Ship Rats

Interview with David Kelly, GM of AppSumo Originals. David has grown 9x apps to over 1 million users. He pulls back the curtain (and boots up his IDE) to show us how he uses AI to do product development. Plus, he explains how he would launch a new product with only $100.Topics:0:00 – Devon & David backstory3:02 – Wtf does David do?6:12 – Funny Noah Kagan story9:34 – How does vibe coding change app stores?14:21 – Don’t be afraid of competitive markets15:19 – Data behind $1M+ products17:50 – How to go from $0 to $1M23:14 – If you only had 3 hires, who would they be?26:47 – AppSumo Hell vs. AppSumo Heaven30:15 – How many more products can you launch with AI?31:28 – Which AI tools do you use?32:27 – David demos Warp for development38:52 – Stephen King analogy41:42 – Brainstorming live with ChatGPT49:27 – Quickfire questionsLinks:AppSumoWarp.devDavid on LinkedInDevon on XCheck out our Ship Rats NewsletterSubscribe to Ship Rats on YouTubeSubscribe for scrappy biz ideas, tech banter, and vibe coding.Check out the Ship Rats blog & newsletter - https://ShipRats.com

In this episode of Ship It Weekly, Devon shares his experience making a video game with Lovable and Replit. He also shows off a stupidly simple CRM, and Chris, our resident data dominatrix, weighs in on the future of Salesforce.Lastly, we cover a Business Insider story about a vibe coder who’s making $20k/mo. selling PDFs or something like that. We don’t really know, but there’s a lesson about audience building in there. Check it.Topics:0:00 – Vibe coding with Michael Bublé1:00 – Making a video game in Replit vs. Lovable12:58 – Scrappy CRM built in 1 day30:14 – Vibe coder who’s making $20k/mo.35:10 – How to get your first users if you have 0 followersLinks:Business Insider article about $20k/mo. vibe coderDevon on XChris on LinkedInCheck out our Ship Rats NewsletterSubscribe to Ship Rats on YouTubeSubscribe for scrappy biz ideas, tech banter, and vibe coding.Email us at [email protected]

Is using AI to talk to dead relatives a bad idea or good business?We follow up on Devon’s avatar experiments and discuss how subscriptions to “dead grandpa” are probably not how we want to make our millions. Then we get into Chris’ legit long-time business plan, which, after 6 years of talking about it, might finally be going somewhere.Topics:0:00 – Opening banter & BS3:41 – AI avatars: cool or creepy?6:18 – Talking to dead relatives with AI10:16 – Chris’ big business idea15:36 – Securing vibe-coded apps17:30 – Automation and lowest-hanging fruit22:41 – How Devon would market Chris’ idea26:22 – The problem with revops and IT28:11 – Who is Chris’ ideal customer?31:35 – How to find product-market fit and first customersLinks:HeyGenDevon on XChris on LinkedInShipRats.comCheck out our Ship Rats NewsletterSubscribe to Ship Rats on YouTubeSubscribe for scrappy biz ideas, tech banter, and vibe coding.Email us at [email protected]

Devon and Chris welcome their zero listeners to a new weekly show.After explaining their goals for the pod, they share a few apps they’ve been working on and get grossed out by AI avatars.The first app is Farmfolio, a farming expense tracker Devon made with his dad for kicks and giggles. The second app is Writhm, a writing app a la Grammarly or Hemingway designed to improve the flow and finesse of your writing.Topics:0:00 - Welcome to the show!2:11 - MVPs vs. SPPs3:05 - Farmfolio: Vibe coding with Devon's dad6:55 - Chris' love affair with Canadian Tire8:40 - Riches in niches10:50 - Building vs. buying apps in the future18:50 - HeyGen and AI avatars24:19 - WordPress vs. Lovable: What's better for new websites?26:04 - Demo of Devon's writing appLinks:FarmfolioHeyGenLovableWrithm.ioDevon on XChris on LinkedInShipRats.comCheck out our Ship Rats NewsletterSubscribe to Ship Rats on YouTubeSubscribe for scrappy biz ideas, tech banter, and vibe coding.Email us at [email protected]