r/aisolobusinesses

▲ 5 r/aiToolForBusiness+1 crossposts

I fell for the vibe coding hype. Here’s what actually happened

There’s lots of AI slop out there about vibe coding making you rich fast. I fell for it.

So far I’ve officially made $20 helping someone fix their app. I used Claude to do it.

However, I’ve spent 4.5 months building a niche CRM for a D2D sales company I had some connections to, and we’re haggling over price right now. It’s not life changing, but it’ll at least be 5 figures.

Im a CNA and before that a service writer. Zero coding background.

So I’m not going to tell you “use this prompt and you’ll retire your mother.” But I have learned a couple things in the process of actually making some money with this very hyped up tool.

  1. AI won’t save you from understanding what you’re building.

Claude Code and Cursor are incredible, but if you don’t understand what the code is doing, you’ll spend 3 days debugging something a 10 minute read could have prevented. Learn enough to read what the AI gives you and ask the right follow-up questions.

  1. Start with the boring stuff: auth, database, payments.

My first instinct was to build the cool features. The dashboard. The animations. Wrong. If you nail auth, a real database, and payments, you have a real product. If you skip them, you have a demo.

  1. Deploying is where 90% of people quit.

Building locally feels great. Then you try to deploy and nothing works. Environment variables are wrong. CORS errors everywhere. Push through it. The first deploy is the hardest.

  1. Ship ugly, then improve.

My CRM looked terrible for a long time. But it worked. Real users were using it. Nobody cares about your gradient if the app doesn’t solve their problem.

  1. The money part is a separate skill.

Building the product is maybe 40% of the work. Finding users, getting feedback, closing deals, pricing correctly. That’s the other 60% nobody talks about.

The biggest mistake I made was building too many things at once. When you can build near anything into your app why say no. And soon you have a bloated mess that doesn’t work but it’s just integrated enough to make deleting it a pain

If you’re starting from zero, the path is real. It’s not the overnight success story Twitter wants you to believe. But $20 and hopefully turning into a $25-35k contract , and I started from literally nothing.

I started a community called Vibe Coding: Zero to Revenue on Skool where I’m documenting the whole journey and teaching what I’ve learned. Even if you never join, everything above is the core of it. Happy to answer questions.

TLDR: guy chased hype, put a whole $20 in his pocket. Spent more an AI than $20.

reddit.com
u/kodytyrel — 1 hour ago
🔥 Hot ▲ 69 r/DayTradingPro+1 crossposts

After months of work my AI trading bot is in the green

Now averging a modest $40 per day from $800 investment

I'm a finance broker by trade, and I got tired of manually watching charts. So I built an automated system using AI (OpenClaw + Python) that:

• Scans every USDT pair on Binance with >$5M volume

• Uses 4H klines with RSI(14), 20-period breakout, and volume spike confirmation

• Enters with market orders, 40% position sizing, max 2 concurrent

• Exits with layered take-profits: 20% at +30% (stop to breakeven), 20% at +50% (20% trail), 20% at +100% (10% trail)

• Kill switch at 50% drawdown, daily loss limit 20%

• Adaptive learning: adjusts entry thresholds every 10 trades based on win rate

The interesting part is the adaptive learning if win rate drops below 35%, it tightens entry filters. Above 60%, it loosens them. Simple feedback loop but it keeps the bot aligned with market conditions.

I wrote up the full strategy, code, and deployment process: myclawtrade.com

Happy to answer questions about the approach.

EDIT - Have updated the website to include 2 guides. One for complete for complete beginner and one for advanced user setup

EDIT 2 - have had some people have issues when using coinbase. I have included the coinbase source code that resolves this.

reddit.com
u/Jabba_au — 8 days ago
Startup Distribution For Dummies
▲ 8 r/SaaS+6 crossposts

Startup Distribution For Dummies

First time founders obsess over product. Second time founders obsess over distribution.

If you want your startup to succeed in this current era, you are going to have to think deeply about distribution.

Below, I'm listing the distribution tips to help you succeed:

  1. Bake growth mechanics into the product. Not just tacked on, but a core functionality of the product. You are playing on hard mode if you don't do this.
  2. Timing matters. Use tools to find your customers in the heat of the moment when they are experiencing their problem. This will significantly improve conversions.
  3. Go deep and niche. The more specific your product or ICP is, the easier it is to find qualified leads and sell to. You can always expand your TAM later.
  4. Do things that don't scale. Getting your first customers will be a manual effort where you spend time to get your first batch of customers. This is the hardest part of the journey.
  5. Leverage your existing network. The warmer the better.
  6. Make it dumb to say no. Offer so much value upfront at such little cost that there is no real reason to say no. Also employ risk reversals.
  7. Think deeply about your startup. The more intimately you understand your business, brand, positioning, etc., the better your distribution endeavors will be.

Things that compound but no gain short term:

  1. Consider content. If you have a loyal audience, you are playing startup distribution on easy mode. However cultivating an audience is much more difficult than expected. Might be worth starting now.
  2. Consider GEO. It is worth being intentional about how AIs experience your project, making sure your website is crawlable, and creating tons of blog posts or content for AI to intake.
  3. Consider SEO. Takes a long time to kick in but compounds like crazy.

