u/Jazzlike-Print-3746

Hi all,

Last week I shipped Ernest, a small iOS app for sending better messages. Three days from idea to the App Store. I'm not here to pitch it — I want to write down the bet, because I'll either validate it in 30 days or take it down.

The bet

Most AI products today drop a chat box in front of you and ask, "what would you like me to do?" That's already a problem. When you're stuck deciding what to say in a message, being asked to also decide how to use the AI doubles the load. The user is the one who's tired, and we keep stacking more decisions onto their plate.

Ernest goes the other way. The context is intentionally tiny — just messaging. Inside that one job, it pre-decides 3–4 things for you (tone, length, opening, the ask) so you only confirm or nudge. No chat box. No prompt. No "what would you like?" question.

I've spent 20 years designing products. The most expensive thing in any product is an unnecessary decision asked of the user. AI lets us hide more of those decisions — if we get the narrowness right. Ernest is my bet on extreme narrowness: a single job, with most of its forks already taken before you arrive.

What I'm testing

30 days. Three thresholds:

• 1,000 downloads
• 1,000 messages sent through the app
• $1,000 in tips from people who actually got value

If all three hit, Ernest joins my Tabula Rasa workshop and I keep building. If any one misses, I take it down. No "let me add a feature." No "let me wait." If the dert (Turkish — an ache that doesn't leave you) isn't real enough to clear those bars, that's mine to swallow, not the market's job to grow into.

I'll keep all three numbers public as they move.

Link in the comments. Happy to hear the "this didn't help me" feedback in particular — that's the only signal I trust right now.