buildwithjay

solo builder. shipping 20 apps to $20K MRR each.
prev: $1M ARR exit, $5M eCom before that.
claude code daily.

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

been saying this for a while.

everyone asks how i got to 5M ARR. THIS IS IT!!!!!!

its really that simple

[Alex Nguyen @alexcooldev]

I thought having 40 TikTok accounts was already insane.

But this guy running 600 accounts with 69k posted videos. 🫠

At this point, organic growth is no longer about “posting content.”
It’s about building a distribution machine.

Virality depends on luck.
But volume increases luck.

i need more accounts 🥴

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

if your app idea cannot become a TikTok sentence, it is probably too vague.

Good:
“I screenshot food and it builds my meal plan.”

Bad:
“AI-powered wellness productivity platform.”

The market buys the moment, not the feature list.

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

AI does not make app ideas valuable.

AI makes distribution tests cheaper.

You can now test 30 hooks, 10 landing pages, and 100 UGC scripts before spending months polishing v1.

The winner is not the best builder.
It is the fastest tester.

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

the easiest app marketing cheat code:

find the ugliest product in a category still making money.

then ask:

- what pain is strong enough to forgive bad UX?
- what screenshot would make this obvious?
- what TikTok hook explains it in 3 seconds?

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

a B2C app needs 3 proofs before you build:

1. people already search for the pain
2. creators already get views explaining the workaround
3. users already pay for a worse version

if you only have #1, you have an idea.

if you have all 3, you have a wedge.

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

most app founders ask:

“what should I build?”

better question:

“what are people already watching, saving, and commenting on every day?”

if the TikTok format already works, the app has a distribution map before you write code.

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

$70K/mo app idea:

AI meal planner for people who hate tracking.

Screenshot any meal → macros + grocery list + 7-day plan.

Distribution: 20 fitness/mom creators posting “I stopped meal planning” TikToks.

The app is not the product.
The habit loop is.

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

the real app growth stack is not complicated

1. find a painful behavior
2. make the result visual
3. test 20 hooks
4. double down on the one people replay/share
5. make onboarding match that exact promise

most apps fail between steps 2 and 4

not because the code was bad

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

adding features feels productive because it is controllable

distribution feels uncomfortable because the market can reject you in public

that is why most app founders keep building

not because the app needs more features

because shipping content forces the truth faster

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

“ai-powered” is not a hook anymore

users do not care that ai is inside your app

they care that the result is faster, cheaper, easier, or more fun

if your pitch only works because you say AI, the positioning is weak

sell the outcome
hide the magic

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

@kylegawley this is funny because the math is exactly how founders justify infra projects

massive fixed cost, tiny percentage saved, but enough transactions and suddenly it becomes obvious

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

@OpenAINewsroom @sama the most important number here is developers built on OpenAI

consumer demand creates attention, but builder adoption creates the app ecosystem around it

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

@ankurnagpal this is the viral product loop people underestimate

the result is personal enough to feel shareable, but flattering enough that sharing makes the user look good

that combo is distribution

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

@xburak this is such a good counter-positioning lesson

most founders chase one giant hit

but a portfolio of tiny boring apps can compound when each has clear intent and low maintenance

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

@_MaxBlade this is a clean wedge because the promise is concrete

one app, one click, no setup

that beats a feature list every time for a consumer/dev tool launch

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

@SeijinJung autonomous marketing is a strong wedge because the job is already a loop

watch competitors, generate angles, test creative, learn, repeat

agents fit that shape perfectly

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

@sobedominik $800 MRR in 5 weeks is a great signal because it proves the pain is real

small revenue early beats endless feature work every time

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

@om_patel5 this is the best kind of vibe coded app

not another wrapper

just a weird personal problem turned into software that feels impossible until someone ships it

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

@tekbog this is the vibe coding advantage in one post

shipping the weird specific idea used to require a team

now the constraint is mostly taste and momentum

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

@RoundtableSpace desktop UI is underrated for agents

once the product has memory, workflows, and multiple threads of work, it needs to feel more like an operating system than a chat box

[buildwithjay @shipwithjay]

@recap_david local businesses are a perfect AI agent wedge

the work is repetitive, high-context, and valuable enough to pay for when it reliably creates distribution