Colin has taught 1000s of students how to build SaaS apps with AI. In this episode, he showed me exactly why my vibe coded prototype was insecure and how to convert it into a real SaaS app with auth, payments, and more. If you want to learn to build SaaS apps in 40 minutes with Cursor and Claude Code, then this episode is for you.
Colin and I talked about:
(00:00) The 7 components that every real SaaS app needs
(01:44) Client, server, database: What most prototypes miss
(08:57) Live demo: Adding Stripe, auth, and databases to my photo app
(16:45) Why starting with templates beats prompting from scratch
(20:30) The Supabase security flaw in most vibe coded apps
(25:35) Why AI shouldn't touch your database directly
(35:00) 4-steps to ship a real SaaS app that people will pay for
(38:15) Why tech credentials no longer matter (and what does instead)
Thanks to our sponsors:
Composio: Use AI to take action across 500 apps https://getrube.link/peter
Linear: Try the platform for AI agents https://linear.app/partners/behind-the-craft
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/full-tutorial-turn-your-prototype-into-a-real-saas-app-ai-colin-matthews
Where to find Colin:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinmatthews-pm/
Course: https://maven.com/tech-for-product/vibe-code-your-next-side-project
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Wade is the co-founder and CEO of Zapier. We’re both sick of everyone calling everything an “AI agent” so we had some real talk about what actually works instead. Wade gave me a practical demo of his AI workflow that triages 100+ emails to 10 and shared exactly how to find automation opportunities on your calendar.
Wade and I talked about:
(00:00) Why most people asking for agents actually want workflows
(01:25) The AI automation spectrum explained with real examples
(05:16) Live demo: Wade's email agent that triages 100+ emails down to 10
(13:27) The difference between APIs vs MCPs
(18:52) Making Zapier AI-first: Why the CEO memo isn’t enough
(24:08) Wade's response to AI influencers saying "RIP Zapier"
(32:09) How Zapier tests for AI fluency in job interviews
(35:31) How to identify what to automate with AI in your calendar
📌 Get my top 10 takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/ai-agents-clearly-explained-in-40-minutes-zapier-wade-foster
Where to find Wade:
X: https://x.com/wadefoster
Website: https://zapier.com
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Everyone calls their AI product an “agent” but Notion’s actually live up to the hype. It took Akshay (Notion’s co-founder) and Ryan (AI lead) 2 years of failure to build agents that can create databases, respond to Slack, and more. We had a great chat about their most surprising lessons from building the best AI agents for work.
We talked about:
(00:00) What it really took to build agents that actually work
(01:38) Live demo: Watch a database build itself in real-time
(04:56) How Akshay writes docs by just talking to AI 90% of the time
(20:15) The real difference between AI slop and useful AI agents
(34:43) Personalizing agents with custom memory and instructions
(39:59) Live demo: Building a custom Notion agent for Slack
(49:03) What Notion looks for when hiring AI-native builders
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/how-notion-built-the-best-ai-agents-for-work-akshay-ryanWhere to find:
Akshay: https://x.com/akothari
Ryan: https://x.com/_ryannystrom
Notion AI agents: https://www.notion.com/blog/introducing-notion-3-0
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Josh is the the VP of Gemini, Google Labs (NotebookLM), and AI Studio and widely considered one of Google’s most beloved leaders. In our interview, he demoed how to get the most out of Gemini and NotebookLM, the startup culture inside Google, and where he thinks Gemini is headed next.
We talked about:
(00:00) How Josh brings startup hustle to Google
(01:19) Live demo of Nano Banana's top image use cases
(07:12) Using NotebookLM to turn 70 sources into talking slides
(12:36) How Google Labs shipped Flow TV in 86 days
(18:20) The #1 way to move fast in big companies
(22:02) What Josh looks for when hiring (hint: side projects)
(31:32) Why we won't be typing to AI chatbots in the future
(38:44) Gemini's future as a proactive assistant that knows your life
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/inside-gemini-and-notebooklm-how-google-is-shipping-non-stop-josh-woodward
Where to find Josh:
X: https://x.com/joshwoodward
Website: https://gemini.google.com
https://labs.google
https://aistudio.google.com/
📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!
