I Tried to Build an AI App in 30 Minutes - Did It Work?

Hi, and welcome to The Atomic Builder! 

This is where product managers, founders, and non-technical creators learn to build software in the AI era - without drowning in technical jargon.

Thanks for being here, you could be…staring at that pile of unread books, convincing yourself you’ll start one tonight…but instead, you chose AI, product strategy, and making things happen. I respect that! 👏

AI Apps in 30 Minutes? Really?

Ok, the elephant in the room? My YouTube feed is a weird mix of Taylor Swift highlights and “Build an AI App in 30 Minutes!” videos. But let’s be real - can AI tools actually take you from zero to working prototype that fast? Or is it just hype?

Choosing an App to Build

I let ChatGPT generate three possible app ideas (because I no longer recall how to ideate without it…):

• Easy – Simple UI, static data, no logic

• Medium – Interactive UI, simple workflows, database & AI-generated components

• Hard – More complex logic, data persistence, multi-user functionality

The Decision: I’m Building a “Persona Genie”

What It Does:

• Users enter a few key details: ✅ What problem does your product solve? ✅ Who is your target user? ✅ What’s their biggest frustration?

• Using OpenAI we’ll then create a detailed persona with a name, demographics, goals, pain points, and product needs, enabling you to export the persona for further modification.

Why It Matters for Product Strategy:

Personas are far too often overlooked, but they aren’t just fluff—they’re necessary for keeping teams aligned and building the right features.

• Helps founders and PMs clarify their audience.

• AI can provide nudges toward deeper insights.

• Saves time compared to manual persona research.

Why It’s a “Medium” Difficulty Build:

The easy and hard builds don’t make sense. Why? Well, er, too easy and too hard…This one feels just right Goldilocks… and here’s why:

• Needs a form-based UI to collect user inputs.

• Will connect it to a database to track content and store this

• Requires an API call to generate responses

• Needs some error handling & iteration tools (like a “Regenerate” button).

Sounds easy enough, right…Hmmmm.

The Build: Can It Be Done in 30 Minutes? ⏳

The 30-Minute Journey: The Race Is On…!

🛠️ 0:00 - 05:00 → Setting Up the UI

• I submit the prompt and get a basic screen up and running. We’re on a roll

• Basic styling, but ok - just enough to look clean.

✅ Win: No roadblocks, UI took shape quickly, interpreted my ask well.

❌ Struggle: Will need some UI polish later. No big deal.

✅ Win: First major obstacle overcome, just by chatting with Lovable.

❌ Struggle: First major obstacle presented itself!

🛠️ 10:00 - 15:00 → Connection to OpenAI not set up

• Lovable asked me to test the app / create a persona even though the OpenAI connection had not been established

• I retrieved, then populated the API key in the Lovable console. Problem solved.

✅ Win: Adding the OpenAI API key was easy once I directed Lovable

❌ Struggle: The system should know it needed those credentials before asking me to run a test

🛠️ 15:00 - 20:00 → Saving personas to the database

• So I got the request to OpenAI working - personas generated…Hooray.

• ..and I (Lovable agent) fixed the issue from above saving to my database, I just said ‘fix it’…

✅ Win: I found the error message really helpful - makes solving problems easy

❌ Struggle: A ‘challenge accepted’ mindset is critical with these tools in the current form. Er, no pain, no gain…

🛠️ 25:00 - 30:00 → 🚀 A Working App in under 30 Minutes!

With 3 minutes to spare, I had:

✅ A fully functioning form that collects user input.

✅ AI-generated personas that feel realistic and useful.

✅ A “Regenerate” button for fast iteration.

Let’s cut to the chase, this was not smooth in the early minutes. For the uninitiated, it may put you off. But I have to stress, I didn’t code a line of this and we have a solid, working prototype in very little time.

This wouldn’t have been possible 12 months ago.

Overall… this felt like a win.

The Breakdown: Wins, Fails & AI Weirdness

✅ What Worked Well

• Lovable interpreted my request flawlessly

• OpenAI handled persona generation as expected

• Error handling was surprisingly easy

❌ Where AI Fell Short

• Uninspiring design

• Lack of predictability

• Missing common-sense

 ⁉️ AI weirdness

•  I was expecting AI weirdness with the generated personas—some bizarre persona like “Gary, a 40-year-old astronaut-turned-baker with a passion for NFTs.” But instead… everything has so far been almost too perfect!

The final product: Persona Genie

Later in the evening I spent another 60 mins on the app to add some polish - all by chatting with Lovable’s agent. Here’s the finished app.

Strategy Spotlight: Persona-Driven Product Creation Matters

A persona isn’t just a profile - it’s your product’s North Star. Without a clear user in mind, you risk building random features that don’t actually help anyone.

Think about it as you create your own products:

• Would your persona use a feature you’re building?

• Would they pay for it?

• Does it solve a real pain point or just add noise?

Even if you’re just prototyping, defining a persona keeps you focused, fast, and user-driven. Next time you build something, start with a persona - you’ll be surprised how much it shapes your decisions.

Perhaps you can use the Persona Genie to help you get you on your way!

🔥 YOUR TURN: Can You Build in 30 Minutes?!

Your challenge: Try building an AI-powered app in 30 minutes.

• You can use Lovable, Replit, Bolt - or any other one.

• Pick an idea, set a timer, and see what you can create.

• Share your builds with me! I’d love to feature community experiments in an upcoming issue.

Remember that most of these platforms have a limited number of free goes, before you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan. 

Reply to this email or DM me on Twitter/LinkedIn with how it went…

Let’s push the limits of AI-powered product building together. 🚀

Final Thought

The AI hype cycle is, well, at fever pitch, but the potential for product creation is there. Can AI tools make you an instant expert? No. Can they get you from zero to working prototype faster than ever? Absolutely.

What they can unequivocally not do, is bake a tarte-tatin for you. I’m off to do that right now.

Keep testing, keep building, and as always - stay atomic. 👊

Faisal

This Week’s Build Beats 🎵

Each issue, we pair the newsletter with a track to keep you inspired while you build.

This week, because pushing the limits of AI-powered building is equal parts exciting and totally unpredictable…what better choice than:

🎧 “I Knew You Were Trouble” - Taylor Swift

Grab the playlist on Spotify - I add to it each week!