This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Sean McCurdy
This is a submission for the World's Largest Hackathon Writing Challenge: Building with Bolt.
Just finished the World's Largest Hackathon with Bolt! With zero frontend experience and just before starting a new job, I went all-in: 100+ hours of YouTube tutorials, learning the SOTA in vibe coding, agentic frameworks, and how teenagers are cranking out text-to-25k MRR apps during their lunch breaks 🫠
Key learnings?
- Generic building = generic sites. Use components from 21st.dev, shadcn, react-bits to really stand out
- Your final product won't match your vision—embrace it!
- AI agents LOVE overwriting your work. Save often, discuss changes first, don't be afraid to modify the code directly
- It costs more to use a cheaper model. Upgrading to Claude sonnet 4, saved me 10x the iterations. Game changer.
- BUILD ONE FEATURE AT A TIME. Building too much create AI confusion. Make a plan, and tackle each step one by one (consider using context engineering and PRPs)
What did I actually build!?
💡Stribe.me - a web app that transforms ideas into market-ready opportunities through deep Reddit research and social listening. Reddit is goldmine for customer pain points and accelerates validation like nothing else. The mobile experience needs work, but hey—that's what iterations are for!
If you're curious about my project, head to https://stribe.me and ask it about your next big idea. It's free to try. Your customers could be waiting for you.
Special Shoutout
Andddd to my girlfriend who was hugely supportive and incredibly thought partner, you're amazing. Thank you for entertaining my crazy idea jump into this experience together. It was so fun learning together and hacking away late at night. Another memory to add to our adventures :) Check out her DEV post and project!
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Sean McCurdy
Sean McCurdy | Sciencx (2025-07-08T00:04:12+00:00) Zero to Production App in 22 Days?! 🤯. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/07/08/zero-to-production-app-in-22-days-%f0%9f%a4%af/
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