December 2, 2025 • 13 mins
In this new episode of Build, Create & Learn – A Maker’s Journey, I take a step back to rethink how I share my work — and return to a more honest, conversational format that feels closer to the way I actually build, experiment, and learn.
Over the past weeks, I’ve been working on a new hardware-hacking project called HakFabrik, exploring whether real demand exists for a dedicated IoT security training device. From shaping the first concept and building the landing page to setting up a simple signup flow, this episode captures the early stages of validating an idea before writing a single line of firmware.
Alongside that, I’ve been expanding my home lab with a dedicated malware and reverse-engineering environment, isolated through VLANs and Proxmox — a place to safely experiment, analyze code, and dive deeper into cybersecurity without risking my main systems.
And after nearly twenty years on macOS, I’m finally jumping into the world of Linux as my daily driver, preparing my new laptop for everything from hacking tools to future firmware development for HakFabrik.
This episode marks a small shift in Season 2 — away from rigid scripting and back toward documenting the real moments, discoveries, and missteps that make up a maker’s journey.
Thanks for listening, and for following along as this adventure continues to evolve.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Hey everybody, welcome back to Build, Create and Learn (00:00):
A Maker's s Journey.
This time I’m trying a new format, a lighter and more honest talking style version of the podcast and I hope you will like it.
(00:23):
I always wanted to share my projects and my progress of what I’m building.
But lately I felt that the podcast and the format I’ve chosen in the beginning was getting more and more into a show and I had to write a script, prepare everything for the video and it was feeling more like a cage than a companion on my makers journey.
(00:54):
Therefore I try to reflect and revisit the concept of how I do my podcast and this time I’m trying a new format.
I’m currently working on a new project, it’s called Hack Fabric and I started with the product evaluation to see if there is a user demand for it, if there is a market and if there is really a user pain point which this product can fulfill.
(01:38):
Since I work now as a product manager for many years I’m used to all the techniques and practices, how to evaluate product ideas which helped me also in my own ideas and projects.
So after doing the first evaluation, some gathering some information and research, competitive analysis and user exploration I started with the name and the landing page.
(02:14):
Because when you have a landing page you really understand the user interest in the product, if there is real demand for it and you, the most important is to get early customers which you can talk to.
Because only with real feedback from the users you understand if the product really fulfills the need and solves a problem for them.
(02:46):
Otherwise they may be like their dear but they are not willing to pay for it.
So the new project started with the name of the project which should combine manufacturing, hardware, education and of course hacking and penetration testing.
(03:09):
So this was my first step for the new project.
Then I started with the design, so I’ve built these kind of evaluation landing pages multiple times the last couple of years because this is always my first step of evaluation to bring this idea out into the world and see what the response is.
(03:33):
If people like this idea is there a market before committing to the code?
Because I also fell into the trap many times to start building and digging into the code, going into the technical rabbit holes but then after all understanding that there is no real market need and kind of wasted many, many days and hours on a project which nobody wants to purchase.
(04:04):
Therefore I, with more experience, I first create the landing page and with that I see how many people like this idea.
So I finished the design of the new landing page and the next step was to bring this website design into an HTML format too after website online.
(04:33):
So my goal was actually to bring the site not only into HTML but also into a static site generator so Hugu is my preferred choice for a static site generator to easily extend it then later on with a blog.
But the first step is bringing everything into HTML.
(04:56):
So I’ve done that and then the design was in responsive HTML and I converted these to the templates for the Hugu template language.
Then I was looking into the mail email marketing list and I used MailChimp in the past and other providers and this time I tried a new one.
(05:25):
It’s sender.net I think it was and first I started building in their own editor form which I could integrate into my landing page to capture the email addresses and get the email responses to the early adopters.
(05:48):
But this solution was not optimal because the editor online was really limiting in terms of the design and I had some ideas how it should look like and how it should work and then I decided to move into the API layer of this provider and build a little microservice which I deployed in the cloud where I kind of used an API key and this API I used then from the HTML page.
(06:24):
So the API I built contains all the secrets and all the little details to communicate with the API and the frontend just calls it and doesn’t have to store any secrets.
That’s the best and secure way how to do a little integration like that.
(06:45):
But this was fun just a small node service in the cloud very quickly deployed and then connected to the form on the website.
So yeah and I think since one week landing page is online so if you are interested and want to know more and also get some updates please check out the landing page and let me know what you think.
(07:22):
Last week I also took a closer look into my home lab as well.
