Jonny Burch

Breaking: news from Near Future towers this week. We're evolving again.

...straight after the Mostly Working Summit, a free whole morning event at Monzo in London. Think great firesides and round table discussion with up to 100 other designers. Check out mostlyworking(dot)co for more.

Breaking: news from Near Future towers this week. We're evolving again.

So we're turning Near Future into just our weekly podcast, and merging it with Tom and Simon's brilliant (and cutely named) monthly event series 'Mostly Working'. The name is also going. No more 'Near Future', just Mostly Working across the board.

Breaking: news from Near Future towers this week. We're evolving again.

We (my family) also moved back to London. It's funny what becomes clear only with a new perspective, but almost immediately I had an itch to go and work in a team - not lead one - for the first time in years.

Breaking: news from Near Future towers this week. We're evolving again.

Six months ago Tom and I decided to have a go at making Near Future (or Hack Weeks, as it was then known) into 'our main thing'. A new name, a new mission around enabling craft-focused teams to do amazing work. A new CRM (well, we built our own, obviously).

Just a few days left of early bird for our 'Build Your Own tools' AI workshop. As Tom and I speak to more design leaders at AI-forward companies, the pattern is clear. You need an internal tool-making capability.

They might be visual tools, but may also be tools to build and distribute skills and best practices, unlock consistency for both humans and agents and better collaborate with other teams.

Just a few days left of early bird for our 'Build Your Own tools' AI workshop. As Tom and I speak to more design leaders at AI-forward companies, the pattern is clear. You need an internal tool-making capability.

It's pretty easy to spot AI slop actually. It usually looks like 'too much'. Too much animation Too many words Too much code Too many pages Too much enthusiasm

Finally: Hack Weeks is evolving. This time last year Tom and I started running 4 day hack weeks for anyone that wanted to learn more about and build with AI. People learned. But so did we. We saw how not just individuals but whole teams needed support with this change.

• Focused build projects in partnership with internal teams • Working with leaders directly on their personal AI confidence • And yes, still those team workshops and hack days to get everyone up-skilling and feeling more confident.

Finally: Hack Weeks is evolving. This time last year Tom and I started running 4 day hack weeks for anyone that wanted to learn more about and build with AI. People learned. But so did we. We saw how not just individuals but whole teams needed support with this change.

We’re now looking for folks that need support with both practical and strategic aspects of their organisations into the AI era, whether for single session or a longer term relationship.

Finally: Hack Weeks is evolving. This time last year Tom and I started running 4 day hack weeks for anyone that wanted to learn more about and build with AI. People learned. But so did we. We saw how not just individuals but whole teams needed support with this change.

It became pretty clear in late 2025 that Hack Weeks didn't feel like the right name. So we've now updated our name to one that ties us less to hacking…in err, a week. However it took an embarrassingly long time to decide on a new one. But we got there. We're now 'Near Future'.

Finally: Hack Weeks is evolving. This time last year Tom and I started running 4 day hack weeks for anyone that wanted to learn more about and build with AI. People learned. But so did we. We saw how not just individuals but whole teams needed support with this change.

Found Up North is back! This time we're on a F.U.N day out on 27th April, working together for a whole day at Department Campfield, in the heart of Manchester.

​12:30: Lunch and demos/learn: ask questions of the group, practice a pitch, discuss shared challenges over lunch (we'll work out lunch options on the day) ​1:30-5pm: more co-working. We may organise some break outs on specific topics if there's appetite (if anyone wants to run one, just shout!)

Found Up North is back! This time we're on a F.U.N day out on 27th April, working together for a whole day at Department Campfield, in the heart of Manchester.

For northern tech founders, recovering founders and future founders building the foundations of the businesses right now, this is an opportunity to sit shoulder to shoulder, share our agentic workflows, GTM hacks and fundraising struggles and generally keep each other company as we work for the day.

Figma has ~90% market share today. And it's dying. Not because of a single 'Figma killer' (I don't believe one will exist), but because the category itself is dissolving.

We're seeing it already with tools like Pencil and Agentation. And it's just the start. The era of one monolithic design tool is ending. What comes next looks more like the developer ecosystem: hundreds of choices, open standards, composable tooling.

Figma has ~90% market share today. And it's dying. Not because of a single 'Figma killer' (I don't believe one will exist), but because the category itself is dissolving.

So what replaces Figma? Not another platform. Dependencies. Design tools are starting to look like NPM packages you install into your codebase.

Figma has ~90% market share today. And it's dying. Not because of a single 'Figma killer' (I don't believe one will exist), but because the category itself is dissolving.

I just launched a half caff coffee brand in under a week. Why? I like to have 4-5 cups of coffee a day. I like the ritual, and I don't like having to switch to tea.

The real work starts next year as I find out what the market’s like for this. But in the mean time I’d love to sling some beans this week.

I just launched a half caff coffee brand in under a week. Why? I like to have 4-5 cups of coffee a day. I like the ritual, and I don't like having to switch to tea.

Today: Coffee, packaging and other printed stuff arrived. Tasted (a lot), took (bad) pictures, asked Nano Banana for better ones. Website live.

I just launched a half caff coffee brand in under a week. Why? I like to have 4-5 cups of coffee a day. I like the ritual, and I don't like having to switch to tea.

The only problem was I had no name, no website, no brand, no packaging. No clue. Cue a monster sprint to pull together a coffee subscription business in 6 days to beat Christmas delivery. Here’s how it went. Weekend: started working on brand, look and feel. Worked with supplier on coffee.

I just launched a half caff coffee brand in under a week. Why? I like to have 4-5 cups of coffee a day. I like the ritual, and I don't like having to switch to tea.

But the mixing bowl technique wasn't going to work long term, and as I mentioned this to others I'd hear their stories of similar hacks. So began a journey of developing my own blend. A couple of months of very stop start - and ultimately no - progress.

I just launched a half caff coffee brand in under a week. Why? I like to have 4-5 cups of coffee a day. I like the ritual, and I don't like having to switch to tea.

But after the third cup things start getting weird, and if I have a coffee past about 2pm it affects my sleep. So I got to thinking, what if I could get a premium coffee hit without the full whack of caffeine? So a few months ago I started mixing half caff and half decaf. In a big bowl.

First thoughts on Atlas, the chatGPT browser. This really blurs the lines between web browsing and chatting, with shared conversation history across both. Makes me feel a bit funny — right now I'd rather a separation of church and state.