AI for Founders with Ryan Estes From Farm to Mac App Store: How Heberti Built Pinery for Authors
Oct 2, 2025
48:35
Building Pinery with Heberti Almeida
Summary
From a stormy Brazilian farm to the Mac App Store. Former Square engineer Heberti Almeida spent seven years turning a side project into Pinery, a focused Markdown writing and self-publishing app for Mac. We cover privacy-first on-device AI, clean ePub and PDF export, subscription pricing that sustains indie software, and how tractor time can sharpen product thinking.
Who this is for
- Indie hackers
- Technical founders
- Author-creators
- Anyone seeking a calm, private, production-grade writing workflow
Product snapshot
- Pinery: Markdown editor for writing, designing, and exporting books
- Exports: ePub 3, clean digital PDF, static website
- Focus: Distraction-free writing, live preview, customizable typography and design
- Privacy: File-based, offline friendly, iCloud optional, exploring on-device AI proofreading
- Model: Mac App Store with monthly and annual subscriptions
- Early traction: ~600 users and 40 subscribers within the first month
Key takeaways
- A single-purpose tool can beat feature bloat when the output quality is excellent
- Privacy by design creates trust and a durable product moat
- Product Hunt and creator newsletters can drive meaningful early traction without paid ads
- Subscription pricing is the most reliable way to sustain indie software and ship updates
- Alternating deep work with physical work can accelerate problem solving and reduce stress
Frameworks discussed
1) Privacy-First Authoring
- Keep manuscripts local as plain text Markdown
- Offer optional cloud sync controlled by the user
- Add on-device AI for proofreading and tone adjustments
- Never transmit manuscript text to third-party LLMs by default
2) Lean Publishing Loop
- Write in focus mode
- Live preview for structure and flow
- Design pass with typographic controls
- Export to ePub or PDF
- Ship and iterate on reader feedback
3) Calm Tool Product Strategy
- Decide the core outcome
- Remove non-essential features
- Obsess over export fidelity
- Embrace opinionated defaults
- Document power features without cluttering the UI
4) Indie Pricing Rationale
- Map pricing to a single successful outcome
- Favor annual plans with a fair monthly option
- Use App Store subscriptions for sustainable updates
- Expect some pushback and stay the course
Links and resources