This is a counter I created in my website orlandopedro.com that measures live how much cost I’m saving by building my own stuff.

A reverse money saving machine 3d software printer thanks to AI.

None of them are bad products, but the only reason why websites builders existed is because coding a website used to be hard. That’s gone. And this can prove it.

So to me website builders (and no-code tools) are Dead really dead, but they might not know it yet. Framer, Webflow, Squarespace, Wix, game over.

Here’s what the market actually looks like right now.

I think I can take it to $20,000/yr by the end of the year expanding to more subscriptions and products. Not only personally but extending this to the projects that I have that are 🔥🔥🔥🔥.

And I will keep building this mini-guide on how to do it.

Goes without saying that if we apply this kind of "replacement logic” to a company, a team, etc the gains are exponential, form a couple of hundred to millions.

One Webflow site of mine with with a one seat workspace runs over $1,000/year. Wix Business Elite is nearly $2,000. Add a Squarespace site and a Framer site with one editor and you’re at €2,500+ before you’ve shipped anything.

We’re paying for a UI that builds a website for you because we couldn’t. Now we can. Or more accurately, Claude can, and we’re driving.

That’s the whole thing. Technology has to be invisible to the user.

Those tools made themselves very visible, expensive, and in the way, to solve a “user can’t code issue”.

The new stack disappears, now we don’t need to code, just talk.

What you need

5 things, assuming you already own a domain.

• Free GitHub account sign up, done. Free forever for what we’re doing.

• Free Cloudflare or Vercel account. Free tiers.

• A subscription to any AI service. I recommend Claude, because we will use Claude Design for this

• Visual Studio Code installed on your computer

• Claude Code installed in your VS Code (super easy, Google it, takes 2 minutes)

  • Open VS Code, go to extensions, search “Claude,” install. Authenticate with your Claude account.

If any step trips you up, paste it into Claude and ask for help. It will walk you through it.

The recipe: 14 easy steps

Today you can use this exact 14 easy steps recipe to build and deploy any website for free. This will remain true for 99% of the use cases, and it’s free to deploy, free to maintain, the only cost for now will be the payment for the domain renewal.

And to be honest, I haven’t looked into that yet, but with $2,000/yr in domain renewal that’s next.

1. Find inspiration on Pinterest

I think 5 images is enough (or your own website). Search “e.g website landing,” “UX UI design,” “personal site,” whatever fits your vibe. Save them.

2. Use AI to research yourself

Open Claude (or any AI). Feed it everything about you or your brand or whatever. LinkedIn, projects, what you do, sell etc. Then ask:

You’ll get a clean markdown file with sections and text written in your voice. Save it.

3. Turn the inspiration into instructions

Paste your 5 Pinterest images into the same chat. Ask:

You now have a design brief.

4. Generate visual alternatives

Go to Claude Design. Paste the MD file and the design brief. Ask for 5 completely different visual alternatives. Let it cook.

5. Pick one and lock it

Choose the version you like. Ask Claude Design

6. Get the handover files

Ask Claude Design to give you the full handover for Claude Code. Decompress the files. Save them all in one folder on your computer.

7. Open in VS Code

Open VS Code, open the folder. Ask Claude Code:

(Astro because static + SEO + zero JS overhead. Same recipe works with Next or plain HTML if you don’t care about a framework.) « if you don’t get this is ok, paste to any Ai to guide you

Then wait and wait. It will scaffold(build) the project, write the code, install dependencies.

8. Run it locally

When it’s done, ask:

Or just “npm run dev” in a terminal. It will give you a local URL like `http://localhost:5555`. Open it. Look at your site. Make sure it’s right.

9. Create a GitHub repo

Go to GitHub, create a new repository, set it to private. Name it whatever.

10. Sync to GitHub

Back in VS Code, ask Claude Code to sync the project to GitHub. It will guide you through auth, give it access, that’s it.

11. Finish the first deployment

Say yes to everything Claude asks. Don’t worry about branches or pull requests yet. Just get the first version up.

12. Create a Cloudflare Pages project

Open Cloudflare. Create a new Pages project. Connect it to your GitHub repo. If you get stuck, paste this whole post into ChatGPT or Claude and ask it to guide you. It will, click by click.

13. Point your domain

Update your DNS records to point your domain at Cloudflare. Two minutes.

If you don’t know how, paste this into any AI and it will walk you through it for your specific registrar. Paste this

14. You’re live

Once DNS propagates, your site is live. For $0/year. Forever(*), as long as you stay on the free tiers, which you will.

*Cloudflare has a free tier with 100K visits per day. They might change this in the future.

What you(me) actually gained

I created a counter in my own website orlandopedro.com with all the saving so far:

• ~$6,000/yr back and counting

• Full ownership of your code, your site, your data

• No platform telling you what discovery policy applies to you

• No CMS lock-in

• Faster site, better SEO, because it’s static

• Anyone can do this in a weekend

The old way is dead. The future is in our hands now, it’s up to us to see how far we can take these tools

If you haven’t heard about “AI slop” by now, I would be very concerned. You might have your head under the sand.

There’s a tsunami coming our way as professionals. Whether we like it or not, finance, legal, design, engineering, medicine a year from now a massive part of our commodity will be gone.

For many it’s easier calling it slop and fighting it.

The other day I posted on Reddit (- yes, that awful place to post I know - ) about something I “discovered” can improve site visibility and AI discoverability.

The “technical experts” on that thread, called me a few things. From caveman to things I can’t replicate in text. But I understood them. It’s all coming from a very personal space. In a not too distant past, their well earned knowledge was the biggest commodity.

Now anyone can do or lean in one day what took them years.

That’s completely gone. AI is producing outcomes for non-technical people that were impossible a few years ago.

But the quality some might say, it’s “slop” some other might say.

Yes, 100% but it’s my freaking AI slop. I did that. Jorge from the grocery store created his own landing page, for near nothing. Martha creating a portal for her poetry students because she couldn’t afford Slack, or Mighty.

The list is long. Normal people are getting supercharged by AI.

The results for experts are not perfect, not even near perfect. But for 99% of the use cases, and for 99% of the population, the results are pristine.

On top of that we are seeing the rise of hardware and Ai where models are accelerating the pace in which hardware is designed and put out there.

Schematik the “Cursor for hardware” by Samuel Beek recently raised a whopping 4.6M EUR round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with Puzzle Ventures.

Hardware is hot now and it’s receiving a lot of attention.

Rising tide lifts all boats

I don’t think many understand that if a website has the “wrong” spacing or uses too many Lucida icons. Most users will never notice. Maybe if you are a big brand or startup that will look unpolished, but who gives two actual dimes. The key of the matter is that AI is radically changing the way non technical people in many fields can now develop something and acquire new knowledge in the process.

It will remain true that a field professional using AI will be 10x more productive, but that’s not the point. Or maybe that’s actually the point.

There’s a very uncomfortable truth, we can whine all we want but it’s here. I worked in finance all my life, Excel has been my longest relationship. I’m used to it, to work, formulas, complex chains that sometimes we had to write down on paper to get the formula just right. I remember when we had a “Hey! let’s use INDEX here” at EY.

Those days are gone. The fact that this is not yet a thing in every company across the planet, every professional and finance department is concerning. It’s a tsunami of change. Thousands of jobs that are today repetitive tasks will completely evaporate. And not in 10 years, but now.

This chart by Anthropic shows the jobs AI could potentially replace and the gap we have in others that might soon be tackled by robotics.

The moment a top exec realizes they can cut overheads by ~50% just by removing “friction”, it’s game over.

Maybe they see it now, but the PR cost is too high. They’ll let others take the initiative and then piggyback the layoffs.

Most industries were protected by friction in the past. Years of accumulated knowledge. Expensive tools. Gatekeeping. Specialized language. Access.

This applies to every aspect of work. Legora leading the way in legal for example, and for those who understand what’s in play here, will know that most of the legal work is redline, drafting, mailing and time consuming tasks that add close to zero value to the legal expertise required. Strategy.

And “good enough” destroys markets faster than excellence.

A lot of professionals are reacting understandably very emotionally to this. Calling everything AI touches “slop.” Mocking it in so many ways. Or being completely dismissive about it. Acting as if the current quality level is the final form.

But technology compounds. Fast.

Some people compare today’s AI output against maybe senior experts with 15 years of experience. But what they fail to see is that this output took less than 5 minutes to produce.

Let’s take Claude Co-work as example. This can produce any document that would take a team a week plus to build. This machine can read documents and complete documentation tasks in minutes. It can audit tremendous amounts of data in seconds.

One of the founders I worked for a few years ago found a formula error in one of my models. The guy ex investment banker couldn’t deal with the fact that one formula in 19,000 formulas that file had was “incorrect”, meaning just pointing at an empty cell.

He asked me to never again have an error in my files. And I remember telling him. “I understand, my promise is that I WILL have many more in the future, it’s not humanly possible for a single person to always audit 19K formulas, controls will be put in place, but it’s a certainty it will fail at some point?

Fast forward to today with AI I would have stated “this won’t happen again” and I would be 99.99% sure.

The market compares it against cost, speed, and convenience.

Claude Design appeared a month ago, now this tool allows me to iterate in design as non designer faster, and produce top quality work indistinguishable by most from a $20,000 website or product.

So the scary part is not AI replacing the top 1% of us who know how to talk to AI, what and how to ask AI.

The scary part is what happens to everyone in the middle whose value came from producing competent, repeatable work. And most people are not even self-aware of what’s going on. Trust me, ask around you if you’ve read this far. Help them wake up so they can be prepared, there’s still time.

AI is changing our identity as professionals. At the end to me the professionals who survive won't be the ones screaming 'AI slop' the loudest. They'll be the ones working with AI to create AI Super-Slop.

This isn't just about our jobs anymore. It's about our identity.

White-collar jobs, creative jobs, gone, or soon to be gone. Arguably, bottom-line positions are now being replaced by Ai. In every sector, from legal, finance, to customer support, marketing, medical you name it.

And I know this sounds dramatic You might be thinking “here we go, another Ai doom article” but hear me out, because this one is different.

I’m not writing this to scare anyone. I’m writing this because I care, and because I believe preparation will give many a competitive advantage.

The Window Is Still Open. But It’s Closing Fast. There’s no time like today

Right now the barrier to entry is high. Claude Code is incredible, but 99.99% of the population has never heard of it. Same as the now “popular” OpenClaw/Clawdbot. At best 10% of those who know about it actually try to install it. And less than that get anything meaningful from it. So the gap, the opportunity, is right here. Right now. But the window is closing fast.

Think of it this way. In 2007 when the iPhone came out, the people who immediately jumped on app development made bank.

The people said “that’s a toy, it’ll never replace my BlackBerry” (lol). Those phones are not around anymore.

I remember the moment I saw the iPhone nothing else mattered.

Same thing is happening right now with Ai. The ones who are learning, experimenting, breaking things, “talking to the machine”, those are the ones who will be technically fine.

Not because they will not lose their jobs, they will. I will at some point be replaced by a super sentient CFO superstar (not yet though).

The ones scrolling past this article thinking “not my problem” are the ones I’m actually worried about. Or that they willingly put their heads into the sand. As it might have big unintended social repercussions.

The tools are here. They’re powerful. And most people don’t even know they exist. And I’m not even talking about engineering or coding.

It will come, fast, from one week to the next.