Today, I want to share a new episode with Ryan Carson.Ryan is a serial founder who has developed an amazing 3-file system to vibe code without frustration that has 5,000+ stars on Github. In our interview, he demoed adding a new feature to his production app by using AI to create a spec, generate atomic tasks, and build automated tests for each task.
Ryan and I talked about:
(00:00) Why his 3-file AI coding workflow works so well
(03:22) Explaining each file: PRD, atomic tasks, test-driven development
(08:02) Live demo: Building a new feature from scratch
(22:32) How to practice test-driven development to avoid bugs
(34:18) How to get AI to be your tutor to become more technical
(42:03) Pain pills vs vitamins: Why divorce is a great AI business
(45:23) How to start a one-person company with AI's help
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/full-tutorial-a-proven-3-file-system-to-vibe-code-production-apps-ryan
Where to find Ryan:
X: https://x.com/ryancarson
Website: https://www.ryancarson.com/
📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!
Today, I want to share a new episode with Hamel Husain.
Hamel has trained 2,000+ PMs and engineers from companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google on how to run AI evals. In my new episode, he shares a free master class on how to build evals for a real AI agent in just 50 minutes using a simple spreadsheet. I learned a lot from Hamel and I think you will too.
Hamel and I talked about:
(00:00) What the most valuable part of evals is
(01:25) Live walkthrough: Analyzing 100 real production traces
(09:50) Creating the eval criteria using a simple spreadsheet
(24:44) Why binary pass/fail ratings beat 1-5 scores every time
(28:52) The agreement metric trap that fools most PMs
(30:08) True positive and negative rates explained
(36:00) How to set up continuous evals in production
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/ai-evaluations-crash-course-in-50-minutes-hamel-husain
Where to find Hamel:
X: https://x.com/HamelHusain
Website: https://hamel.dev/
📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!
Today, I want to share a new episode with Meaghan Choi.As the design lead for Claude Code, Meaghan not only designs new features but also ships code on a regular basis. She showed me her exact design to code workflow along with her top 3 use cases for Claude Code. This interview is a must-watch if you’re a designer or PM who dreams of shipping to production. Meaghan and I talked about:
(00:00) Why shipping to prod as a designer feels "terrifying and magical"
(02:36) Top 3 design workflows with Claude Code
(07:20) How designers can get engineers to let them ship code
(11:06) Live demo: From Figma design to working code in minutes
(19:10) Custom Claude.md files to make AI work for designers
(22:47) How Anthropic ships features in days, not months
(28:22) Meaghan's favorite Claude Code shortcuts and pro tips
(33:58) The future of design roles in an AI-native worldBrought to you by:
Linear — The operating system for AI agents. Get 6 months free of Linear Business here: https://linear.app/behind-the-craftWhere to find Meaghan:
X: https://x.com/meag_han_c
Website: http://clau.de/peteryang📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!
Today, I want to share a new episode with Cat Wu.Cat is the product lead for Claude Code and I got her to share how one of the most AI-native teams in tech actually works. Highlights include getting user feedback every 10 minutes, going straight to prototypes instead of docs, and designers checking in code directly. Cat also shared her 3 best Claude Code tips and what’s next for the product.Cat and I talked about:
(00:00) The process behind the best Claude Code features
(05:00) How engineers can own features from idea to launch
(10:04) Getting feedback every 10 minutes from 1000+ users
(14:00) How designers and PMs can ship production code
(19:58) How the Claude Code team does AI evaluations
(29:04) 3 tips from Cat to get the most out of Claude Code
(30:12) Why your Claude.md file is so important
(33:32) What's next for Claude Code
Thanks to our sponsor:
Lorikeet: The AI concierge that gets it done lorikeetcx.ai/peter
My top 10 takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/inside-claude-code-how-an-ai-native-actually-works-cat-wuWhere to find Cat:
X: https://x.com/_catwu
Website: https://www.anthropic.com/claude-code
📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!
