👋 Hey, I’m Jaryd. I share one stealable idea with you a week on product, growth, AI, marketing, or strategy. My goal is to help with the hard part—growing the thing you’re trying to build. For more: Explore all ideas | Follow on Instagram

Ok, so I owe many of you a proper introduction.

I started writing The-Diff in April. About 20,000 of you came over from How They Grow. Since then we’ve doubled to over 40,000 readers. Which means roughly half of you are getting one idea a week from a guy you know little about. I think many of you who came from How They Grow, also don’t.

That’s weird. Let’s fix it.

Today is 32 things you didn’t know about me that have very little to do with work. I hope this helps you get to know me a bit better.

But first, the “work” stuff if you want to know “who is this Jaryd guy to write about this stuff”, so here’s what I do. I’ve been a product manager for 10 years. I was Director of Product at a $1bn company that got acquired, and today I lead consumer travel at a B2B travel company. I’ve built products that reach tens of millions of users. I’m an ex-founder who sold, I design my own apps, and I write this product and growth letter to 44,273 builders.

At the end of my rapid fire facts, I’ve got a completely free offer for anyone building something on the internet that will help you with feedback and exposure, so stick around for that.

1. I’m 32 and I live in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. If you see a guy with a mustache, cap, and a padel bag, say hi. And if you’re ever in town, let me know.

2. I moved to NYC from Cape Town in 2020, and I just got my green card. Here to stay with my accent and all. Hit me up if you ever need immigration advice!

3. That means I have two homes now, but I still miss home. It’s weird, when I am in NYC I refer to “home” as Cape Town, and when I am in Cape Town, “NYC” is home.

4. I’ve been married to my best friend Julia for 3 years. She’s American. She’s the main reason I came back to New York, and she’s busy trying to get a book published.

5. We have two scrumptious cats, Nala and Leo. A chunky/fat cat will change your life, I’m not joking.

6. I have 26 plants in our one-bedroom. It’s not enough. There’s always room for one more, and I get very very sad if one isn’t doing well or dies.

7. I have 15 tattoos, and they’ve become progressively more random. My favorite one is the one I got for my mom, which is a dancer. It’s the last thing she painted.

8. I make my latte every morning like a real dork. Bean spritzing, measuring, tamping, the works. I enjoy the ritual of it.

9. I fall asleep watching every movie. Julia hates it. In my defense, there’s nothing like dozing off during a movie on the couch. A special kind of nap.

10. My #1 hobby is making things on the internet. I do a lot of things, but most center around creating stuff that lives somewhere online. Apps, content, products, tools…

11. I’m a tinkerer at heart, always adjusting things. If it isn’t broken, I’ll probably still fiddle with it. I’m always looking for ways to make something “better”.

12. I’ve been writing online since 2018. I wrote for 4 years and had just 267 subscribers. The second 4 years…40,000. Sometimes nothing happens for a while, then everything happens at once.

13. As a kid I wanted to be a cricket player. Then an architect. I wasn’t very good. My best innings was 43 runs. Now I build stuff which is sort of architecture?

14. I started a company in 2016 and sold it in 2020, mainly because I was lazy. The longer version involves being tired of the space, but lazy is the honest short one. I spoke about it here.

15. I’ve never worked in an office. Unless a kitchen counter with a cat or two on the keyboard counts…and back pain sitting on a bar stool.

16. I was a cocktail bartender for a year. Taught me a lot about product actually. I shared some things about it here.

Halfway there.

17. My first “job” was packing cigarette vending machines for my dad. I was 14 and not quite sure if that’s legal or not.

18. I vibe coded 4 apps this year. They’ve made $0. I wrote about what I learned from that, and it’s still true. But the most important thing is I’ve had so much fun doing it.

19. The problem I avoid solving is focus. I chase shiny things and don’t learn my lesson. I consider myself a Serial Starter, and spoke about what that is here.

20. I get anxiety attacks sometimes when I’m chilling, for no reason. Sitting outside is what helps the most. The started like 6 weeks ago and the first time I thought I was going to die. They’re getting better now. Weird.

21. I used to compulsively go to the gym and had a bad relationship with food when. I was in my early 20s and obsessed over diet and worked out twice a day, sometimes with boxing too. Not healthy.

22. I have 2 dads, 5 siblings, and I lost my mom unexpectedly in 2024. She’s was the most creative person I’ve ever met, designed our homes and had architects and designers copying her. Nobody could make a house, garden, or interior like she could. She’s the reason I always adjust things.

23. I only cry about it now when I play guitar or listen to Fred again. It’s odd how music can do that.

24. I blame myself and feel a lot of guilt about it. I think I always will. It’s an odd feeling knowing you’re not to blame, but rationally blaming yourself for something nonetheless.

25. I’m on a side quest to learn Never Going Back Again by Lindsey Buckingham. I love fingerpicking guitar, and it’s order of magnitude harder than he makes it look. Just a remarkable man.

26. I play padel 4-5 times a week. I’m addicted. My current goal is to reach 4.5 rating, I’m a 4.06 right now.

27. I love to scuba dive. My favorite dive was in Komodo (Indonesia). One day I’d love to dive the Galapagos.

28. I’ve torn something 4 times water skiing. And I keep going back.

29. I’m learning film photography on a Nikon FM3A. Shooting the roll is the easy part. Apparently getting it developed is the hard part and people get very annoyed with me.

30. I’m terrible at finishing books, but I love post-apocalyptic stuff like the Silo series. I’m even designing a cozy post-apocalyptic game on the side very slowly and passively, because of course I am.

31. I hate ice cream trucks. Don’t ask. Actually, do ask.

32. My big goal is to one day make $83,333/mo across my businesses. Then I’ll play padel 10 times a week. That’s a $1M a year target. I see 14 year olds doing it with shitty apps and a UGC strategy… so fuck it, I can too.

If you’re building something on the internet, I’ll give you detailed, useful feedback on it. For free. I’m sure I can share at least one actionable thing with you.

All you have to do is this:

1. Drop your email and your URL here

2. I’ll send you personal feedback

3.Totally optionally, follow me on Instagram. If you do, I can feature your product there in a video review

So you get feedback and reach.

—Jaryd (now you know who I am 👇)