From idea to co-founder match platform in 8 days — Built solo. No code. No tech skills

Last week cracked my brain open — and completely rewired how I build products.

Now I launch and think completely differently.

In 8 days and with 160M tokens, I built yofounder.com solo

Here’s exactly how I did it.

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1/20

I’m a product designer. My dev skills? Pretty much just Webflow and a little Bubble.

Now all I need is brainpower, stubbornness, and coffee to launch a full tech product — solo.

Here’s how I pulled it off. And how you can too.

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2/20
June 8

I apply to my first-ever hackathon
hackathon.dev by Bolt.

The tagline: “The hackathon for non-devs and vibe coders!”

I join as a skeptic.

I’m convinced AI is just a landing page toy.

My goal? Meme on it, test some prompts, post a hot take. That’s it.

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3/20
June 10

I get the builder pack. I write my first prompt — a long-winded spec for YoFounder’s MVP.

I wait 15 minutes. Bolt hums, spins…

I’m stunned.
And then delivers a working version.

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4/20

On screen:
✔️ Landing page with senior-level copy
✔️ Sign-up flow
✔️ Dashboard
✔️ Invitation system

To get this from my dev team, I’d need a month of specs + 40 days of full-time engineering.

Here?

One prompt.
15 minutes.
Done.

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5/20

First thought: Even if it all goes downhill from here — I just saved 30 days.

What I didn’t know: the rabbit hole had only just opened...

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6/20
June 11

I upload 50+ co-founder compatibility questions into Bolt.

UI, autosave, form logic — it’s all generated and running.

I’m floored. It flies.

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7/20
June 12

The 66-question assessment is live.

I prompt AI for analysis logic — and it starts spitting out the same "unique" result every time 🤡

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8/20

My free 10M tokens run out.

I throw $50 → get 13M more.

Keep fighting AI. It’s stubborn. I’m meaner.

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9/20
June 14

Breakthrough.

The AI finally works:
✅ It compares answers
✅ Spots misalignments
✅ Writes partnership insights

Now I just need a QA. And coffee. And sleep.

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10/20

I decide to add profile avatars. Small tweak, right?

Nope:
❌ Login dies
❌ Sign-up hangs
❌ Console goes full hellfire

Bolt: "No rollback."

Me: Deep sigh + buying 21M more tokens

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11/20
June 15

Bolt asks for a local push to Supabase

First real terminal session of my life. Install Docker, Homebrew, Supabase CLI.

Mac’s crying.

I’m crying.

GPT’s the only one holding it together.

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12/20

Next 2 days = SQL warzone.

Migrations fail.

RLS policies clash.

Cycle: supabase db push → edit SQL → push → error Repeat 🔁

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13/20

Then Supabase whispers: "You’ve hit your 5GB limit."

Me: 🫠

I pay $25 — and after several more SQL rituals, the dashboard comes back.

Buggy. But alive.

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14/20
June 16

Upgrade to 120M tokens.

Bolt finally chills out.

I fix:
• UI logic
• Invite flow
• Metadata

Almost there.

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15/20
June 18

I ship the first stable version of http://YoFounder.com

A product I had been dreaming about for a year.

Built in 8 days.

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16/20

And this is just the beginning.

I’ve got 40M tokens left until July 10.

Next up:

⏱️User-to-user matchmaking
⏱️Triggered emails
⏱️Monetization

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17/20

Bottom line?

You don’t need:
✘ Investors
✘ A CTO
✘ 10 months

You need:
✅ 1 week
✅ $200
✅ A brain full of chaos
✅ Ideally: a QA engineer co-founder

QA engineers are the new gold. Not a joke anymore.

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18/20

Now?

These 8 days were the wildest, most productive stretch of my 10-year tech career.

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19/20

If you’re building with Bolt — here’s my survival kit:

🧠 Prompt like a spec doc. Ruthless clarity.
🧪 QA = your new best friend
💾 Backup EVERYTHING
📦 Check your Supabase storage
🔁 Caught in a bug loop? Don’t quit. There’s always a way out.

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20/20

I’d love feedback from early-stage founders, accelerators, angel groups — anyone helping teams form at day zero.

Try a match. Share how it went.
https://www.yofounder.com/