Indie & Startups

I’ve been posting in this format for a while now, and I really like seeing the process of people building projects from scratch, as well as the way people help each other validate ideas in the comments. It feels more like a place where everyone is sharing, discussing, and figuring things out together.

I’ll start: Airtap is an AI agent that can operate mobile apps like a human. You can think of Claude as more of a desktop assistant, while Airtap is more like a phone assistant. What we want to validate most right now is: if you could hand over repetitive or tedious tasks to AI, which automation scenario would you want to try first? For example:

• Amazon refunds / saving money tracking
• Setting up or booking medication for parents
• Finding a nice restaurant and making a reservation
• Weekly grocery shopping
• Keeping a Duolingo streak alive
• Job search / job applications

Hopefully we can help each other validate ideas. Your turn now ,what are you building?

Hey everyone this is my first time posting so please bear with me. This is not a self-promotion rather needed some advice.

I’m working with a pre-seed startup. We’re building a governance layer for fintech companies deploying AI models and agents in regulated workflows.

The product combines:

- A runtime governance layer that sits around AI models and agents, checking inputs, outputs, tool use, and actions against policy/risk criteria.
- A lightweight receipt layer that creates audit records for important AI decisions, escalations, and workflow events.
- A lifecycle governance layer that connects those records across training, evaluation, deployment, and runtime operations.

The idea is to make AI workflows auditable by default. For example, if an AI agent is involved in lending, credit risk, fraud review, AML/KYC, servicing, collections, or customer support, it should be possible to answer:

- What did the model/agent do?

- What data or context did it use?

- What policy was applied?

- Was the action low-risk, high-risk, or escalation-worthy?

- Was human review required?

- Can this be shown later to an internal compliance team, external auditor, or regulator?

We’re trying to create tamper-evident governance records across the lifecycle of AI systems, not just post-hoc documentation. Our current wedge is fintech, especially AI-based lending platforms, AI-native financial tools, and mid-sized regulated companies adopting AI.

The challenge: I’ve been doing LinkedIn cold outreach to potential fintech design partners, but haven’t heard back much yet. So I’m trying to figure out whether the problem is the idea, the positioning, the buyer, or the outreach channel.

Would love honest feedback:

1. Is this a real pain point for fintech teams right now?

2. Who is the right buyer/persona: CTO, compliance, risk, model governance, product, or audit?

3. Is “AI audit receipts” a compelling wedge, or does it sound too abstract?

4. Which use case sounds most urgent: lending, AML/fraud, collections, or customer support?

5. How would you recommend finding early design partners for something like this?

We’re early/pre-seed, so brutal feedback is welcome. I’m trying to understand whether this is a real wedge and how to reach the right people.

I has multiple apps on Vercel and a month ago I received the following email for each of my 10 projects

https://preview.redd.it/aqn08q4i172h1.png?width=1722&format=png&auto=webp&s=5a378323b6ca5bb3c31ccd650f6fdccf184ae578

All my env variables, secrets, configs gone. No one in the support replied to my multiple emails. Got the following general email after 2 weeks

https://preview.redd.it/t3nwiibr172h1.png?width=3874&format=png&auto=webp&s=85f2f07f9de31a5c049c54f7a052893d44e6368a

For a SaaS that's a make or a break situation. I migrated everything to railway, spending days to get everything deployed and then today

https://preview.redd.it/g3crog8x172h1.png?width=1652&format=png&auto=webp&s=78e2de3923349338b6565d67ede69448ec77a5aa

Whole railway infra is inaccessible including their home page.

Is it time to normalize using AWS and GCP directly? I believe that is more painful initially but much more dependable for the long run.

What do you guys think?

Hey guys, I'm curious what apps are you working on? Drop your apps and social links below and I'll check them out!

I can go first.

Mine is Fasting Bear app (fasting tracker app that gives you a bear companion to keep you on track)

and Migraine Atlas app (Migraine tracker app that lets you log where the pain is on the head model precisely). Probably not the first result that shows. Mine is "Migraine Atlas" no additional text in title.

I can provide some feedbacks on your apps if you want. Feel free to help each other out in the comments as well!

A bit of context: I'm a solo iOS dev. Every meal planner I tried wanted my email before showing me a single recipe, then upsold me to $7.99/mo. I wanted to know if I could ship a working one that asked for neither.

