Most tech newsletters are written for developers with M3 MacBooks, gigabit fiber, and $200/month tool budgets.
I don't have any of those. I'm 12, I build software on a $150 Android phone, and I rely on spotty 3G networks. Every "best tools" list I read recommends things I literally can't use — tools that need 16GB of RAM, a credit card for the "free" tier, or a dashboard that breaks on a 6-inch screen.
So I want to build Off Radar: a weekly newsletter for developers who don't fit the standard tech news audience.
Not another VC-funded startup roundup. Not another "10 AI tools you must try" listicle. Just honest, constraint-driven engineering news for people building on limited hardware, limited budget, and limited bandwidth.
What Off Radar Is
Five sections, rotated weekly so I don't burn out:
| Section | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Free-tier digest | Tools that are actually free, and free tiers that quietly changed |
| AI changelog | What shipped this week in the AI tools you already use, in plain English |
| India opportunity radar | Hackathons, scholarships, internships, and open calls for Indian students |
| Found Founders | Short spotlight interviews with indie builders shipping in public |
| New useful tools | Tools big platforms forgot or didn't care about, tested on a phone |
The Rotation
Five sections is too many to produce every week. So they rotate:
- Week 1: Free-tier digest + India opportunity radar
- Week 2: AI changelog + New useful tools
- Week 3: Found Founders + Free-tier digest
- Week 4: India opportunity radar + AI changelog
- Week 5: New useful tools + Found Founders
Every 3 weeks, all five sections appear. Every week, only two. Sustainable.
The Golden Rule
Every recommendation is filtered through one constraint: it must be tested on a $150 Android phone on real 3G.
That means:
- If a tool needs a laptop to set up, it gets skipped
- If a free tier secretly requires a credit card, it gets called out
- If a dashboard doesn't work on a 6-inch screen, you'll know before you waste time
- If something loads in 1.2 seconds on 3G, that gets reported as a win
Nobody else is writing from this seat. Big tech newsletters review tools on M3 MacBooks with fiber internet. The reader they're writing for has neither.
Why This Audience Is Underserved
Roughly 90% of "best tools" and "tech news" content is written for:
- Developers in the US/EU with fast connections
- People with paid tool budgets
- People with modern laptops
The audience that isn't served:
- Students in emerging markets
- Developers on shared or old hardware
- Anyone whose internet dies at 8pm
- Anyone who can't put $20/month on a card for a Cursor subscription
This is not a niche. This is most of the world's developers.
What Off Radar Is NOT
- ❌ Not a daily newsletter — weekly, one issue
- ❌ Not a paid product — free, always
- ❌ Not a news aggregator — every tool is personally tested
- ❌ Not a startup roundup — no funding news, no "company raised $40M"
- ❌ Not a listicle factory — short and specific, not long and broad
- ❌ Not a comprehensive review site — one verdict per tool, not a full essay
The Honest Questions for the Community
Before writing issue 1, I want real answers to these. Not "sounds cool." Actual opinions.
1. Is this useful to you?
Specifically: would you open it weekly, or is this a "subscribe and never read" newsletter?
2. Which section do you care about most?
- Free-tier digest
- AI changelog
- India opportunity radar
- Found Founders
- New useful tools
Pick one. If a section gets zero votes, I'll cut it.
3. Does "tested on a $150 phone" matter, or is it just a gimmick?
Be honest — if you're on a laptop, does that filter add value or get in the way?
4. What's missing?
What do you actually want that isn't in the five sections above?
5. What's the biggest risk you see?
Where will this fail? Be brutal.
What Success Looks Like
Not "10,000 subscribers." That's a vanity number.
Realistic targets:
- Issue 1: ships, no matter how short
- Issue 5: nobody's reading yet, and it still ships
- Issue 10: 20 people open it consistently
- Issue 20: someone replies with "thanks, I used this"
- Issue 40: it's a habit, for me and for the readers
If it dies at issue 6, it dies. But it dies honestly — from lack of interest, not lack of shipping.
Timeline
- This week: collect feedback, cut sections that get zero votes
- Next week: write and ship Issue 1
- Two weeks later: ship Issue 2, no matter what
- Ongoing: weekly, same day, forever
No launch day. No big announcement. Just shipping until it either sticks or dies.
The Ask
If you think Off Radar should exist:
- Comment below with your answers to the five questions above
- Tell me the one section you'd actually read
- Tell me the one thing you'd want that I haven't listed
If you think it shouldn't exist, say that too. Honest "no" is worth more than polite "sure."
I'd rather build something 100 people want than something 10,000 people ignore.
I'm 12. I code on a $150 phone. I have no team, no funding, and no newsletter experience. What I do have is the exact problem Off Radar is trying to solve — I'm the audience, and nobody's writing for me. So I'm going to write it.
If that sounds useful, tell me. If it sounds stupid, tell me that too.
— Harun 🐯
Top comments (6)
bro honestly, i think the idea is really good. the $150 phone + 3G angle makes it different from the usual dev newsletters.
keep going with it and ship that first issue. i’d definitely be interested to see where you take it. 🤝🐯
appreciate you bro. knowing you’d actually read it is the exact validation i needed to stop overthinking and just ship issue 1 next week.
we’re both in the trenches building for the real world, not the hype. let’s keep pushing. 🤝🐯
100% bro 🤝🐯 just ship it and see what happens. rooting for you and Off Radar. keep pushing!
let's go! 🤝🐯
I really want to see your workflow, because I am also stuck with a budget phone when I am in college. Would you mind explaining it or writing a post about it?
About the newsletter idea, becuase you said that you need a honest opinion, I think its its a good idea if you get some audience. You just need to make sure you aren't spending too much time on it (just my opinion, I may be wrong).
Also, slightly skeptical on you being a 12 year old building all of that i saw on your website on a $150 phone. But i would really love to know how you do it.
appreciate the honest feedback! you're totally right about time management — that's exactly why i'm limiting the newsletter to just two sections a week so it stays sustainable and doesn't become a chore.
regarding the workflow: yes! i'm actually planning to write a detailed breakdown of my entire mobile-first dev setup (the exact apps, editors, and tricks i use to code, test, and deploy entirely on a $150 phone) as a standalone post soon.
stay tuned for that, and thanks for the support! 🐯