princeton CS. building AI tools. i post what i use.
*last updated June 7th, 2026
its actually easier than it seems..*
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IDEA to SERIES A. team of ONE. every job you used to HIRE a person for is now just another tab in your browser.
this is the EXACT stack id use to build a real company in 2026, completely solo. mind you, i make most of these for my future self.
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wire up these eight. EVERYTHING below is optional until these are running.
| TOOL | WHAT IT ACTUALLY DOES FOR YOU |
|---|---|
| claude | your THINKING PARTNER before you write a single line of code. this is where a fuzzy idea gets sharp enough to actually BUILD. |
| perplexity | market research WITHOUT 40 open tabs. ask the scary questions early. who already does this, and WHY hasnt it worked yet? |
| cursor | where the product ACTUALLY gets built. it writes most of the code now. you STEER. |
| vercel | ship it live in basically ONE CLICK. you push, and its on the internet. NO servers to babysit. |
| harvey | your LAWYER, on call 24/7. contracts, terms, and the scary legal stuff that used to cost $500 an hour. |
| mercury | banking built for STARTUPS. open an account, pay people, and watch your runway, ALL in one place. |
| twitter (X) | your distribution AND your resume. building in public is the CHEAPEST growth you will ever get. |
| openclaw | your first hires, MINUS the payroll. agents that quietly handle the boring work so you DONT staff up too early. |
everything you need to turn an idea into a thing people can ACTUALLY use.
| TOOL | WHAT IT ACTUALLY DOES FOR YOU |
|---|---|
| lovable | describe the app, get a WORKING MVP back. the fastest zero to something that ACTUALLY runs. |
| v0 | UI from a single TEXT description. perfect for the first version of a screen when you just need it to EXIST. |
| bolt.new | full-stack scaffolding in the BROWSER. skips the boring setup and hands you a RUNNING project. |
| replit agent | a build environment that codes ALONGSIDE you. no local setup. open a tab and GO. |
| supabase | database, auth, and vector search in ONE box. the backend you mostly DONT have to think about. |
| neon | serverless postgres that scales to ZERO. you pay for what you use, which early on is ALMOST NOTHING. |
| cloudflare | the EDGE layer for hosting and inference. fast everywhere, cheap, and it just WORKS. |
| railway | backend hosting with ZERO DevOps headache. push your code, it runs. DONE. |
| clerk | login and sign-up, SOLVED. drop it in and MOVE ON with your life. |
| resend | transactional email developers actually LIKE. password resets and receipts, HANDLED. |
| trigger.dev | background jobs and scheduled tasks. for the work that should happen WITHOUT a user waiting on it. |
| pinecone | a vector database for ANYTHING AI. this is the MEMORY layer for your smart features. |
| langchain | orchestration for multi-step AI AGENTS. when one prompt isnt enough and you need a REAL workflow. |
| modal | GPU and inference compute ON DEMAND. spin up serious horsepower ONLY when you need it. |
| sentry | error monitoring that tells you what BROKE. youll know about the bug BEFORE your users tweet about it. |
once it works, this is how you get people to actually SHOW UP and PAY.
| TOOL | WHAT IT ACTUALLY DOES FOR YOU |
|---|---|
| attio | a CRM that doesnt feel like 2010. track every lead and deal WITHOUT the bloat. |
| clay | lead enrichment and outbound on AUTOPILOT. turn a list of names into a list of REAL prospects. |
| apollo | sales prospecting and contact data. find the EXACT people you should be emailing. |
| instantly | cold email at SCALE, without the spam folder. send a LOT, safely. |
| posthog | analytics that show what users REALLY do. see the drop-off, then go FIX it. |
| june | analytics built for B2B. answers "which accounts are ACTUALLY using this" in one glance. |
| customer.io | lifecycle messaging across email and push. the RIGHT nudge at the RIGHT moment, automatically. |
| default | inbound lead routing, instantly. a demo request should reach a human in SECONDS, not days. |
| common room | community and signal tracking. see whos talking about you BEFORE theyre even a lead. |
| dub | link tracking with clean short links. know which post ACTUALLY drove the clicks. |
attention is the MOAT now. this is how you make a LOT of it, fast.
| TOOL | WHAT IT ACTUALLY DOES FOR YOU |
|---|---|
| opus clip | turns long videos into SHORT clips. one podcast becomes a WHOLE WEEK of posts. |
| elevenlabs | shockingly REAL AI voices. voiceovers and narration without a mic OR a booth. |
| midjourney | images that look GENUINELY good. thumbnails, ads, and brand art ON DEMAND. |
| descript | video editing as easy as editing a DOC. delete a word, delete the footage. THAT simple. |
| captions | AI talking-head videos. look POLISHED on camera even when youre really not. |
| typefully | write and schedule your X posts. build the habit WITHOUT living inside the app. |
| beehiiv | a newsletter platform built to GROW. OWN your audience instead of renting it from an algorithm. |
| gamma | decks and pages from a PROMPT. pitch decks that dont eat your WHOLE weekend. |
| framer | a marketing site YOU can design yourself. looks custom, ships in an AFTERNOON. |
the unglamorous stuff that quietly keeps the company ALIVE.
| TOOL | WHAT IT ACTUALLY DOES FOR YOU |
|---|---|
| notion | your wiki, docs, and databases in ONE place. the BRAIN of the company. youre literally reading this inside it. |
| linear | issue tracking thats FAST and clean. the only project tool people dont quietly HATE. |
| granola | meeting notes that take THEMSELVES. show up, talk, get a clean summary AFTER. |
| gumloop | internal automations with NO code. wire your tools together by dragging boxes around. |
| zapier | the GLUE between everything else. when two apps need to talk, this is the duct tape. |
| retool | internal tools and dashboards, FAST. build the admin panel in an afternoon, NOT a sprint. |
| ramp | corporate cards and spend CONTROL. see where the money goes and STOP the leaks. |
| brex | banking and cards built for startups. a SOLID alternative for managing company money. |
| pulley | cap table management, simplified. know who owns WHAT without a scary spreadsheet. |
| carta | equity and cap table, the ESTABLISHED option. for when investors expect the STANDARD. |
| deel | global payroll and contractors. pay ANYONE, ANYWHERE, legally. |
| rippling | HR and IT in ONE system. onboard a person AND their laptop in the same click. |
| vanta | SOC 2 and compliance on AUTOPILOT. the thing enterprise buyers ask for BEFORE they sign. |
| pylon | support built for B2B. handle customer issues like a REAL team, even when its just you. |
| intercom fin | an AI support agent that RESOLVES tickets. answers the easy 80% so you only handle the HARD 20%. |
| stripe | take MONEY from customers. the ONE tool on this whole page that is genuinely NON-NEGOTIABLE. |