“It’s Not Ai That Will Take Your Job, it’s the person using Ai” I disagree

Here’s the thing that most people get wrong. It’s not the Ai companies or the next models that will leave you out of a job. Will be someone trying to solve someone else’s problem, creating an Ai tool that will swipe an entire role from the face of the earth from one day to the next.

OpenClaw released a few weeks ago, and it’s already cloning tasks that at least PAs used to do, by just taking control of a computer. We’ve seen examples and use cases in customer service, support, sales (powered with voice) administration, and so on.

The result? better Ai tools are breakthroughs, and as the indirect consequence of any breakthrough, things run more effectively (aka displacement+layoffs).

As someone that is heads (feet and toes)-on in Ai, trying everything daily literally, I can not only see the impact of acceleration, I can feel it. Every week the tools get better. I can’t keep up.

Every month the gap between what Ai can do and what most people do at work gets smaller. As more of us try and experiment. And the scary part is not the technology itself.

It’s how fast it’s moving while most people are standing still, looking at their phones, waiting to be woken up by Keanu Reeves as an angel.

Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, said that “Ai could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs and spike unemployment to 10-20% within the next one to five years”.

This is coming from the company behind Claude, who just raised $30 billion in Series G at a $380 billion post-money valuation 🤯🤯🤯 (that number feels a bit pornographic at this point if you ask me),

This is not some random blogger, this is the CEO of one of the most advanced Ai companies on the planet. And he’s basically telling you, point blank, that this is coming by his own doing.

It’s like the guy making the bomb telling you it’s gonna drop it over your house next June. We should probably listen.

Ai will “replace literally half of all white-collar workers.” It’s already happening, slowly and accelerating. Marc Benioff from Salesforce? He’s already done it, cutting 4,000 customer service roles because Ai handles 50% of their interactions now. Microsoft cut 15,000 jobs. Amazon eliminated 14,000 corporate roles a few weeks ago.

These are not predictions anymore folks. These are early calls.

I’m a lawyer, I’m an auditor, an analyst, CFO - Legal & Finance, we are next.

Let’s start with the one everybody thinks is untouchable. Law, Finance, Operations.

Some random Oxford study gave paralegals and legal assistants a 94% probability of being “computerized”. Ninety freaking four percent. Ai tools are already reviewing thousands of documents in hours, something that used to take teams of paralegals weeks.

I use it every time, have 3 agents running to check a document, other to edit, and one to check/proofread it following my commands, given via voice on the phone.

Legal research? Ai scans entire databases of case law, statutes, and precedents faster than any team could dream of. I can bet more than 50% of the contracts you’ve signed in the past year are 100% Ai.

Lawyers are important to spot the legality and nuances of those documents, to capture what a machine can. This is a super relevant part of their job, if not the most crucial. Can’t be automated, it’s human.

Same for finance. But down there, on the day to day it’s not the same.

I think it was someone at Goldman Sachs that said that generative Ai could replace up to 44% of the legal profession. And it’s not just paralegals. Junior associates at big law firms, the ones doing the grunt work of document review, due diligence, basic drafting, that’s all subject to Ai agentic automation now.

The entire business model of “hire cheap juniors, bill them at $300 an hour, and have them do repetitive work” will collapse. Same for auditors, junior accountants, etc.

This is to me concerning because Ai will eliminate those jobs you need to do early on to get the experience you need for bigger jobs. It’s cutting the bridge we all crossed in our careers at some point. The entry level roles will be gone.

In finance it’s the same story. I don’t know how much of this is true but I’ve heard that JPM managers have been told to avoid hiring people, while the firm deploys Ai across its businesses.

Goldman CEO David Solomon is “taking a front-to-back view” of how to organize people, with Ai at the center. Loan processing automation is expected to go from 35% today to 80% by 2030.

And around 200,000 jobs on Wall Street are expected to be cut in the next 3 to 5 yrs according to that article as well. And this is just the US, EU policy is more fragmented on this.

Marketing and Customer Support! Yes please! where it gets real, really fast.

Not that it’s a great example of a company. But Salesforce went from 9,000 customer support employees to 5,000. In months. Not years, months. CEO Marc Benioff said it on a podcast like he was talking about the weather. “I need less heads.”

Brutal, yes, but so many high up are thinking the same but waiting for others to break the stigma.

Elon bought X with an insane amount of employees, now it’s running with a fraction of the workforce and being super open on how he plans to use xAi and Grok to further that.

Klarna is even more “interesting”. They went full Ai, I think they replaced the work of 700 customer service employees, bragged about saving $10 million on marketing by outsourcing translation, art production, and data analysis to generative Ai.

And then? They had to re-hire humans back. In an interview they admitted “we went too far.” Customer satisfaction dropped, quality tanked. Because it turns out people still want to talk to people at some point, especially when something goes wrong with their money.

But here’s what nobody is talking about. Klarna’s failure wasn’t a failure of Ai. It was a failure of implementation, a bit careless if you ask me. Especially because the technology is not right there yet.

The next company that does it right won’t need to hire anyone back. And that company might already exist.

In marketing, the data I see is brutal. Old story but BlueFocus, a major agency, terminated its entire human content creation workforce in 2024. Not downsized, terminated. Fully and indefinitely.

Marketing agencies are using Ai at their core, and it’s accelerating their offer, speed and cost. This is the same for the internal departments.

Take me for example. I’m focusing my antennas to learn how to create a content machine with Ai for who knows how many things I’ve created at this point. My focus on “creating” made me neglect the “selling” aspect of it. So now I’m turning to Ai to create a machine of organic content, TikTok and Meta ads.

Some Big Four today say they’ve cut graduate recruitment by 29-33% because Ai automates junior tasks. I used to work for a “Big Four”, there I had to build one of the service lines from the ground up. If I were to do the same today, I’ll do most of the heavy lifting with Ai.

The bottom rungs of the career ladder? They’re being removed. And nobody is building new ones fast enough.

Medicine, my favourite topic. This is where I hope for more advancement

In healthcare, some say medical transcription is already 99% automated with little human intervention. A job that millions of people trained for, studied for, built entire careers around, is now done by a machine with 99% automation.

Radiology, one of the highest-paid specialties in medicine, is seeing Ai that can read scans faster and, in many cases, more accurately than human radiologists. Same for early detection tools skin and hopefully cancer.

More and more Ai is entering the field head-on. Ai has capabilities that no amount of human experience could develop in a lifetime. It can analyze patterns across millions of cases in seconds, not just a few years of human experience and maybe a couple of thousand cases.

The support staff, the administrative backbone of healthcare, that’s already being replaced.

Ai can help revolutionise not only preventive care, but help us build solutions faster. We already saw what this looks like with Google DeepMind and AlphaFold. This is an Ai system that “can predict the 3D structure of proteins directly from their amino acid sequence” I won’t pretend that I get what that means, but I know this used to take who knows how much lab work time, trial and error, and error, and error. Plus enormous amount of capital.

Today, its predictions cover millions of proteins and are being used worldwide to accelerate drug discovery and disease research.

That is not incremental improvement. That’s a leap.

Arts and Creation. You know, those things we thought were ours.

This one hurts the most because it hits closest to home. I’m someone who creates, who writes, who builds things, and also as someone who lives together with a creative partner, curious mind, an artist, an author, illustrator, architect and designer.

Ai is far from perfect. But now, GenAi can not only make Will Smith eat spaghetti, but it will make you believe he actually does. Only in a few years, we went from A to B.

Ai can generate images that would take a designer hours in seconds. It can write marketing copy, blog posts, social media content. I’m not arguing the quality of the content, but how it’s made.

It can compose music, design logos and create videos. Seedance 2.0 was released a few days ago and what this monster can do is terrible. You don’t like the ending of Stranger Things, you’ll be soon able to change it. I will rewrite the Lost finale to be just Jack’s Ayahuasca dream in Peru.

And yes, before you say “but it doesn’t have soul” or “real art requires human emotion,” you’re 100% right. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: most creative work in the commercial world isn’t about soul. It’s about output speed, consistency, and cost.

This is already a problem, I talk to artists weekly, a lot in our circle, and the impact of Ai can be seen, and felt all over. There’s less work all around. Big companies are still using creatives for most, big editorials and publishing houses as well. But for how long.

The creators who will survive and thrive are the ones who use Ai as a tool to amplify their creative vision, not the ones who pretend it doesn’t exist. The ones who can direct Ai, curate its output, add the human layer of taste, emotions and judgment, those are the ones who will be in a way, “ok.”

So What Do You Do? What’s the plan?How to be prepared and comfortable.

Some data shows that in 2025 alone, nearly 55,000 job cuts were directly attributed to Ai, out of over 1 million total layoffs, the highest since the pandemic. And to me we’re just getting started.

But here’s the thing. Every major technological shift in history has had this effect.

The printing press killed the scribes but created an entire publishing industry. The internet killed travel agencies but created the entire digital economy. Ai will kill a lot of jobs. But it will also create opportunities that we can’t even imagine yet.

Ai will create new tools, new ways to approach issues and solve them. My prediction is that people will be displaced into two major buckets. Entrepreneurship and entertainment (or a hybrid).

Start working on your craft, your side-hustle, your idea. That thing you had in the back of your head, you never made a reality. Self-starters and entrepreneurs will have the advantage, especially if starting early. Today there’s basically nothing that can’t be done either with Ai or with every tool we have at our disposal. From an Etsy shop, to a complex mobile application to match parrots.

If that does not work, entertainment is the other big thing. The attention economy will be bigger than it is today. Is not late to start a podcast, a TikTok, Instagram even a Facebook page to share who you are, what you know, what you love, etc. New opportunities arise every day. It’s not late, it requires consistency. Start today and in two to five years even less it will be your source of income.

Just show up every day with your unique whatever it is.

Start using Ai tools, all of them even if they don’t apply to you. You think VibeCoding does not apply to you, your sister, father, brother or mother. You are wrong.

If you were to lose weight, you should start today, not on Monday, you don’t wait for planetary alignments. Today. Not tomorrow, not next week, today.

Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Lovable, Clawdbot, whatever tool makes sense for your work. Get your hands into the dirt. Break things, stop Netflix binge-watching. Build stuff, break stuff. Learn what these tools can and cannot do.

Because the person who will take your job is not a robot or Ai.

*If you enjoyed this, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Not to scare them, but to prepare them. The window is open, but it’s closing fast.*

Think of BookTale as Vinted for second hand books meets Patreon + Goodreads.

Yes, 101% made BookTale Vibe Coding (with Lovable), just me, +3000 Ai credits and a few hours of code playing during afternoons, nights and weekends. Some people play music or do sports to relax, and decompress, my thing is to write and create stuff. My healthy creative outlet as neurodiverse to deal with stuff has been and always will be creating stuff. Feels good, fills me up, makes me better.

So I created BookTale this for my wife actually, she is a biiiiiiig book reader. She wanted some place where she can create a bookclub, sell her books and buy/exchange second hand books, and find out what others are reading, follow people. All of that in a non-chunky way.

I have a taxing day job, but during some afternoon/nights and weekends I've been LoveCoding (I'll coin the term if I'm first). It’s in Beta, but anyone can join and create an account.

With BookTale the social element is key. Anyone can follow people, join book clubs, and share what you’re reading with a community that lives and breathes stories. Built for readers who want more than just a place to buy or sell books.

Anyone’s profile becomes your bookshelf, your space to connect, and your way to pass on second-hand books to readers all over the world.

• Who is it BookTale for?

  • Readres: You and I, normal readers that want to have a social experience, the same way we used to in our neighborhood library.

