Jay is a solo founder who built Nomad Table, a meetup app for solo travelers, expats, and digital nomads, to $140K MRR and 1.8M users in roughly 15 months while traveling full-time; he left a software engineering role at Amazon to pursue the idea because the regret of not trying felt riskier than failing.
Morning routine
Wakes up and immediately checks phone (WhatsApp with creators, monitoring for issues) despite common advice against it
Basic hygiene and breakfast, aims to leave for workspace by 9:00–11:00 AM depending on sleep quality
Works from cafés or coworking spaces (WeWork), not from home
Nomad Table origin story
Idea came while traveling alone; experienced the difficulty of finding companionship and friends on the road
Was not previously entrepreneurial; had stable big-tech job but convinced himself the downside was bounded (could return to engineering) while the upside of trying was unbounded
Decided the “pain of the what if” would haunt him more than failure
Afternoon routine
Commutes to workspace (walking, biking) to start the day with movement
First two hours: deep work on time-sensitive items identified from morning phone check
Takes regular breaks; finds diminishing returns after 3–4 hours without them
Changes scenery frequently — home, gym, café — rarely stays in one place >4 hours
Building apps in 2026
Prioritizes staying in the shoes of his audience (travelers) to avoid product drift
Traveling to user hubs (e.g., 4 months in Bangkok, a major Nomad Table hotspot) generates feature ideas and reveals underserved sub-segments
Attends meetups on his own app, talks to users directly; grounding prevents losing touch with the core problem
Building while traveling
Finds unfamiliar environments energizing and idea-generating; benefits outweigh costs of imperfect setups (no monitor, spotty Wi-Fi, suboptimal ergonomics)
Acknowledges this isn’t universal — some find constant context-switching draining — but for him the creative upside dominates
Evening routine
Exercise is non-negotiable after work: running, padel, tennis, or lifting
Post-workout: smoothie, dinner, then social time (friends, coworking, dinner)
Last 1–2 hours before bed: light work on laptop from couch (tea, low-intensity tasks), then sleep
Lessons from building
Only work on what you genuinely care about; passion is both the reward and a competitive moat
If you’re putting life effort into something you don’t enjoy (just for money/status), it will suck and you’ll likely lose to someone who’s having fun
Even two people meeting because of the app would feel fulfilling; the intrinsic reward is “priceless”
Passion-driven work creates an unfair advantage: “no one can compete with that” when you’re genuinely enjoying every day
Advice for builders
Life is short; don’t take things too seriously — have fun, spend time with loved ones, do what makes you happy
It’s a golden age to try things: software can be built fast, and you can start while keeping your job
Frame decisions through regret minimization: will you regret not trying more than trying and failing?
