In 2 weeks, I built a full AI app from scratch.
On Easter day I sat at my computer for 13 hours straight and built the entire infrastructure of VIXA, an AI dating clarity app. I have zero technical background and no development team, and I did it anyway.
I also run a Gen Z beauty brand called HAVENLY, a premium AI prompt platform called LUMAPROMPT.AI, and this blog, where I document all of it. That's 4 brands and 1 founder, and right now only two tools are powering the whole thing.
I'm going to tell you exactly what those tools are. First, though, I want to show you what I'm building, because the context matters.
What I'm Building
VIXA: The AI Dating Clarity App for Women
VIXA isn't a dating app. Think of it as a clarity layer that sits on top of dating. You paste in a conversation from Hinge, Bumble or your texts, and our AI companion Vela reads the tone, the timing, the gaps and the effort level, then tells you what's actually going on. No more spiraling at midnight or passing screenshots around the group chat hoping someone can decode him. You get real answers, privately and instantly.
Early access is live now on iPhone at VIXAapp.ai. You get 10 free analyses per week, and no credit card is required.
HAVENLY: The Gen Z Beauty Brand Built for Sephora
HAVENLY is a makeup remover wipe reimagined for Gen Z. It's bigger, thicker and built differently than anything on the market right now. The goal is global distribution, with a clear path to Sephora shelves.
Follow the brand at Havenly.co.
LUMAPROMPT.AI: Premium AI Prompts Written for Women
LUMAPROMPT.AI is a premium prompt library written by human industry experts, made specifically for women who want better results from AI. Nothing in it is machine-generated. Every prompt is written by real professionals who understand what drives results in actual businesses, so you spend less time guessing and get better output.
Explore it at Lumaprompt.ai.
LISAHAVEN.CO: The Blog Where I Document Everything
That's this blog. It's where I share every tool, every strategy and every lesson from building 4 brands with AI, for women who want to do the same.
Now Here's the Part That Makes This Even More Interesting
I'm 40 years old and a mom of 3 daughters. My schedule looks nothing like a traditional founder's.
When I don't have my kids, I work 13 hours a day. When I do have them, I work 5 hours in the morning while my sitter is here. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without her.
I don't have a computer science degree. I'm not a developer. I didn't come from money, and I didn't have connections in tech.
What I do have is an obsession with AI, an idea I couldn't let go of, and a real passion for building things that matter. I work these hours because I love it. Nobody is making me. I'm hungry for it.
And for now I'm doing all of it with just two tools, until I can start bringing in contractors to help run operations.
How I Found the Tools That Changed Everything
When I launched LUMAPROMPT.AI, I hired a web developer because I didn't know there was another way. Most people start there. It costs more, it takes longer, and you're always waiting on someone else to make changes.
Then I came across a post from an app founder who had built their entire product with Lovable, an AI-powered app builder. Something clicked right away. If someone who wasn't a developer could build a fully working app with AI, what else could I do?
So I opened Claude and started brainstorming. What it designed for me was so beautiful I couldn't stop. The layout, the structure and the flow were better than what I'd paid a developer to produce.
I kept going from there. I designed VIXA with Claude, then HAVENLY, then this blog. And on Easter day I used Claude Code to build the entire technical infrastructure of VIXA in 13 hours.
It's been the best business decision I've ever made.
The Only Two Tools Powering My Entire Business Right Now
I want to be completely transparent with you. Right now my whole stack runs on two tools from Anthropic, and that's it. There's no complicated tech setup and no pile of expensive software subscriptions.
Claude Code: Build Real Software Without Knowing How to Code
Claude Code is an AI-powered development tool that lets people who aren't developers build real, working software. You describe what you want, and Claude Code writes the code, builds the infrastructure and runs it. That's how I built the whole foundation of VIXA without a developer, without a co-founder and without any prior experience.
If you've got an app idea and you've been telling yourself you can't build it because you don't know how to code, Claude Code changes that completely.
Claude Cowork: The AI Business Partner I Use Every Single Day
Claude Cowork is the desktop tool I use for everything that isn't coding: marketing strategy, content creation, brand design, campaign planning, competitive research, writing and brainstorming. It's like having a brilliant business partner sitting next to me around the clock. It's available 24 hours a day, it never gets tired, and it always shows up ready.
This blog post was written with Claude Cowork. My VIXA marketing playbook was built with it too. Every piece of content across all 4 brands starts there.
I really can't live without it.
Yes, I'll be adding more AI tools as I grow. But everything I've built so far was done with just these two, and I want you to see what's possible before you convince yourself you need something more complicated.
Why I Want to Help Other Women Use AI to Build
I'm obsessed with AI. I read about it every single day, and the more I learn, the more I see that most women are using maybe 10 percent of what's available to them.
That has nothing to do with being smart enough. Nobody has shown them what's possible yet.
We're living in the most level playing field moment in the history of entrepreneurship. A woman with the right AI tools can now build what used to take a full team, a six-figure budget and years of technical training.
That's what this blog is for. I'm documenting everything so any woman who wants to build something real has a clear roadmap to follow.
Follow My Next Post: I'm Showing You Exactly How I Did It
In my next post I'm pulling back the curtain completely. I'll share the exact steps I took, how I used Claude Code to build VIXA, how I use Claude Cowork to run my marketing, and what the workflow looks like day to day.
If you've ever wanted to build something but thought you didn't have the skills, the time or the resources, that post is going to change how you see it.
Subscribe to this blog and follow along. I'm just getting started, and I'm sharing every step.
Stay on the lookout. 👀
~ Lisa
Find me and my brands:
- VIXA: VIXAapp.ai
- LUMAPROMPT: Lumaprompt.ai
- HAVENLY: Havenly.co
- BLOG: lisahaven.co
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
~ Theodore Roosevelt