  • Authors: I have designed dedicated features for authors that want to have a nice place to chat with their audiences, either selling signed copies or their books or creating a private or public book clubs.

  • Small Libraries: this can be for small libraries a small social place where they can reach to new audiences, new channels for their books. It’s free to use, it’s free to sell and create book clubs.

  • Creators & Influences: any book YouTuber, Influencer, book personalities that want to connect with their audiences directly, with a tool that’s free, cost them nothing and they can earh with their communities. No matter if they have one or 10M followers. If they love books, then BookTale is the place for them.

  • Book Communities: BookTale is social first, so any book community is welcome to use it no matter the size, ar the book is about. Generally most topics unless controversial or bad will be allowed. No super adult content though.

• Core Features:

  • Mobile First: this is completely design to work amazing on Mobile. Soon I'll be putting this one in the Apple Store and Google Play Store. They are in React so good.

  • Social First: I created BookTale to be social first, a social experience for book readers and the communities. Here you can follow people, talk to them, and interact with Book Clubs. And more features to come.

    • See mine → booktale.co/orlandopedro (in beta, it's free to play around).

  • People can Earn just by Reading: Book Clubs can be created by anyone, there are those who might want to create a free book club, or a paid book clubs where readers can subscribe to interact. Paid Book Clubs work like a Patreon page with a monthly subscription, any reader can join. This is especially valuable for creators or communities that want to monetize their passion. Like BookTokers, Influencers or YouTubers, and doin it in a simple and shable way

    • See mine → https://booktale.co/orlandopedro/bookclub/hitchhiker (it's free to join)

  • Sell and Buy Second Hand Books: there's no reason why we have to accumulate books after we read them, better find a new home. BookTale is dedicated marketpalce for second hand books, for people that love reading. Sellers get 100% of the book sale, we don't take any commission from the seller at all (*minor Stripe charges might apply)

    • Normal People: With my wife we sell (and buy) a lot of books, second hand, we use Vinted, Wallapop, eBay, or Marktplaats etc. We can find new second hand reads and find new home for ours, and make a buck in the process

    • Creators & Influencers: they can point their audiences directly to their personal bookstores, in their profiles. There’s no leakage, their communities can buy their books directly form them

    • Authors & Small Libraries; that want to find new ways to interact with their readers and customers. Authors can sell directly special copies, and small libraries can have a simple to share online bookstore for second hand books.

  

  • Create and Join Book Clubs: book clubs are the backbone of the social element, this is design to work pretty much as a Patreon Page but simple, easy to use and to the point. In the clubs you can create them on the go, post polls or chapters, posts, Events and more features soon.

Motto "Because reading is better together" With BookTale, books don’t just sit on shelves piling and getting a thin layer of dust. Books have to move, they spark conversations, they bring people closer. Swap notes, dive into discussions, and join book clubs that feel like home.

Whether it’s a classic you’ve loved for years or a new discovery that surprises you or a comic book fan like me, every story finds its place here in your BookTale corner

I created Booktale as a platform that empowers creators and readers a like. There's so much we can do. And I make it simple and to the point, other platforms (GoodReads or Fable) are more complex and don't offer all the features.

Share reading lists, offer subscriptions, and create experiences your members will value. Like Patreon o Vinted, but built for readers. Free to start, simple to use, and designed to give every book club the chance to thrive.

For the technical builders out there: this was entirely build with Lovable, I haven't touched the code in any other way, or used anything else but my hands, a keyboard and some nights and afternoon in my free time. I'm going through some personal stuff so creating is my way to deal with this.

1. Waht’s’ next in the

   1. My co-founder in other projects (many like EvryThink) will be joining me to develop BookTale further. This started as passion project but we see a lot of potential, we had great feedback so far. It can turn to something else (maybe). He and I worked in several other projects together, he is an amazing award winner (Cannes Lions Award) designer, and we have been working together for the past 6 years in a bunch of stuff and projects.

   2. 100 users - I want to put this thing to the rest, that vibe coding tools wont allow to create Software that scales. I want to onboard 100 users to help me test and debug this mini-monster. Hey and maybe take on Amazon who knows (just kidding Jeff, please don’t hurt me 🤣 )

   3. Partnerships and more features: remember it's me alone only a few hours here and there every other day, I want to see how far we can take something like this

      ---

BookTale is a social marketplace for readers, authors, libraries, and book communities. Think Vinted for second-hand books, mixed with Patreon for paid book clubs, and Goodreads for following what others are reading. With BookTale you can buy and sell used books with zero platform commission, create or join book clubs that work like Patreon pages, follow people and see their bookshelves, and connect directly with authors, small libraries, and influencers. It is mobile-first, built for readers who want a social experience around books: swap notes, share lists, host events, and monetize book communities through subscriptions. Authors can sell signed copies, creators can earn from paid book clubs, libraries can reach new audiences, and normal readers can pass on their finished books instead of stacking them. Profiles double as personal bookstores and bookshelves, giving every reader a way to show, share, and move their stories. BookTale is free to join, free to sell, and designed to make reading better together.

I have been building in my spare time this passion projects for books called (Booktale.co) that’s a massive undertake. BookTale is a mix between Vinted for Books meets Patreon and GoodReads. People can sell their second hand books, create free or paid bookclubs, follow users, track books they’ve read, will read, statistics and more.

BookTale was built solely by me, using Lovable and nothing else, and It cost me around 2000 lovable credits.

But there’s the thing

This post is designed to be copy pasted pasted into Lovable to instruct it to build this memory system. Ask the Ai to build this for you, and fix the issues where continuity is often lost once the session ends, by creating persistent context.

Disclaimer: memory might accelerate the use of credits as more input and output tokens are used. Use this at your own discretion.

What This Solves

When working with AI coders on complex projects over weeks or months, the AI loses context between sessions (Finding Nemo style). This creates problems:

• Repeatedly explaining the same architecture

• AI forgetting previous decisions and implementations

• Inconsistent approaches to similar problems

• Time/creadits wasted re-establishing context

• Loss of institutional knowledge about bugs, solutions, and patterns

• Frustration

> > Copy & Paste starts here

KEY PROMPT:

[ … Below you’ll find a simple instruction on how to build a simple memory. So you know, you are an Ai builder helping me build my project. But in your words “I can only see the conversation history that's available in our current session, but I don't retain information between different conversations or sessions. This makes it really difficult to maintain context about the complex architecture of any project, that we've been building together over time.” So we need to build you a memory. This build cannot modify anything that has been done, no UX or UI necessary. And you will build all necessary files system as per below … ]

The Memory System Architecture

1. Documentation Structure

Create a docs/ folder with four core memory files:

docs/
├── memory.md            # Main overview & AI instructions
├── architecture.md      # Technical deep-dive
├── development-notes.md # Running context & status
└── troubleshooting.md   # Common issues & solutions

2. AI Self-Instruction System

The key innovation is placing AI instructions at the top of memory.md that trigger when you say "Look in memory.md" or you are appointed to look at the memory.md file. This creates a standardized protocol:

## 🤖 AI INSTRUCTIONS - READ THIS FIRST
**Trigger Command**: When user says "Look in memory.md", follow this protocol:

### Step 1: Memory Context Loading
1. Read `docs/memory.md` (this file)
2. Read `docs/architecture.md` for technical details
3. Read `docs/development-notes.md` for current context
4. Read `docs/troubleshooting.md` if dealing with issues

### Step 2: Code Context Review
1. Use search tools to find relevant components/functions
2. Examine key files based on user's request
3. Check database schema if needed
4. Check console logs for debugging

### Step 3: Analysis & Response
1. Understand the full context before proposing solutions
2. Consider architecture, existing patterns, and constraints
3. Propose minimal, focused changes that align with current design
4. Follow established design principles

### Step 4: Memory Updates
After implementing changes, update relevant memory docs:
- Update "Recent Development Context" 
- Add new issues to troubleshooting.md
- Update development-notes.md with progress/status
- Maintain accuracy of feature status and known issues

File Templates

Please follow the structure of the templates, do not make any assumptions, review all implemented in the project, functions databases, schema, UI and UX intent, components, and tools all before proceeding.

memory.md Template

# [Project Name] Memory System
*Last Updated: [DATE]*

## 🤖 AI INSTRUCTIONS - READ THIS FIRST
[Include the AI instructions from above]

---

## What is [Project Name]?
[Brief project description and core purpose]

## Core Architecture
### Frontend Structure
[Route structure and key pages]

### User Flow
[Main user journeys through the app]

### Key Features Status
- ✅ [Completed features]
- 🚧 [In progress features]  
- ❌ [Planned features]

## Database Schema Overview
**Key Tables:**
[List main database tables and their purposes]

## Integration Points
[External services, APIs, payment systems, etc.]

## Recent Development Context
### [Recent Major Work]
- **Issue**: [What problem was solved]
- **Solution**: [How it was solved]
- **Architecture**: [Technical approach taken]

### Current Architecture Patterns
[Established patterns for auth, data fetching, styling, etc.]

### Active Development Areas
[What's currently being worked on]

## Design System
[UI/UX patterns, color schemes, component libraries]

## Business Logic
[Key business rules, user roles, revenue streams]

## Known Issues & Monitoring
[Current problems being tracked]

architecture.md Template

# [Project Name] Technical Architecture

## Frontend Architecture
- **Tech Stack**: [List technologies]
- **Route Structure**: [Detailed route breakdown]
- **Component Architecture**: [How components are organized]
- **State Management**: [How state is handled]

## Backend Architecture
- **Functions/Endpoints**: [List all backend functions]
- **Database Schema**: [Detailed table structures]
- **Integration Architecture**: [How external services connect]

## Authentication & Security
[Auth flows, permissions, security measures]

## Performance Considerations
[Optimization strategies, caching, etc.]

## Monitoring & Debugging
[How to debug issues, logging strategies]

development-notes.md Template

# [Project Name] Development Progress

## Recently Completed Features
[What was just finished]

## High Priority Tasks
[What needs to be done next]

## Medium Priority Tasks
[Future planned work]

## Known Issues
[Current bugs and problems]

## Technical Debt
[Areas that need refactoring]

## Next Sprint Priorities
[Immediate focus areas]

## Development Patterns
[Coding standards and conventions]

## Environment Setup
[Required environment variables, setup commands]

## Testing Strategy
[How to test features, integration points]

troubleshooting.md Template

# [Project Name] Troubleshooting Guide

## Authentication Issues
[Common auth problems and solutions]

## [Feature Category] Issues
[Problems specific to major features]

## Database Issues
[SQL, query, and data problems]

## Performance Issues
[Speed and optimization problems]

## General Debugging Tools
[How to debug frontend, backend, database]

## Development Environment
[Local setup issues and solutions]

Implementation Protocol

Please follow this implementation protocol, do not make any assumptions, base your output on reviewed and validated data form prior steps.

Step 1: Create the Structure

1. Create docs/ folder in project root

2. Create all four memory files using the templates above

3. Fill in project-specific information

Step 2: Establish the Trigger

Train yourself and team members to start requests with:
"Look in memory.md" + [your actual request]

Step 3: Maintain the Memory

After each significant change or solution:

• Update relevant sections in memory files

• Add new issues to troubleshooting.md

• Update feature status and development notes

• Keep architecture.md current with system changes

Step 4: Use Consistently

Every time you work with AI on the project:

1. Start with "Look in memory.md"

2. Let AI read all context first

3. AI proposes solution based on full understanding

4. Update memory after implementation

> > Copy & Paste Ends here (invoque only in Chat mode!)

