Best Ryan Hefner Podcasts (2025)

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038 — Extensions of Me 11:16

Play Pause

2M ago11:16

11:16

The OpenGraphs browser extensions are live! Well, at least some/most of them!! I share the latest updates on what I am working on for https://www.opengraphs.com, along with some browser extension inconsistencies. You can find the OpenGraph Browser Extensions here: Chrome - https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/opengraphs/kiifpjdcadbbbhoocoobahko…

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037 — No Waves 13:20

3M ago13:20

13:20

Or, you can watch the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/iU2PMrYUNIQ After attempting and failing to get an episode out the last couple of weeks, I am happy to say that I finally recorded one, and I am getting it out early this week. A lot of stuff has happened over the last 2.5 weeks, so here’s a quick run down, along with links: Optimizations wer…

1
036 — Pedal to the Metal 13:24

4M ago13:24

13:24

Watch the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/rLRNnlzIOQM I connected with Vercel this past week to discuss how I could both optimize and try to control the costs that https://www.starterpacks.net was accumulating. I did walk away with some techniques that I will try on the next site I launch on Vercel where I need to try to maintain a consistent bi…

1
035 — $800 Gorilla in the Room 10:20

4M ago10:20

10:20

Unfortunately I missed my milestone of getting an early release of https://www.skylounge.social deployed during Release Day. But, it wasn’t for a lack of trying. It’s kind of hard to run when it feels like you have a knife in your stomach and you don’t know how to stop the bleeding. I dig into what attempts I made to optimize the NextJS App for htt…

1
005 — Launching instrumental.dev (Rails starter kit + UI) w/ Brian Casel 1:29:02

4M ago1:29:02

1:29:02

Join Brian Casel ( @briancasel ) and I as we catch up on the launch of his latest product, https://instrumental.dev, UI components and start kit to build Rails apps the easy way. We’ll be catching up on what he’s included in the initial launch, how he is pricing and positioning it, and what his plans are for evolving and growing the product. And, o…

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034 — Who’s ready to Jam!? 8:34

4M ago8:34

8:34

A quick update on this glorious hump day, just in time before I head out to the Atlanta PHP meetup (https://phpxatl.com). Tomorrow, May 21st at 11:30am EDT I’ll be chatting with Brian Casel (https://briancasel.com) about his recent launch of Instrumental Components (https://instrumental.dev). Join us in the stream and if you have any questions for …

1
033 — Just Oil the Chair 5:31

5M ago5:31

5:31

I listened to a podcast episode back on January 30, 2025, and there are 3 little words that have been bouncing around in the back of my head ever since whenever I turn on the mic to stream or record, "oil your chair". The podcast episode was from Justin Jackson (https://justinjackson.ca) and Jeremy Enns (https://jeremyenns.com) on their Podcasting …

1
032 — Streaming Developments: Breaking ground on skylounge.social 12:53

5M ago12:53

12:53

Some quick updates on the status of https://www.starterpacks.net and announcing the new project that I am working on! Since the last update, the crawlers have been crawling—HEAVILY—accessing the site over 24M 👀 times. Needless to say, my Vercel bill is going to be a little higher this month, but 🤞 it will be worth it. Since the last update where th…

1
031 — Appeasing the SEO Gods 10:19

5M ago10:19

10:19

You can also watch the video on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/ENFM-pQK5iM A quick update about some recent updates I pushed out on https://www.starterpacks.net. In the last episode, I announced the addition of the Quick Starter Pack Editor to the site. Since then, I have rolled out a few tweaks to make it nicer, like preventing duplicate entries t…

1
030 — New Starter Packs Features 12:14

5M ago12:14

12:14

After a few weeks away I am back with some fresh updates that have been deployed to Starter Packs (https://www.starterpacks.net). The first—and best feature, imho—is the Quick Starter Pack Editor. This feature makes it easy to add people to your existing Bluesky Starter Packs in as little as 3 clicks (maybe more if you want to add them to multiple …

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029 — Wrestling with SaaS Pricing: Building Value to Justify Prices 12:22

7M ago12:22

12:22

Watch the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/WNmupzrWcAA What goes into setting and justifying your SaaS (Software as a Service) pricing? I had the goal of getting subscription plans setup for https://www.starterpacks.net before a queued job I had running to backfill data that I needed to support those plans was done processing. I ultimately did ge…

