How to Make Millions with AI: A Step-by-Step Guide

Did you know that AI can completely replace roles typically filled by a developer, designer, and marketer? Learn how to harness the power of current AI tools and workflows to create, launch, and market your own startup in a fraction of the time.

“By the end of this episode, Sam, we’re going to see me replace a developer, a salesperson, a designer, a marketer, a researcher, a product manager with AI agents.” — Greg Isenberg [verify]

Step 1: Find an Idea

Identifying a strong business idea is where every AI‐powered startup journey begins. You can start by browsing platforms like Idea Browser (https://ideabrowser.com), which generates daily suggestions by scraping trends across social media, content feeds, and industry reports. For example, one today’s idea proposed launching an “LLM Boost” agency to optimize AI SEO for companies looking to improve their visibility in language‐model searches.
Beyond Idea Browser, consider these proven tactics:

• Trend analysis: Monitor Google Trends, Reddit topic surges, and Twitter hashtags to spot nascent consumer needs around chatbots, text generation, or voice interfaces.
• Gap hunting: Visit Quora and niche forums, then search questions about pain points—if a recurring question lacks a good solution, an AI application could fill it.
• Competitor deconstruction: Reverse‐engineer successful AI startups by reading case studies on TechCrunch or VentureBeat. Note their business model, pricing tiers, and marketing channels.
• Personal alignment: Ask yourself which industries or topics excite you most. Use a founder‐fit framework to score how your background, skills, and network align with each idea. A young engineer might score high on AI‐driven data dashboards, while a marketer‐turned‐founder could focus on automated content creation tools.
  During this ideation phase, resist the urge to perfect at the outset. Instead, collect a shortlist of three to five concepts, then run a quick feasibility check: estimate market size, examine existing competition, and project revenue potential. A simple spreadsheet can rank each idea on opportunity size, founder fit, and required resources. Once you settle on one that checks most boxes, you’re ready to sketch out how it will look and work.

Step 2: Sketch Out the Idea

Before writing a single line of code or crafting a detailed business plan, create a visual flowchart or wireframe of your proposed solution. Free tools like TLDraw (https://www.tldraw.com/) let non-designers quickly draw boxes, arrows, and notes in under ten minutes. Here’s a simple process:

1. Context map: Outline the user journey, from landing on your homepage or quiz to receiving a final report or chat response.
2. Core components: Sketch each major section—input form, AI processing stage, and output dashboard. Label interactions and data flows.
3. Integration points: Indicate where external AI services (OpenAI, Claude, Perplexity) or databases (Supabase, Airtable) will connect.
4. Collaboration layer: Note areas where human oversight or review might be needed to refine AI output or moderate content.
   By turning abstract ideas into tangible diagrams, you gain clarity both for yourself and for any AI tool you’ll later feed these visuals into. Platforms like Manis can even ingest your sketch image, allowing you to annotate and refine the minimum viable product (MVP) specification with AI guidance. This early visualization helps prevent costly missteps once you transition into prototyping.

Step 3: Scope Out the MVP

An efficient MVP proves your concept without heavy upfront investment. Instead of hiring a product manager, leverage an AI agent platform like Manis (https://manis.im/) to craft a detailed roadmap in minutes. Here’s how:

• Provide project context: Upload your idea name (e.g., “LLM Boost”), attach your TLDraw sketch, and summarize the primary goal—such as delivering an AI SEO audit quiz.
• Ask guiding questions: Instruct Manis to clarify scope by asking specific requirements—target quiz length, required AI checks, branding guidelines, and data storage preferences.
• Receive a phased plan: Manis will return a to-do list with phases like “Research and Planning,” “Question Development,” “Prompt Engineering,” and “Validation,” each broken down into actionable tasks.
• Assign deliverables: Each task can include roles (e.g., “Design quiz UI,” “Create OpenAI prompt”), timelines, and acceptance criteria.
  For example, your AI-powered MVP scope might include: • Phase 1: Define 10 audit questions and map corresponding GPT prompts.
  • Phase 2: Draft wireframes in TLDraw and export visuals.
  • Phase 3: Set up a Supabase database for quiz responses.
  • Phase 4: Integrate ChatGPT API to score visibility and generate recommendations.
  • Phase 5: Validate quiz flow with five pilot users, iterate on prompt clarity.
  This automated scoping ensures you cover research, development, testing, and deployment phases without overlooking critical milestones or dependencies.