Review, Control and Implementation

After you copy paste this into the system (in chat mode or similar) please check

1. Make sure that all the inputs that go into memory are ok

2. You can change the invocation method "Look in memory.md" to a custom one “What’s in the Box, What’s in the Box” or whatever.. make it clear.

3. You need to go to code mode and check that it’s all in order, maybe from time to time.

4. You can re-run the prompt general one if you feel it’s not creating enough context

Benefits of This System

1. Instant Context Recovery: AI can reconstruct full project understanding in seconds

2. Consistent Architecture: Decisions and patterns are preserved and followed

3. Institutional Knowledge: Solutions to problems are recorded and reusable

4. Faster Development: Less time explaining, more time building

5. Better Quality: AI makes informed decisions based on existing patterns

6. Team Alignment: New team members can understand project quickly

Key Success Factors

1. Put AI instructions first in memory.md - this is what makes the trigger work

2. Update memory regularly - stale memory is worse than no memory

3. Be specific about architecture - vague descriptions lead to inconsistent implementations

4. Document decisions - not just what was built, but why it was built that way

5. Use the trigger consistently - make "Look in memory.md" a habit - but be mindful of how many credits it will use

This system transforms AI from a forgetful coder into a (maybe) knowledgeable team member who understands your project's history, patterns, and context.

The result in theory for most should be a faster, more consistent, and higher-quality development.

While this mini-guide is written in a general form, the same approach applies directly to AI coding platforms such as Lovable.dev or Bolt.new, Replit and potentially also IDEs making your workflow smarter and more reliable across sessions.

Let's chat on X I talk as well abou tthe apps I created in the past two months alone, by myself using Ai.

With tools like Lovable Dev Ai And how today anyone can do it, no matter what.

My invite link https://lovable.dev/invite/79509aca-f026-44cf-9b55-55252583ada8

Some of the things I've been working on:

1. Glup.me is a simple, affordable online scheduling platform for people that sell their time (1.1 sessions or packs) via a custom branded link Stripe and PayPal integration, and keep 100% of their earnings. Simple tool for Acuity, SimplyBook, Setmore Alternatives.

2. Vibeblocks.dev is an AI-driven platform that converts app ideas into complete, spec-driven prompts blueprints and prompts ready to paste into Lovable or any other Ai Builder.

3. Quotter.app is a Free AI‑powered quoting platform that gives illustrators and creatives instant, fair pricing estimates. Not financial advices, just education.

4. Breezly.io is a web platform that lets freelancers create clear, branded contracts templates in minutes using guided templates—not a substitute for professional advice - templates are just guides - talk to your lawyer.

5. Validgator.io - Validgator is an AI-driven platform that validates startup ideas in 30 seconds or less. Mundosaur.com (wip) - is a community-driven travel platform for curating, organizing, and sharing collections of your favorite places.

6. PixelBlocks.io (wip) is a $1‑per‑pixel marketplace inspired by the Million Dollar Homepage

7. FitBlocks.app (wip) is a very simple fitness organizer and training timer for iOs and Android

8. Doise Ai (wip) is a super agent assistant that reviews all your conversations across all platforms and get what's important in front of you, skip the rest.

9. HeyDocGPT.com (private app) is an AI‑powered personal health assistant.

10. Secret Project about Books (wip)

11. Secret Sport Project that involves an App, biometrics and a electronic device designed by me. I’m trying to patent it in NL but the freaking EPO system will not work, so I’ll have to submit manually in The Hague.

    ---

So If you've got an idea burning in your brain but zero technical skills, hit me up, Scotty. I'm opening spots for 5 people only, totally free. I'll guide you step by step to build your app, from sketch to launch. No strings, no nothing. I’ll help you vibe code your ideas into existence together. Sounds like something for you, a friend, brother, sister, father or mother? I’ll give priority to people who has the will, the idea, energy but not the resources.

Drop a comment on X @orlandopedro_
or DM me on Linkedin @orlandopedro
… and let's see if we click.

I’ll just hold your hand, I won’t build it for you. Otherwise what’s the point. Then you can do the same for 5 other people. Pay it forward

Wait, first things first: I'm not a coder, I’m not technical, I don’t know react, C+ or java or whatever the kids use these days. I just always had a bunch of ideas and not many technical friends to make them happen.

Like, zero hardcore technical skills at all, I’m just very good at learning stuff and putting 1 and 1 together, fast.

I started building stuff with Lovable.dev all of this late May in an airbnb terrace in Barcelona, working on weekends and late nights, squeezing it in around my day job and life stuff.

Started small, and increasing project after project, I integrated with Google Auth, then move to more complex ones, then Stripe, after Stripe connect, Paypal API, Google Maps API, Google Books Ai, Groq Api for Ai, then Anthropics, Grok, Open Ai, then Amazon APi services. Learned how to optimize a database, make good schemas, learn about design systems thanks to my co-founder - Cannes Lions Award Winning designer @Pequelord (go and say Hi!)

I did try other tools Replit, bolt.new, Figma - none of them work as well Lovable, because none of them are built for non-technical folks.

You know, I went into this flow state, very typical of my neurodiverse brain, the kind of flow ride where ideas hit you at 2 AM, and you just hack away with Lovable, Grok, ChatGPT until it clicks. I start calling it “vibecoding it into existence”.

For me it’s now as simple as “I have one idea (ih1i),” And guess what? I just go and build it. I don’t need to know how to code, especially not for MVPs.

And yes for technical “technical debt” I know. If a product MVP is successful, then there will be plenty of time and resources to “fix” any technical debt.

I've built a bunch already, all because I wanted tools that make life easier for creators, freelancers, startups, and dreamers like me.

But like I said my proposal is to take this further.

Now, let's talk about what I've vibecoded so far, all starting from scratch

These are tools I built because I needed them, or saw others struggling without them. Each one kicked off small, often in those late-night sessions, and grew from there.

• Then there's Glup.me. Super simple and no monthly fees online scheduling for anyone selling their time, like one-on-one sessions or session packs. You get a custom branded link, Stripe and PayPal integration, and keep 100% of your earnings. It's my take on alternatives to Acuity, SimplyBook, or Setmore, without the cost or the boomer functions. My Glup page> https://glup.me/orlandopedro

• Vibeblocks.dev is next. This Ai-driven app turns your app ideas into complete, spec-driven blueprints and prompts you can copy paste into Lovable.dev or other tools. It cuts down on build errors and saves those precious Ai credits. Perfect for when you want to prototype fast without guessing. It’s invite only Beta

  [Beta Invite codes; NKRHVA02; WOZ2G3T5; FPNGPUNV; P9MX2COP; BHDLXCRS]

• Quotter.app is a free Ai-powered quoting platform guide for illustrators and creatives. Punch in project details, usage, and timelines, and it spits out instant, fair pricing estimates (not financial advice. No more undercharging or awkward negotiations.

• Breezly.io lets freelancers whip up clear, branded contracts in minutes using guided templates (not legal advice). No legal expertise needed, though it's not a substitute for pro advice, these are just guides, talk to your lawyer. But it saves hours of headache.

• Validgator.io is an AI platform that validates startup ideas in 30 seconds. It analyzes market opportunity, competition, execution complexity, and fundability, then gives actionable insights. Built it to stop people from wasting time on duds.

• Mundosaur.com is a community-driven travel platform where you curate, organize, and share collections of your google map based favorite places with other explorers. It’s currently in Beta, but will be an easy way to share “the best x in Y” in a simple a visible way

• PixelBlocks.io is a work in progress, but it's a $1-per-pixel marketplace inspired by the Million Dollar Homepage. Buy and own pixel real estate to display images, messages, and links forever. Fun way to claim digital space.

• FitBlocks.app, another WIP, is a dead simple fitness organizer and training timer for iOS and Android. No frills, just what you need to track workouts without the noise.

• Doise.ai is in the works too, a super agent assistant that reviews all your conversations across platforms and pulls out what's important, skipping the rest. Like a personal filter for your digital life.

• And HeyDocGPT.com, still WIP and non-commercial for now due to privacy stuff, only for friends and direct family. It's an AI-powered personal health assistant that analyzes medical records for personalized preventive diagnostic insights.

• Secret Project about Books

• Secret Sport Project that involves an App, biometrics and a electronic device designed by me > I’m trying to patent it in NL but the freaking EPO system will not work, so I’ll have to submit manually in The Hague.

All these came from scratching my own itch or helping others (like my wife with theirs), and this is not just the 10% of the things I want to do or have ideas for.

I kicked this off late May without any coding background - I do have experience however, on building products, features etc, and that helps.

Just weekends, late nights, and a ton of trial and error with Ai buddies as my co-pilots. That's the magic, anyone can do it now. Tools like these make it possible to build without a tech degree or big budget.

So, why am I sharing this? Because I'm very excited about what's next, and if you're subscribed, you're part of this vibecoding summer.

If one of those 5 spots calls to you, let's build your idea.

Only one year ago, “impossible” were things starting to take shape. We saw the beginnings of Ai coders, Ai video, Ai agents and Ai everything. All at consumer level for a few bucks.

Today, those tools work so great, that anyone with a bit of scrappiness can put 1 and 1 together and build something truly amazing in no time. I’m talking from a short film using Google’s Flow (Veo3) to a realistic clone of your voice as Ai assistant, MCP servers or my favorite > an MVP in days, not months.

This is what changed … to me

You don’t need a CS degree. You don’t need to learn React, Java, C++, etc. You need tools, taste and ideas, not even good ones.

You need to describe those ideas in plain words and talk to the stack like it’s your co-pilot. Your next technical co-founder is Ai

The tech co-founder was never the point. The point was always execution. The point was always speed.

The tools now let you execute fast. It does not mean you don’t need a CTO - that’s a different thing, you really do.

If that still sounds like too much I’ve got you.

A generation of stuck ideas

There’s a whole generation of people with real ideas who’ve been stuck. For years.
They had something. A concept, a tool, a community, a better way of doing XYZ, but no way of actually building it.

I am one of those guys. Full of ideas, and tried always to push and build. From the early era of internet with MS Frontpage, CMS, No-Code, and now Ai Coders.

Back then we get excited every time an idea came up, then we hit a wall. We couldn’t code. Didn’t know who to ask, and if we did we were receiving very cocky answers from those who knew.

1. Maybe some tried Upwork and got a half-finished Figma or got lucky but with a price.

2. Maybe we pitched a technical friend who said “sounds cool” and ghosted us (several times in a row).

3. Maybe even saved up and talked to an agency only to be quoted $100k for a deck and a six-month timeline.

I’ve seen most founders and “idea people” stall out before they ever launch. Or they waste time writing specs, pitching co-founders, or waiting for funding to build. They talk to agencies that want enterprise budgets to prototype a button, etc.

Those days are over …

Re-Launching a Small Studio

That’s why we are re-launching ih1i (“I have one idea”) into a small operator studio built to help non-technical founders and regular folks to bring an idea to life. A studio for the “idea people”. Founders, artists, ex-employees, indie thinkers, first-time builders.

We work with people who have something in their head and no interest in learning to code or waiting six months for validation.

We take the idea > raw, sketched, half-baked, whatever > and we help them ship it. Live, working, usable. In just a few weeks. Or if you are hands-on we guide you.

