Jim Harrer
I stopped coding around 2001. Then AI made building fun again. These days I'm following whatever catches my curiosity, from software and fitness to books, video, and whatever comes next.
See what I'm playing with ↓Right now
Some of these things may grow into businesses. Some are just fun. That is part of the point.
Current fascination
I stopped doing serious hands-on coding around 2001. Lovable, GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Codex, and other AI tools pulled me back in. StackCoach is where I am learning how modern software gets made and seeing how far one person can go with AI.
I am turning the stories and personality of our Labradoodle, Coco, into a children’s coloring and story book while learning AI illustration, bookmaking, and Amazon KDP. It sounded fun, so I decided to make it.
A roughly two-hour Christmas YouTube experience following Coco through all 50 states, set to instrumental music. I am using it to learn Higgsfield, Runway, and the strange new craft of AI image and video making.
I started lifting around 14 in the Pumping Iron era and never really stopped. That interest eventually helped Debbie and me build two kickboxing studios and the BestHour community. I am still training and still fascinated by strength, body composition, health, and staying strong as I approach 70.
A few chapters
The titles are less interesting than the pattern: learn something, make something, adapt when the world changes.
1986
I taught myself to program, wrote Wildcat! BBS from a bedroom in Bakersfield, and built a company around it. We took Mustang public, then watched the browser wipe out the BBS market and had to reinvent ourselves.
Jim + Debbie
Fitness had been part of my life since I was a teenager. Debbie and I followed that thread into two kickboxing studios and a close-knit community. It was personal, demanding, and eventually acquired.
Two chapters
I joined Logic Apps in Public Preview and led a team that thought bigger, helping it become part of Azure Integration Services. I later returned to work on Visual Studio before retiring in July 2026.
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