Last episode, Aubzhang talked about two things he built with AI.
Some of you probably thought: this guy's got nerve. A non-tech product veteran, just went and did it.
Not true. Aubzhang was scared too. Properly scared.
Aubzhang has been in the internet business for years. Hand him most software and he picks it up fast. But "building a product with AI"? Never done it. Never done it means no ground under your feet.
That feeling is like standing in front of a door. You have no idea what is behind it.
(1) What Aubzhang Was Afraid Of
One: afraid of being old.
Aubzhang is in his early forties. Used to be, that's prime time. But these two years, one sentence keeps coming up: "35 is the cliff."
Hear it enough and you start to doubt yourself. On the news, in short videos, AI is all young people flying high. Can a guy this age still learn it? Is it already too late?
Two: afraid of wasting the effort.
This is Aubzhang's most concrete fear.
Aubzhang can't code. Can't use those coding tools. "Deploy", "server", "environment" — headache just from hearing the words. All of that used to be thrown at the dev team. Aubzhang never touched it.
What he actually fears is this: burn a mountain of time, end up with nothing. That isn't just wasted time. It takes your spirit with it.
Three: afraid of being left behind.
This one stings a little.
Aubzhang's generation walked the whole PC internet road. Saw the waves. Caught the rhythm. But these two years, AI came too fast. Some people his age have already "fallen off" — no interest in learning, no interest in touching it.
What Aubzhang fears is becoming one of them.
Four: afraid of getting scammed.
Aubzhang has scrolled past plenty of "make money with AI" courses. "Zero background, ten grand a month." "Finish the course, start taking orders."
Years in product, Aubzhang spots it in one glance: these courses don't sell knowledge. They sell imagination. But he also gets why so many people his age believe it. Because when you're scared, it's easy to be led by the hand.
(2) Scared — But Aubzhang Tried Anyway
Aubzhang wasn't fearless. Aubzhang was scared, and tried anyway.
Why?
One thought: if you don't do it, you will never know if it works.
Over the years Aubzhang has seen too much. What stops people usually isn't "can't do it." It's "won't start." Think harder, fear deeper — if your hands don't move, that door stays shut.
So Aubzhang picked the smallest thing on the table: a vocabulary app.
Why that one?
- It's small. If it fails, no real loss.
- It's concrete. Aubzhang had a genuine need (Duolingo's word list is bad).
- It needs no technical background. AI can fill that hole.
Aubzhang's thinking: take one small step. See what is actually behind that door.
(3) After Stepping Through
After stepping through, Aubzhang found out: behind the door, it's not that scary.
- Can't code? AI writes it. Aubzhang says what's needed; AI builds it.
- Can't deploy? Follow the tutorial step by step. It works.
- Too old? Years of product work mean Aubzhang understands the business, the requirements, the user — deeper than the young ones.
Most of what Aubzhang feared was real. But not one of them was impassable.
Final Thoughts
Aubzhang isn't writing this to say "don't be afraid."
Being afraid is normal. A new thing shows up, everyone is afraid. Especially for a middle-aged guy like Aubzhang — parents above, kid below. Time, energy, spirit — all more expensive than at twenty-five. Fear is human.
But here is one honest line:
"Afraid" is not a wall. It's a starting line.
You're afraid because you care. You care because you want it to land. Fear isn't your reason to stop. It's your reason to walk carefully.
Aubzhang is still afraid right now. But he has found one thing: walk while afraid — keep walking, and the fear thins out.