The .new Domain Collection
Hey, Niklas here.
Just wanted to brain dump a few things I've been working on or thinking about lately. It highlights my latest experiments, essays, and curiosities.
First up: We're making solid progress at Compelling. Our API is getting more sophisticated by the day. Really enjoying how Python dev tools are improving - FastAPI, Pydantic, Astral make building agents genuinely fun. They're catching up with trend in JS world of Rust as the future of infrastructure.
Been thinking a lot about "Engineering as Marketing" lately. Super cool to see what Jonas did with GTMArena under the Compelling brand. We've also been experimenting with design engineering, like this sticky contextual toolbar we've been playing with.
Experienced the Hacker News effect for the first time. Even though I wasn't on the front page, my post about 'The case for shorter .com domains' brought decent traffic. Never seen so many people on my site simultaneously before.
Published a couple of posts since last time - one on developing taste as a deliberate practice rather than luck, and another exploring the emerging 'Vercel Mafia' phenomenon. Watching this talent ecosystem evolve in real-time has been fascinating.
It's no secret that I'm into .new domains. After dub.new and cron.new, I came across sound.new and thought there's no better match than ElevenLabs. Was pleased to see @thorwebdev liked the idea too. Love the quality of the ElevenLabs Zipper - been wearing it daily.
Conference season is in full swing. Pirate Night happened last month in Cologne, with lots of meetups and gatherings in September. Always cool to meet new people and get exposed to fresh ideas - plenty of introductions and coffee chats with fellow builders.
Quick recommendations: Rediscovered the Focus feature from Raycast. Highly underrated and perfect for deep work. And if you're on a V60 or AeroPress, check out this app for better coffee brewing.
That's all for now. I'll send another one when I've got something worth sharing.
Best, Niklas