Ready to build your first AI startup without writing a single line of code? In this CreativeAIimag series, we’re diving deep into a powerful 6-step process inspired by Greg Isenberg and the My First Million podcast, plus their companion guide: How to Build an AI Startup in 3 Hours with Less Than $500. If you’re a UI/UX designer, creative technologist, or just AI-curious—you’re going to love this.
We’re following every step outlined in Greg’s playbook to take a raw idea and turn it into a real, functioning AI SaaS product. Over six articles, you’ll get:
- Ideation tools and trend validation
- Sketching and scoping your MVP
- Prototyping with no-code and AI tools
- Building landing pages and early user funnels
- Using AI to automate your marketing
- Deploying AI agents to handle operations
And the best part? You can do this with $0 coding experience and in a single weekend.
Background/Context: Why This Matters
We’re living in the greatest time ever to start a micro SaaS or solo AI startup. With tools like GPT-4o, Supabase, and plug-and-play agents, anyone with a laptop and curiosity can test an idea.
Greg’s PDF roadmap breaks this down beautifully. His steps are:
- Find a validated problem
- Sketch your idea visually
- Build a fast MVP
- Launch with early traction loops
- Use AI agents to operate it
- Repeat and scale
We’re following that plan step-by-step, and in this first article, we’re starting with ideation: using IdeaBrowser.com to find real problems and market signals.
Key Idea: Starting with a Validated Problem
When you’re building something new, it’s tempting to jump into features. But Greg’s advice is clear: start with the problem. Great products are just consistent solutions to painful problems.
That’s where ideabrowser.com comes in. It’s a tool that surfaces startup ideas based on real-world signals—Reddit threads, Google Trends, community pain points, and more.
Here’s how we used it:
- We searched the latest ideas tagged for accessibility, UI/UX, and web testing.
- We looked for recurring signals: designers frustrated by accessibility audits, QA teams wasting time on contrast checks, SEO experts worrying about font readability.
The Idea We Chose:
AI-Powered UX Accessibility Checker: A Chrome plugin that audits any live webpage for accessibility, contrast, font usage, and UI quality. It generates an instant report with visual charts, SEO insights, and suggestions to improve usability.
Why This Idea Works (and Scores High in Validation)
Let’s break this down with Greg’s checklist from the PDF:
- Is the pain real? Absolutely. Accessibility compliance is a legal and user requirement. Failing this affects brand, trust, and lawsuits.
- Are people already solving this manually? Yes—QA teams and designers are using plugins, checklists, and expensive audits.
- Is the target market reachable? Designers, developers, agencies, product managers. They’re all on LinkedIn, Reddit, Discord, and Slack.
- Can we build it fast? With AI APIs and Chrome extension frameworks, yes.
- Can we explain it in one sentence? 100%: “An AI-powered Chrome plugin that checks your site’s UX and accessibility in one click.”
Process/How It Works
Imagine this flow:
- User visits a website.
- They click the plugin icon.
- The plugin scans the page and sends it to an AI model.
- The model returns:
- Contrast ratio alerts
- Font size and hierarchy suggestions
- Accessibility flags (missing alt text, ARIA roles, etc.)
- SEO enhancements
- A report with visualized data (pie charts, bar graphs, WCAG compliance scores)
It’s instant UX QA.
You could charge for:
- On-demand reports
- Monthly monitoring
- Team accounts with sharing and reporting tools
Application: Why This Is a Great Business Opportunity
Accessibility is not optional. It’s required by law in many regions (like AODA in Ontario, WCAG globally). Big brands invest thousands in audits.
A sleek Chrome plugin offering a free scan and a premium deep-dive can:
- Get viral traction on design Twitter and LinkedIn
- Be pitched to agencies and startups
- Integrate into daily design and dev workflows
Revenue Potential:
Revenue could vary depending on the pricing model and your target audience. Here are a few options to explore:
- One-time purchase: Users pay a flat fee to download and use the plugin.
- Freemium model: Offer a limited free version and charge a monthly fee to unlock full features and reports.
- Pay-per-use: First scan is free, then each additional scan or report comes with a small fee.
- Monthly subscription tiers:
- $10/month for solo designers
- $49/month for agencies
- $199/month for teams with branding and export tools
Experimenting with pricing based on usage, value, and audience size is key.
Let’s Sketch It Out (What’s Next in Part 2)
Now that we’ve got the idea and validation, we move to sketching the product. In the next article, we’ll:
- Break the plugin into screens and user flow
- Use tldraw or FigJam to create our rough layout
- Define our “aha moment” (the instant value)
- Simplify the journey to MVP (minimum viable product)
You’ll see how a few simple drawings can shape your entire AI startup roadmap.
Final Thoughts
You don’t need to be a full-stack dev or product lead to create meaningful AI products. With tools like IdeaBrowser and a clear framework, you can go from “hmm, that’s interesting” to “I’m launching this next week.”
This is the first real step of something big. If you’ve ever thought about launching your own product, now is the time. Start simple. Start with purpose.
And hey—you already have an idea that people need.
Have an idea of your own?
Try IdeaBrowser and tell us what caught your eye. And don’t miss next week’s article: we’re bringing the UX Accessibility Checker to life with real sketches and product thinking. I get way to many spam bots hitting my article comments, so go ahead and leave a comment on my facebook or Linkedin channel. Hmm-Maybe there is a FREE WordPress product solution for my blog site there.