Today, I want to share a new episode with Alex Finn.Alex is a founder who has built a complete “Claude Life” operating system to automate research, curate AI news, analyze brain dumps, and more. I asked him to walk through exactly how to set up this system using Claude Code slash commands and sub-agents in just 25 minutes.
Alex and I talked about:
(00:00) How Alex uses Claude Code to automate his life
(04:18) Inside "Claude Life" — Alex’s life operating system
(05:29) The newsletter research agent that saves hours weekly
(09:09) How to use custom slash commands and sub-agents
(14:41) The most important skill that everyone needs in 2025
(18:01) Brain dump analysis to find new content pillars
(21:14) Daily brief agent that aggregates AI news
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/full-tutorial-build-an-ai-life-copilot-with-claude-code-alex-finn
Where to find Alex:
X: https://x.com/AlexFinnX
Website:
https://www.creatorbuddy.io/
📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!
Today, I want to share a new episode with Nan Yu (Linear’s Head of Product).Despite only having 2 PMs, Linear has scaled to over 15,000 companies including OpenAI and Ramp. In our chat, Nan and I did a fun exercise to rank what PM skills still matter in the AI era and he also demoed Linear’s new AI agents that can write code, triage tickets, and analyze customer feedback.Nan and I talked about:
(00:00) Why Linear is a billion dollar company with just 2 PMs
(03:22) Ranking PM skills: What survives vs gets disrupted by AI
(11:10) Why strategy is actually being disrupted by AI
(21:51) The new skills PMs must build: context and agent management
(26:57) Craft vs speed: Linear's 10% rule for shipping fast
(38:09) Live demo: Using MCP to analyze customer feedback instantly
(53:04) Delegating entire backlogs to AI agents with one command
(57:12) Linear's future as an operating system for human-AI collaborationGet the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/ranking-every-pm-skill-what-still-matters-gets-disrupted-by-ai-nan-yu-linearWhere to find Nan:
X: https://x.com/thenanyu
Website: https://linear.app/📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!
Today, I want to share a new episode with Aman Khan.The best way to learn about AI evaluations is to watch 2 PMs build them live from scratch. In our new episode, Aman and I walk through creating evals for an AI customer support agent — from labeling a golden dataset to aligning LLM judges. This is the complete beginners AI eval course you've been waiting for.Aman and I talked about:
(00:00) What are AI evals and how to get good at them
(02:52) The 4 types of AI evaluations everyone should know
(06:08) Live demo: Building evals for a customer support agent
(10:29) Using Anthropic's console to generate great prompts
(15:13) Creating the evaluation criteria
(17:40) Adding human labels to the golden dataset
(31:05) Scaling evals with LLM-judge prompts
(38:21) How to align LLM judges with human judgmentGet the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/complete-beginner-course-on-ai-evaluations-aman-khanWhere to find Aman:
X: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanberkeley/
Website: https://arize.com/📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!
Today, I want to share a new episode with Lee Robinson.Lee is the VP of Developer Experience at Cursor and a legend in his field.
While most people are still vibe coding, Lee showed me how to build apps properly using planning, test-driven development, AI agent workflows, and more. This is a must-watch tutorial for beginners who want to learn how to build with AI the right way.Lee and I talked about:
(00:00) How the way we build software is fundamentally changing
(03:49) Live demo: Building a music tracking app with Cursor
(5:17) The critical setup phase most people skip (tests, git, linting)
(16:03) Foreground vs background agents and when to use each
(27:34) How to create cursor rules that compound your workflows
(37:31) Why experienced engineers shouldn't fear AI tools
(42:19) Essential advice for PMs who want to learn technical skills
(44:48) How Cursor builds products without any PM
(47:18) The future of generalist engineers in an AI world
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/cursor-tutorial-for-beginners-from-cursor-head-of-ai-education-lee-robinson
Where to find Lee:
X: https://x.com/leerob
Website: https://leerob.com/
📌 Subscribe to this channel – more tutorials coming soon!
