Taste, Automations & AI Agents
Make It Real
Taste is the moat. Automations are the muscle. Agents work while you sleep.
If it looks cheap, people assume it IS cheap.
You built the thing. Now make it look like you meant it.
The 3-move design glow-up
Pick ONE bold brand color. Kill every other accent. Everything else = black, white, gray.
Inter for UI, or something with attitude (Space Grotesk, Instrument Serif). Never two vibes.
One killer image or illustration at the top. AI-generated is fine — but sharp, not generic.
Before you show anyone
- 01Rounded corners everywhere (radius: 12-16px). Sharp edges look like homework.
- 02One accent color. Not a rainbow.
- 03White space > cramming. Let stuff breathe.
- 04Real copy, not 'Lorem ipsum' or 'Your headline here'.
- 05Mobile view checked. 60% of your users are on phones.
Copy this prompt into Claude/GPT with a screenshot
You are a senior product designer at Linear. Here's a screenshot of my landing page. Roast it. What screams 'built by a beginner'? Give me the top 5 fixes ranked by impact. Be specific — reference exact elements.
Connectors: tools that DO things, not just answer.
Zapier, Make, n8n. When X happens -> Y happens. No human needed.
3 you can ship tonight
New form submission -> auto-send a personal WhatsApp welcome. Feels magic.
New payment -> auto-email a personal thank-you video (pre-recorded, feels custom).
Instagram DM keyword -> auto-reply with a link. Sells while you sleep.
What an 'agent' actually is
- 01An agent = AI + tools + memory. It can DO things, not just chat.
- 02Example: reads your inbox -> drafts replies -> waits for your ok -> sends.
- 03Tools to try (free tiers): Lindy, Relevance AI, n8n + AI nodes.
- 04Rule: give it ONE job. 'Agent that handles refund requests.' Not everything.
- 05Always keep a human in the loop for money, legal, or PR moves.
Live activity: Ship one automation
One working Zap or Make scenario connected to your MVP.
- 01Pick ONE trigger (new form, new payment, new signup).
- 02Pick ONE action (email, WhatsApp, DM, Slack ping).
- 03Wire it in Zapier / Make free tier.
- 04Test it live. Screenshot the receipt.
You don't need to learn Python. You need to know what to ask for.
Cursor, Lovable, Replit — code is one prompt away.
Pick your lane
ChatGPT writes code. You paste, you run, you debug together.
Cursor / Lovable — the AI lives in the editor. It sees your whole project, edits multiple files, runs the app.
Ship a real app tonight
- 01Lovable — prompt your app into existence, no setup
- 02Vercel — free hosting, one-click deploy
- 03Supabase — free database + auth
- 04Stripe / Paddle — accept payments in 10 min
How to not get stuck
What the user does, screen by screen. Not the code.
Ugly, working, on a real URL.
Click every button. Find one bug. Fix.
Small prompts, one change at a time. Never rewrite.
The build-request prompt
Add this feature: [ONE SENTENCE]. Acceptance: (1) [what happens when the user does X], (2) [what happens on failure], (3) [what data is saved]. Keep the existing design. Don't touch [FILES YOU CARE ABOUT]. Explain what you changed and why.
Watch for these
- 01It confidently deletes working code — commit often
- 02It hallucinates libraries that don't exist — verify imports
- 03It refactors unrelated files — pin the scope in the prompt
- 04It skips tests — you must ask for them
Real numbers
Faster ship rate with AI IDEs (self-reported)
Weekend to a real, hosted MVP
Stack cost until you have paying users
Bonus drill: Ship a landing page
Real URL, real form, in 20 min.
- 01Open Lovable / Vercel.
- 02Prompt: landing page for [YOUR IDEA] with email capture.
- 03Deploy.
- 04Share the URL in the group chat.
If you charged tomorrow, what would your price be — and what makes it feel fair?
Compare to a Netflix subscription, a coffee, or a tutor.
What outcome does the customer get for that price?
What price would make YOU feel embarrassed to charge?
Best pricing move for a brand-new AI product with 20 users?
It looks real. It runs itself. Now go get paid.
Tomorrow: the pitch.