Sebastián Hortúa

The newsletter

Build things. Show up daily. Live on your own terms.

Hey, I'm Sebas. I spent 17 years in offices. Now I build apps, ship them in public and write about what I learn along the way. Join my newsletter for honest notes on building, mindset and creating your own opportunities.

Your first email brings Shipday, my free Mac app.
Sebastián Hortúa leaning on a tiled wall at night

Vancouver, building on my own terms.

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Your welcome gift

Most people quit posting after a week. Shipday helps you keep going.

Motivation comes and goes. Consistency is what gets results. Shipday is the free Mac app I built to show up on LinkedIn every day, even on low-energy days.

Shipday's Today screen: daily goal, this week's streak, today's writing prompt and an idea inbox Celebration card: Shipped! +190 XP, 9-day streak
01 · Ideas

Never start from a blank page.

18 tactic cards for hooks, stories and closers, plus a fresh prompt every morning. Pick one, follow the steps and the post starts writing itself.

  • Hooks, structures, storytelling, persuasion, endings
  • Capture ideas from anywhere with ⌃⌥I
Shipday's copywriting tactics: colorful cards like Bold Claim, Curiosity Gap, AIDA and Soft CTA
18 cardsto hook, structure and close
02 · Write

See your post the way the feed will.

Write in a calm editor with a live LinkedIn preview that shows exactly where "…see more" cuts your text, so your first lines do the heavy lifting.

  • Bold and italic that survive on LinkedIn
  • Full-screen focus mode with calm music
  • Your P.S. signature added when you publish
Shipday's editor with a draft and a live LinkedIn feed preview
181 charsshow before "…see more". Make them count.
03 · Feedback

A coach that never writes for you.

When a draft is ready, a private AI coach scores your hook, clarity and call to action and tells you what to fix. Every word stays yours.

  • Runs on your Mac, your drafts never leave it
  • Optional, free, and you can switch it on anytime
Shipday onboarding: Meet your AI coach. It never writes for you, it's free and private
100% privateno cloud, no account
04 · Ship

Watch the streak grow.

Earn XP, climb from Paper Plane to In Orbit, and keep a freeze for the days life happens. And every time you ship, the plane throws you a little party.

  • Streaks, levels and a 16-week activity map
  • A floating plane reminds you until today's post is out
Shipday's Progress screen: current streak, levels from Paper Plane to In Orbit and a 16-week activity grid

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About me

17 years in offices. Now I build.

I spent my career in trade marketing, retail and banking in Colombia. I helped launch Mr. Músculo in Colombia, bought for 68 stores at Cencosud and ran campaigns for more than 2 million customers at Banco Falabella.

Good jobs, good teams, calendars full of meetings. And a notebook full of ideas I never had time to build.

Then I moved to Vancouver and started over. Being the new guy after 17 years is humbling, but it set me free: nobody was waiting for me to ask permission. So I stopped asking. I started shipping small things in public, before they felt ready, and each one made the next one easier.

Today I run Neural Studio, where I build apps and help other people become builders. This newsletter is where I share what I learn on the way.

"Your experience isn't baggage. It's your unfair advantage."

What you'll get

One email when I have something worth sharing.

Real stories from building my apps, written the way I'd tell a friend over coffee.

Building

How I take an idea from my notebook to an app people download. What worked, what flopped, and the tools I use.

Mindset

Fear of the camera, starting over at 35+, showing up on low-energy days. The stuff nobody posts about.

Life on your terms

Creating your own opportunities, building a personal brand and enjoying the ride while you do it.

Things I've built

Apps and a game, shipped from my notebook.

Built at Neural Studio, my company. Shipday is the newest one.

Shipday Focus Mate Mochi's Big City Ghost Notes Panda Streaks Cringe to Star Nerd Squirrel Mochi Days Golden Abs Posture Panda Fix My Face Outy

Stop waiting for the right moment.

Join the newsletter and start with a tool that keeps you showing up. Shipday is waiting in your first email.

P.S. Shipday is for Mac (macOS 14 or newer). On Windows? Join anyway. The newsletter is the real gift.