scalable AI-powered tools that digitize and streamline offline processes for high-value professionals—architects, designers, and builders—while working independently, seeing direct customer impact, and maintaining clear boundaries that protect your energy for what matters most.

Core Theme

You are an expert generalist who thrives in the creative 80% phase of building, turning complicated manual processes into elegant, repeatable systems. Your superpower is combining technical depth with authentic relationship-building to create tools that provide unfair advantages—but only when you design your work around your natural rhythms rather than forcing yourself into exhausting networking or management modes that don't fit.

Unique Value

You bring a rare combination of technical execution capability and genuine human connection skills to the B2B2B space—you can both build the tool AND do the discovery calls to validate it, working higher in the value chain than pure service delivery while maintaining the independence and leverage that energizes you.

Key Strengths
Full-stack product builder spanning engineering, design, strategy, and customer discovery—with a 10-year track record of turning cold prospects into warm relationships through authentic one-on-one connectionArchitect thinking: seeing how to transform 150k lines of code into 8.5k, or messy manual workflows into elegant productized enginesRapid AI-assisted development and experimentation with frontier models, staying ahead of the curve while building real customer valueExpert intuition from years of business experience combined with the self-awareness to know when to delegate detailed finishing work
Path Forward

Your next step is clear: complete those 2 warm calls and 2 cold outreach calls this week, using your natural style—15-20 minute time-boxed conversations with clear agendas upfront, permission to close early if it's not a fit, and ruthless willingness to decline misaligned calls. You don't need to become a schmoozy networker; you need to be the selective, intentional connector you already are.

Overcoming Limiting Beliefs

Your reframed beliefs reveal that the real obstacle was never your competence or your ability to handle failure—it's designing your approach to match who you actually are. You have a consistent track record of making things happen when you truly lean in, and your anxiety around outreach dissolves when you give yourself permission to be selective, set boundaries, and decline what doesn't fit.

"You didn't destroy something you loved when you closed the agency—you closed something that had stopped serving you, and the skills, processes, and wealth-building capabilities you developed are still yours, ready to power Pocket World and whatever comes next."

What would your Ikigai look like? Find the intersection of what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for.

