Scott Spanier

Scott Spanier

GTM co-founder
12 points

Forums

Founders in stealth / pre-launch - why? (+ dinner in SF!)

It used to be fashionable to be "in stealth," but then our collective wisdom shifted to "launch early and launch often." In my experience, there are two good reasons for this:

The first reason is that it's often more important to figure out whether people want what you're building than it is to figure out whether you can build the best possible version of it. Launching early gives you the opportunity to either pivot or iterate quickly. Launching is learning.

Founders in stealth / pre-launch - why? (+ dinner in SF!)

It used to be fashionable to be "in stealth," but then our collective wisdom shifted to "launch early and launch often." In my experience, there are two good reasons for this:

The first reason is that it's often more important to figure out whether people want what you're building than it is to figure out whether you can build the best possible version of it. Launching early gives you the opportunity to either pivot or iterate quickly. Launching is learning.

Reid Kimball

9mo ago

Seeking advice for customer acquisition

Edit: thank you everyone who took the time to comment! Hello! I have a health and wellness app that helps people track their compliance on therapeutic diets with the help of AI. I ve gotten very strong encouragement from friends in the tech industry but am finding acquiring customers difficult. I don t spam my app in communities on Facebook or Reddit, but I ll briefly mention it here and there when someone else posts or comments about using apps to help with therapeutic diets. My user growth is about 2-3 per week. If I try to ask communities to talk w people for user research, I m finding most communities will delete the post, even if I am not selling the app but want to talk with others about their pain points. I m curious, what customer acquisition strategies and techniques have worked for you?
Nika

9mo ago

What is the most unusual use of artificial intelligence you have seen?

Besides generating text, images and videos for you in a few seconds/minutes, AI can certainly do other things.

What unusual uses of AI have you seen?

Scott Spanier

9mo ago

How do I figure out what my app is actually doing?

I've been vibe coding for a few months as a non-coder and I'm still annoyed with the fact that I can't understand what's happening under the hood.

I've got a decent understanding of code but I can't actually write it and I don't know the best practices for stuff like architecture and security which apparently aren't baked into most vibe coding tools. So my question is...

Nika

9mo ago

Is it morally right to cheat with AI? Contradictory products deal with this idea in different ways.

I saw an article on TechCrunch discussing Cluely (created by Chungin Roy Lee and Neel Shanmugam).

TL;DR: The AI tool, originally developed to cheat on software engineering interviews, now helps users cheat on exams, sales calls, and job interviews through a hidden in-browser window. And now has raised $5+ million.

Finep/fineDan Leshem

10mo ago

"Vibe coding" for non-coders

Recently I've worked with a group of non-corders trying to "vibe code" their apps with AI.
While knowing code is clearly not a must these days, it helps to get technical.
People who were familiar with basic software engineering concepts were 10x more likely to success and get better results.
So, with the hope of providing value to the non-coders people, I've created a quick roadmap for the basic terms and concepts you should be familiar with.

  • Requirements: Building apps with AI is all about being able to clearly guide AI and express your app features and requirements.
    You need to be able to express those ideas and explain them as you d explain to a human developer. Think like a Technical Product Manager.

  • Frontend: The face of your app.
    It's what your users see and interact with. It could be a website, a mobile app, or a desktop app. Most popular frontend libraries and frameworks are React, Next.js.

  • UIs: They are the buttons, the forms, the modals, the tooltips, etc. In React, the UI is built with components. For design & styling, Tailwind CSS is the most popular library.
    For animations, Framer Motion is the most popular library.

  • Packages & npm: Apps are not built from scratch.
    They are built on top of existing libraries and frameworks, like lego blocks.

    The most popular package manager is npm. For example, "react-hook-form" is a famous package that helps you build forms.

  • Backend: The backend is the part of your app that runs on the server.

    It's where you store your data, your business logic.

    e.g: If you want to send an email, or process payments - this is where you'll do it.

    Vibe tip: Use minimal backends with serverless functions.

  • Database: The database is where you store your data.

    It's where you store your users, your projects, your tasks, etc. Think of it as a big spreadsheet.

    I recommend using a database that is integrated with your frontend.

    For example: Fine, or Supabase.

  • API: Real-life apps almost always need to integrate with other apps.

    For example: if you want to send email, or get weather data, or integrate with AI - it's all done through APIs.

  • Hosting & Deployment: For your app to be accessible to the public, you need to host it.

    The code is usually hosted on GitHub, and deployed to platforms like Fine, Vercel, Netlify.