Cold email template I am using for my startup:

  1. Hey [Name],
  2. [Personalization]
  3. [Why my product is good for you]
  4. [CTA]
  5. [Link]
  6. [PS: (Emphasize CTA; feels more personal)]
  7. -- [Name]

Here is the actual cold email template I am using on creators for reference:

  1. Hey [Name],
  2. [Personalization]
  3. Recently, I launched a feedback tool/startup for creators: lumeforms. The core loop is that you create intentional spaces for your audience to drop honest, blunt feedback and receive tailored actionable analysis that drives better metrics, better content, and sustained growth for your channel. Also, it ensures you are in constant conversation with your audience and helps signal to them that you are serious about the quality of your work.
  4. If this resonates with you, because I am still validating the idea for creators, I'd be happy to give you a month free in exchange for your honest feedback on the tool. No strings attached, and if you’d like, I'll work with you closely and make sure you get value. I think it would be a good fit for you.
  5. Website: https://www.lumeforms.com/content-creators
  6. PS: Check out the free creator audit I made that gives you a tailored starting point for your channel specifically. Just type in channel details and get results in less than 10 seconds. No email or account required.
  7. -- Akhil
u/Defiant-Plastic-1438 — 12 hours ago

Honest Question From a Solo Dev Who HATES the "Business" Side of Things...

As a full stack dev, I know what I'm good at, and what I love doing: creating digital products. But I also know what I'm NOT good at, and what I really don't enjoy: turning products into businesses.

Is there a roadmap for a solo dev like me to just create while a partner or buyer takes over the "business" side of things?

Are there any folks out there who have sold to, licensed to, or partnered with people who have expertise in business, marketing, distribution, etc? Maybe it is too crazy for me to wonder if there are people/companies who seek out nascent products with promise...

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

reddit.com
u/BoringMedium8605 — 9 hours ago
What is your favorite AI company?

What is your favorite AI company?

It could be any of the big ones like OpenAI, Google, or Perplexity, or even a small company that no one has heard of before. What AI company do you think is doing really good things right now in the industry. What have they done better than their competition?

Join the AI newsletter here!

u/NickyB808 — 14 hours ago
Startup Distribution For Dummies

Startup Distribution For Dummies

First time founders obsess over product. Second time founders obsess over distribution.

If you want your startup to succeed in this current era, you are going to have to think deeply about distribution.

Below, I'm listing the distribution tips to help you succeed:

  1. Bake growth mechanics into the product. Not just tacked on, but a core functionality of the product. You are playing on hard mode if you don't do this.
  2. Timing matters. Use tools to find your customers in the heat of the moment when they are experiencing their problem. This will significantly improve conversions.
  3. Go deep and niche. The more specific your product or ICP is, the easier it is to find qualified leads and sell to. You can always expand your TAM later.
  4. Do things that don't scale. Getting your first customers will be a manual effort where you spend time to get your first batch of customers. This is the hardest part of the journey.
  5. Leverage your existing network. The warmer the better.
  6. Make it dumb to say no. Offer so much value upfront at such little cost that there is no real reason to say no. Also employ risk reversals.
  7. Think deeply about your startup. The more intimately you understand your business, brand, positioning, etc., the better your distribution endeavors will be.

Things that compound but no gain short term:

  1. Consider content. If you have a loyal audience, you are playing startup distribution on easy mode. However cultivating an audience is much more difficult than expected. Might be worth starting now.
  2. Consider GEO. It is worth being intentional about how AIs experience your project, making sure your website is crawlable, and creating tons of blog posts or content for AI to intake.
  3. Consider SEO. Takes a long time to kick in but compounds like crazy.

Cold email template I am using for my startup:

  1. Hey [Name],
  2. [Personalization]
  3. [Why my product is good for you]
  4. [CTA]
  5. [Link]
  6. [PS: (Emphasize CTA; feels more personal)]
  7. -- [Name]

Here is the actual cold email template I am using on creators for reference:

  1. Hey [Name],
  2. [Personalization]
  3. Recently, I launched a feedback tool/startup for creators: lumeforms. The core loop is that you create intentional spaces for your audience to drop honest, blunt feedback and receive tailored actionable analysis that drives better metrics, better content, and sustained growth for your channel. Also, it ensures you are in constant conversation with your audience and helps signal to them that you are serious about the quality of your work.
  4. If this resonates with you, because I am still validating the idea for creators, I'd be happy to give you a month free in exchange for your honest feedback on the tool. No strings attached, and if you’d like, I'll work with you closely and make sure you get value. I think it would be a good fit for you.
  5. Website: https://www.lumeforms.com/content-creators
  6. PS: Check out the free creator audit I made that gives you a tailored starting point for your channel specifically. Just type in channel details and get results in less than 10 seconds. No email or account required.
  7. -- Akhil
u/Defiant-Plastic-1438 — 11 hours ago
Week