What They Love
  • • Working with AI tools, especially high-leverage applications
  • • Seeing people use my apps and tools
  • • Turning difficult processes into streamlined, delightful experiences
  • • Building scalable apps and features
  • • Home automation and smart home technology
  • • Building AI-powered tools (e.g., Pocket World)
  • • Building tools and engines that provide unfair advantage
  • • Cooking
  • • Walking my dog
  • • Spending time with family
  • • Gaming
  • • Problem-solving
  • • Turning cold prospects into warm relationships
  • • Deep thinking and research
  • • Testing ideas and building solutions
  • • High-leverage, close-to-money work with tangible impact
  • • Context-switching across multiple projects simultaneously
  • • The 80% phase—quick visible progress and high leverage
  • • Flow state during deep engagement
  • • Euphoric highs from new projects
  • • Building with V0 (Vercel's AI tool)
  • • Dramatically simplifying codebases (e.g., 150k to 8.5k lines)
  • • Saying no to unrealistic client demands and toxic business relationships
  • • Building productized processes and engines—turning manual, complicated work into repeatable systems
  • • The profitability and efficiency gains from systematizing service delivery
  • • The momentum and energy from being 'in the game' - actively meeting people, doing outreach, and experimenting rather than staying stagnant
What They're Good At
  • • Technical skills with AI application experience
  • • Sales
  • • Engineering
  • • Design
  • • Marketing
  • • Full-stack software engineering (web, mobile, backend)
  • • AI implementation and leveraging frontier models
  • • Making genuine in-person connections
  • • Building relationships
  • • Agency operations and management
  • • Broad generalist across design, development, business, and client problems
  • • Process orientation—systems, workflows, planning
  • • Architect thinking: repeatable, scalable processes
  • • Experimentation and front-end innovation with AI
  • • Expert intuition from years of business experience
  • • Rapid AI-assisted development using tools like V0
  • • Setting boundaries with demanding clients
What the World Needs
  • • Tools that help individuals run businesses without big overheads
  • • More approachable and accessible AI
  • • B2B visualization tools for architects, designers, and contractors
  • • Automation for real estate, construction, and building processes
  • • Tools to help agencies work more efficiently
  • • Creating stability through better leverage
  • • Empowering and enabling happier people
  • • Solutions that build independence, not dependency
  • • Reducing manual processes through automation
  • • Solutions for the landscaping industry
  • • Solutions for the events industry
  • • Go-to-market and RevOps tools for marketing agencies
What They Can Be Paid For
  • • Web and mobile app development
  • • Technical consulting and CTO services
  • • AI strategy and implementation consulting
  • • AI tooling and automation development
  • • Website builder engine/platform for agencies
  • • Interior design visualization tools for customer acquisition
  • • Marketplace plugins for Monday.com, Asana, Jira ecosystems
  • • Construction and building industry tools
  • • Credit-based AI tools
  • • Portfolio of bootstrapped internet businesses
  • • SDK-based apps with platform billing
  • • Affiliate model with furniture companies
  • • B2B2B agency tools—higher in value chain than website delivery
  • • Service businesses wrapping AI tools
Passion + Vocation
  • • Building AI-powered products that solve real B2B problems
  • • Creating tools with immediate visible impact for professionals
  • • Experimenting with frontier AI to push creative boundaries
  • • Coaching agencies to adopt AI workflows while building tools they'll pay for
Vocation + Mission
  • • Building Pocket World: AI visualization for architects/designers
  • • Creating scalable B2B SaaS solving high-value professional problems
  • • Building a portfolio of autonomous internet businesses
  • • B2B2C model: building technology backbones for outcome-focused providers
  • • Fast production → prove traction → sell for €10-20k → recycle capital
  • • White-label opportunities with existing SaaS platforms
Mission + Profession
  • • Digitizing and automating offline processes for professionals
  • • Helping architects and designers visualize and sell high-value projects
  • • Enabling sustainable and smart design through accessible technology
  • • Teaching professionals customer discovery skills through your own product journey
Profession + Passion
  • • Full-stack product builder: engineering, strategy, and customer discovery
  • • AI tooling specialist creating compelling user experiences
  • • Customer discovery through in-person relationship-building
  • • Rapid prototyping consultancy—validating ideas for others while building your portfolio
Ikigai Discovery
  • • Building scalable AI-powered B2B products
  • • Serving high-value markets (architects, designers, builders)
  • • Digitizing offline processes into seamless experiences
  • • Working independently
  • • Seeing direct customer impact
  • • Excelling at vision and strategy
  • • Delegating detailed finishing work
  • • Clear work-life boundaries
  • • Working with a smaller team
  • • Product focus over service delivery
  • • Create environment → Talk to customers → Experiment/Build → Iterate → Secure funding → Execute independently
Discoveries
  • • First holidays as a new parent—challenging but rewarding milestone
  • • Agency revenue ended December due to law firm termination with unrealistic demands
  • • Need forcing functions to take action
  • • Interior design AI tool hit image generation model limitations
