Case Studies

Real founders. Real results.

See how solo founders use Lean to go from a raw idea to a live, marketed product — without a team, without code, and without spending weeks on validation.

SaaS

From freelancer frustration to live SaaS in 27 minutes

Alex Chen · Solo Founder, Indie SaaS

The challenge

Alex was a freelance designer who spent hours chasing unpaid invoices. He had an idea for an invoice tracker but no time to build it, no budget for a developer, and no idea if anyone else wanted it.

How the pipeline ran

Intake

Described the idea: "A simple tool for freelancers to track unpaid invoices and send automated reminders."

Research

AI agents analyzed r/freelance, r/graphic_design, r/webdev, r/smallbusiness, and r/Entrepreneur. Found 340+ posts mentioning invoice pain points in the past 6 months.

PRD

Generated a focused PRD: invoice dashboard, automated email reminders, and a client portal. Deprioritized payment processing based on research showing most freelancers already use Stripe.

Build

BG Lovable generated a React + Tailwind app with the invoice dashboard, reminder settings, and a clean landing page.

Deploy

Auto-deployed to Vercel. Live URL in 90 seconds.

Launch

AI posted tailored launch content to r/freelance and r/webdev. The r/freelance post hit 150 upvotes in 24 hours.

27 min
Idea to live product
340+
Pain point mentions found
150
Upvotes in 24 hours
89
Signups in first week
I described my idea at 9 AM. By lunch, I had market research showing exactly which subreddit communities were begging for my product.
Alex Chen
Solo Founder, Indie SaaS
Consumer App

A product manager shipped her side project without writing code

Maria Santos · Product Manager turned Founder

The challenge

Maria had 10 years of product experience but couldn't code. She'd been sketching a habit tracker app that combined accountability with community — but every no-code tool felt too limited and every developer quote was too expensive.

How the pipeline ran

Intake

Described the concept: "A habit tracker where users join small accountability groups and share daily check-ins."

Research

AI analyzed r/getdisciplined, r/productivity, r/Habits, r/selfimprovement, and r/DecidingToBeBetter. Identified that loneliness in habit-building was the #1 complaint — most apps were too solitary.

PRD

The PRD nailed it: small group formation, daily check-in feed, streak tracking, and gentle nudge notifications. Maria edited the tone section to be "warm, not gamified."

Build

Generated a responsive web app with group creation, check-in interface, and streak visualization.

Deploy

Live on Vercel with a custom subdomain. HTTPS and CDN included.

Launch

Launch posts on r/getdisciplined and r/productivity. The authenticity of the messaging — informed by actual community language — drove strong engagement.

31 min
Idea to live product
#1
Pain point: solo habit-building
0 lines
Of code written by Maria
12
Accountability groups formed in week one
The PRD was better than what I'd write myself. And seeing it turn into a working app within minutes? That's when I realized the game has changed.
Maria Santos
Product Manager turned Founder
Developer Tool

Validated a developer tool idea before building the real thing

Jordan Park · Full-Stack Developer, Weekend Builder

The challenge

Jordan had an idea for a CLI tool that auto-generates API documentation from code comments. But he'd been burned before — spending weekends building things nobody wanted. This time, he wanted proof before committing.

How the pipeline ran

Intake

Described the tool: "A CLI that reads JSDoc comments and generates OpenAPI specs with a hosted docs page."

Research

AI agents analyzed r/webdev, r/node, r/programming, r/typescript, and r/devops. Found strong demand but also identified two existing tools with poor UX — a clear positioning opportunity.

PRD

PRD focused on what competitors got wrong: slow generation, ugly output, no TypeScript support. Jordan's tool would be fast, beautiful, and TS-first.

Build

Generated a landing page and waitlist — not the CLI itself, but the marketing site to gauge real interest before building.

Deploy

Landing page live in under 2 minutes. Waitlist form connected.

Launch

Posts on r/webdev and r/node. The positioning — "the API docs tool that doesn't suck" — resonated immediately.

22 min
Idea to landing page
2
Competitor gaps identified
200+
Waitlist signups in 48 hours
Validated
Before writing a line of product code
I used to build first and find users later. Now I validate first. The research alone saved me weeks of wasted effort.
Jordan Park
Full-Stack Developer, Weekend Builder

The numbers speak for themselves.

Across all case studies, the pattern is the same: describe, validate, build, ship — all before your coffee gets cold.

~27 min
Average time to ship
340+
Avg pain points surfaced
100+
Avg first-week signups
0
Lines of code required

Your story starts here.

Every case study above started with a single sentence. Describe your idea and let the pipeline do the rest.