Amazing! This is the type of content I joined Substack for!
Yet, it once again proves my experience that if you have 0 coding experience, you would hardly be able to build anything even remotely complex using AI.
Thank you! I think the biggest challenges I’ve faced have been less about engineering complexity and more about not making too many assumptions about what users want! 😆
Ah, yes, that's completely understandable from product management perspective :)) But as a PM with 0 coding experience, my challenge stays with actual software development 😃
I'm glad to know you liked this piece, Adrian! I think AI is still trying to bridge the technical gap. For example, Lovable has recently improved its product significantly. In its early days, it was difficult for it to understand you at first.
These tools are getting smarter, and so are we (I hope!).
Replit is still the winner when it comes to making robust apps like StackDigest, but I feel like Lovable is better for those with no technical background. The interface makes it easier. (I'm not selling anything here.)
I've been using the Lovable + Supabase integration with any AI I like. I challenge myself not to delve into the technical aspects as much as I used to (I'm an ex-software engineer, so I know it's unfair!), and I see how a product manager with zero coding skills would handle it.
For example, taking Karen's app, I'd use any GPT and ask it to break down the tech stack Karen used and expose the "brains" of her app (haha, sorry!). Later, I'd ask the AI to figure out how to recreate the app using Lovable+Supabase, Replit, V0, or whatever you like. The AI will let you know about some limitations and where you'll have to code. It can also assist with that and explain the code to you without so much fancy technical words.
Sorry for the long comment. I know it doesn't solve entirely the technical part you mentioned, but I hope it helps somehow! :)
Ah, no, that's really helpful! When I end up trying something else, I would definitely try this approach as well :))
It was amazing to prototype with Replit! Really easy to work with, it creates backend services and database, but I got stuck fixing some minor bugs or UI stuff and couldn't make it do some of the things I wanted...at the same time, I was not sure if my own guidance was poor or that was all the tool was capable of.
Indeed, all such tools evolve rapidly and in a few months who knows - we might be able to build way more advanced products!
Market validation is always the hardest 😃For my prototype, I validated it with folks who are directly in the field and liked it a lot. Yet, I have no clue how to apply for funding or to find an engineering co-founder in order to build it :/
StackDigest is a masterclass in AI-driven product building: zero-dollar growth, early user validation, and a focus on UX-first design. This shows that real AI leverage comes not from hype, but from understanding users, instrumenting behavior, and iterating rapidly on meaningful insights.
Thanks for the heads up! 🙏 I’ll take a look at what’s happening with your domain. I have some pretty aggressive de-duplication logic to avoid capturing both custom domains and their Substack variants, so that may be the culprit.
Just logged into StackDigest and successfully imported Product Party (https://productparty.us) via both single and bulk import methods, so that seems to be working. 🤔
Can you tell me more about what happened on your end? Did the bookmarklet fail to grab the URL? Thank you! 🙏
In the Manage Newsletters > Add > Single Add I typed in that URL and the validation says "Could not extract newsletter information from https://productparty.us". I think that's what Comet was using to pluck URLs off my profile and populate. It made it through 35 additions though!
Ah, it sounds like you're using Perplexity! Custom domain imports are working in Chrome, so this might be a browser compatibility issue. I will test in Perplexity/Comet, see how it behaves, and hopefully figure out how to get it to work. 😄 Really appreciate the feedback! 🙏 ❤️
To be completely transparent, the $10 figure only applies to generative AI API calls, which are fast becoming commoditized. Hosting and Claude Code cost quite a bit more. 😁
This is a great post. Loved the long format, you girls made my morning coffee more enjoyable and educational 👌
Thanks for being so open to explain the process and struggles. Definitely inspiring to build your own version of whatever product you need.
Building in public is always a good idea, and it has worked for me in company scenarios too to introduce new artifacts, whole methodologies and new mindset.
Yeah! It magically build trust by showing that vulnerability which we all relate easily with. Building and putting things out there is hard. And harder to maintain 😅
Amazing! This is the type of content I joined Substack for!
Yet, it once again proves my experience that if you have 0 coding experience, you would hardly be able to build anything even remotely complex using AI.
Thank you! I think the biggest challenges I’ve faced have been less about engineering complexity and more about not making too many assumptions about what users want! 😆
Ah, yes, that's completely understandable from product management perspective :)) But as a PM with 0 coding experience, my challenge stays with actual software development 😃
I'm glad to know you liked this piece, Adrian! I think AI is still trying to bridge the technical gap. For example, Lovable has recently improved its product significantly. In its early days, it was difficult for it to understand you at first.
These tools are getting smarter, and so are we (I hope!).
I haven't played with Lovable yet, but probably at some point, given available time, I'll give it a shot!
Replit is still the winner when it comes to making robust apps like StackDigest, but I feel like Lovable is better for those with no technical background. The interface makes it easier. (I'm not selling anything here.)
I've been using the Lovable + Supabase integration with any AI I like. I challenge myself not to delve into the technical aspects as much as I used to (I'm an ex-software engineer, so I know it's unfair!), and I see how a product manager with zero coding skills would handle it.
For example, taking Karen's app, I'd use any GPT and ask it to break down the tech stack Karen used and expose the "brains" of her app (haha, sorry!). Later, I'd ask the AI to figure out how to recreate the app using Lovable+Supabase, Replit, V0, or whatever you like. The AI will let you know about some limitations and where you'll have to code. It can also assist with that and explain the code to you without so much fancy technical words.