So I was always very interested in how to reverse engineer certain types of code and have an environment which is safe to explore for example malware or viruses, dig into them and reverse engineer them but I always was afraid to do this purely in a virtual machine on my laptop.
(07:56):
I took an old Intel NUC and added it to my Proxmox cluster as a dedicated hacking lab and this was not as straightforward as it sounds because before you can add a new computer to a Proxmox cluster you have to follow certain rules that everything works as expected.
(08:22):
So first one is that every Proxmox instance or computer needs to have the same version and they also need to have pretty qualified domain names to be recognized in the network as well.
Then I noticed that the new version for the NUC was not the same as in my Proxmox main server therefore I had to first update the main server.
(08:53):
With the new cluster in place I could make up the new virtual machines in the hacking lab for the reverse engineering and everything started with setting up a VLAN in my switch to isolate the new virtual LAN from the home network and the home lab to have no kind of breaching internet connections into my home network.
(09:21):
This VLAN I used then in PFSTANs which is the dedicated router as a virtual machine and then started setting that up to block area external communication and just leave the internet connection in inwards but no outgoing communication.
(09:46):
So this kind of lab setup was always interesting to me to have a dedicated place to experiment and look into malicious code but without having any troubles of destroying my own network or getting infected on my own hardware.
(10:10):
But always curious to dig in how this software was written, how it structured, how it maybe communicates with an external server to phone back.
So I think this will be a nice place for experimentation.
(10:40):
For the last 20 years I almost always used Macbooks but always liked Linux as an operating system especially on the server when I first touched into penetration testing I immediately fall in love with Linux as an operating system.
(11:03):
But for the desktop the convenience of Apple products was always too intriguing to not have it but I think especially in the last couple of years the Linux desktop evolved a lot and so I took the leap and I ordered a new laptop with Linux and I will use this as my new daily driver as a hacking companion and for my new project Hack Fabric for programming and building all the firmware I’m planning to do.
(11:52):
So what are my next tasks for the Hack Fabric?
So on my to-do list is to get some first interview candidates to have 10-15 minutes and explore my idea in depth with them, see if this product really hits a pain point, a market gap and then maybe also present my first prototype to them to let them explore the product in first hand.
(12:23):
So I will do some market analysis, get some early adopters and start working also on my first prototype.
I actually was waiting for that for a couple of weeks now because I already have all the components and parts at home but I forced myself to wait until I have the landing page finished and only then I will start looking into the fun stuff of building a little hacking tool which I built the firmware and tinkering around to see if this will be a nice hacking device.
(13:08):
So that’s it for this episode, I hope you like this new conversational style and if you like it please leave a comment, subscribe or which also helps others to discover this show.
Thank you for following along and see you next time.
(13:31):
Let’s keep building, creating and learning together.
A Maker's s Journey.
This time I’m trying a new format, a lighter and more honest talking style version of the podcast and I hope you will like it.
(00:23):
I always wanted to share my projects and my progress of what I’m building.
But lately I felt that the podcast and the format I’ve chosen in the beginning was getting more and more into a show and I had to write a script, prepare everything for the video and it was feeling more like a cage than a companion on my makers journey.
(00:54):
Therefore I try to reflect and revisit the concept of how I do my podcast and this time I’m trying a new format.
I’m currently working on a new project, it’s called Hack Fabric and I started with the product evaluation to see if there is a user demand for it, if there is a market and if there is really a user pain point which this product can fulfill.
(01:38):
Since I work now as a product manager for many years I’m used to all the techniques and practices, how to evaluate product ideas which helped me also in my own ideas and projects.
So after doing the first evaluation, some gathering some information and research, competitive analysis and user exploration I started with the name and the landing page.
(02:14):
Because when you have a landing page you really understand the user interest in the product, if there is real demand for it and you, the most important is to get early customers which you can talk to.
Because only with real feedback from the users you understand if the product really fulfills the need and solves a problem for them.
(02:46):
Otherwise they may be like their dear but they are not willing to pay for it.
So the new project started with the name of the project which should combine manufacturing, hardware, education and of course hacking and penetration testing.
(03:09):
So this was my first step for the new project.
Then I started with the design, so I’ve built these kind of evaluation landing pages multiple times the last couple of years because this is always my first step of evaluation to bring this idea out into the world and see what the response is.
(03:33):
If people like this idea is there a market before committing to the code?