We are building to be:

• A micro-studio that turns early ideas into working products

• Fast, Ai-native, founder-minded, for the regular non-technical folk

• Not a dev shop, not corporate, not pitch deck peddlers, not an agency.

We’ve been stuck before too. We’ve built decks that went nowhere. Waited for “the right person.” Watched six-week builds turn into six-month projects. We don’t do that anymore. We build real MVPs, and we build fast.

You don’t need a tech co-founder.
You don’t need to raise money.
You just need an idea.

.. and send us an email » hello@ih1i.com

If you are like me and want to do it yourself?

👉 Here's Your Blueprint

If you’re more on the scrappy or technical side, here’s what we run internally. This is how we’ve shipped full-stack products in a week. It’s real. It works.

And if you run into any hiccups please end me a not here in the comments or on X > @orlandopedro_ I’m always happy to help and point anyone in the right direction.

Step 1: Dump your idea into ChatGPT

Open voice chat with ChatGPT. Talk to it. Vomit everything in your head as it comes out, with excitement, don’t organize don’t hold back. Don’t clean it up. Just get it out. Check from time to time if it got it all. Then:

1. Then ask ChatGPT: “Turn this into a PRD - comprehensive product spec.”

2. Review, adjust

3. “Summarize that as a dev prompt.”

4. “Create a full branding brief that goes with that product and my target as if you were my CPO and award winning brand strategist, be [bold, conservative, crazy, etc ]”

Step 2: Brand it in one hour with Lovart.ai

Go to Lovart.ai you can sign up for free (using my codes). Take the brand brief you produced in step 1, and let it generate a logo, palette, and type system. Play, Tweak. Export. Done.

• Use any of these invite codes [ LKMqXn8 - 6Z7XnyU - nqANY48 - ZZk9t8n - gSm5Xu8 }

Step 3: Build with Lovable

Now the fun part

Take your PRD from Step 1 and paste it into Lovable.dev and wait and let the magic happen.

It will build you a shell. If it fails and it’s not what you want. Trash that one, adjust in Step 1 and try again.

After a minute. It will create a live version of the app (with dummy data and functions in a few seconds) This version is the shell, the raw materials for you the next Instagram. You can also use something like Bolt.new - but I rather use lovable

Step 4: You start sculpting.

There are two ways of doing this, the way a designer will do it with technical instructions to polish the designs, and make sure change by change it’s your idea to the letter or my way, talking to the Ai till it get it exactly as you want it.

I call this stage “sculpting” - lovable will initially give you a very vanilla tailwind version of your site. That’s the program (unless you use your own libraries). So it will require quite a bit of fine tuning, slowly to sculpture this into shape.

Tip: use the “chat” function as it will help plan and think without changing the application. And read carefully, sometimes it will overcomplicate simple things, you can challenge and let it know of better, fastest and more logical ways to do something.

Step 5: Use Supabase for backend

Set up your backend with Supabase > auth via Gitgub first please

If you are using Lovable, the MCP servers from Supabase allow it to literally take advantage of the full functions, and bring your app to the next level automatically, just by taking to the ai co-pilot you can create seamless authentication, edge function to connect to basically anythign you want.

Yes, there are different ways to build applications with AWS, MongoDb etc. But we are talking of building MVPs here, and consumer facing applications that get the job done.

gets the job done, and more.

Step 6: Wire up payments with Stripe (or PayPal)

Integrations with Stripe, are super simple, anyone can do it. You can not only integrate with Stripe to charge your customers, but you can also use Stripe Connect to allow your users to charge their clients, get credit cards, obtain credits and more. It’s a full financial backend at your fingertips

Lovable for example integrates with Stripe natively, meaning you can have Stripe payments in your application with only one prompt.

Stripe integrations used to take weeks. This can now be done in minutes.

Step 7: Claude and Copilot for bug fixes

Paste any bug or error into Claude (or ChatGPT). It’ll explain it and fix it.

Why is this the best way, if you can do it in Lovable or Bolt? the advantage is a two-fold. On one side this will cost you nothing, and on the other side you have a new logic to tackle the problem

Ai coders like lovable, most of the times will came out with a very complicated solution. Use GitHub Copilot for autocompleting code and cleaning logic. They’re better than most juniors or you know …

Step 8: Google Cloud for extra power (optional)

Need storage, Vision AI, or cron jobs? Google Cloud has it all. You don’t need an infra guy. Just a bit of curiosity, and an API key. From Auth to Maps and LLMs they have it. And you can apply for startup credits, in their startup program.

So … that’s the whole loop

Idea → Spec → Design → Build → Launch.
With zero full-time engineers.
And almost zero waiting.

Final thoughts

• You can wait for a CTO.

• You can write another spec doc no one reads.

• You can call the agency and ask for a quote.

Or you can open a chat, talk your idea out loud, and have a working product over the weekend

Fast-forward one year later, I came across Lovable.dev literally four nights ago. And since then I was able to crate one MVP from my idea bucket a day since then. Four nights, four web-apps, some simple some a bit more complex.

The process was simple:

1. Used voice ChatGPT to vomit everything about the app, then as it to summarize it in a prompt for an Ai buddy. I have ADHD so I rather talk to the AI than write.

2. Took that prompt, adjust it a bit, and post it in Lovable.dev (after creating a free account)

3. Waited for the result, and started fine-tuning every detail

   1. I fine-tuned the look and feel and each aspect of the UI/UX

   2. I fined tuned each logic, each database, each integration

   3. Users can create account, profile, pay for upgrades via Stripe, save data, edit, retried, follow each other.

   4. I crated with Ai a full set of rules and compliance

   5. Ai did audit reports and security and self fixed.

   6. I integrated with different APIs - Google Auth, Google Maps/Places, Groq, OpenAi, Resend for emails, etc

I’m just good at putting one and one together. I know about databases as it’s the same logic as Excel And being able to “talk to the Ai” and pull practically 4 fully functional micro-startups every day.

ValidGator - 30 Seconds Free Startup Validation

The premise is simple for this one. You have 500 characters to describe your idea (350 character too much if you ask me), and then after creating a Free account, the Ai will run a estimation and give you a simple overview and some recommendations.

• Users have access to free credits to run idea validations.

• There’s a PRO version that will allow users

  • to run almost unlimited validations

  • to save their validations for later use

  • to post validations privately (if you want to keep the idea safe)

CHECK VALIDATOR.IO

Disclaimer: These idea validations should serve as a guide. They are not meant to be financial, legal, or professional advice of any kind. It’s a high-level overview of things to consider.

Quotter - Pricing Strategy for Illustrators & Creatives

This brings a micro-solution that is requested all the time by illustrators. A way to understand pricing, to have some indication on how much they should charge clients at market rate.

• Users are able to enter what they are being asked by a client

• The system will calculate how much this will normally cost (EU/US)

• Recommend a few different strategies (NFA) you can chose

• Then create a full PDF proposal or quote to send to your client

• Theres a Premium tier where

  • Users are able to save those quotes

  • Have unlimited quote generations per month

  • Customizations to the pricing strategy for fine-tuning

  • Also it’s possible to enter different currencies, discount, rushed-fee and other customizations.

Might be something simple but besides a few books, this information is not shared openly, and this causes some time for illustrators to undermine pricing, instead of using competitive pricing.

CHECK QUOTTER.APP

This tool is not mean to be financial advice, I even recommend illustrators to buy the illustrator guide for pricing from the Illustrator’s guild for good benchmarking.

The tool also allow you to modify your quotes, and print a PDF

Breezly.io - freelance agreements in minutes.

Another micro-app, this time it’s meant to be as guidance for freelancer contracts. Also something I relate to, having talked to so many artists and creators. Most of whom do not protect their work, they start working with clients with no clear contract, they receive requests outside the scope of the work and have no way to discuss it as the rules are not clear.

The idea of having a simple way to generate basic templates that will need legal revision. This is not meant to be legal advice in any way or form, just provide a template to be adjusted then presented to a proper advisor, lawyer, or solicitor for quick review.

It’s always my personal opinion that any paper is better than no paper at all.

CHECK OUT BREEZLY.IO

• Users can create contracts on the go and print them

• There’s also Breezly Pro version

  • Create and manage unlimited contracts

  • Download contracts as professional PDFs

  • Create and save custom contract templates

  • Enhanced Customization

  • Design that match your brand (soon)

It’s also possible for users to save their own templates and be able to complete them faster with the app.

The next step for this app would be to develop a few contracts reviewed by lawyers for different jurisdictions to cover more compliance.

Disclaimer: Breezly is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. The contract templates and tools offered are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional legal counsel.

There are more apps I've been working on. I’ll post soon those.

Disclaimer: The information provided here is for general informational purposes only and is not intended as financial or legal advice. Each business and financial situation is unique, and it’s important to consult with a professional or conduct your own thorough research before making any financial decisions.

Hey if I can do it, wearing 1000 hats, anyone can.

This week I posted a video about our first day at WebSummit. This was actually the second day from the event but we skipped day one (we all skip leg-day).

From the activation events (things the startups can apply to do to promote themselves a bit) we ended up doing the Pitch competition, where startups have 3 min to pitch their startup to a panel. The award, not much really.

And obviously, those who know me would know that I don’t really do that kind of stuff, and that I would use it instead to promote the startup. I went to the stage with 4 slides, a title, that looks cool, a second slide with a QR code so viewers can create accounts.

We “pitched” for 3 min in front of 100 or more people and we got more than a few users in our platform.

The idea of going to WebSummit was kind of spontaneous. I already had plans to be at Lisbon for that week for very personal reasons, so when I saw WS was in the same week, we decided to apply.

And as I’m documenting all, I did a video about the pre-pre-preps for WebSummit where we get to go with the crew to visit our favorite spots in Lisbon.

We are offering 50% discount on our yearly plan use the code EVRYFRIEND.

I’ve been creating videos, filming, editing, and all of the above for quite some time now, I think close to 6 years. Not for me (only a few) but for my partner in life, amazing artist and human being.

But when it comes to me I want to experiment. Sometimes with good results, sometimes with bad results.

I will do a full video about what I think about WebSummit and if this is something I would recommend to other founders. Spoilers: for the most part, I would say no. But it depends on the situation

Disclaimer: The information provided here is for general informational purposes only and is not intended as financial advice. Each business and financial situation is unique, and it’s important to consult with a professional or conduct your own thorough research before making any financial decisions.

Creating a(any) company is hard, creating a product is even harder, selling it, don’t get me started. But for us, the real challenge lately was not that, but learning how to simplify a very complex concept like EvryThink, into very simple terms that can be taken and digested by people that might not have your same insights, that’s even harder.

In our case, this is how we summarize it all.

Visiting Portugal:

We spend a lot of time talking about the future of evrythink.com and all those details with Ramon (my co-founder) a few weeks back in Lisbon.

We were present in Portugal, because of WebSummit. There we got the chance to present to a big(ish) audience, and we talked to literally hundreds of people a few times.

That part, was not not fun. As a neurodiverse person, this about of human interaction drained all my energy for the week. But hey! totally worth it.

We want to help freelancers, entrepreneurs and founders to make “that shit” finance easy. There’s no reason why it has to be so complex, so daunting and boring.

Imagine we are like a bag of Legos, you can use it as you want. And build what you want for your business. If you want to build a tree, go for it, or maybe the Death Star, go for it.

Our first module financial planning is out, so you can plan any business.

