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Arvid Kahl

James Phoenix — Mastering Code & AI for the Modern Developer — The Bootstrapped Founder 356

Published 8 months ago • 2 min read

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Dear founder,

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Coding with AI changes everything. It changes how we design, test, and improve our software projects. Today, I’m talking to generative AI expert James Phoenix about mastering that new technology.

He’s written the book on prompt engineering and shares his hard-earned AI insights freely on the show — including a crash course in developing effectively with the Cursor IDE.

Are developer just AI wranglers now? Technical managers? Will we ever code again?

You’ll find out today.

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🎧 Listen to this on my podcast.​

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James opened my eyes to how dramatically the engineering landscape is shifting - we're moving from hands-on coders to engineering managers overseeing AI "juniors."

"I think we've all reached the point where we should be AI first and we should primarily be like an engineering manager, where you have almost like a bunch of juniors that are going off with your project requirements."

One thing that really clicked for me was James's approach to starting new projects. Instead of diving straight into coding, he creates a detailed README first. This gives AI tools like Cursor the full context they need. I've been doing something similar with Notion docs, but James's systematic approach takes it to another level.

"The more monolithic the app, the better cursor is... When you start having an API server and you've got specific AWS step functions or you've got a Google Cloud workflow... that is where you need to spend a bit more time."

James walked me through Cursor's capabilities (which I've just started using myself!) and shared some game-changing tips about the cursor-rules file. As someone who's been slowly dipping their toes into AI-assisted development, this conversation was exactly what I needed. We also discussed testing strategies that make sense for indie hackers - no more feeling guilty about not writing unit tests!

"When you're learning a new programming language... I would turn off tab completion and I would code a vanilla-like style... because you will not gain that foundational knowledge to then leverage it at a higher rate when you're using chat or composer."

If you're wondering how to effectively use AI in your development workflow without losing your engineering skills, this episode is a must-listen. James shares practical tips that I'm already implementing in my own projects. Plus, he introduces some fascinating concepts like emotional prompting (yes, you can guilt-trip an AI into writing better code!).

​Listen to the full episode to learn how to balance AI assistance with maintaining your fundamental programming knowledge.

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Arvid Kahl

I help founders and creators serve and empower their customers.

Being your own boss isn't easy, but it's worth it. Learn how to build a legacy while being kind and authentic. I want to empower as many entrepreneurs as possible to help themselves (and those they choose to serve).

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