Built This Week – Episode 5
A Podcast by Ryz Labs
Featuring Sam Nadler & Jordan Metzner
Jordan Metzner:
I mean, it's been another whirlwind week and the new launches and new news… and, you know, Google shared their numbers yesterday and the numbers were just bonkers.
So why don't we jump into the tool of the week, which is the Mate tool. I believe I built it with Cursor and Supabase.
Sam Nadler:
Hey everyone and welcome to another episode of Built This Week—the podcast where we show what we're building, how we're building it, and what it means for the world of AI and startups.
I'm Sam Nadler, the co-founder of Ryz Labs, and I'm joined by my business partner, my co-host, and my friend Jordan Metzner.
How are you doing today, Jordan?
Jordan Metzner:
Hey Sam, how's it going? Glad to be back here for episode five. Things are getting more and more exciting each week.
Sam Nadler:
Exactly. So, as always, we're going to cover the tool we built and are using internally. This one is more of just a fun tool and a culture tool. And I'm really excited to talk about it—it's called Mate.
And then finally, as always, we're going to talk about the latest AI news.
Anything top of mind before we jump into the Ryz Labs tool of the week?
Jordan Metzner:
I mean, it's been another whirlwind week—new launches and new news. It has been nonstop movement in the AI space.
Here we are in the middle of summer, and it doesn't seem like things are slowing down—if anything, they’re speeding up.
Sam Nadler:
Yeah. Exciting space. So why don't we jump into the tool of the week, which is the Mate tool.
Why did we build it? How was it built? And how do we use it?
Jordan Metzner:
Maybe we should tell people who may not know—Mate is an Argentinean tea drink that’s commonly shared among friends in Argentina, Uruguay, even Brazil.
So that’s one reason we named the app Mate.
Spelled in English, it’s “mate,” which is Australian for “friend.”
That’s why the app has that name.
So, background: Ryz Labs has a lot of folks working remotely, and most people don’t get to see each other every day.
At Amazon, they had a really robust phone book tool—helped you see who was on your team, who your manager was, all the way up to Jeff Bezos. It even allowed you to join communities, add badges, and track interests. It ended up being a huge culture-building tool.
I always wanted to build a phone book-type app for our company.
We were too small at first, and then it just wasn’t a priority. But with AI, I was able to build the whole thing in just a few days over a weekend.
It’s not a hard app to build—it’s not overly complicated. I built it with Cursor and Supabase. This is something most companies can do. Could even be a product.
As we move into the AI age, it’s definitely a buildable tool for any org.
Sam Nadler:
Before we jump into it—why do you think it’s important to have a company phone book?
Jordan Metzner:
For us? Culture is important. We're fully remote, so we’re always looking for ways to create connection.
In a previous job, we had something called The Family Tree. It wasn’t a phone directory, but it served a similar purpose—it helped you learn more about teammates.
Mate does that. It lets you share pictures, shows when you started (your tenure), lists interests.
So maybe there’s a chance to bond over your favorite football team or music group.
It helps teammates be individuals and learn about one another.
Sam Nadler:
Cool. Let’s jump into it. I’ll start with my profile page.
Want to walk through it?
Jordan Metzner:
Sure. When you open the app, it loads your individual profile.
We're seeing your profile pic here. And badges—these are from the Ryz Labs off-sites. You’ve got three listed.
You can see your interests here, and other teammates can join them.
Not sure how many people are in each, but there’s Bitcoin—three people. Yoga. Surfing—more than I expected.
And then we created clubs too. That one was guitar surfing, I think?
Some clubs aren’t very populated yet, but we should probably improve engagement.
You’re in the running one too. And let’s see… oh yeah! The dog one. That one has a lot of people.
And Boca Juniors—famous soccer team—got a few there too.
This is my profile—you can see my interests.
At the bottom, I’ve shared pictures of my two daughters and my puppy.
Again, it’s not revolutionary, but it’s a simple tool that anyone can create.
You don’t need to be very technical. It’s been live for a few months, and people are using it.
Especially helpful for new teammates. They can learn about who we are and how we connect.
Sam Nadler:
Yeah. Especially useful for people just joining who don’t know anyone yet.
They can bond with others over shared interests. It’s been a really special tool.
Jordan Metzner:
There are pictures of my dogs and my wife on mine.
The tool lets people connect. We’ve got badges, clubs, teams—even for some of our clients.
Over time, we’ll improve the experience even more. But even now, it’s useful.
Having a phone book or family tree—or Mate—is just a great thing to have.
Sam Nadler:
Let’s check out other features. Like search.
Let’s search “Sam Nadler.” There I am. So I can find myself or anyone else who works with us.
And that’s a quick overview of how the Mate app works.
What do you think?
Jordan Metzner:
To wrap it up—how did you build it?
Sam Nadler:
I used Bolt New to build the front end—just to scaffold things like the sidebar and layout.
We built it a while ago, so it could use some design updates.
Then I used Cursor with Supabase. Everything is stored in Supabase—it’s our database of record.
Bolt integrates with Supabase, and you can finish the app in Cursor.
We’re also using Supabase for features like search and authentication.
It’s all there. Easy to build.
Jordan Metzner:
Cool. It’s been a great tool for us. I like highlighting Mate because I think any leader—technical or not—can build something like this in a weekend.
It’s a fun, cultural tool for your team.
Sam Nadler:
Totally. You start seeing photos of dogs, cats—you start learning about your coworkers beyond the daily meetings.
Sam Nadler:
Built This Week is recorded online.
Important parts of this episode were lost due to a Starlink connection going down.
Sam Nadler:
Let’s go to the last story of the day.
Google released their numbers yesterday—and they were bonkers.
Gemini now has over 450 million monthly active users and growing.
OpenAI is still the leader, but Google is catching up.
There’s clearly massive demand for consumer AI.
Over 50 million people are using AI-powered meeting notes in Google Meet. That’s just wild.
It shows Google’s reach. Once they roll out AI to users, adoption explodes.
What do you think?
Jordan Metzner:
Yeah, Google’s growth is wild. Not long ago, they were in last place—now they’re #2 or #3.
We talked about a tool called Granola in our first episode—it does AI meeting notes.
Now Google built the same thing into Meet, and 50 million people are using it.
You and I are AI-forward, and I don’t even think I’ve used it!
Jordan Metzner:
Google has more ways to get AI in front of users—Docs, Gmail, Search—than OpenAI.
OpenAI relies on users being more intentional.
Sam Nadler:
That’s what makes Meta interesting too.
They’re behind right now, but once they roll out AI into Instagram or WhatsApp, boom—massive adoption.
Jordan Metzner:
Exactly. If Google keeps building high-quality tools and baking AI into everything, adoption will only grow.
Sam Nadler:
Thanks Jordan—great episode. We covered our internal culture tool Mateand the latest AI news.
Jordan Metzner:
Yeah. Awesome episode five. It's the middle of summer and AI is heating up.
Going into fall, things are going to get even crazier.
We’re seeing moves from Google, Oracle, Meta, OpenAI—big announcements, chip demand skyrocketing…
And the race for #1 AI company is far from over.
Sam Nadler:
Thanks everyone!
Next week, we’ll have another episode of Built This Week.
Like, subscribe, and listen to us wherever you get your podcasts.
Have a great week.
Sam Nadler:
Built This Week. Breaking it down.
We show you how a fresh AI be a clever tweet you like.
What did you build this week?
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