  • • Risk of building too close to model provider capabilities—vulnerability to disruption by next model versions
  • • Reduced codebase 18x (150k to 8.5k lines) with same features using V0
  • • ADHD makes structured scheduling difficult
  • • Experiencing resistance to customer discovery
  • • Set clear agendas for calls
  • • Time-box calls to 15-20 minutes
  • • Trust gut on call quality
  • • Considering B2B2B RevOps opportunities in agency space
  • • Processing 10 years of agency learnings through reflection and distance
  • • Natural resilience: frame setbacks as progress and celebrate trying and failing
  • • Authentic comfort with failure as a learning mechanism
  • • Natural resilience: frame setbacks as progress and celebrate trying and failing
  • • Authentic comfort with failure as a learning mechanism
  • • Can take good feedback and resist bad judgment
  • • Distinguish between wisdom (openness to feedback) and exhaustion (seeking others' approval)
  • • Each conversation and step moves me closer to something bigger
  • • Show up for customer calls and meet new people
  • • Take valuable learnings and resist negativity and comparison
  • • Can take good feedback and resist bad judgment
  • • Distinguish between wisdom (openness to feedback) and exhaustion (seeking others' approval)
  • • Design relationship-building to fit natural style: intentional, authentic one-on-one connection over large-scale networking
  • • Set clear agendas upfront for conversations
  • • Be willing to cancel or decline misaligned calls
  • • Respect natural energy limits and avoid pushing to burnout
  • • Prioritize quality conversations over quantity of meetings
  • • 10 years of business relationships personally built and maintained
  • • Respected by wife and peers for making new connections
  • • Ability to turn cold prospects into warm relationships
  • • Natural relationship-building style: selective, intentional one-on-one connection over large-scale networking
  • • Need clear boundaries, curated conversations, and permission to end early without guilt
  • • Design relationship-building to fit natural style, not forced extroversion
  • • Respect energy capacity and decline misaligned calls
  • • First holidays as a new parent—challenging but rewarding milestone
  • • Wrapped up agency in tax-efficient way
  • • Navigated emotionally tortuous process
  • • Supported wife through pregnancy and birth
  • • Baby born 3/10/24—extremely present as a new father
  • • Explored fractional CTO service—learned it wasn't a good fit
  • • Invested significant time upskilling in AI
  • • Built and released two apps through vibe coding
  • • Built relationship with Baseline community
  • • Made investment in Tipple
  • • Closed an investment
  • • Remodelled home office
  • • Remodelled baby's room
  • • Agency process energized me but clients and output didn't align
  • • Closing agency recognized misalignment, not failure
  • • Reframe setbacks as sabbaticals—legitimate rest phases, not failures
  • • Urgency and money pressure create necessary movement, like successful entrepreneur origin stories
  • • Interior designers may prefer done-for-you services over learning new tools—potential service opportunity
  • • Marketing and positioning more critical than features in AI space
  • • Niche positioning ('the couch guy') more effective than broad appeal
  • • B2B partnerships underexplored by competitors in interior design AI space
  • • ABC success formula: Authenticity (be yourself), Belief (trust value exists), Consistency (maintain effort)
Short-Term Goals
  • • Schedule 3-5 customer discovery calls with architects/designers this week
  • • Fix critical stability issues in Pocket World within 2 weeks
  • • Validate B2B angle through coffee chats with existing network
  • • Develop customer interview skills
  • • Learn market research techniques
  • • Achieve revenue within 6 months
  • • Secure design partners within 3 months
  • • Develop personal narrative and identity statements
  • • Practice owning identity as investor rather than aspiring
  • • Listen to How I Built This podcast for storytelling inspiration
Long-Term Goals
  • • Build Pocket World into a sustainable, profitable B2B SaaS
  • • Develop 2-3 additional internet products in automation/visualization
  • • Create a portfolio of businesses generating passive income
  • • Explore acquisition opportunities for portfolio companies
  • • Build ventures compatible with being a new father
  • • £10m net worth by age 50
Resources Needed
  • • Network: Maurice Cowhey, Jason Woods, Aaron Doonan
  • • Clay.com for prospect research and outreach
  • • Access to frontier AI models (Claude, Gemini, Nano Banana)
  • • Warm network of real estate agents for customer discovery
  • • Clay.com for architect and interior designer prospecting
  • • Potential partnerships: You Furnish, Visualist App, Blueground
Accountability Plan
  • • Show Pocket World to architect/designer and get direct feedback
  • • Document go-to-market findings and decide positioning by month end
  • • Reach out to warm contacts for casual coffee chats
  • • Complete 2 warm calls and 2 cold outreach calls
  • • Focus on discovery calls over sales/feature pitching
  • • Schedule discovery call with Sherry
  • • Email Kyla and Winnie to schedule discovery calls
  • • Say no to calls that don't align with current discovery needs
  • • Set clear agendas upfront for all coffee chats
  • • Set 15-20 minute time boundaries on coffee chats and customer calls
  • • Extend if energy and conversation quality justify it, but close decisively if not a fit
  • • Meet with Winnie (architect referral)
  • • Follow up with interior designer to schedule meeting
  • • Journal/sketch personal story before next coaching session

