stage 0 · ~10 min read

Before you start

01Why bother at allWhat you will actually be able to do in a month

02Ask your AIThe most important advice on this page. And the most ignored

03What this really costsThe floor, the comfortable option, and "can I do it free"

04Who this isn't forAn honest one. Better to read it now than be disappointed in a week

stage 1 · ~1 evening

What AI actually is

05What an LLM is, plainlyNo magic. It read the internet and learned to continue text

06Tokens and contextWhat you're paying for, and why it sometimes "forgets"

07HallucinationsIt can lie with total confidence. That's a property, not a bug

08Chat versus agentThe difference between "it suggested" and "it did it"

09What AI can and can't doThe real range - from a landing page in an evening to medicine

stage 2 · ~a day of testing

Pick your AI

10How to chooseBy the task, not by the hype

11ClaudeMy pick. Code, long tasks, deep digging

12ChatGPT and CodexAn all-rounder that costs less and everyone already knows

13GeminiBest visuals and a very long memory

14GrokReal time, and life on X

15Free and cheapQwen, Kimi, DeepSeek and friends - when the budget is zero

16How to pay for a subscriptionWhen your card doesn't go through

17Tiers: what you actually getWorking out what the 8, 20, 100 and 200 dollars buy

still here? you are already past most people who started

stage 3 · levels up forever

Talking to it

18Context is everythingThe main rule of prompting, and there's only one

19Talk, don't typeOut loud you give it three times the context you'd type

20How to frame a taskA simple structure that always works

21IterateDon't rewrite from scratch. Refine

22Show, don't explainOne example beats three paragraphs of description

23When it gets stuckWhat to do when it starts going in circles

24Don't take it out on your AIBe a person. This isn't only about morals

25Prompts beyond codeText, images, video - different rules

stage 4 · ~1-2 hours

Your workspace

26Terminal, editor or appThree ways to work with AI, and what to pick first

27The terminal isn't scaryFive minutes to stop being afraid of it

28Claude CodeThe agent that lives in the terminal and does it all itself

29What else you can work inCodex, Cursor, Zed, OpenCode, Antigravity - who each suits

30Git and GitHubA time machine for your project

31How not to lose your workSimple habits that save projects

32If a service isn't availableVPN, region and payment - briefly and practically

stage 5 · ~1 hour

Upgrading your AI

33What MCP isThe socket your AI reaches through to the outside world

34Your first three MCP serversA starter set that covers most of it

35Don't install everythingThe rule of three to six, and why more makes it worse

36What skills areA folder with instructions the AI opens when it's relevant

37Project memoryHow to stop it forgetting your rules

38Hooks and soundsSo you're not sitting there staring at the screen

39SubagentsWhen it calls in helpers, and when that's a waste

40Is any of this actually helpingA check that all this configuring wasn't for nothing

seriously - go ask your AI. right now, not later

stage 6 · ~an evening of thinking

What to build

41Where ideas come fromBoring works better than brilliant

42The first one has to be smallWhy "my own marketplace" will kill your motivation

43What to actually makeFour formats with different entry costs

44Projects for an eveningConcrete ideas that actually get finished

45Narrow nichesWhere there's little competition and a lot of gratitude

stage 7 · ~a week

Building the first one

46What to build it withA choice you don't need to agonise over

47Starting a projectThe first ten minutes that set the tone

48Big projects in piecesHow not to drown when the task is bigger than an evening

49When everything breaksHow to fix it with the AI rather than instead of it

50TestsHow much a beginner actually needs

51The usual mistakesWhat absolutely everyone trips over

52Why it will still be hardThe honest one. Read it when you want to quit

stage 8 · ~a couple of days

Making it look good

53Why AI design is obvious from across the roomAnd how to get out of it

54FontsOne detail that changes the whole feel

55ColourHow to choose a palette when you're not a designer

56AnimationWhen it lifts things, and when it just annoys

57ReferencesHow to steal properly

58MobileMore than half of your visitors arrive on a phone

this is where a lot of people quit. do not

stage 9 · ~1 day

Going live

59DomainsYour address on the internet, for a couple of dollars

60HostingWhere your project will live

61The first deployThe moment it appears on the internet

62Auto-deploySo updating takes zero actions

63Secrets and keysThe most expensive node on this page. Read all of it

64The pre-launch checklistFifteen minutes so you don't end up in the news

65AnalyticsKnowing whether the project is alive

66When it goes downWhat to do in the first hour

stage 10 · ongoing

Telling the world

67Not shipping is the big mistakeThe graveyard of projects is full of nearly-finished ones

68Where to post itAnd honest numbers, so you're not disappointed

69SEO for beginnersA slow thing that works for years

70Paid adsWhether to pay, and when

71Your first usersWhere they actually come from

less left than it looks

stage 11 · ∞

What comes next

72How to go deeperFrom "it works" to "I understand why"

73How not to burn outA marathon, not a sprint

74Finish what you startThe difference between people it works out for and everyone else

75The window is openThe end. And it isn't about technology