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028 — Racing the Queues 15:06

8M ago15:06

15:06

The queues are up and running on Starter Packs and I have roughly 2 days before they are done, so my goal is to get all the pricing and subscriptions integrated into the site before they are done. I also dig into some background on getting the queues working in the NestJS app, and how I had to tune them to get them running efficiently—and fast! Wat…

1
027 — Overcoming Obstacles 12:07

8M ago12:07

12:07

While I was working on some updates for Starter Packs, I ran into an authentication bug that I wanted to fix. As I was working through the bug, and deploying the updates, all of a sudden my feature branch on Vercel stopped loading pages properly, but not all pages. In this episode, I dig into facing and overcoming obstacles that get in the way of m…

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026 — Starter Packs Updates 16:06

8M ago16:06

16:06

After last week’s Jam Session with Brian Casel, I was on the fence on which project I wanted to commit to in 2025. After that conversation, and a little reflection, I realized that I wanted to see Starter Packs through to the original vision for the project. Also, the amount of effort to get it there—I think—will be less than I had originally thoug…

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004 — Committing to Projects in 2025 w/ Brian Casel 1:01:32

9M ago1:01:32

1:01:32

Join Brian Casel and I as we dig into what we want to accomplish in 2025, and work through the ideas and struggles it takes to building the future you want to live with. Follow/subscribe: https://bsky.app/profile/briancasel.com https://x.com/CasJam https://www.youtube.com/@briancasel Projects: https://instrumentalproducts.com https://instrumental.d…

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003 — Jamming on Side Projects and Bluesky w/ Mubashar “Mubs” Iqbal 1:36:40

9M ago1:36:40

1:36:40

Streamed live on Thursday, January 7th, 2025 at 4pm EST. Join Mubashar “Mubs” Iqbal (https://mubs.me) and myself (https://www.ryanhefner.com), we’ll be talking side projects, Bluesky, and whatever else happens to come up during the jam. You can checkout Mub’s projects at: https://blueskydirectory.com https://mubs.me https://iworkedon.com/@mubashari…

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025 — Welcome to 2025 11:38

9M ago11:38

11:38

Welcome to 2025! I have been kind of having mixed emotions going into the new year, doing a lot of reflecting and projecting what I want to achieve this year. Definitely feeling mostly excited, but also a bit nervous. I get into creating my new LLC, Commune Software (https://commune.software), looking forward to the live stream today with Mubs (htt…

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024 — Perfecting My Reflecting 13:05

10M ago13:05

13:05

Tis’ the season for introspection, self reflection, and projections for what the New Year will hold. Today I share some background into my process of reflecting and projecting on the things I need to get done, along with some ideas on how I plan on expanding and refining that process. If you have a process you use to help yourself get better I woul…

1
023 — Hacking the Starter Packs 14:36

10M ago14:36

14:36

So, what do you do when you start to run into walls, or slow downs, on the project you’re working on? I feel like I am at, or approaching one of those slow downs, and am trying to get ahead of it. Since my last update when I announced Starter Packs, I have been busy continuing to build the logged out experience of the site. Focusing on gathering as…

1
002 — Brian Casel: Clarityflow, Instrumental.dev and more 1:32:39

10M ago1:32:39

1:32:39

Join Brian Casel and I as we talk about building and growing products, like Clarityflow (https://clarityflow.com) and managing clients while building a practice and juggling projects on the side. Follow/subscribe: https://bsky.app/profile/briancasel.com https://x.com/CasJam https://www.youtube.com/@briancasel Projects: https://instrumental.dev http…

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022 — Just Getting Starter’d 17:22

10M ago17:22

17:22

Wow, it’s been over a month since my last episode. That’s not due to me being too lazy, if anything just the opposite. I have been thrashing around on projects, but I would like to introduce you to my latest project that is piggy backing on the mass migration to Bluesky. Just after the election, it seemed like the draw for a new platform that was a…

1
021 — Reserving Fuel 11:48

12M ago11:48

11:48

How do you apply and reserve your fuel for the things you are working? That’s what I am wrestling with today. Typically, I reserve these early morning sessions for my personal stuff, so I can take advantage of the fresh tank of brain juice to pull from. I feel like with personal projects there’s always more critical thinking and personal hesitation…