A lot more features created specifically for freelancers will be released in the upcoming months as we expand the teams. This will not only help entrepreneurs, founders and freelancers to save money, but have clarity on their business

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On top of that we made our super app available in 8 different languages from day one, English, Spanish (both ES and Latam), Portuguese (both PT and Brazil), Polish, German, Italian, and French. Just select your language under settings.

But building this baby it’s not easy, it has a lot of challenges, many moving parts, many features. We will be rolling our Ai features very soon, that will transform the way you talk to your new Super App.

Roadmap Diaries:

I’m starting a new “series” or attempt to a series on my YouTube. I’m trying to make a diary of how we build EvryThink, as raw as possible. No magic formulas, no Braveheart speeches, a bit cringe from time to time. But transparent.

A few weeks ago I took a break and visited our new flexible office space in the heart of Amsterdam. What’s more fun for me besides getting lost again (like in 2021 the last time I visited ) was to find the quiet space.

And obviously I made a video about it.

Creating a company, a software company is full of challenges, and most of the time they have nothing to do with the tech, or the vision or anything like that. Most of the time we spend is around education.

About Opinions:

As a young startup in a very old segment (financial tools) we are constantly under fire with 100 questions around the same topics, which is fine. This is not applicable to us, but anyone trying to start something no matter the scale.

But we do our very best to shine a light.

For example:

• We are told that our market is full of competitors. When in reality it's very segmented, with a few big players here and there, but most of them are running tech that’s 25yrs old, outdated.

• Competition is the best signal, because market(s) with competition are healthy markets, especially one like ours with a projected $1T for 2029. And we saw amazing companies like Deel, Remote.com, Oyster, Rippling and so many others taking on the payroll side, that was overdue.

• Concerns about being a SaaS B2B because of high CAC and low ACVs. When in reality is the other way around. Yes, selling B2B is complicated, but not rocket science. Big sales teams? we are not going to hire Chandler Bing.

• Challenges with our model, as B2B in general. When our model is hybrid, product-led and we won’t rely on outdated strategies. Especially for anything but enterprise.

• And it will be the same no matter what you do.

Why I’m sharing this? The reality of every analysis is based on data points and predicted models. In other words, educated guess. Therefore the model has to be constantly updated, same as any operating system.

If you face similar problems if you are building something big or small, if there’s any way we can help, let us know below.

At the end of the day most will just share their opinions, based on our life experiences, wins, fails, models or templates.

Ai will change that very soon, and we want to be at the frontier of finance tools for the everyday freelancer, entrepreneurs and founder.

Disclaimer: The information provided here is for general informational purposes only and is not intended as financial advice. Every business and financial situation is unique, and it’s important to consult with a professional or conduct your own thorough research before making any financial decisions.

Don’t price your SaaS as a one-time payment, unless it’s a closed product with no marginal costs. For example, a downloadable product with no backend services, no Ai services, no ongoing costs. Sure.

Think long-term.

If your SaaS has any costs after the point of sale, it makes zero sense to charge a one-time fee. I can’t believe how much bad advice I see about this. People telling young founders and indie hackers to price their Ai SaaS with a fixed one-time price—theyre fu**** with you. They know it.

If you have ongoing costs after the sale, then a subscription is the way to go.

If you have a closed product, like downloadable video screen capture software, yes, a one-time payment is great. Your client gets lifetime updates, you have zero cost to sustain old users, and you can make them happy with product updates.

The Obsession with Revenue

Looking only at revenue is like driving by looking at your rearview mirror—you’ll crash 99.55% of the time. Please, look at your P&L and your bottom line.

And yes, this includes taxes. Everyone pays taxes.

Looking only at revenue is like looking at your gross salary and ignoring your withholdings, monthly expenses, rent, etc.

Bad idea, right? So why do it for your startup?

Look at your runway, your PL long term. Just use a tool like EvryThink to in a few clicks look at the future of your project, startup or business.

Revenue is just a part, net profit and cashflow is as important. Being profitable cash flow positive long term is what matters.

Create a good business plan, each one is different but equally necessary.

Challenges of Right Pricing

Pricing is organic. It’s about what someone is willing to pay for the solution you're providing to address a specific pain point. If your solution is niche and has a lot of competition, pricing can’t be the differentiator.

Don’t think about price—think about features. Lower prices are great for capturing more users, especially in the early days.

You can always create a higher tier with more features. It’s not easy to lower prices from an expensive plan, and user expectations for a high price can lead to disappointment. Value perception and fair pricing should intersect.

You can get really close to the right price by just spending a few days on research.

Ship Fast: Crash Fast

This is great advice, but does it matter? If the solution is needed, yes, ship fast and iterate. This works great for micro-solutions.

Yes, ship it fast—don’t look for excuses. You’ll learn fast as well.

But if you're thinking long-term, building a venue (whether bootstrapped or VC-funded), you have to start with a solution that has the potential to capture 10 million users. And create a good roadmap.

Ship smart, not fast.

If you’re a technical indie or founder, get a business mentor—someone who has zero understanding of code (or product), but knows the market, economy, finance, or even marketing. This helps you compensate.

Get advice outside your niche. It’s unbiased.

Rarely do developers have the business DNA. But if you do, you’d know it, because you’d be looking at the problem and distraction before writing a single line of code.

Look Realistically at Your Competition

Everyone these days is trying to launch a Product Hunt alternative. Why? What does PH solve? Exposure, distribution, user feedback? I used it. It’s great for a few clicks, but like any platform, everyone is there to get to number 1 and use the banner, which in 99% of cases does not translate into real users, active users, or anything that helps your product.

How is your solution better? How is your solution solving the problem better? Is the problem still relevant?

No one will win against PH. Every clone will be subpar. Instead, find a way to add value and see how that product should have evolved.

Directories and SEO for Startups

I tried it myself. I subscribed to 50 directories and only paid for a few because I liked the effort the founder was putting into them. But it translated into nothing—basically no traffic, no signals, nothing. Is that my product’s fault? Is it the directory’s fault? Both?

SEO is extremely important. I’m obsessed with it, but it's just one of many strategies. You can’t rely solely on it, waiting for one of your posts to go viral on Google Search. That’s putting all your eggs in one basket.

Advertising works, but it’s expensive—going back to the point of only looking at revenue.

Financial Independence

There’s no such thing as financial independence. Do you think Mark Cuban or Elon Musk are financially independent? They are just very wealthy.

Those selling "financial independence" are selling magic pills.

It works for 1 in 1,000,000 because they were there first, they're way smarter than you, or they're less scrupulous than you, doing things borderline illegal. How many products out there are directly against GDPR?

For example: my personal phone was sold on RocketReach.

Most Numbers are Fake

Almost 25 years in finance have taught me that numbers are not always what they seem. I’ve seen fictitious revenue numbers more times than I can count.

This is particularly bad on social platforms where entrepreneurs compete by showing what I believe are, in most cases, fake numbers—creating false expectations.

Show me your P&L (Profit and Loss), and I’ll show you mine.

Quitting Your Job Too Soon

Why? Why would you do that? Build in parallel until you get to a point where you can ensure you have 2 years of runway. The majority of startups fail.

Do your job, be responsible, but use your free time to build. Weekends, late nights, whatever it takes. Quitting your job before having a good projected runway is risky, and you may kill your idea before it becomes something.

Plan Your Startup's Finances

Whether you’re building your startup while working full-time or already made the jump, planning your finances is crucial.

EvryThink helps you track expenses, manage budgets, and forecast your runway without overcomplicating things.

Don’t risk running out of cash—use EvryThink to stay on top of your finances 10x faster, so you can focus on building, not stressing over numbers.

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Disclaimer: The information provided here is for general informational purposes only and is not intended as financial advice. Every business and financial situation is unique, and its important to consult with a professional or conduct your own thorough research before making any financial decisions.

Startups fail, and most likely yours will too.

Not trying to be mean, but it’s in the numbers. There are hundreds of reasons why startups don’t make it, but there are a few you can control. Here are the things that’ll most likely kill your startup if you don’t get a handle on them.

TL/DR

1. Wrong co-founder or rushing to find one? Disaster. Take your time or go solo.

2. Building in isolation will lead to failure. Get feedback from the right audience early and from non-tech people if you are building a non-tech solution.

3. VC money is for growth, not survival or to build your MVP (in most cases). Bootstrap if you can.

4. Wrong motivations lead to quick burnout. Do it for the right reasons.

5. Bad finance management will kill your startup faster than anything else. Plan ahead, or it’s over.

1. Choosing the Wrong Co-Founder (Or Having One at All)

People love to say, "You need a co-founder." It’s like startup law or something. But how many startups have failed because co-founders couldn’t agree on vision or money? A lot. Sometimes it’s better to go solo.

Just because people say you need a co-founder doesn’t mean it’s true for everyone. If you really want one, take your time. Don’t rush into it. Get involved in startup communities, check out groups like OnDeck or Antler, and meet people who complement your skills. Don’t just grab anyone because they’re available. Or, if you’re comfortable handling all aspects of the business, go solo and avoid the drama.

2. Building in Silos

I’ve seen this a lot, especially in the indie hacker community. Builders start with an idea, keep their heads down, and build in isolation. Then they wonder why no one cares about their product. You don't start with the idea, start with the solution. Ideas don't matter

How many people are trying to build the next “Product Hunt alternative” because they think Product Hunt is not working? But maybe it’s broken because it’s not solving a problem anyone actually cares about or not too much right now.

Building a solution to a non-existent problem is what? ...

Also, stop talking in silos, go outside touch the grass and talk to tour target users. I’ve seen communities where it’s all technical talk, but no one’s letting in real users while they are building products either B2B or B2C and not just dev,tools.

If you don’t let your users give you feedback, how will you know if your product solves a real problem? You need to learn from people outside your bubble, or your ego will kill your startup before it even gets going.

3. Relying Only on VC Money

Money, money, money. VC money is for one specific reason: growth and marketing. Once you have a good product or an idea with tremendous provable market potential, that’s when the VC money comes in. They want to get 10x for every 10 cents they put in. Can you make that happen? Can you make that happen in the fund's lifecycle of 5-10 years max? If the answer is no, don’t talk to them.

Angels are a bit different, but they are high maintenance. Keep the cap table clean as long as you can—every person on it is a new "boss." There are great VCs, but there are terrible ones that will drive you crazy and crush the idea of "startup freedom" in a snap.

The reality is most startups don’t need VC money at first. Most products should be able to be built with either savings or setting some cash aside. Or, if you’re technical, build it yourself. Just do it with a co-founder who’s the opposite of you, or solo if you’re savvy in all aspects of business.

4. Doing It for the Wrong Reasons

A startup should solve a problem. If you want to sell anything, there should be someone on the other side willing to pay for it. This is basic stuff, you know it. Yet, how many start something to make their parents proud, to be in Forbes 30 Under 30 (Hi Sam!), or just to make bank? And in reality, it’s the opposite—it takes time and effort, and in most cases, will bankrupt you because you suck at finance. Most do.

You might think you don’t, that you’ve got it covered, that GPT has your back. But there’s nothing like human experience, living through things. Listen to those who know in all aspects, but take most of it with a grain of salt. Do it because you have a strong belief in something, a solution—even if that solution is independence.

5. Bad Finance

I'll say it again. Most founders suck at finance, you might think you don’t, but probably you do (in Robert De Niro's voice).

I’m gonna add my Han’s disclaimer here: This is not financial advice. This is a very strong, well-informed opinion after working for 25 years in finance, accounting, tax, and legal. Founders are terrible at finance—great at building and vision, horrible with anything related to finances. Except for a tiny 1% that I’ve met and had the pleasure to work with.

