The Year of Limit Testing

I have a habit of giving each year a theme.
And this year was definitely what I’d call The Year of Limit Testing.

Fair warning before we go further. This won’t be our usual tech coverage piece. It’s more of a heart-to-heart update from me to you. You’ve been warned.

So why limit testing?

A quick browse across social media will tell you everyone’s struggling these days. But that’s not the reason behind this theme for us at SK NEXUS.

For me, limit testing came from the stuff I actively chose to take on. The things I said yes to even when they scared me. The parts of myself I realized I had outgrown.

Let’s talk about me personally first.
Hey, Saqib here. I don’t speak to you directly in notes or articles very often. Maybe that’s something I change in 2026.

At the end of 2024, I made a decision. I didn’t want to work solo anymore. I wanted to actually leverage people around me, share the load, and move bigger initiatives forward instead of carrying everything on my own shoulders. This year I pushed into that intention head-on.

Here’s where you can read about it →

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/saqibtahirpk_solo-to-notsolo-activity-7279837822952386560-soUL

It came with challenges. It also came with some nice successes.
And it forced me to learn that doing everything alone isn’t strength; it’s stubbornness.

On the business side, we’ve just wrapped our first full year. The team isn’t big enough to brag about (yet), but we still delivered some genuinely cool software and product work for clients.

One year later, with a mountain of lessons collected, I want 2026 to be the year we grow the business with more direction and a bit more confidence. This was the first time I felt like I wasn’t “figuring it out”, I was building something.

As part of that, I’m thinking about sharing more of the behind-the-scenes of running a product dev company here on this publication. I know it might “dilute” the content a bit, but realistically, I barely get the time to write. So maybe the off-topic stuff becomes worthwhile, especially if it helps people think better about product, process, and execution. You tell me. Would business-style insight pieces interest you?

(Feel free to check some of my past efforts over at https://therift.news/)

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Now let’s talk about this publication and the attached community.
This is where the biggest strides happened this year.

We’re almost 10 months into Substack. And we’ve hit some milestones I honestly didn’t expect this early.

We’re about to cross 400 subs.
Articles consistently cross 100+ reads within 3 days.
And for the first time, we’re seeing global engagement from people genuinely curious about tech from our side of the world.

Pretty awesome, innit?

When we moved to Substack, our biggest fear was that nobody would care. Who wants to read yet another “tech publication”?

Turns out the answer was simple: people don’t want another generic tech publication. They want someone to actually break things down in a way the average Bashir/Joe can understand and relate to.

That’s always been our lane. That’s the gap no one else bothers filling.

If someone wants the news, Verge, TechCrunch, and 404 Media exist. Amazing teams. Amazing journalism. But if you want perspectives grounded in lived experience, especially from Pakistan or similar contexts, we can give you a different flavor. Smaller scale. But unique. And honest.

The community side also grew beyond anything I expected.
We went from a tiny 20-person Discord to over 400 members.
Our monthly challenges hit real milestones and created actual accountability loops.
People aren’t just joining; they’re participating. They’re showing up even on days I couldn’t.

One peek at this, and you know that we are creating impact: https://thewanderingpro.com/testimonials/

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Back when SK NEXUS was just a seed in my head, the whole point was simple.

Use my experience, my exposure, my curiosity, and bring people together. For years I struggled to do that alone.

Now, with help, and with a small yet mighty community, it feels like nothing is out of reach. And for the first time in a long time, I feel like I’m not carrying the whole thing on my own back.

Looking ahead to 2026, I want us to double down on consistency. At our current size and pace, that’s the only thing that matters. Everything else will sort itself out later.

If you’re new here, here’s the reality.
SKN isn’t my income. It’s a passion project. And logistically, there’s only so far I can push it alone.

And no, I’m not the type to start charging anytime soon. I want this to stay accessible for anyone who wants to learn.

There are only two scenarios in which that changes:

1. AI screws us so hard that we’re forced to gate content for protection.

2. It becomes genuinely unsustainable for me to keep paying out of pocket to run this.

And trust me, if you are one of the very few who have actually supported us, every cup of coffee reinforces our will to keep this open for everyone for as long as possible. It reminds us that someone out there sees value in what we’re trying to build.

Because yes, I do pay the people who help me build this. Not much, but month after month, year after year, it adds up. And since we generate zero revenue from this, some days it feels heavy.

I’m not sharing this to guilt anyone. I’m sharing it because people often underestimate the passion behind this work.
We don’t write for money.
We write because it sharpens us.
Because the craft matters. Because the conversations matter.
Money we can earn elsewhere. This is bigger than that.

So what’s next -

A lot more of what I already am doing to be honest:

Helping more people start their careers by our efforts at The Wandering Pro
Guiding people with the nuance behind tech with our publishing work here at SK NEXUS
Getting founders into market with their products with our work at Biz of Dev

If I zoom out, we actually did a lot this year. More than I give myself credit for.
Now it’s just time to stick with these things longer. Stay consistent. Go deeper.

The systems are in place. The foundation is built.
What’s next is simply doing the work but with more clarity, more support, and more intention than before.

To end things off
I think 2026 is shaping up to be a year of growth.

In 2024, I was doing everything alone.
In 2025, I finally had people around me. We didn’t excel. But we survived.
In 2026, it’s time to build on that survival and aim for growth.

Would it have been nice to have more this year? Yes.
Would it have been nice to struggle less? Also yes.
But the biggest wins usually hide inside the smallest shifts in perspective.

And I hope you start noticing those in your own life too.

With or without my help – I wish you the best.