Today, I want to share a new episode with Ben Erez.Ben is a former Meta PM who has helped 100s of people ace their PM interviews and land their dream jobs in tech. I got him to show me exactly how to ace product sense interviews and build an AI-copilot that his students say feels like having a "calibrated interviewer that's available 24/7."Ben and I talked about:(00:00) The current state of the PM job market
(02:07) The exact structure of the product sense interview
(08:58) How to build your AI interview co-pilot step-by-step
(12:36) Live demo: AI co-pilot walking through a Meta interview question
(13:33) Why Ben designed the AI to be the candidate, not the interviewer
(25:23) How to prioritize the right user segments and problems to solve
(32:13) The biggest mistakes candidates make when challenged by interviewersThis episode covers how to build a simple AI co-pilot from scratch, but you should also check out Ben’s advanced interview AI co-pilot: https://www.benerez.com/copilotGet the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/how-to-build-an-ai-co-pilot-to-ace-your-pm-interviews-ben-erezWhere to find Ben:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benerez/
Website: www.benarez.com📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!
Today, I want to share a new episode with Jeremy Epling.
Jeremy is the CPO of Vanta and former VP of Product at Github. He showed me the exact template that he used to get his entire team to prototype with AI, his favorite AI workflows for PM work, and why now might be the best time to be an IC PM. We also did a deep dive on how Vanta ran AI evaluations for their new AI agent.
Jeremy and I talked about:(00:00) Why prototypes beat PRDs
(01:43) The exact template that got his entire PM team prototyping
(05:14) From prototype to product: live demo of Vanta’s AI agent
(08:56) How to run prototype-first product reviews
(12:47) Top AI workflows that save Jeremy hours each week
(19:08) Is now the best time to be an IC PM?
(25:03) Advice for big tech PMs facing industry changes
(30:35) Separating the hype from craft for AI products
(36:16) Deep dive on AI evaluations for AI agents
Where to find Jeremy:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-epling-j40/
Website: https://vanta.com Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/how-to-get-your-team-to-start-prototyping-with-ai-jeremy-vanta📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!
Meng is the founder of Aura, an AI prototyping tool for designers. He has spent 100s of hours using AI to create beautiful designs that don’t look like generic AI slop. Watch as he shares his exact process in this episode — from prompting to layouts to animations, and more without having to code.Timestamps:
(00:00) Why most AI websites look generic and how to fix it
(01:19) Comparing prompts across V0, Lovable, and Aura
(06:42) Using references and templates instead of blank prompts
(08:54) Building a great website prompt from scratch
(16:51) Why AI should augment, not replace your creativity
(22:43) Adding testimonial sections and scrolling animations
(29:40) How to add Spline 3D backgrounds step-by-step
(36:12) The 90/10 rule: When to use AI vs manual tweaksGet the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/use-ai-to-create-beautiful-designs-meng-to
Where to find Meng:
X: https://x.com/MengTo
Website: https://aura.build/📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!
Today, I want to share a new episode with Kieran Klaassen.Kieran is the founder of Cora, a beautiful AI email assistant. While we’ve all been vibe coding, Kieran has gone to the next level to manage multiple AI agents to code for him at the same time. I got him to show me exactly how he does this using Claude Code, voice, slash commands, and more. You don’t want to miss this episode 🙂Timestamps:(00:00) Why agentic coding beats vibe coding(03:21) "It's like I'm a manager and I have an AI agent team"(06:29) Why Claude Code is winning over Cursor for power users(12:15) Live demo: Building a new feature with 3 AI agents in parallel(22:32) Custom slash commands to eliminate repetitive work(36:13) AI code reviews using multiple perspectives and bots(54:55) Inside Cora: Your AI Chief of Staff for email(1:00:11) Advice for non-engineers intimidated by agentic codingGet the takeaways: Where to find Kieran:X: https://x.com/kieranklaassenWebsite: https://cora.computer/📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!
