AI Founder Diaries #1: I Rebuilt My Startup Website Using 100% AI Tools (Sorta)

April 3, 2025
•
5 min read

Building an AI-Native Startup from Scratch (for the Second Time)

Remember when we used to hire designers, devs, SEO freelancers, and project managers to build a startup website?

Yeah… me neither.

I’m building my second startup, Empromptu AI, and this time it’s post-AI revolution. I’ve decided to only use AI tools to rebuild every part of the business—just to see what’s real, what’s vaporware, and what actually saves time vs what just burns it.

This series is for the founders, builders, and BS-callers. Let’s start with the first critical milestone of every startup: looking legit on the internet.

Step 1: Webflow Is Still King (AI Didn’t Replace Muscle Memory)

I used Webflow again because I used it in my last company and still know all the tricks. No reason to reinvent the wheel.

  • ✅ AI-helpful? No
  • 🧠 Accuracy without AI: 100% (Real human thoughts powered this project)
  • ⏱️ Time to complete: Constant iteration after talking incessantly to customers. AI can help you polish your messaging but it can not and should not create the strategic messaging of your company from scratch.
  • 💡 With AI + Empromptu? Irrelevant here — some tasks are still faster by hand.

Step 2: Skipped Figma. Used Loveable Instead.

Design mockups? Meh. I skipped Figma and used Loveable to auto-generate brand assets and rough UI and Webflow's auto website creator to create sections and frameworks. Honestly? Not bad for a V1.

  • ✅ AI-helpful? Yes
  • 📊 Initial AI Accuracy: ~60%
  • 🌟 With Empromptu-enhanced AI prompts? ~90%
  • ⏱️ Time saved vs a designer: ~3 days

Step 3: Graphics—Napkin AI Over ChatGPT's Image Tool

I gave ChatGPT a chance. But for generating startup-style web graphics? It isn't there yet. Napkin AI had the right vibe but also very limited.

  • ✅ AI-helpful? Yes
  • 🎨 Accuracy: Subjective, but looked “founder-chic”
  • ⏱️ Time saved: ~weeks of web graphic creation

Step 4: AI SEO—Great Idea, Still Needs Babysitting

Yes, AI can draft your SEO content. I used a combo of GPT + Otto to generate long-tail articles. Great for getting started fast.

But...

🚨 AI Fail Alert: I forgot to submit the sitemap to Google. Pages didn’t index. 😬.

  • ✅ AI-helpful? Yes
  • 📈 Accuracy with Empromptu’s content evaluators: 85%
  • ❌ Actual SEO impact: 0%, until I remembered indexing is still manual.

Step 5: Meeting Booking Still Sucks

Let’s be real: AI hasn’t solved scheduling. I still had to buy and hook up Calendly because no AI tool is reliably coordinating meetings yet.

  • ✅ AI-helpful? Nope
  • 🗓️ Time saved? Zero
  • 🛠️ Note to founders: If you’re building a good AI meeting scheduler, DM me. I’ll be your first user.

Takeaway: You Can Build a Startup Website With AI—Just Don’t Expect Magic

Was AI helpful? Yeah.
Was it a 10x improvement? Sometimes.
Did I ship faster? Absolutely.
Would I do it this way again? Probably only if I had Empromptu watching the AI’s accuracy every step of the way.

This was just the beginning. Next up: all of the things, hiring, outbound sales, and building the product roadmap... all with AI.

Stay tuned. Follow me here or at empromptu.ai/blog.

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April 3, 2025
•
5 min read