The Proofing Room Issue #10

I know, I know. Friday newsletter showing up on Saturday? Bear with me.

This week felt different. We're in that weird limbo between "not shipping Virtue yet" and "what the hell do we build next?" And honestly? Some interesting stuff happened that felt worth sharing before Tuesday rolls around again.

Plus, we're making a change: The Proofing Room is going weekly. Every Tuesday.

Here's why – during our 30-day sprint, twice-weekly made sense. Every issue had drama: redesigns, pivots, existential crises about Roman virtues. But now? We're in the craftsmanship phase. Watching us polish micro-interactions twice a week would be like getting play-by-play updates on paint drying. Weekly gives us enough time to accumulate real progress, real insights, and real stories worth telling.

(Unless we get excited and send special editions on Saturdays, apparently.)

Wednesday: Finally nailed our marketing assets. Remember that "try-hard alpha male energy" feedback? Gone. Replaced with "Forge Your Better Self" – ancient wisdom meets modern minimalism. David showed me the final version and I literally said "oh shit, that's it." Sometimes you just know.

Thursday: Had coffee with a few founders. Interesting realization – Alan and I are in these AI communities where people are casually dropping MCPs into production and building autonomous agents before breakfast. We constantly feel like we're playing catch-up.

But then we talk to founders outside our bubble and realize we're actually way ahead of the curve.

It hit me: If we're the slowest kids in the advanced class, we're perfectly positioned to translate what's happening at the cutting edge to everyone else. We're learning from the top 1% but can still remember what it's like to not know this stuff.

Maybe that's our sweet spot – being the bridge between "what's possible" and "what's practical."

Friday: The team went down a rabbit hole on pricing models. We're so tired of the subscription-for-everything economy. What if we built products that only charge when they actually work? Pay per outcome, not per month. David called it "honest pricing." I'm obsessed.

That Thursday conversation keeps replaying. We've been heads-down learning AI tools, building workflows, figuring out what's actually useful vs. hype. And so is everyone else.

What if our next thing isn't just another AI wrapper, but teaching what we're learning? The tools that actually work. The workflows that save time. The stuff that sounds like magic but is really just connecting the right APIs.

Not another "AI course" (god no), but real-time documentation of what we're building with these tools.

Friday's discussion cracked something open. Your meditation app wants $12/month whether you use it or not. Your AI assistant wants $20/month for unlimited "potential value."

What if we only charged when we delivered actual value? Built something, solved a problem, saved you time – then you pay. Use it once? Pay once. Use it daily? Volume pricing kicks in.

Is it naive? Maybe. But we're not alone – Intercom charges $0.99 per AI resolution. Salesforce charges $2 per conversation. 11x charges per task completed. Synthesia charges per minute of video created. The entire industry is moving toward value-based pricing.

It feels like how software should work.

Building in public, even on Saturdays,

Colin, Alan, & The Torta Studios team