Your accountant won’t save the day.They crunch numbers after the fact. Magic won’t do the numbers. Finance is not only doing your taxes or accounting—it’s about looking at your business’s snapshot in the future, planning costs, budgeting, and forecasting versus what you expect the startup to be. This is very important as you grow.

Finance isn’t just about taxes or bookkeeping. It’s about forecasting and planning. How does hitting 1,000 customers affect your AWS costs? What about payroll? Do you even know? Most founders don’t, and that’s why they fail. Use tools like EvryThink to help you plan ahead. If you don’t, your startup will fail—and not because of your product, but because of your finances.

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You are disorganized, you feel you don’t get enough things done in a day, you feel or are told that you don’t manage your time well, you are always late and you don’t know why, you get distracted and off track all the time, and by the time you realized all of that, the full day is gone. You repeat the next day, and the day after.

Feels familiar? if so keep reading. If not see you next time.

Now, there’s a simple solution to that. This is something I struggled a lot with for a long time. Now I know why.

Not so long ago I was diagnosed with ADHD and autism (in my 40’s). But despite that, I manage to get around all of that, and be always the most effective person in the room when it comes to time management, and making decisions fast.

Or at least faster than anyone else I’ve met.

But how? For me simplicity is king. I apply a very simple rule every day, and I’ve been doing it for the past 20 years. Here is how, I call it Time Blocks

Tempus Fugit

Time flies and we all know that. And when on top of all you have any attention disorder it’s very hard to get things done. You travel between times of hyper focus to times of chasing butterflies, where nothing at all gets done.

Time and tasks are connected, so if you organize them in sequence and you follow that sequence, you’re tuned in for the day.

Might be obvious, but it’s hard to achieve, as you get distracted all the time. Calls, meetings, ad-hoc slacks, family calling or the dog wants to go out. And if you don’t work from home, lunch, coffee breaks, the annoying talkative person in the office, etc.

Most you can’t control, but I learned that If I just focus on the things I control I can get a lot done.

Time Blocks™

Time Blocks™ for me are the answer. As a neurodivergent with ADHD, I know, after reading lots of studies, why I organize the things the way I do, why I buy the same clothes and why I go to the same places. I do it to be more effective, to waste less time thinking about it.

Moving fast through the day in Time Blocks requires coordination, concentration and focus; all necessary trades. Therefore, if I want to move fast, make decisions fast, there must be a sequence.

What I mean by that? For example when I find a song I like, I repeat the same song in a loop, over and over and over again, and then I can hyper-focus. For me schedules, are like songs. If they repeat, I can hyper-focus.

That said":

• For me the sequence is divided in Time Blocks of 90 minutes (or 1,5 hours).

• If we look at the day as a song, each one of mine will have 16 “notes” or Time Blocks, each note will serve a purpose in a day.

• Assign anything to the blocks, it can be 16 different things. I’m effective with 8.

• The point is that it can be sleep, work, meetings, gym, lunch, breakfast, etc. But can also be Sleep, Client A, Client B, Art School, etc.

Once a block is assigned to a task, I don’t change it, unless I can optimize something. I stay with it for weeks, and weeks. Focus and repetition.

For example: each day I assign 5 Time Blocks for sleep, 1 Time Block for sports, 1 Time Block for food, 6 Time Blocks for work, 2 Time Blocks for Leisure, and 1 Time Block for Projects (more on weekends)

I get better at predicting what’s next, I can organize better, say “No” to things that don’t align.

What works for me, might not work for other. It’s up to you if you chose your blocks to be 30 minutes or 180 minutes or something else.

The point is, plan ahead. Identify what works for you. But most important, it will show you your limits. And this can be applied as well to smaller sub-blocks if you need it.

Just say NO

Time Blocks by itself are not a big of a deal. It’s an organization method. But my secret weapon was learning to say “No” even when I really want to do the stuff I’m being proposed. Here is why.

Let’s say I have plans for a training session on a Saturday, and because it’s sunny outside (in The Netherlands it’s a big deal) and I’m being planning a picnic. I’ll say Yes. There’s a net positive trade-off, one can even go and train in the park.

But if instead I’m proposed to go and see, let’s say Deadpool3 (haven’t seen it yet), I’ll say No. As I can go to the movies at any time.

There are two very obvious examples, but. 99,9% of the time people will say no to point A, and yes to point B. Just based on who is asking. Again, there lies the problem. Someone else is controlling the time.

Plus some things can be moved.

Needless to say, that for example if you are being asked to work on a Saturday, No is your default.

… Just say No, it’s ok.

Conclusion

In short, organizing your time in Time Blocks you control, learning to day “no” when does not fit that schedule, or avoid changing pre-planned schedules will be helpful to stay organized.

If you have to change to a new Time Blocks, drop what you are doing and just do it. Or you’ll never get things done.

If you are working (“work” Time Block), and you get distracted by a someone with some extra tasks. Take mental notes, put it in the queue, keep with the current task till it’s completed.

If it’s priority change, then take some time to close the current task, as much as possible not to loose any mental maps. Then move to the priority, and after back to the original.

It’s super simple, stay on track. If something don’t compute, just say no.

Short personal announcement. Last Friday we released EvryThink Planning v1.0. This is the first FREE version of our planning module MVP, and with that we have opened the platform for beta users and implemented a new look.

EvryThink is a side project we’ve been working on, that was created to help simplify financial management for startups, SMEs and freelancers.

Please upvote us on Product Hunt! It's FREE and costs you nothing. If you are interested in taking part in the closed beta as an early adopter, we are offering cool planning perks only for "early birds".

ProductHunt Upvote!

EvryThink brings everything (no pun intended) —project tracking, budgeting, expense tracking, tax management and planning—into one easy-to-use tool, designed for everyone, with or without a financial background.

For over the past year and a half, I was looking for a good product recording tool. Last week I came across this application called Arcade. Needless to say if I’m recommending it, I found it great to the point I have to share. And I’m mentioning it because it can be used not only for product releases, but also on and for any screen capture that requires a certain design.

Look how beautiful this animated GIF is:

It can be useful for a quick art portfolio presentation, some wiki, and obviously your products. It has different plans - they might not be for all, but are great in relation to the features offered in each, and there is a free version.

Check out Arcade

Trying a new angle to the whole Substack publication. The idea going forward will be to talk about things I’m passionate about, related to startups, entrepreneurs and freelancers. It will be all about resources, ideas and opinions.

Over the past weeks I’ve been increasingly running (on purpose) into more and more founders, entrepreneurs and freelancers. While my focus is very deliberate in those conversations, I count’t help but notice that we all face similar roadblocks regardless of what we are doing. It could be from networking, to getting traction, clients, or simply looking for a good way to automate things in order to do more.

So, over the next couple of months I’ll be changing this publication to cover a wider range of topics related to how to build stuff. Any stuff, from a startup, to a shop, a tattoo studio, a graphic design firm or lemonade stand.

The principles for all will remain the same.

So you thought that only small startup or SMEs suffer from bad financial performance, or those “bad things” only happen only when you are starting out, haven’t reached product market fit or reached billions in revenue? Well, “poor” financial performance is everyone’s problem, especially if you don’t pay attention.

There are rumors and speculation about ChatGPT going bankrupt by the end of 2024, and that’s kind of obvious. They are, after all, creating a new market and pioneering in very expensive novel models. Plus, it's a machine that's highly costly to operate.

Running advanced Ai systems isn’t cheap, with daily costs reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars. This year alone, they might spend about $7 billion on Ai training and another handful of billions on staffing. Their revenue, which is projected to reach $4 billion a year, just isn’t enough to cover these expenses.

OpenAi has raised billions of dollars in funding to keep things going and is valued at about $80 billion. But as investors start to worry about the long-term profitability of Ai ventures, getting more funding could be tough. Without a steady stream of money, OpenAi’s ambitious projects and day-to-day operations are at serious risk, even with some help from Microsoft’s discounted Azure services.

But how do they know this? tracking at any stage, your project finances is key. It might be so obvious but not many actually do so. Most startups and SMEs neglect all aspects of finance till it’s too late. And in cases where you are not as lucky as OpenAi, to have such novel and well back business, the chances of success are slim to none. As you will not see it coming.

In conclusion, if you are a startup founder, and you are not Sam Altman, have a good eye to your finances, metrics, runway and burn. And if you are looking for a tool, that’s free, you are in luck, as we are building one at EvryThink

Starting a business is a wild ride, and not many actually dare to do so. It requires a particular drive, a particular will to not only complain about what's not working but to sit down and build change. One of the big dreams for some startup founders is to get acquired by a larger company. But how realistic is this dream? Let’s dive into some recent stats that shed light on this.

First off, let’s address the elephant in the room: the odds of getting acquired are slim, especially in the early stages.

According to data from Carta, only 0.7% of 21K pre-seed startups get acquired (just in the US)). That's less than 1 in 100. Things improve a bit at the seed stage, with an acquisition rate of 1.7%. These early stages are tough because startups are still proving their ideas and finding their footing.

It’s a high-risk phase with a lot of uncertainty.

The “good news” is that the odds get better as you move through the funding stages. For Series A startups, the acquisition rate jumps to 2.5%. This means that once you’ve shown some traction and potential for growth, bigger companies start paying attention. The best stage for acquisitions, however, is Series B, where the acquisition rate peaks at 3.1%. By this stage, startups have generally proven their market fit and scalability, making them attractive targets.

After Series B, the rates dip a bit but still remain significant. Series C and Series D startups have acquisition rates of 2.6% and 2.2%, respectively. These companies are more established and might be gearing up for bigger moves like an IPO.

So, if you can overcome the fact that about 90% of startups fail, aiming to get your company to at least Series B could be your best bet for an acquisition.

But, the most important aspect to have in mind is that, taking a good care of your company thought the time matters, especially when it comes to finance, product and growth.

Over the pats month I’ve been actively looking around to find new and practical ways to identify good sources of information. From investors, to other startup founders, free resources and communities we can join. Over the next publications, I will be sharing these resources on my LinkedIn.

Some of those resources were paid, some were free. But a few things I’ve learned is that if you look hard enough, if you’ll find all you need with little or no cost. There are other things that can help out, there are a few people out there

Here are 10000 contacts investor lists/databases:

• 2000 funds of VCs in the US > https://geni.us/2000usVC

• 1000 funds of funds in the US > https://geni.us/1000vcUS

• 1000 funds of funds in Europe > https://geni.us/1000vcEU

• Best European VC funds > https://geni.us/bestEUVC

• 350 Most Active Angel Investors in the US > https://geni.us/350USangel

• 200 Ai Angel Investors > https://geni.us/100AIinvestors

• 250 US Ai Angel Investors > https://geni.us/200aiUS

• 100 best VC funds in SaaS > https://geni.us/100vcSaas

• 100 best VC funds in the UK > https://geni.us/100vcUK

• 900 Climate VCs > https://geni.us/900climateVC

And let's not get me started with SMEs and freelancers, :)

In late May, I decided to turn this idea into reality in my spare time. Before that, I was sketching out plans, working on the design on paper, Google Sheets, Miro, Notion and Figma.

And the best part. I’m not doing this alone. I started building EvryThink on the side, connecting with amazing people to validate my idea, at the end of the day I’m a Super User. And what’s most important bringing on an incredible co-founder, Ramon Sanchez, an award-winning Cannes Lions product designer. Ramon also with 20 years of experience in product, he focus on empathy and building products for everyone. That’s extremely important for EvryThink because we aim to transform founders, entrepreneurs and freelancers in into financial wizards.

