If you're on Twitter/X, there's a very good chance you know who Greg Isenberg and Riley Brown are. Just in case you don't, here's the quick TLDR on both. Greg is a serial entrepreneur who has started and sold quite a few companies, he now runs Late Checkout, a holding company that builds community-based businesses. I could probably write a whole post about all the cool stuff Greg has done over the last decade plus, but I'll leave it at that for now.
Riley Brown has quickly become one of the top minds in the AI world, not as a traditional software engineer using AI, but instead as a "software composer" - a term I'm pretty sure Riley coined himself. Riley is on a mission to become a Senior Software Composer without writing one line of code and pretty much every video he makes goes viral.
At the beginning of this month, Greg and Riley sat down for what I honestly think will be one of the most watched videos on the new AI stack at this moment in history. In the video (which is just a little over an hour) they build an app, from start to finish, using V0, Cursor, Claude, and Replit. I'm a big believer that the tools Greg and Riley use in this video represent an entirely new tech stack, modernized for the world of AI coding.
Here's a rundown of what they cover in this video from Greg's You Tube account:
1) Riley breaks down how to create a functional app using AI tools like V0, Cursor, and Replit - without writing a single line of code! 🛠️ • Key insight: You can build complex apps in 10-15 hours with practice, even without coding experience.• Using V0 for front-end design• Cursor for code generation• Replit for deployment Pro tip: Screenshot designs you like and describe them to AI - instant working prototype!
4) Major hurdle: Connecting AI features to the app. It's tough, but persistence pays off! • Riley's advice: "Once you get the aha moment... you realize you're in charge. You don't need to ask anyone."1. Visualize the app2. Describe it to AI3. Troubleshoot errors4. Repeat until it works "You will your way to a working app. It's guaranteed." - Riley
• Extracts ideas from transcripts• Categorizes as "SIP" or "SPIT"• Saves ideas to user profiles
8) Riley's closing thoughts: Composing code with AI is about persistence and creativity.• They help pinpoint issues.• Riley's hack: If you're not getting errors, ask AI to "add error logs" to your code.• Makes troubleshooting WAY easier! 7) The power of AI coding tools:• Recreate complex apps (like Notion) in hours• Customize existing apps with new features• Rapid prototyping and iteration "To me, it's a no-brainer." - Riley on the cost-effectiveness of AI tools vs. hiring designers
• "I love the act of learning things and diving deep into rabbit holes."