1
020 — Keeping Momentum 14:28

12M ago14:28

14:28

A quick, long one about trying to maintain momentum as challenges and inconsistencies present themselves. To follow along, you can find me at ryanhefner.com, follow me on Twitter @ryanhefner, and keep up with the show on allplay.fm and @allplayfm. Help yourself, while supporting the show, by trying some of the services that I use, and highly recomm…

1
019 — Announcing, Jam Sessions: Public Edition 5:26

12M ago5:26

5:26

Since today is International Podcast Day, I figured it was only fitting to try to get an episode out today. Thankfully I have something very topical to announce today as well, a new podcast! Last week I streamed and posted the first episode of, Jam Sessions: Public Edition, or just, Jam Sessions. A few episodes back I had announced Jam Sessions: Pr…

1
001 — Daniel Coulbourne: Verbs & Event Sourcing 1:27:22

1y ago1:27:22

1:27:22

For the first episode of Jam Sessions I am joined by Daniel Coulbourne, a software developer who is running his own development and project management agency called, Thunk, while also building games and products using an open-source Laravel package that he is the co-creator and maintainer of called, Verbs. We sit down to talk all things event sourc…

1
000 — Welcome to Jam Sessions (Trailer) 2:01

1y ago2:01

2:01

Hi, I’m Ryan Hefner and I’d like to welcome you to, Jam Sessions! A weekly–ish show that will be lived streamed on both Twitter and YouTube. The show will dive into to what people are working on, whether it is a side project, their business, an open-source package or tool they are building, or trying to advance their career—or start a whiskey brand…

1
018 — Building Spiral Staircases 6:45

1y ago6:45

6:45

During my run this morning I was thinking about all the different projects I have up in the air, and how some of those can help to provide a foundation, or utility, to the other projects that I am working on, but at the same time can feel like a waste of time to work on in the moment. Then, out of no where, I started to think about the construction…

1
017 — Flow like water 11:16

1y ago11:16

11:16

Giving into the flow. I feel like I have been getting frustrated with myself for not fully focusing on a single project. After all, that's the only way to build a successful product. Right? RIGHT??? So, I have succumb to my fleeting thoughts and ideas to go where the water is taking me and not wasting time, nor energy, trying to fight the temptatio…

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016 — No, FOMO. Just, LOSE. 6:56

1y ago6:56

6:56

With all the conferences happening over the past couple of months, it has really got me thinking about the lack of socializing I have had since moving down to Atlanta. I wouldn't necessarily say it’s a fear of missing out (FOMO), but more a lack of social interaction, or engagement to make the acronym better, LOSE. For 2025, I am trying to create s…

1
015 — Fixed It! 16:08

1y ago16:08

16:08

I did it! I was able to fix LinkCards and stabilize the service. And, to my surprise, it actually looked like some of the traffic was actually legitimate open graph images being generated. Once I was able to stabilize the servers, and finally access the dashboard I noticed that my site pkgstats.com has almost 2 million images generated for it, so I…

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014 — Jam Sessions: Private Edition on ripple.fm 6:14

1y ago6:14

6:14

I just wanted to give a quick update on a new, private podcast that I am starting on ripple.fm. The show is called Jam Session: Private Edition, and it’s going to be a place to put some recorded discussions that are possibly too private for your traditional public podcast that gets blasted out to all the podcast places. The idea for the show is a b…

1
013 — Maintenance Modes 11:56

1y ago11:56

11:56

Trying to keep the spirits high in this otherwise kind of low week, littered with some Summer sickness and a lot of client work. As much as I had hoped to work some more on Transmits, I ended up getting wrapped up in a lot of client work, along with some maintenance work to clean up some spillage from last weeks publishing of the Transmits Podcast.…

1
012 — Transmits Is Getting a Pod 10:33

1y ago10:33

10:33

As I have been working on building Transmits, I started reading Rob Walling’s (@robwalling) book, Start Small, Stay Small. I was originally reading his latest book, The SaaS Playbook, but like he suggests in there, if your business is not at a certain monthly recurring revenue (MRR) you might be better off going back and reading his first book, so …