Today, I want to share a new episode with Morgan Brown.Morgan is the VP of Product for AI at Dropbox. He gave me an inside look at his top AI workflows. We also talked about building Dash, Dropbox’s new AI agent for work, and how AI will reshape PM.Timestamps:
(00:00) How Morgan uses AI as a companion for everything he does
(01:26) Morgan's 3 best AI workflows to save time at work
(06:07) Inside Dash: Dropbox's AI agent to find anything at work
(14:35) The evaluation process behind Dash's search results
(18:49) How to ship fast while motion doesn't equal progress
(22:09) How to balance internal alignment with customer obsession
(27:27) What Morgan learned from Drew (Dropbox), Tobi (Shopify), and Zuck
(35:39) The 3 types of PMs Morgan looks for in the AI era
(38:02) What product management will look like in one yearWhere to find Morgan:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/morganb/
Website: https://dash.dropbox.com/Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/dropbox-vp-best-ai-workflows-to-take-back-time-morgan-brown 📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!
Today, I want to share a new episode with James Evans.
James is the Head of AI for Amplitude, the leading product analytics platform. We had a great chat about why nobody has built a good AI analyst yet and why he’s betting on AI agents that can monitor your product 24/7. James also shared some real talk about whether AI will displace PM and analyst jobs.
Timestamps:
(00:00) Why nobody has built a good AI data analyst yet
(03:32) The biggest problem with product analytics today
(06:13) Live demo: AI agents that monitor your website 24/7
(21:48) The hardest parts of building AI analytics products
(25:21) How to evaluate AI agents that run experiments
(32:53) AI product pricing strategies that actually work
(35:42) Should data scientists worry about their jobs?
(38:04) Non-obvious advice for building AI products
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/is-this-the-first-ai-analyst-that-actually-works-amplitude-james-evans
Where to find James:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-evans-7086b3126/
Website: https://amplitude.com/ai
📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!
Today, I want to share a new episode with Cameron Adams.Cameron leads product for Canva where people are creating 1B+ designs every month. We talked about how AI will transform design and why he believes in prototypes over PRDs and coaches over managers. I also loved hearing Cam’s stories about Canva’s rubber ducky easter egg and what a bike accident taught him about persistence.
This episode is brought to you by Vanta — Join 9K+ companies like Atlassian who use Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real-time. Get $1000 off at https://vanta.com/peter
Timestamps:
(00:00) Will AI democratize design?
(06:32) How Canva runs AI evaluations for its product
(10:17) Moving beyond chat boxes to visual AI interfaces
(22:23) Why Canva skips PRDs and goes straight to prototypes
(29:08) The rubber duck Easter egg that became a cultural icon
(33:13) Keeping craft and quality as a priority as the team grows
(35:32) Why Canva gives everyone executive coaching, not just managers
(39:23) How AI is blurring boundaries between PM and design
(43:26) The bike accident story that almost derailed Canva's launch
Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/canva-co-founder-ai-playbook-most-popular-design-tool-cameron-adams
Where to find Cameron:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/themaninblue/
Website: https://www.canva.com/ai-assistant/
📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!
Today, I want to share a new episode with Nate Gonzalez.Nate leads ChatGPT for Work which is now used by 92% of Fortune 500 companies. In our chat, he reveals how OpenAI runs with less than 30 PMs, what they look for in new hires, how he personally uses ChatGPT to save time at work, and more.
Timestamps:(00:00) 92% of Fortune 500 companies already use ChatGPT
(02:06) OpenAI's latest features for ChatGPT at work
(14:52) Why OpenAI has less than 30 PMs for 5,000 employees
(15:58) What traits OpenAI looks for when hiring PMs
(18:31) The 10-minute AI hack that changed how Nate works
(25:56) The most surprising thing about working at OpenAI
(29:48) The biggest barriers to AI adoption and how to overcome them
(38:36) Using ChatGPT roleplay to prep for important meetings
(41:04) ChatGPT's future: From assistant to trusted coworker
(43:06) The specific skill that will keep your job safe in the AI eraGet the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/how-openais-head-of-business-products-uses-chatgpt-at-work-nate-gonzalezWhere to find Nate:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nate-gonzalez/
Website: https://openai.com/chatgpt/enterprise/📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!