Together, we’ve been working on the design, building our first MVP, and now we’re almost ready for beta testing.

So, what is EvryThink? It’s a platform that aims to fix the financial struggles of early-stage startups by offering a simple yet powerful tool. We’re not just another finance app; we’re an all-in-one financial solution. The best will cover everything from people and headcount planning and expenses to revenue, with future versions including accounting, tax, inventory and more.

But we’re not stopping there. EvryThink will also have a marketplace with essential documents and resources for startups, a deals section offering discounts through our partners, and a directory of professionals to help you stay on top of your finances. You can even let your accountant access the platform.

And the best part? We’re building an Ai layer that will automate most of these functions. Our goal is for EvryThink to act like your finance team, so you don't have to hire extra staff early on when you should be focusing on developing your product.

I’m excited about this and can’t wait to see how EvryThink will help other startups thrive. Stay tuned for more updates as we move forward in the next couple of months.

Join the Beta Waitlist

So, why are you reading this? because I’m proud of what we are building and you’d happen to be subscribed to my newsletter, and I felt like sharing ❤️

Right now, there are a bunch of amazing tools out there, from video to fintech. The truth is, none of these will render you jobless just yet! Most of these AI features are amazing and mind-blowing, yet they fail in very fundamental aspects and can't compete with human creation.

That's why it's important for any creator, no matter the field, to start interacting with these tools without fear. Play around to understand their capabilities and by contrast, their limitations.

Blockade Labs and Adobe break the internet.

Blockade Labs and Adobe leading the way? But it's not all smooth sailing in this tech-driven world.

Take a moment to picture this - with a mere sketch and text prompt, you can now birth a fully-realized 360-degree landscape (kind of). It feels like stepping into a sci-fi movie, doesn't it?

This isn't a dream but a reality brought to us by the genius team of Blockade Labs. Their innovative Ai generator is all about putting the power of creation in your hands. Now that's a massive leap in democratizing creativity! Perhaps one of those tools will open the door to a new kind creator economy.

The innovation doesn't stop there. The digital giant, Adobe, is redefining boundaries with their new Photoshop feature, the "Generative Fill" via Firefly Ai. This tool, powered by their Ai suite, lets you conjure up new objects and enhance your creations layer upon layer. Factor in Adobe's commitment to copyright respect and focus on media provenance, and we're looking at a pretty impressive design toolkit.

However, this leap in technology isn't being met with universal applause. It's no secret that some in the creative community have voiced their concerns; even myself, as a non-professional photographer, have concerns. The Ai-driven enhancements, while cool in the innovation sphere and accessibility, do bring along a certain “threat.”

With such tools readily available to anyone, the need for professionals like photographers and photo editors is being questioned. Perhaps not now, but in the mid to long term. Will these advanced tools make certain creative roles redundant? That's a debate still in progress.

Regardless, there's no denying the transformative power of these advancements. The intersection of creativity and technology, as seen through Blockade Labs and Adobe's developments, is indeed fascinating and ever-evolving.

It's a fantastic journey, and we're all aboard for the ride, we like it or not. The key will be to find that perfect harmony where technology amplifies human creativity without overshadowing it. And regardless, have a close eye on the technology while it unfolds because I don’t believe any regulation or a popular protest will prevent it from keeping advancing and every aspect of human creation.

Creative Mentorship

On a different note, something exciting is happening this year. I've decided to join forces with Asia and step into the Creative Draft as a mentor - in my spare time, of course. You might know about my YouTube channel (yes, I know, it's been a bit quiet lately), and you may also be aware that I've previously offered private mentorship sessions. But now, I'm eager to take things a tiny bit further.

Now, why am I doing this? Well, I’m very passionate about creators, and as someone with a background in finance, I've noticed how often most creatives can struggle when it comes to the business side of things. That's where I want to step in and make a difference. My goal is to help creatives not just survive (no need to starve), but thrive, find new pathways, and improve areas of their creative business by equipping them with the guidance and tools they need.

So, teaming up with Asia on the Creative Draft is the perfect opportunity for this. She's got a fantastic vision for this community, and I'm thrilled to contribute in my own way. Our goal is to create a hub where creatives, especially illustrators and artists, so all can learn, connect, and feel supported.

So, what will you find in the new Creative Draft? We've worked on creating three main pillars that I believe are key to any creative's journey:

1. A Supportive Community: This is a safe private space where you can connect with other artists, get advice, find potential collaborators, and more. We believe that a thriving community can fuel your creative ambitions and give you the inspiration you need to push your boundaries.

2. Learning Platform: We've designed courses, workshops, and exercises aimed at not only improving your art but also helping you find your unique style. But we go further than that. We also provide guidance on growing your art career, managing client work, building a powerful portfolio, licensing, pricing, and more.

3. Creative Mentorship: This is where Asia and I come in. We offer limited personalized 1:1 sessions tailored to your unique needs. Whether you have questions about pricing, contracts, project management, or content strategy, we're here to help. We want to make the business side of art less daunting and more approachable. Both have packed agendas, so the cohorts are limited, and we conduct them in English or Spanish.

So if you are interested or that’s something that might interest an artist friend, the link is below. Let's work together to make the creative world a little less scary and a lot more empowering!

Disclaimer: This is a newsletter, and you can opt-out at any time; there’s a link below to unsubscribe automatically. All the opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinions and beliefs of my employers, affiliates, or business partners.

Cover art by Emily Suberon GIPHY

TL/DR - The hype around the web3 metaverse has faded due to skepticism about NFTs, reduced investment, and limited appeal of web3 luxury. However, while the old concept of the metaverse might be dead, there's still potential in VR and AR technologies. Read on to explore how we can reshape our expectations and find new ways to leverage these tools.

However, the harsh reality is that the metaverse, as we once conceived it, is dead. But why?

The Fall of the Web3 Metaverse

For a while, the web3 metaverse promised a new realm where the physical and the digital seamlessly melded. However, recent developments have seen the once-lauded concept of the metaverse fall from grace.

A confluence of factors - from mass adoption skepticism to failed projects - has led us to this point.

The NFT Graveyard

One of the cornerstones of the web3 metaverse was the idea of NFTs or non-fungible tokens. They were hyped as a revolutionary tool that would underpin the new digital economy, enabling the ownership and sale of unique digital assets. However, the market has largely labeled them as scams, with a significant majority of projects plummeting to zero value, either due to the inability of the founders to produce value with the funds raised, mismanagement, or lack of vision.

Indeed, it seems the NFT winter has turned into a full-blown cemetery state. The graveyard of failed NFT projects is growing daily, and there's no sign of spring on the horizon.

A Shrinking Investment Pool

Web3 investment has followed a similar trajectory. With the downturn in NFTs, major companies are scaling back their investments in web3 and metaverse projects. It's not a total desert – there are still some companies clinging to the idea, trying to create hype around their products. However, the overall interest has waned dramatically.

Users are disinterested, and even gamers, once a core demographic, are shrugging off the metaverse.

There’s a very simple truth as creator and gamer. We just don’t care about that concept of the Metaverse everyone tries to pull on us.

For us, the presented Metaverse it’s just the game lobby.

The Limited Appeal of Web3 Luxury

Or in other words, expensive sh**t you can’t touch

A key selling point of the web3 metaverse was the promise of a new luxury market – a digital “Rodeo Drive” where the rich and famous could flaunt their digital assets. However, this niche has proven too limited, and the appeal has evaporated.

Even in times when Gucci or Tiffany's were releasing very tacky digital products.

The reality is people care about things they can flip and assets that will appreciate in value. The web3 luxury market has failed to deliver on these fronts, especially because those items are less likely to change hands faster than your regular Ape.

Don’t get me started on buying digital land or a penthouse in the Metaverse at the price of a flat in Paris or Manhattan.

The Future is Still Bright

Despite the bleak picture painted above, it's not all doom and gloom. The concept of the metaverse as we once knew it may be dead, but the real metaverse has been under construction since 1983.

Technologies like VR and AR still hold immense potential, and the metaverse might find its resurrection in these fields. The focus needs to shift from ownership to gaming and experiences.

The dream of the web3 metaverse may be dead, but that doesn't mean the technology is worthless.

It simply means we need to reevaluate our expectations and rethink how we can best leverage these tools. After all, the tech world is no stranger to failed ideas that eventually evolve into something even better.

Remember, whether you're a creator or a tech enthusiast, the only constant is change. So yes, the metaverse as we know it is dead.

But what’s next? …

Disclaimer: This is a newsletter, and you can opt-out at any time; there’s a link below to unsubscribe automatically. All the opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinions and beliefs of my employers, affiliates, or business partners.

While the metaverse has its roots in web3, crypto, and blockchain, not all platforms require expertise in these fields. In fact, most of those startups are now pivoting to real content creators and gamers. Offering free access and leaving web3 as a feature only. Smart move.

One such platform is OnCyber, which offers creators a free, accessible way to create their own virtual spaces and engage with their audiences.

One platform that demonstrates this evolution is oncyber, which offers creators a free, accessible way to create their own virtual spaces and engage with their audiences without requiring any knowledge of web3, crypto, or blockchain. By signing up with just an email address, creators from various fields can leverage the platform's features to expand their online presence and foster deeper connections with their fans.

To better understand the potential of OnCyber, let's first dispel the misconception that the metaverse is solely tied to NFTs or crypto. The metaverse is an expansive concept that encompasses various digital experiences, and many companies are pivoting to focus on real creators, not just those with a background in web3. This shift opens up exciting opportunities for creators of all kinds to explore the metaverse and harness its potential.

OnCyber is a metaverse platform that enables users to create immersive, 3D experiences that can be accessed directly from a web browser and a mobile app. Some key features include avatar customization, in-world controls, and the ability to create, distribute, or sell custom 3D worlds.

The versatility of oncyber.io allows creators from various fields to leverage the platform in unique ways. Here are some examples on how you can actually use this to connect with your audience in new and fun ways:

• Photographers: Host virtual exhibitions of your work, creating a 3D gallery for fans to explore and admire your artistry. This interactive experience can lead to increased engagement and provide a platform for photographers to showcase their talents in a novel way.

• Videographers: Set up a virtual cinema for movie nights or video premieres, allowing fans to watch hidden YouTube videos together for an exclusive experience. This can be an effective way to create buzz around a new project and offer a more immersive viewing experience than traditional platforms.

• Travel Creators: Establish virtual spaces to meet with fellow travelers, sharing experiences and connecting with people from around the world. Travel creators can leverage oncyber to create virtual meetups and events, offering a unique way to build and maintain connections with their audience.

• Gamers: Design virtual hangout spots for gaming sessions, providing a space for players to chat, strategize, and celebrate victories. oncyber can help gamers create more engaging and interactive experiences, fostering a sense of community among players.

As more creators recognize the potential of the metaverse, we can expect to see a wider range of innovative uses for platforms like OnCyber. For creators who have yet to venture into the world of the metaverse, now is the perfect time to explore this exciting new frontier and discover how it can enhance your online presence and deepen your connection with your audience.

Don't be deterred by the perception that the metaverse is exclusively for web3 enthusiasts; OnCyber and other platforms are paving the way for creators of all backgrounds to thrive in the virtual world.

Cover Image by: Samuel Davis > @samdavisart

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