"I believe my anxiety around commitment and busy calendars prevents me from doing effective customer outreach"

Reframes

  • • I can be selective and intentional: respect my natural capacity, set clear agendas upfront, and be willing to decline calls that don't align with my discovery focus. This isn't limiting—it's protecting my energy for conversations that actually matter.
  • • Natural strengths in authentic one-on-one connection (10-year track record proves this). The limiting belief isn't the anxiety—it's trying to force a networking style that doesn't fit. Solution: be intentional about whom to meet, set clear agendas upfront, respect natural energy capacity, and be ruthless about declining misaligned calls. Timeboxing (15-20 min with permission to extend) provides structure without forcing artificiality.

Actions

  • • When scheduling calls, set clear upfront agenda so both people know what's being explored. Use 15-20 minute time boundaries as permission to close early if conversation isn't a fit—extend if energy is good, but decline decisively if it won't go anywhere.

"I believe I lack domain knowledge in construction/real estate and am doing guesswork rather than building from real customer problems"

"I believe my past business successes were flukes and I can't replicate them"

Reframes

  • • I can make things happen when I put my mind to it and truly lean into it. I have a consistent track record of evidence supporting this—multiple successful business iterations, successful fractional CTO role, thriving contracting business. I have no evidence contradicting this pattern of competence.

"I believe I'm a poor people manager"

Reframes

  • • I'm not a poor manager—I'm a decisive, capable manager who's learning to have hard conversations earlier. Management isn't about being universally liked; it's about representing the business, making tough calls, and accepting that some friction is inherent to the role. You're the avatar for external economic realities. It's not personal—it's structural. Sometimes people need to be let go, and that's okay. I can be both forgiving and uncompromising.

Actions

  • • Have hard conversations earlier instead of delaying; make decisive action when someone needs to be let go; accept the risk of hard feelings rather than letting things fester
  • • Practice having hard conversations at the first sign of misalignment rather than hoping things improve. This is both kinder to the person (clearer feedback earlier) and better for the business.

"I believe I move goalposts before reaching them and never acknowledge my progress"

"I believe my interior design idea excitement was overoptimism and I don't have enough real customer data to justify pursuing it"

"I believe I underestimate challenge sizes and overestimate the uniqueness of my ideas when I'm in a high state"

"I overcommit when euphoric and become paralyzed when reality sets in"

"I believe my ADHD makes structured scheduling and customer discovery calls particularly difficult for me"

"I believe my comfortable financial situation creates complacency that prevents me from taking necessary action"

"I believe that as a parent, I no longer have the time, intensity, or fire needed to build a successful business again"

"If I Don't Try, I Can't Fail"

Reframes

  • • I can be open to feedback without being governed by approval—take good feedback when it comes and resist bad judgment when it comes. I don't need to be the only person in the market or the only winner; I just need to win enough
  • • "The real limiting belief may not be fear of failure itself, but fear of others' judgment or lack of support during the attempt—concern about what risk-averse people think rather than doubt in my own ability to handle failure" "The mountain climbing metaphor: each step forward is progress, even if others watching from below don't understand or support the climb. What matters is that I'm moving, not that everyone cheers" "I can be open to feedback without being governed by approval—take good feedback when it comes and resist bad judgment when it comes. I don't need to be the only person in the market or the only winner; I just need to win enough"

"I haven't done anything meaningful since my employee left on 31/1/24—that's when the 'real' progress stopped, and everything since then doesn't count"

"I threw away years of business-building quickly and flippantly when I became overwhelmed—I destroyed something valuable that I should have preserved"

Reframes

  • • I didn't destroy something I loved—I closed something that had become misaligned. The skills, processes, and wealth-building capabilities I developed are still mine. The closure may have been necessary discernment rather than reckless destruction.

"I want to be an investor rather than actually being one"

"I self-sabotage when approaching market validation"

"Complacency from comfortable situations makes me inactive"

"If I don't try, I can't fail—a protective pattern from risk-averse parenting and ADHD that now creates suffering through unrealized potential"

"Fear of others' judgment or lack of support during attempts, especially from risk-averse people"

"Fear of others' judgment or lack of support during attempts, especially from risk-averse people"

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Created with the Ikigai Discovery Framework