Solo Ventures: AI-Assisted Product Development & Market Validation

The Context: Solo Entrepreneurship in the AI Era

These two projects represent a fundamental shift in how I work as a designer and entrepreneur. For the first time, I'm building complete digital products entirely alone—no co-founders, no development teams, no external funding. Just AI-assisted coding, strategic thinking, and relentless iteration.

Both ventures explore different markets but share a common approach: deep user research, strategic product design, and leveraging AI to maximize individual impact.

Working remotely from Malaysia has presented unique challenges. Attracting investor attention with a team of one is difficult. Breaking into digital entrepreneurship programs without a traditional tech background is harder. But these constraints have forced clarity: build something real, test with users, prove the concept.

GIRO TOURS: Reimagining the Tour Guide Industry

The Problem

In 2022, traveling with my wife, we encountered a persistent frustration: the tour guide industry hadn't evolved. Predetermined experiences. Inflexible schedules. Generic content. High prices. Someone else's pace and personality dictating our exploration.

We wanted to explore at our own rhythm, learn from local knowledge, but without being dragged around by a stranger on their timeline.

The insight: What if knowledgeable locals could create geo-localized audiovisual experiences that travelers could follow independently? Tailored content. Self-paced exploration. Accessible pricing. The intimacy of a personal guide without the scheduling constraints.

The Journey: 2022-Present

2023: Research & Validation

Before building anything, I conducted comprehensive user research:

• 300+ interviews with potential users across demographics and geographies
• Conversations with tour guides, artists, and local experts from multiple countries
• Market analysis of emerging competitors (freeguides.com, showaround.com, smart-guide.org)
• Identification of gaps: poor UX, limited creator tools, lack of true scalability

I developed initial UX/UI prototypes and tested them with potential users. The feedback was clear: the concept resonated, but execution would be everything.

The challenge: I lacked the technical ability to build the platform myself and couldn't secure funding to hire developers. The project went dormant.

2024-2025: Pivot & Development

With advances in AI-assisted coding, everything changed. I could finally build the platform myself.

I've spent the past year:

• Refining the concept based on market evolution and user feedback
• Developing the complete UX/UI for creators and consumers
• Creating branding and visual identity
• Building economic projections and business plans
• Coding the MVP using AI-assisted development techniques I've developed specifically for this project

Current Status: Working prototype in development. Planned launch: January 2026 MVP.

What Makes Giro Different

Creator-first platform. Easy-to-use tools for producing geo-localized audiovisual tours. Think "YouTube meets walking tours."

True self-paced experiences. Travelers consume content on their schedule, in their preferred language, at their own rhythm.

Democratized local knowledge. Anyone with expertise—art students, musicians, anthropologists, historians—can monetize their unique perspective.

Remote content management. Tours update dynamically. No physical presence required after creation.

Key Learnings

Solo entrepreneurship is lonely but clarifying. Every decision is mine. Every mistake teaches directly. There's no diffusion of responsibility.

User research is non-negotiable. Those 300 interviews shaped everything—from feature prioritization to pricing strategy to geographic focus.

Market timing matters. In 2023, I couldn't build this alone. In 2025, AI assistance makes it possible. Understanding when to push and when to wait is critical.

Venture capital is difficult for solo founders. Investors want teams. They want traction. They want proof. Building in public and demonstrating capability through shipped products is the path forward.

Prototyping and testing reveal truth. Users say they want features they never use. Watching real people interact with prototypes is humbling and essential.

BPETIT: Comprehensive Pet Health Management

The Problem

Pet care applications are fragmented. Some focus on social sharing. Others on clinical records. None integrate the full spectrum of pet ownership: health tracking, emergency guidance, community, and accessible veterinary knowledge.

Pet owners—especially first-time owners and anxious pet parents—need a single, intuitive platform that handles everything.

The Solution

Bpetit is a mobile-first PWA (Progressive Web App) that provides:

Health record management. Pet profiles, vaccination logs, weight tracking, medication schedules, veterinary visit documentation.

Emergency guidance. Quick-access protocols per species. Searchable first-aid information. AI-verified recommendations.

AI-powered assistant (PetitPal). Contextual support using pet's health data. Natural language queries. Educational content.

Community and knowledge. (In development) Community feed for experiences and events. Interactive library and magazine section.

Development Process

I designed and built Bpetit entirely alone using:

• Next.js 15 (App Router) for modern SSR and PWA capabilities
• MongoDB + Mongoose for dynamic data persistence
• JWT authentication with HTTP-only cookies for security
• TailwindCSS + shadcn/ui for clean, consistent interface
• Framer Motion for animations and user feedback
• Anthropic Claude integration for AI chat functionality

Every component, every API route, every design decision—mine.

I created low-fidelity wireframes focused on intuitive navigation. Engineered modular, scalable architecture. Implemented authentication, CRUD operations, emergency systems, and AI chat. Built internal scripts for seeding, cleanup, and validation. Continuously refined UX consistency.

Current Status: Live at bpetit.com with 200 beta users (friends and family). Testing core functionality before broader launch.

Next phase: Launch to early adopters in the coming month. Validate market fit. Gather feedback. Determine if this warrants continued investment.

Technical Achievement

This project demonstrates full-stack capability—not just design thinking. I've proven I can:

• Architect complex web applications from database to interface
• Integrate AI meaningfully (not as gimmick, but as genuine utility)
• Design for security and scalability (authentication, data privacy, performance optimization)
• Ship products independently (deployed on Vercel with CI/CD)

Key Learnings

AI-assisted coding is transformative. I'm not a trained software engineer. But with AI assistance, strategic thinking, and design sensibility, I can build production-quality applications. This changes the economics of solo entrepreneurship entirely.

Testing reveals assumptions. Early beta users interact with features differently than I imagined. Some "essential" features go unused. Some "nice-to-haves" become critical. Shipping early and iterating is everything.

Scope management is discipline. The temptation to add features is constant. Focus on core value proposition first. Polish later.

Design sensibility transfers to code. Understanding user flow, visual hierarchy, and interaction patterns makes coding more intuitive. I'm not just implementing features; I'm crafting experiences.

The Broader Narrative: What These Projects Prove

A designer can build complete digital products alone. With AI assistance, strategic research, and execution discipline, the traditional barriers have collapsed.

Remote location is manageable, not disqualifying. Working from Malaysia presents challenges, but it's also forced resourcefulness and clarity.

User research drives everything. Both projects began with extensive interviews, prototyping, and testing. The products exist because users articulated needs, not because I had clever ideas.

Economic projections and business planning matter. I've created detailed financial models, go-to-market strategies, and growth projections for both ventures. This isn't art; it's business.

Launching beats perfecting. Giro's MVP will be imperfect. Bpetit has gaps. But shipping and learning beats planning indefinitely.

Current Focus & Next Steps

Giro: Complete MVP development. Launch January 2026. Validate with early adopters in 2-3 test cities. Iterate based on creator and traveler feedback.

Bpetit: Exit beta. Launch to early adopters. Gather usage data. Determine product-market fit. If validated, pursue strategic partnerships and funding.

Both projects: If successful in initial phases, develop native apps, seek strategic alliances, and pursue venture capital to scale.

What This Means for Future Roles

These projects demonstrate capabilities beyond traditional design:

End-to-end product development. From user research to technical implementation to go-to-market strategy.

AI leverage. Not just using AI tools, but developing methodologies for AI-assisted creation at scale.

Solo execution. Proven ability to ship products independently when necessary.

Strategic thinking. Business planning, economic modeling, competitive analysis, market positioning.

Resilience. Building through rejection, resource constraints, and isolation.