Why I Built Railgun: Pattern Recognition After 100 Crashes

The Pattern I Couldn't Unsee

In 2022, while most people watched the Ukraine crisis from their screens, I loaded my RAV4 with supplies in Nice and drove straight into the war zone. Solo. Self-financed. No backup plan.

My wife's family fled Vietnam as refugees. It was my duty.

That trip wasn't just about delivering aid - it was about taking action when something matters. No waiting for permission. No overthinking.

But here's the thing: I've spent 20 years building things. Most crashed. Some spectacularly.

And after helping dozens of founders at Founder Institute Hong Kong, my autistic brain spotted something others missed.

The 80% Overlap Nobody Talks About

Everyone thinks their founder journey is unique. It's not.

The same paralysis at the start. The same scope creep. The same burnout. The same crashes.

While neurotypical founders saw individual struggles, my mind mapped the common architecture underneath. Pattern recognition kicked in.

I watched founders:

Spend months debating what to build (paralysis)
Build 30 features when they needed 3 (scope bloat)
Burn out after shipping nothing for 6 months (crash)
Give up after crash #3 (while I kept going)

There's an 80% overlap in every indie hacker's journey.

Why Most Tools Don't Work

Most productivity tools are built by people who succeeded once. Their advice works for them, maybe not for you.

I've failed repeatedly. I know where indie hackers get stuck:

The priority matrix paralysis (which feature first?)
The feature bloat trap (building everything at once)
The burnout spiral (no safeguards)
The perfectionism delay (shipping "later")

Railgun isn't built from success theater. It's built from real crashes.

What Makes Railgun Different

This isn't a generic project manager. It's a mini-incubator in your pocket.

1. AI Priority Matrix

Stop staring at 100 feature ideas. Railgun's 2x2 matrix tells you exactly what to build first. Not vague suggestions - definitive priorities based on the 80% path that works.

2. Auto-Generated Kanban

No manual task creation. Railgun reads your project description and generates your first sprint. Tasks, priorities, dependencies - all done.

3. Healthy Mode (Anti-Burnout)

This isn't a trendy wellness feature - it's survival technology. When you've burned out repeatedly from hyperfocus, you build safeguards. Scope limiting, "ship before perfect" prompts, nudges to take breaks.

Built from lived experience, not market research.

The Neurodiversity Advantage

My autistic brain doesn't let me quit. Pattern recognition + resilience + "one more try" is hardwired.

Most neurotypical founders quit after 3 failures. My neurodiversity meant I kept going, learning, adapting. The 100 crashes weren't despite my autism - they were part of the journey my brain needed.

Hyperfocus is my superpower. Burnout is my teacher.

That's why Healthy Mode exists. That's why the 80% path works. That's why I know when you're over-engineering because you're scared to ship.

What's Next

Railgun launches in beta soon. I'll be building in public:

Real MRR updates (Pieter Levels style)
Honest crash reflections
Technical deep-dives on what works
Dad realism (coding while kids "help")

No guru promises. No proven systems. Just real patterns from real experience.

The Bottom Line

At 40, after CS50, after Ukraine, after 100 crashes, I finally have the skills to build what I always needed:

An AI execution engine that helps indie hackers ship.

Built from crashes. For builders who don't quit.