Something Even Faster Than AI Prototypes (My Friend's Brilliant Approach)

Today I want to share something that’s even faster than an AI prototype—and it’s my friend’s brilliant approach to validation.

The Setup: Skipping the Wrong Steps

I was discussing with a friend who wanted to get leads in the BI space. He was caught up in the AI hype, ready to start vibe-coding with Lovable.

But here’s the problem: He was about to skip market investigation because he claimed he already knew the market.

I recognized a very common pattern.

The Magic (And the Problem)

For people who didn’t have the power before to create prototypes or software apps, AI seems like magic. Because they can suddenly do something.

Let me be clear: What they’re creating isn’t a waste of time. It’s valuable. (I have an engineering background—I’m not judging here.)

What my friend created was amazing. Using Lovable, he built a fully working prototype connected to Supabase and OpenAI. He basically reinvented forms, questions, the whole AI system UI.

When I checked it, I was excited for him. For people who aren’t technical, they’ve made the impossible possible. That’s real.

But Here’s the Problem

You’re reinventing the wheel.

You’re copying something you see with your eyes. The difference is you can influence the prototype because you’re building the product itself.

But are you sure that’s the best approach?

The Four Phases of Software Development

For those unfamiliar with the cycle:

1. Ideation - Market is unknown, you have ideas
2. POC - You prove the solution works
3. MVP - You’ve reached product-market fit, you launch with customers
4. Product - You scale and have a real product

With AI, most people bypass the first phase: ideation and research.

My Friend’s Brilliant Realization

What I’m sharing here is 100% his idea (I was just there to listen and provide guidance).

He recognized something critical: He was already in “build mode” without knowing the POC validation or what he really needed to do. He wasn’t yet at MVP.

Then he asked me: “Alex, what if I propose this to some of my customers as a kind of service/product where they only see the results, and behind the scenes, I do the POC with them?”

Why This is Genius

You don’t need to spend time on the POC yet in the traditional sense. Instead:

1. You can do validation in multiple ways with real customers
2. You can change the approach because they only care about results
3. You become obsessed with satisfying those customers—they’re your metric for “is this working?”
4. You have a built-in exit strategy—if the idea doesn’t work, you can say, “I tried, we failed together, it’s fine”
5. You have a customer advisory board from day one

Rather than falling into the trap of “my idea is good,” they’ll validate it and tell you the truth.

Why This Beats the 15-Minute AI Prototype

This approach will help you reach product-market fit even sooner.

And more importantly: You’ll deliver value to customers rather than just building in isolation.