I sat down with a clear idea: build a simple AI-powered tool that could help people validate their business ideas faster.
No fluff, no endless scrolling through guru content—just a practical way to get clarity.
You see, most people waste weeks (or months) thinking they’re working on “the next big thing” when in reality, they’ve skipped the one thing that matters most: validation.
That’s the itch I wanted to scratch. I wasn’t trying to compete with ChatGPT—I wanted to leverage it in a way that delivered structured, usable outcomes. No prompt engineering, no jargon, just “is this idea worth pursuing or not?” in five minutes or less.
So I started sketching what this might look like.
The Idea Was Simple (Maybe Too Simple?)
I imagined a short, guided process: a few focused questions about your idea, your audience, your differentiator—stuff I know works from experience. Behind the scenes, AI would take those answers, run some logic, and return a personalized validation summary.
Kind of like a business coach in a box.
It wasn’t meant to replace strategy—it was meant to cut through the fog. To be the thing that sits between “I’ve got this idea” and “let’s waste six months building it.”
And yeah, someone could open ChatGPT and ask similar things. But most people don’t know what to ask—or how to frame it. That’s the trap.
My tool would solve that by being the bridge between chaos and clarity.
So I Started Building (And Immediately Regretted It)
I dusted off some Python. Set up Flask. Threw together a basic HTML form. Got the OpenAI API plugged in.
It should’ve been a straight line.
Instead, I spent hours dancing around CORS issues, local server configs, browser flags, and failed fetch requests that made no sense.
Each error sent me down a rabbit hole:
- “Why is this endpoint not working?”
- “Do I need to change my headers?”
- “Wait, is this a frontend or backend problem?”
It was like being trapped in a tutorial purgatory.
What started as a fun side project turned into a slow-motion technical breakdown.
And halfway through trying to fix yet another “Request failed. Failed to fetch” error, it hit me—
I’d Slipped into a Role I Had No Business Playing
I’m not a developer.
I can’t code. I can’t debug. [I can ask ChatGPT ]But that’s not where I shine. My edge has always been seeing systems, spotting leverage, building experiments that test assumptions without getting lost in the details.
But here I was, tangled in terminal logs, forgetting the actual point of the project.
I wasn’t building a product.
I was firefighting code.
And it made me ask the question I always try to keep front and center:
What’s the goal here?
The goal wasn’t to prove I could build it.
The goal was to validate whether it’s even worth building at all.
What I Actually Built Was Clarity
That’s the irony.
Even though the prototype never fully worked (not yet, anyway), it gave me something more valuable than a functioning tool:
A zoomed-out view of what matters.
I’d been so focused on how to build it that I’d lost sight of why.
So I paused. Looked at what I had. Looked at who it’s for. Looked at my role.
And I realized: I don’t need to build the whole machine. I just need to define what it does, why it matters, and how someone else can bring it to life.
That’s when I switched gears.
The Bigger Play: Think Like a Founder, Not a Technician
When I started this, I wanted to create a useful tool. Something small but sharp. But now, I see something even clearer:
I don’t want to be the guy writing code at midnight.
I want to be the guy mapping the blueprint, testing the assumptions, proving the market—then handing it off to someone who loves detail more than I do.
This whole detour reminded me of what I already know:
- Just because you can build it doesn’t mean you should.
- MVPs aren’t about code—they’re about insight.
- The best tools solve specific problems, not just technical puzzles.
So that’s where I’m at.
Not shipping a product just yet.
But I’ve built the most important thing: a filter. A lens. A mental checkpoint that keeps me focused on the real value, not the tech rabbit holes.
If You’re Like Me…
If your brain jumps from idea to idea, and you feel pulled between strategy and execution, here’s the takeaway:
Don’t get dragged into solving the wrong problems.
Zoom out. Define the problem clearly. Then either:
- Delegate the build.
- Automate the process.
- Or ditch it if it’s not worth the friction.
You’re not here to be clever.
You’re here to create leverage.
And sometimes the smartest move is to step back, document the thinking, and bring in the right people to build it right.
That’s my next move.
I’m still running under the Strategic Idiot brand—because, let’s be honest, I often need to get lost to figure out where the real path is.
But this was a good reminder: the moment I stop thinking like a strategist and start behaving like a technician, I’ve lost the plot.
So I’m back in the right role now.
Seeing clearly.
Thinking bigger.
And letting others get stuck in the weeds while I plant the next seed.
Leave a Reply