Finally, being comfortable with code is helpful - even if not a must.

AI often makes minor mistakes (like importing a wrong package), and if you re not afraid of reviewing code - you will get better results faster.

Finep/fineDan Leshem

10mo ago

"Vibe coding" for non-coders

Recently I've worked with a group of non-corders trying to "vibe code" their apps with AI.
While knowing code is clearly not a must these days, it helps to get technical.
People who were familiar with basic software engineering concepts were 10x more likely to success and get better results.
So, with the hope of providing value to the non-coders people, I've created a quick roadmap for the basic terms and concepts you should be familiar with.

  • Requirements: Building apps with AI is all about being able to clearly guide AI and express your app features and requirements.
    You need to be able to express those ideas and explain them as you d explain to a human developer. Think like a Technical Product Manager.

  • Frontend: The face of your app.
    It's what your users see and interact with. It could be a website, a mobile app, or a desktop app. Most popular frontend libraries and frameworks are React, Next.js.

  • UIs: They are the buttons, the forms, the modals, the tooltips, etc. In React, the UI is built with components. For design & styling, Tailwind CSS is the most popular library.
    For animations, Framer Motion is the most popular library.

  • Packages & npm: Apps are not built from scratch.
    They are built on top of existing libraries and frameworks, like lego blocks.

    The most popular package manager is npm. For example, "react-hook-form" is a famous package that helps you build forms.

  • Backend: The backend is the part of your app that runs on the server.

    It's where you store your data, your business logic.

    e.g: If you want to send an email, or process payments - this is where you'll do it.

    Vibe tip: Use minimal backends with serverless functions.

  • Database: The database is where you store your data.

    It's where you store your users, your projects, your tasks, etc. Think of it as a big spreadsheet.

    I recommend using a database that is integrated with your frontend.

    For example: Fine, or Supabase.

  • API: Real-life apps almost always need to integrate with other apps.

    For example: if you want to send email, or get weather data, or integrate with AI - it's all done through APIs.

  • Hosting & Deployment: For your app to be accessible to the public, you need to host it.

    The code is usually hosted on GitHub, and deployed to platforms like Fine, Vercel, Netlify.

Finally, being comfortable with code is helpful - even if not a must.

AI often makes minor mistakes (like importing a wrong package), and if you re not afraid of reviewing code - you will get better results faster.

Finep/fineDan Leshem

10mo ago

"Vibe coding" for non-coders

Recently I've worked with a group of non-corders trying to "vibe code" their apps with AI.
While knowing code is clearly not a must these days, it helps to get technical.
People who were familiar with basic software engineering concepts were 10x more likely to success and get better results.
So, with the hope of providing value to the non-coders people, I've created a quick roadmap for the basic terms and concepts you should be familiar with.

  • Requirements: Building apps with AI is all about being able to clearly guide AI and express your app features and requirements.
    You need to be able to express those ideas and explain them as you d explain to a human developer. Think like a Technical Product Manager.

  • Frontend: The face of your app.
    It's what your users see and interact with. It could be a website, a mobile app, or a desktop app. Most popular frontend libraries and frameworks are React, Next.js.

  • UIs: They are the buttons, the forms, the modals, the tooltips, etc. In React, the UI is built with components. For design & styling, Tailwind CSS is the most popular library.
    For animations, Framer Motion is the most popular library.

  • Packages & npm: Apps are not built from scratch.
    They are built on top of existing libraries and frameworks, like lego blocks.

    The most popular package manager is npm. For example, "react-hook-form" is a famous package that helps you build forms.

  • Backend: The backend is the part of your app that runs on the server.

    It's where you store your data, your business logic.

    e.g: If you want to send an email, or process payments - this is where you'll do it.

    Vibe tip: Use minimal backends with serverless functions.

  • Database: The database is where you store your data.

    It's where you store your users, your projects, your tasks, etc. Think of it as a big spreadsheet.

    I recommend using a database that is integrated with your frontend.

    For example: Fine, or Supabase.

  • API: Real-life apps almost always need to integrate with other apps.

    For example: if you want to send email, or get weather data, or integrate with AI - it's all done through APIs.

  • Hosting & Deployment: For your app to be accessible to the public, you need to host it.

    The code is usually hosted on GitHub, and deployed to platforms like Fine, Vercel, Netlify.

Finally, being comfortable with code is helpful - even if not a must.

AI often makes minor mistakes (like importing a wrong package), and if you re not afraid of reviewing code - you will get better results faster.