I Cold-Called 50 Contractors Before I Wrote a Line of Code. The AI Was the Easy Part.
The author discusses the challenges faced while developing an AI-based estimating tool for contractors. Initial prototypes provided unreliable pricing, prompting the author to conduct interviews with contractors to understand their pain points. This feedback led to a more comprehensive solution that addresses various aspects of the contracting business beyond just estimating.
- ▪The initial AI prototype generated confident but fictional pricing figures.
- ▪Cold-calling contractors revealed that estimating was their biggest frustration.
- ▪The final product evolved to include features like payment collection and scheduling, not just estimating.
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try { if(localStorage) { let currentUser = localStorage.getItem('current_user'); if (currentUser) { currentUser = JSON.parse(currentUser); if (currentUser.id === 3961785) { document.getElementById('article-show-container').classList.add('current-user-is-article-author'); } } } } catch (e) { console.error(e); } P_A Posted on Jun 3 I Cold-Called 50 Contractors Before I Wrote a Line of Code. The AI Was the Easy Part. #ai #nextjs #saas #buildinpublic I built the first version in an afternoon. Throw a job description at an LLM. Ask for a price. Render the number. It was useless. And the reason it was useless is the whole point of this post. The afternoon prototype that lied with confidence The naive build demos beautifully.
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