🧭 THIS WEEK AT BuildProven
Howdy, last week I walked through the five-step workflow for building with AI. Spec, small pieces, test, document, ship ugly.
This week: use it.
I know you read last week's issue and thought, "Yeah, that makes sense." But you have not picked a real problem yet. I know because I did the same thing for months. Read about building. Watched tutorials about building. Thought about building. Did not build.
So here is the exercise that actually got me moving.
🧰 Worth Your Click
Here are a few things I found recently:
Agent Harness - what is that you say? you’ll have to read - i am not yet into these but will next few months.
Code Factory - same comment as previous! - crazy, viral post.
The Domain Expert Revolution: Why Industry Veterans Are Building Tomorrow's Startups — Why 2025/2026 is the inflection point for people with deep industry knowledge. AI tools have removed the coding barrier. The bottleneck is now domain expertise which is exactly what experienced professionals have.
🗺️ FEATURED INSIGHT
The complaint test
Grab a piece of paper. Or open your notes app. Set a timer for five minutes.
Write down every single thing you complain about at work. Not big strategic complaints like "our industry is broken." Small, specific, annoying stuff.
Things like:
"I fill out the same client information in three different systems."
"Nobody can ever find the latest version of the project template."
"Every Monday I spend 45 minutes building the same status report from scratch."
"New hires ask me the same 20 questions and I answer them one at a time."
That list? Those are product ideas.
Every complaint is a workflow that somebody would pay to fix. And because you have been doing this work for fifteen or twenty years, you know the problem cold. You know which fields matter on the intake form. You know what information the status report actually needs. You know what those 20 questions are.
A developer would need weeks of interviews to learn what you already know from memory.
Paul Graham wrote the definitive piece on this: the best startup ideas come from problems you have yourself. Not problems you imagine other people have. Your own problems, the ones that annoy you on a Tuesday afternoon.
The difference between 2012 and 2026 is that now you can build the solution yourself. In a weekend.
From complaint to build: a real example
Let me walk through one. Say your complaint is: "Every new client engagement starts with me emailing back and forth for a week collecting the same basic information."
That is a client intake form. And it is a perfect first build because:
You know exactly what fields are needed. You have been collecting this info for years.
It solves a real problem you have right now. Not a hypothetical future problem.
It is small enough to build in one sitting. A form, a place to store the data, a confirmation email.
You can test it immediately. Send it to your next new client.
This is the pattern. Pick the complaint. Check if it passes those four filters. Build it.
Where people get stuck
Two common traps with first builds:
Trap 1: Picking something too big. "I want to build a complete project management platform." No. That is not a weekend build. That is a six-month rabbit hole. Pick the smallest piece. The intake form. The status report. The FAQ page. One screen, one function.
Trap 2: Building for imaginary users. "I think HR managers would love a tool that..." Stop. Build for yourself first. If it works for you, it probably works for people who do the same job. If you are guessing what someone else needs, you are doing market research, not building.
Your domain expertise is the unfair advantage. Use it. Build the thing you actually need.
Your Turn
Build a client intake form this week. Open your tool of choice and paste these prompts in order. If you need help choosing a tool or need an intro guide etc, email me and I will get back to you!
Prompt 1 — Form fields:
Build a client intake form as a single-page web app. Include these fields:
- Client name (text)
- Company name (text)
- Email address (email)
- Project type (dropdown: Consulting, Implementation, Audit, Training, Other)
- Project description (text area, max 500 characters)
- Preferred start date (date picker)
- Budget range (dropdown: Under $5K, $5K-$15K, $15K-$50K, $50K+, Not sure yet)
- "Submit" button
Show a success message after submission.Prompt 2 — Storage:
Save all form submissions to a simple database. Add an admin view at /admin that shows all submissions in a table, sorted by most recent first. Include the submission date and time for each entry.Prompt 3 — Email confirmation:
When someone submits the form, send a confirmation email to their email address. The email should thank them, confirm what they submitted, and say "We'll be in touch within 2 business days." Also send a notification email to [email protected] with the full submission details.Prompt 4 — Polish:
Make it look professional. Clean design, your brand colours (or a simple blue/white scheme), mobile-friendly. Add your company name at the top and a brief welcome message that says "Tell us about your project and we'll get back to you within 2 business days."Four prompts. Maybe thirty minutes total. You will have a working client intake form that you can send to your next prospect instead of playing email tag.
Customise the fields to your actual work. If you are in consulting, those fields above probably already fit. If you are in a different field, swap in the questions you actually ask new clients. You know what they are.
Weekly build logs from a 25-year program manager who codes with AI.
— Brett
👉 Hit “Reply” and share your experience — I read every one!