Sorry for the long comment. I know it doesn't solve entirely the technical part you mentioned, but I hope it helps somehow! :)
Reverse engineering is always fair game! 🤣
Ah, no, that's really helpful! When I end up trying something else, I would definitely try this approach as well :))
It was amazing to prototype with Replit! Really easy to work with, it creates backend services and database, but I got stuck fixing some minor bugs or UI stuff and couldn't make it do some of the things I wanted...at the same time, I was not sure if my own guidance was poor or that was all the tool was capable of.
Indeed, all such tools evolve rapidly and in a few months who knows - we might be able to build way more advanced products!
💯
I’ve heard Lovable is great for prototyping! And I still think market validation is the hardest part! 🤣
Market validation is always the hardest 😃For my prototype, I validated it with folks who are directly in the field and liked it a lot. Yet, I have no clue how to apply for funding or to find an engineering co-founder in order to build it :/
Y Combinator has a co-founder matching service…I haven’t used it personally, but it might be someplace to start! https://www.ycombinator.com/cofounder-matching
Hmm, that's interesting! I will definitely explore this❤️
StackDigest is a masterclass in AI-driven product building: zero-dollar growth, early user validation, and a focus on UX-first design. This shows that real AI leverage comes not from hype, but from understanding users, instrumenting behavior, and iterating rapidly on meaningful insights.
🤗
Great breakdown. So important to stay up to date on everything. StackDigest is great.
Thank you! 🤗 And I’m always happy to hear feedback!
Thanks, Dennis! I think StackDigest is definitely ahead of its time. 🧠
Every breakout product starts as someone solving their own irritation elegantly.
Couldn’t agree more with this! 💯
💯
This is so interesting, thank you Elena, and thank you Karen for sharing your progress with StackDigest, I just signed up for the beta!
Great to hear you signed up, Mack! You won't regret it. Karen's work in this area is fascinating.
Thanks so much for reading! ❤️ And if you have any questions about the tool, please send me a DM!
Definitely planning to check this one out!
That's great, Mike! I know you will like it.
If you do, DM me with any questions! 😁
So I am getting my newsletters list populated in a fun way. At least I'm testing it out.
I was inspired by Elena's Comet post so I downloaded it, signed into Substack and StackDigest, and then had one populate the other.
The only snag I ran into so far is custom domain URLs (like mine) don't seem to work as is. Is there a workaround for that?
Thanks for the heads up! 🙏 I’ll take a look at what’s happening with your domain. I have some pretty aggressive de-duplication logic to avoid capturing both custom domains and their Substack variants, so that may be the culprit.
Just logged into StackDigest and successfully imported Product Party (https://productparty.us) via both single and bulk import methods, so that seems to be working. 🤔
Can you tell me more about what happened on your end? Did the bookmarklet fail to grab the URL? Thank you! 🙏
In the Manage Newsletters > Add > Single Add I typed in that URL and the validation says "Could not extract newsletter information from https://productparty.us". I think that's what Comet was using to pluck URLs off my profile and populate. It made it through 35 additions though!
Quick question...did you set up DNS for both https://www.productparty.us and https://productparty.us?
I did some further testing and noticed that importing https://www.productparty.us does work in both Chrome and Comet, while https://productparty.us fails. (I also can't get https://productparty.us to pull up your newsletter directly in the browser.)
Good call! I just updated my DNS to hopefully take care of that. It's "propagating," aka not working, but I will check tomorrow.
Ah, it sounds like you're using Perplexity! Custom domain imports are working in Chrome, so this might be a browser compatibility issue. I will test in Perplexity/Comet, see how it behaves, and hopefully figure out how to get it to work. 😄 Really appreciate the feedback! 🙏 ❤️
I have lots of problems I don't what to talk about! But I've chalked one off the list - Thanks Elena and Karen 🌟
Thanks so much! 🙏
Heck yes! Definitely an issue I’ve seen myself. Thanks for sharing
You’re very welcome! 🤗
Glad to see new faces here, thanks Katie!
Thanks Elena & Karen for this awesome post. And Karen, $10 a month is wild! I am super impressed by the efficacy of both you and your AI tools! 🙏
Thanks, Sam! I really appreciate it. :) It sounds like a new post about the costs and efficiency of AI. Who knows? But it'll be worth exploring.
To be completely transparent, the $10 figure only applies to generative AI API calls, which are fast becoming commoditized. Hosting and Claude Code cost quite a bit more. 😁
Ah yes. Excellent point. But even still for API calls that is amazing value for money given what you produce. 💪
This is a great post. Loved the long format, you girls made my morning coffee more enjoyable and educational 👌
Thanks for being so open to explain the process and struggles. Definitely inspiring to build your own version of whatever product you need.
Building in public is always a good idea, and it has worked for me in company scenarios too to introduce new artifacts, whole methodologies and new mindset.
I was afraid the post was too long to send via email, but it seems everyone received a copy, so I'm happy to hear you liked it!
As Karen told you, "Building in public only works if you’re honest." I think I need to frame this quote and put it somewhere in my house!
Thanks, Antonio, for your comments. Hopefully, we'll see you using StackDigest, too. 😉
Thank you! 🤗 I believe building in public only works if you’re honest about your mistakes and challenges…otherwise, it’s just marketing!
Yeah! It magically build trust by showing that vulnerability which we all relate easily with. Building and putting things out there is hard. And harder to maintain 😅
💯