There's Nothing Like a Little (or BIG) Learning Curve
It's totally worth it
The last six weeks or so have been a bit of a crash course in building with AI.
Although… would six weeks be considered a crash course?
Yeah, I think so.
Considering everything I’ve been doing has been part-time (with a few full-time days thrown in there), it’s still mind-boggling.
I’ve definitely had my fair share of wasted credits (or dollars, lol), but how I approach what I’m doing now versus how I approached it when I started is like night and day.
This goes way beyond “no code” (anyone else ever try Bubble? Not as intuitive as I hoped. I tried it once a couple of years ago and never went back).
One thing (that might sound super obvious) is that using some of these tools to build with is no different from how you use the LLMs (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude). The more context you provide and the more you ‘front load’ a project (not an official term, but just how it feels to me), the easier your entire project will be.
After I did the live stream last week with
where we talked about vibe coding, I decided I wanted to see if I could create something in a day that could help other people who were thinking about trying to vibe code an app/tool/website.Introducing “Build My PRD.”
If you’re wondering what a PRD is (I didn’t know until a few weeks ago, thanks to my friend
(I love having smart friends), here you go:
My app is a simple 3-page site (process?) that guides you through the necessary information to create a PRD for an app/idea you want to build.
The results page allows you to optimize it with AI, copy the page, or download it as a PDF.
Currently, I have a button at the bottom of the page that takes you back to create another PRD. However… I’m going to take this up a notch. 😉
Instead of creating another PRD, the next step will be to create your UI/UX/design guidelines (and don’t worry, you’ll answer questions in simple terms, no tech jargon). Once you reach that results page, I’ll provide a video and prompt to show you how to take both the PRD and design guidelines and go a little deeper with one of the LLMs.
The whole thing is completely free (I joked with a friend that I don’t know if I’ll ever create another lead magnet again, lol. I’d rather build things like this).
You do have to opt-in to use it, but you walk away with something valuable in minutes.
This is a solid entry point for new people with where my focus is.
*Side note: Feel free to try it; you won’t end up on my list twice. Just please bear with me, as the follow-up sequence isn’t complete yet, and I haven’t pointed the domain name yet. Will do that tomorrow. This is my minimum viable.
Also, ignore the copy… it could use a little work.
Because of what I’ve learned these last few weeks, I’m able to take something from idea to tangible product a lot faster.
But that doesn’t mean everything is working, lol.
I actually downloaded Cursor last week (think Lovable but for developers, and cheaper). While my head was about to explode a couple of hours later, I did manage to create something and launch it locally (which means it essentially lives on my computer).
The reason for doing that is that after working with some of these tools for a while, they can kind of go sideways and “lose the plot.”
After the 3rd or 4th time Lovable told me something was “fixed” and it most certainly was not, I thought, “What the hell, let’s give it a shot.”
The biggest perk to using Cursor (with Lovable, I might add) is the cost savings.
Not to mention…
One prompt can break everything. You can have something working beautifully, then request a minor change, and watch your entire project collapse. After trying to fix something and spending more credits than necessary, I found the “restore” to a previous version (you’re welcome, lol).
What's Working
Despite the frustrations, I'm more excited about what I'm building than I've been in years. Why? Because I'm learning to work with these tools, not just consume content about them.
I've developed guardrails. After watching something I created break multiple times, I learned to make specific instructions that prevent certain changes from occurring. It's like having safety nets.
I rotate tools strategically—For example, ChatGPT for brainstorming, Claude for coding, and Gemini for planning. When one gets "confused," I switch to another.
I embrace the iterations. Instead of expecting perfection on attempt #1, I plan for 3-5 rounds of refinement. Weirdly, this makes the process less stressful.
I protect my energy. 3 AM (vibe) coding sessions? Yeah, those don’t happen. This girl needs her sleep.
My new mantra these days?
#JustTryIt
Noteworthy 🔥
Turn ideas into interactive AI-powered apps with Claude!
Introducing, Claude Artifacts!
Artifacts turn anyone into an app creator—no coding needed. Just tell Claude your idea to instantly create shareable apps, tools, and games.
A Little Brainpower 🧠
Cloudflare is going to make the LLMs start paying to crawl sites! They’re calling it “Content Independence Day!”
Even the Content Marketing Institute is encouraging people to use Substack. Substack Isn’t Just for Creators: Tips and Considerations for B2B and B2C Brands.
More news on AI and SEO. LLM Visibility: The SEO Metric No One Is Reporting On (Yet).
Tool Time 🛠️
Scheduling: Connect multiple calendars and meeting tools, and go live in 60 seconds. Enable automated meeting reminders to prevent no-shows. Check out Lunacal.ai.
Agents: Easily create powerful AI agents that can interact intelligently with real-world services on behalf of you or your company. Use QuickAgent free here.
AI-powered organization: Save anything to your Second Brain—then AI chat with your knowledge base using state-of-the-art models. Check out Second Brain here.
Video: It’s no secret I love Descript, but their *NEW* AI Underlord (it’s called Underlord) edits your videos… with AI. No editing on your end, it’s free to try through July. Learn more about Underlord here.
Isn’t that the truth 😂
I have SO much to share with you guys, and I’ll be getting back to recording videos next week for YouTube (I’ll post them here as well).
I’ve been so immersed in what I’m doing, I’m just going with the flow and taking advantage of the focused energy.
I told a friend I’m in my “mad scientist” era.
Let me know if you try the PRD builder… I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Have a wonderful day.
With coffee & kindness,
Kim
I'm inspired by your journey! I'm such a novice in this area but love reading about what you're doing and how you continue to try new things.
I've been trying new things too. And I think what makes it so exciting is that you can have a conversation with these LLMs to work out answers.
Whereas before you would have to do all these Google searches and try to follow all these different threads and hopefully get something that worked.
And I'll admit it's not always perfect and sometimes you have to keep asking questions, but it does help fix the problems in a fairly quick time frame. I've been trying things that I never would have been able to try before.