90 Days in “Heads Down Mode”

August 11 – November 10, 2025 • Personal Development Update

For the past 90 days, I’ve been operating in what I called “heads down mode” in my role as Head of Content at Vibes DIY. These past few months have been simultaneously challenging and transformative, requiring significant sacrifices to my publicly traded life by going all-in on intensive startup work.

tl;dr: The struggles have been worth it! I can now “code.” The ability to deploy my own ideas for software is a dream come true. Plus I have great health insurance for the first time in years. There have been trade-offs… I’ve been terrible at making time for fitness, obviously reduced shareholder engagement, and I’ve kind of disappeared into the computer. But this all feels like a period of intensity with long-term benefits.

What “Heads Down Mode” Meant

When I started at Vibes I had a lot to learn, and I ended up in what I started to call ‘Heads Down’ mode where I was focusing almost entirely on the company and the practice of AI-assisted coding tool. Looking at RescueTime stats I spent about 90% of time at the computer on Vibes, and less than the remaining 10% on KmikeyM.

This quiet period came at a strange time, as we just finished the 2025 Build Week and Blippo+ was launched. With no updates or real shareholder interactions beyond a bit of discussion on the Discord and the monthly Shareholder Poker Tournament we’ve trading volume and price dip. As I write this we’re holding at just $4.90 and the last trade was 17 days ago.

The Challenge: Re-entering a startup environment after years of independent work proved more demanding than expected. The pace, collaboration requirements, and learning curve for AI-assisted development tools has required intense focus.

Two New Skills

From this period of being heads down I’m developing two major skills:

AI-Assisted Coding

Vibe Coding: I can now build functional applications using AI development tools!

This isn’t “learning to code” and I have an incredible amount of respect for real developers. But this vibe coding thing, where you describe what you want and AI builds it, is amazing. I feel like I’m at the part of the movie where I just got super powers but I don’t really know how to use them yet.

I can now:

• Create web applications and tools!!
• Better understand development workflows (work in progress)
• Almost understand developers and tech people
• Build prototypes and MVPs for projects

Long-term KmikeyM Value: This opens up entirely new possibilities for shareholder-directed technical projects and KmikeyM systems.

👉 Many of the apps and projects I’ve been working on are at Quarterly.Systems.

Systematic Content Production

I’ve been struggling to reach a pretty high bar of two landscape videos and 5 or 6 vertical videos every week. I’m failing most weeks, but getting better. There are currently only 206 subscribers to the VibesDIY YouTube account, but there was just 34 when I started.

Professional Video Workflow:

• Establish consistent production rhythm (2 long-form + 6 short videos/week)
• Faster and better editing and post-production techniques
• Content planning and scheduling

KmikeyM Application: My KmikeyM channel has 226 subscribers but I haven’t updated anything there in 8 months. Can I apply the workflow and skills I’m using at Vibes directly to KmikeyM?

Financial Benefits

Obviously I’m making more than I was at McDonald’s. I’m enjoying some of the fruits of my labor but also contributing much more to household finances. I even convinced Kathryn to set up a joint account!

We’re prioritizing savings right now in order to build up a longer runway and prepare for our imminent move in 2026.

And in addition stable income, I also have great health insurance and benefits. I’ve started scheduling appointments for blood work, optometrists, dentists, and it’s time to get a colonoscopy, which I’m not looking forward to.

Challenges and Trade-offs

It hasn’t been all positive. The biggest impact has been the time constraints, some of which is just poor management on my part because it’s fun to vibe code a new project, but also the feeling that I’m trying to meaningfully contribute to this new business gives it all a feeling of great stakes.

Fitness has been impacted the most. I haven’t figured out how to incorporate my exercise routine into the new work schedule. I’ve put on weight and the last time I went to the gym there was a noticeable decline.

As I mentioned, Shareholder Engagement has been stalled. There have been no shareholder votes, much less community interaction or project updates, and no new KmikeyM content and or projects

Foundation Maintenance

External Stressors: This 90-day period coincided with some significant other challenges as well, primarily our housing instability and the prolonged and poorly managed eviction process. Managing all this has been more stressful than I like to admit. And combined with work it’s required most of my mental bandwidth.

Remaining Q4 Goals

I tend to over plan, so for now I’m going to focus on the rest of 2025 as a way to get back on track with my health and fitness goals and get KmikeyM priorities integrated with my new work life.

Immediate Priorities

1. Health Foundation: Return to consistent exercise routine, weight management
2. Shareholder Re-Engagement: Increase KmikeyM communication and come up with new ideas for votes
3. Skills Application: Begin using new skills for Personal/KmikeyM as well as Vibes

Request for Shareholder Input

As I enter the next phase looking for better work-life integration, I’d value shareholder guidance on:

1. Health Priorities: What’s the right way to prioritize fitness and health while also trying to work at “startup levels?”
2. Content Direction: Is there shareholder interest in vibe coding content? Perhaps votes on projects to build or woking on projects together for KmikeyM channels?
3. KmikeyM Management: Can the community take more of a lead in KmikeyM operations? Perhaps votes from shareholders? More board level engagement? More accountability?

Build Week 2025 gives us a slightly more inclusive group of shareholders who have restricted access, which means I can be more open in the Discord and other semi-private channels. I hope this leads to more direct involvement in the process of “KmikeyM” as a project that involves all the shareholders.

Conclusion

The past 90 days required temporary sacrifice of some KmikeyM engagement and personal optimization in exchange for significant investment into work. While challenging, this is an investment I expect to pay dividends through new capabilities, professional network expansion, and an improved financial foundation.

The publicly traded person experiment continues, now with the added dimension of additional technical capabilities and improved content creation skills that should create more opportunities for shareholder-guided value creation.

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