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Good morning 👋This week’s issue is packed with tactical gold—from building AI-first software with speed, to replicating local newsletter businesses with $100 and ChatGPT. If you’re thinking about product velocity, smart distribution, or automating your grind—this one’s for you.
In this issue:
Cursor hits $1B using OpenAI and 50 employees 📈
OK Computer ships entire apps—fast and free 💨
Tibo’s playbook to $100K MRR as a solo founder 🏦
Build a profitable local newsletter with AI + $100 💌
Marketing That Moves Itself
Most measurement tools stop at telling you what happened. BlueAlpha tells you what to do next.
BlueAlpha unifies MMM, incrementality testing, and AI-driven optimization into a single continuous feedback loop. Models feed actions, actions feed models, and growth compounds.
No dashboards to decipher. No manual analysis. Just weekly, campaign-level recommendations you can trust.
Brands using BlueAlpha have cut CAC, saved millions in wasted spend, and unlocked double-digit growth within weeks, powered by the same team that scaled Tesla’s marketing systems.
News
TL;DR: Cursor, an AI coding assistant built by MIT grads, just hit unicorn status with a staggering $29.3B valuation and $1B in annualized revenue. Instead of building its own foundation models, Cursor wraps OpenAI and Anthropic’s tech into a sleek, code-native IDE—and it’s winning by going deep on developer workflows.
Cursor’s “middleware” approach lets it move fast without the cost of training models, focusing instead on features like in-editor debugging, AI-driven code reviews, and full app generation via natural language.
CEO Michael Truell argues that building on others’ infrastructure mirrors how Salesforce scaled atop AWS—Cursor’s niche focus lets it outpace the giants in practical use.
Internally, they use their own AI systems to automate 80% of support tickets, a signal that the tech isn’t just demo-grade—it’s operationally viable.
Cursor hit $1B in revenue with just 50 employees, powered by a $2.3B raise and major adoption at companies like Robinhood.
Cursor proves that the moat in AI isn’t the model—it’s the user interface and the feedback loop. While OpenAI and Anthropic fight the model wars, Cursor is quietly becoming the Salesforce of AI-assisted coding. It’s a playbook for any startup thinking about how to win with speed, specialization, and distribution instead of brute-force R&D.
Vibe Coding
TL;DR: OK Computer, an AI agent from Moonshot AI with 90M+ users, outperforms GPT in benchmarks and delivers fully functioning apps—from concept to deployment. It’s free, fast, and shockingly good at turning vague ideas into polished products without requiring dev environments or design tools.
In demos, it planned, designed, and shipped a 3D interactive portfolio site, a project idea generator app, and an art nouveau tarot site—all in under 15 minutes each.
The system doesn’t just spit out code; it generates to-do lists, interaction specs, design assets, and responsive UI layouts tailored to user prompts.
Projects include frontend code, mobile optimization, animations, and live deployment—without needing a single plugin or setup.
It shines for solo builders and freelancers who want to go from idea to execution with zero dev lift.
Most AI tools help you brainstorm. OK Computer builds the thing. It’s a glimpse at where agentic AI is headed: full-stack, multimodal, fast, and increasingly usable by non-technical people. If you’re a founder or solo creator, this isn’t a toy—it’s leverage.
Easy setup, easy money
Your time is better spent creating content, not managing ad campaigns. Google AdSense's automatic ad placement and optimization handles the heavy lifting for you, ensuring the highest-paying, most relevant ads appear on your site.
Grow & Scale
TL;DR: French founder Tibo has quietly built five profitable SaaS products generating $700K MRR—bootstrapped and mostly solo. His approach: ship fast, talk to users daily, and double down only when real traction hits. His 12-step playbook offers a tactical roadmap for indie SaaS builders.
Tibo’s portfolio includes Revit.ai ($400K/month) and Outrank ($200K/month), all built in public, iterated fast, and grown through SEO, X, and word-of-mouth.
His framework starts with building MVPs in days using no-code/boilerplates, then validating with 5–10 target users through DMs and deep conversations.
He prioritizes retention before scaling—no ad spend until users stick, complain, and come back.
Diversification is a key hedge: when Tweet Hunter nearly died after the Twitter takeover, other products kept him afloat.
This isn’t a unicorn story—it’s repeatable playbook territory. For founders chasing sustainable, compounding SaaS revenue, Tibo’s model is gold: validate fast, stay close to users, and grow through channels that scale with leverage.
Start a local newsletter
TL;DR: A creator launched a local newsletter in Roswell, New Mexico using ChatGPT, Beehiiv, and $100/day in Meta ads—getting subscribers within minutes and aiming for $250+/week in revenue. The entire business was built and automated in under two hours with zero prior audience.
The business model is simple: buy subscribers via low-friction Facebook lead forms, send weekly newsletters, and monetize through local sponsors or affiliate links.
Using Beehiiv, the creator set up a site, welcome email, and monetization paths—then connected Meta ads via Zapier to automate list building.
With a $1.15 cost per subscriber and $12 lifetime value per lead, the ROI math is strong—even with modest open rates and CPMs.
Initial traction showed that even small towns with limited economic activity can support a viable local media business.
Newsletters aren’t just for influencers or tech bros. They’re becoming a replicable business model for anyone, anywhere—with AI reducing the lift. This is SaaS-style growth applied to local media: paid acquisition, recurring revenue, and automation. Builders, take note.
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