Six months later it's on the App Store. Here's what's in it:

- 524 recipes built in (not scraped — each has macros, steps, and a linked YouTube tutorial when one exists)

- Pantry tracking that feeds an "AI Meal Ideas" view — add the 6 things you have, get 6 dinners you can actually make

- One-tap shopping list generation from the week's plan, grouped by aisle

- Local notifications 25 minutes before each meal with the recipe queued up

- No account, no tracking, runs offline. $2.99/mo Pro after a 30-day free trial. Free tier is genuinely usable on its own.

Things I'd do differently:

1. I underestimated how much work the recipe data layer was. I rewrote it three times.

2. Shipping without account creation meant rethinking sync — I ended up using iCloud private database, which I'd recommend to anyone building a "no-account" app.

3. The launch week ad budget is $20 because I ran out of money.

Happy to answer technical questions (SwiftUI, CloudKit, what shipped vs what got cut). Not here to push downloads — but if anyone wants to look, it's at mealcurate.github.io and there's a free 30-day Pro trial with annual subscription.

Critical feedback welcome. The next version is being scoped now.

I'm an first time founder running my own content production agency where I help businesses get more eye and real $$ through my explainer videos.

If you know how agency works then you probably knows that getting client and reaching out is the most boring work to do. That's why, as in CS student undergrad I'm building my own JARVIS, who can run my system and perform all the day to day tasks while I'm talking talking to him like a old friend on a phone call (imagine tony Stark's Jarvis in iron man movie)

I do not have a complete knowledge about digital or saas products but I do understand it's backend structure. I'm building it on my own and u can say I have built a working model about 30% now.

If anyone has experience in something like this then I would love to connect with and if thing goes well then we can build amazing software for personal use and then I also have an idea to scale.

I built HandFrame because I got tired of the normal freelance delivery flow:

1. Finish the work

2. Send Drive/WeTransfer link

3. Send invoice

4. Hope the client pays

5. Follow up without sounding annoying

HandFrame changes the order:

1. Upload the file

2. Client sees a watermarked preview

3. Client pays

4. Clean file unlocks

It’s for freelance videographers, photographers, and editors who want payment tied directly to delivery.

I’m keeping the MVP intentionally small:

- one file

- one client

- one payment

- one download link

No dashboards full of junk. No team features. No CRM.

I’m looking for feedback on the positioning more than the code:

Does “Get paid before you deliver files” make the value obvious?

Would you trust this as a freelancer?

What would make the client side feel more legitimate?

Hey everyone,

​I’m looking for some advice on how to structure my equity package at a very early-stage startup. I have the flexibility to ask the company to modify my offer letter, so I want to make sure I get this right before the upcoming funding round closes.

​The Background

​Company Status: Pre-seed stage, currently sitting at around $110k ARR. They are actively moving to close their official pre-seed round soon.

​My History: I’ve been working with them as a contractor for the last 2 months.

​The Promotion: Once the pre-seed round completes, they want to bring me on full-time as a Founding Engineer (I am employee #2, right after the CEO).

​The Current Offer

​Base Salary + 3.5% equity in ISOs (Incentive Stock Options).

​My Dilemma & Goals

​Because the company is so early-stage, I want to optimize for the lowest possible tax hit (specifically avoiding the Alternative Minimum Tax / AMT) and maximize my upside. I know that right now, the company's valuation and strike price should be incredibly low, but that will change once the pre-seed round officially closes.

​I’m confused about whether I should stick with ISOs, push for RSAs (Restricted Stock Awards), or look into an early-exercise structure.

​My Questions for the Community:

​ISOs vs. RSAs at this stage: Since we are pre-seed and the valuation is low, should I push for RSAs (Restricted Stock Awards) instead of ISOs? My understanding is that RSAs would let me own the shares outright immediately (subject to vesting/repurchase terms) at a rock-bottom valuation.

​Minimizing AMT / Tax Hit: If I stick with ISOs, what is the best way to structure them to avoid AMT? Should I ask for Early Exercise ISOs and file an 83(b) election immediately?

​Timing the Strike Price: Can/should I ask to sign the offer letter and execute the equity portion before the pre-seed round officially closes? I want to lock in the absolute lowest 409A valuation/strike price possible before the new funding bumps up the company's valuation.

​Is 3.5% reasonable? As employee #2 (Founding Engineer) at $110k ARR going into a pre-seed round, does 3.5% sound standard, or should I negotiate for more given the early stage and risk?

​Would love to hear from any founders, early startup hires, or tech tax professionals on how you would handle this. Thanks in advance!