Because I also fell into the trap many times to start building and digging into the code, going into the technical rabbit holes but then after all understanding that there is no real market need and kind of wasted many, many days and hours on a project which nobody wants to purchase.
(04:04):
Therefore I, with more experience, I first create the landing page and with that I see how many people like this idea.
So I finished the design of the new landing page and the next step was to bring this website design into an HTML format too after website online.
(04:33):
So my goal was actually to bring the site not only into HTML but also into a static site generator so Hugu is my preferred choice for a static site generator to easily extend it then later on with a blog.
But the first step is bringing everything into HTML.
(04:56):
So I’ve done that and then the design was in responsive HTML and I converted these to the templates for the Hugu template language.
Then I was looking into the mail email marketing list and I used MailChimp in the past and other providers and this time I tried a new one.
(05:25):
It’s sender.net I think it was and first I started building in their own editor form which I could integrate into my landing page to capture the email addresses and get the email responses to the early adopters.
(05:48):
But this solution was not optimal because the editor online was really limiting in terms of the design and I had some ideas how it should look like and how it should work and then I decided to move into the API layer of this provider and build a little microservice which I deployed in the cloud where I kind of used an API key and this API I used then from the HTML page.
(06:24):
So the API I built contains all the secrets and all the little details to communicate with the API and the frontend just calls it and doesn’t have to store any secrets.
That’s the best and secure way how to do a little integration like that.
(06:45):
But this was fun just a small node service in the cloud very quickly deployed and then connected to the form on the website.
So yeah and I think since one week landing page is online so if you are interested and want to know more and also get some updates please check out the landing page and let me know what you think.
(07:22):
Last week I also took a closer look into my home lab as well.
So I was always very interested in how to reverse engineer certain types of code and have an environment which is safe to explore for example malware or viruses, dig into them and reverse engineer them but I always was afraid to do this purely in a virtual machine on my laptop.
(07:56):
I took an old Intel NUC and added it to my Proxmox cluster as a dedicated hacking lab and this was not as straightforward as it sounds because before you can add a new computer to a Proxmox cluster you have to follow certain rules that everything works as expected.
(08:22):
So first one is that every Proxmox instance or computer needs to have the same version and they also need to have pretty qualified domain names to be recognized in the network as well.
Then I noticed that the new version for the NUC was not the same as in my Proxmox main server therefore I had to first update the main server.
(08:53):
With the new cluster in place I could make up the new virtual machines in the hacking lab for the reverse engineering and everything started with setting up a VLAN in my switch to isolate the new virtual LAN from the home network and the home lab to have no kind of breaching internet connections into my home network.
(09:21):
This VLAN I used then in PFSTANs which is the dedicated router as a virtual machine and then started setting that up to block area external communication and just leave the internet connection in inwards but no outgoing communication.
(09:46):
So this kind of lab setup was always interesting to me to have a dedicated place to experiment and look into malicious code but without having any troubles of destroying my own network or getting infected on my own hardware.
(10:10):
But always curious to dig in how this software was written, how it structured, how it maybe communicates with an external server to phone back.
So I think this will be a nice place for experimentation.
(10:40):
For the last 20 years I almost always used Macbooks but always liked Linux as an operating system especially on the server when I first touched into penetration testing I immediately fall in love with Linux as an operating system.
(11:03):
But for the desktop the convenience of Apple products was always too intriguing to not have it but I think especially in the last couple of years the Linux desktop evolved a lot and so I took the leap and I ordered a new laptop with Linux and I will use this as my new daily driver as a hacking companion and for my new project Hack Fabric for programming and building all the firmware I’m planning to do.
(11:52):
So what are my next tasks for the Hack Fabric?
So on my to-do list is to get some first interview candidates to have 10-15 minutes and explore my idea in depth with them, see if this product really hits a pain point, a market gap and then maybe also present my first prototype to them to let them explore the product in first hand.
(12:23):
So I will do some market analysis, get some early adopters and start working also on my first prototype.
I actually was waiting for that for a couple of weeks now because I already have all the components and parts at home but I forced myself to wait until I have the landing page finished and only then I will start looking into the fun stuff of building a little hacking tool which I built the firmware and tinkering around to see if this will be a nice hacking device.
(13:08):
So that’s it for this episode, I hope you like this new conversational style and if you like it please leave a comment, subscribe or which also helps others to discover this show.
Thank you for following along and see you next time.
(13:31):
Let’s keep building, creating and learning together.
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