1
011 — Transmits Goes Mobile 10:05

1y ago10:05

10:05

After recording the last episode via Transmits, I mentioned that I needed to test recording on playback on mobile, specifically Mobile Safari (since I am an iPhone user), and Chrome on Android. My goal for Transmits is that I can launch the initial version as a progressive web app (PWA), so it’s crucial for it to work when added to the home screen …

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010 — Recording from Transmits 9:09

1y ago9:09

9:09

A milestone has been reached! This is the first episode to be recorded in Transmits!! Obviously, these are early days (the official second recording made in the app was this episode), but recordings are being captured via the web app and stored locally via the File System API in the OPFS (Origin private file system). The goal is to get this early v…

1
009 — Introducing, Transmits 12:53

1+ y ago12:53

12:53

I have finally settled on the project that I will be documenting on this podcast. I would like to introduce you to, Transmits. transmits.io is domain I have been sitting on for the past 4 years. When I had originally registered it I was working on a React Native prototype of an app that I was exploring, which was essentially an iOS Voice Memos app …

1
008 — A Focus on Interest 8:20

1+ y ago8:20

8:20

Just a quick one on a mindset that I have been trying to apply to the things that I have been working on, or committing to, in 2024. The concept revolves around two requirements to meet when committing to a project/client/etc. Those two requirements are, the project either has to be interesting, whether that is interesting to work on, an interestin…

1
007 — Context is King 12:05

1+ y ago12:05

12:05

Reflecting on Laravel vs. React debate that went down a few weeks back, got me thinking about Context. Context switching. The context that influences the decisions we make. Really, just about context in general. My focus has been to try to minimize the amount of context switching that I am doing, which is already difficult while managing multiple c…

1
006 — Embracing the Thrash 12:02

1+ y ago12:02

12:02

The struggle is real-ish. In this episode I get into the tension I have been feeling as I am in my -1 to 0 phase, trying to figure out which project/product I want to place my energy towards (first), and some of the technical stuff I plan on incorporating in the projects I am planning on taking on. Some of those core technology areas include: Event…

1
005 — Pressing Publish 12:54

1+ y ago12:54

12:54

In this episode I reflect on officially hitting publish on this podcast. The steps that lead up to the release, along with all the excitement and anxiety that builds up before pressing that button. From creating the cover art, to settling on the format—or lack there of—to writing descriptions, and deciding whether or not to pay the extra $5/month t…

1
004 — Building allplay.fm 11:38

1+ y ago11:38

11:38

In this episode I dig into why I decided to build a custom site for this podcast vs. using one of the templated sites that TransistorFM offers. Part of it is based on some of my ideas about utilizing platforms to push traffic back to sites that you own. The other part of it was I just had an idea of what I wanted the site to look like, and how I wa…

1
003 — No Edits 6:49

1+ y ago6:49

6:49

tl;dr I am not going to be editing these episodes, so please bare with me. Although, if you want me to reflect on it a bit more, there’s a reason for making the active choice to not edit these episodes. Part of that decision is based on efficiency, as I work through these episodes I am trying to take all the ideas swirling around in my head and plu…

1
002 — Style and Error 11:57

1+ y ago11:57

11:57

CSS and component libraries, where to begin? Over the years I have used a bunch of different flavors including, css-modules, styled-components, CSS + Sass and a few other things. But, over the last 3 years or so, I have been primarily using ChakraUI, which is a component library that offers a really nice way to setup your theme—based on styled-syst…

1
001 — Default to Stacktion 11:34

1+ y ago11:34

11:34

On this episodes I dig into getting back into action and picking a stack to base the action on. In the past, I have built my products and prototypes in Laravel, using an SPA—typically built in React—for the majority of stuff, and I go into all the pros, and a few of the cons, I have experienced with that setup along the way. Well, now the year is 2…

1
000 — Trailer / Intro 7:52

1+ y ago7:52

7:52

Hey, I’m Ryan Hefner and I’d like to welcome you to the All Play podcast. On this show I will be sharing my experiences as I build products and open-source software, sharing the highs and lows that go into building a solid product, and hopefully leading to a successful launch and growth of customers. In this episode I share a bit of my background, …