Step 4: Vibe Code a Prototype

Once your MVP plan is locked in, it’s time to build a working prototype without traditional development overhead. Low-code AI platforms like Bolt.new (https://bolt.new/) allow you to describe desired features in natural language and generate production-ready web pages. To maximize results:

• Use a detailed, structured prompt: Before you start, ask Manis or ChatGPT to craft the precise prompt you’ll feed into Bolt. For instance: “Generate a modern landing page that includes a multi-step quiz funnel. The first step should collect company name and website URL, the second should ask SEO and LLM visibility questions, and the final step should display a summary and email capture form.”
• Attach UI references: Upload your TLDraw sketch or any mood board images to provide context.
• Review generated code: Bolt.new outputs HTML, CSS, and JavaScript components. Review and tweak styles to match your brand palette.
• Test locally: Run the prototype on a test domain, click through each quiz screen, and ensure keyboard accessibility and mobile responsiveness.
  Alternative tools such as Replit, Cursor, and Windsurf cater to more technical users who want deeper customization or server-side logic. But for most startup founders looking to skip complex setup, Bolt.new and Lovable make it possible to ship a clickable prototype in under an hour. This early prototype becomes your “conversation piece” when gathering feedback or pitching to potential investors.

Step 5: Vibe Marketing the Business

With a prototype or early MVP ready, you need a scalable marketing framework to attract customers on autopilot. That’s where AI workflows come into play. Tools like Lindy (https://www.lindy.ai/) or GumLoop enable you to:

• Automate content repurposing: Turn a single LinkedIn post or newsletter into dozens of Twitter threads, Instagram carousels, and blog snippets.
• Qualify leads via social engagement: When a prospect comments or likes your post, Lindy enriches their profile (email, company, title) and scores them against custom criteria—budget, company size, or industry alignment.
• Trigger personalized outreach: Qualified leads automatically receive tailored emails or SMS messages that reference the specific content they engaged with, increasing open and conversion rates.
• Measure performance: Dashboards track engagement metrics, lead scores, and campaign ROI, while AI continuously refines messaging based on responses.
  Example workflow for LLM Boost:

1. Post a thought leadership article on LinkedIn about “Top 5 AI SEO Hacks.”
2. Lindy captures all interactions, filters by engagement level, and enriches profiles with data from Clearbit or ZoomInfo.
3. High-value prospects receive a message: “Hi [Name], I noticed you found our AI SEO hacks useful. Would you like a free 10-minute audit of your LLM visibility?”
4. Book demos automatically through an integrated Calendly link.
   This “vibe marketing” approach not only saves hundreds of hours but delivers a consistent sales pipeline without constant manual follow-up.

Step 6: AI Agent Product Manager

AI support doesn’t end at development and marketing. You can also deploy AI as your ongoing product manager and research assistant. By combining platforms like Lindy, Kubera, and other AI agents, you can:

• Continuously gather customer feedback: Set up a Twilio-powered hotline (e.g., 1-800-JOIN-LLMB) that records voice messages and transcribes them into Airtable. An AI agent summarizes key insights and posts them to your Slack channel for immediate review.
• Automate release notes and roadmaps: Feed commit data from GitHub into an AI prompt that drafts release notes, drafts internal PR summaries, and highlights outstanding issues.
• Manage feature requests: When a user emails a suggestion, an AI agent checks your Notion knowledge base or public roadmap to determine if the feature exists. If new, it logs the request as a JIRA task; if already planned, it responds with status and estimated ship date.
• Optimize team workflows: Use AI to schedule stand-ups, summarize meeting transcripts, and assign action items with deadlines.
  This level of automation ensures that your lean startup runs with the efficiency of a 50-person product team, reducing overhead while maintaining rapid iteration cycles.

Conclusion

Leveraging the right AI tools in each phase—from ideation to prototype, marketing to product management—can dramatically accelerate your startup journey and unlock new revenue streams. By embracing automated workflows, you’ll not only cut costs but also outpace competitors still relying on manual processes.

Takeaway: Identify one manual task in your current workflow and replace it with an AI agent this week—whether it’s idea validation, prototype generation, or lead follow-up—to start compounding productivity and revenue gains for your business.