I have always had more ideas than money to develop them. For a long time, that meant having a clear picture of something I wanted to build and no practical way to build it myself.
In 2024, while looking for more independence with my Roku and Fire TV channels, I received a development quote for close to $50,000. That was a real barrier for me as an independent creator. I could see what I wanted, but funding the development was another matter.
Today, tools such as Cursor and Codex have changed how I approach that problem. I can explain an idea, work through it, test it and keep improving it. BuildMyTVApp is the clearest example of what that has made possible in my own life.
The part I want other founders to understand is how much judgment still goes into the process. AI has given me a way to build. I still have to decide what is worth building and whether the result is good enough.
Having the idea was never the difficult part
Before working on my own platform, I depended on another company to manage my TV channels. Making changes meant asking for help and waiting for answers. I wanted more control over the experience and more freedom to make decisions about my own apps.
I also remember paying around $200 through Upwork for help with a Roku screensaver project. I already had code, but I did not understand BrightScript well enough to make the changes I needed. The work included adjusting the way the images transitioned, with a fade to black.
At the time, that gap in my knowledge was enough to stop me. Even a small change could mean finding someone, explaining the problem and paying for the work.
Those experiences stayed with me. They helped shape the kind of product I wanted to create: something that gives content owners more independence, with guidance that makes sense to the person using it.
My background still matters
I came into this without software development experience, but I was comfortable with technology. I had spent years working with websites, video editing and digital marketing. Since the early to mid-2010s, I have studied and worked with areas such as social media, paid advertising and email marketing.
That experience helps me ask useful questions:
- Who is this for, and what are they trying to accomplish?
- What would confuse someone seeing this screen for the first time?
- Is the next step obvious?
- Does the branding match the experience I want to create?
- Would I be happy using this as a paying customer?
AI makes it easier for me to turn those decisions into something I can see and test. My understanding of customers, content and marketing gives the work its direction.
That is why I think people with creative ideas and real knowledge of their audience have an opportunity here. You may already understand the problem better than you realize because you have lived with it yourself.
The decisions I still make myself
With BuildMyTVApp, I am building something I want to use. I have been the customer trying to get a channel working, understand the process and make changes without getting stuck.
That perspective affects everything from the wording on a button to the way a customer previews their channel.
I decide what the experience should feel like. The colors, layout, branding and templates all need to work together. A screen can look impressive and still be difficult to use.
I decide whether the explanation is clear. Something that seems obvious during development may be completely unfamiliar to a creator launching their first TV app. I want the platform to explain the next step in plain language.
I review the result. I have to look at what was built, test the behavior and decide what needs to change. Being able to generate code does not remove my responsibility for the product I put in front of someone else.
One of the areas I am most proud of is the branding preview. Seeing your own content and branding inside a TV-style layout makes the idea feel real. It helps a customer picture what they are working toward before the channel is published.
That matters to me because I remember wanting that same feeling of ownership myself.
Building tools for my own creative work
I also use AI to write stories. I built my own writing software from the ground up to help me create them, shaped around the way I want to work. It is a private tool for my own use.
I still review the written work and approve the audio before release. The experience I want a listener to have guides those decisions, just as the customer experience guides my software decisions. Knowing my audience helps me judge what belongs and what needs more work.
The work takes longer than a demo
By the time of writing, I have spent roughly two to two and a half months working on BuildMyTVApp, and there is still more to do.
If you had told me at the beginning that I would still be building it this far along, I probably would not have believed you. Once you start connecting everything, you discover how many decisions sit behind a feature that looks simple from the outside.
The screens have to connect properly. The instructions have to make sense. The result has to be tested. When something fails, I have to understand what happened and work through it.
This has taken far more than a handful of prompts.
I enjoy that process. I like seeing progress, making a decision and then seeing it become part of the product. The vision keeps me going, even when the work takes longer than I expected.
The development quote I received in 2024 and the platform I am building today are not a like-for-like cost comparison. The scope, services and responsibilities are different. What changed for me is that I now have a practical way to participate in the development myself.
What I would tell another founder
Start with a problem you understand. Think about the customer, what they need and what would make their experience better. Then use the tools to help you build something you can examine and improve.
Be prepared to learn along the way. You will make decisions, revise things and discover details you did not know you needed to consider.
I sometimes describe AI as giving a creative person wings, or even a jetpack. When you have ideas but no way to act on them, it can feel as though your imagination is stuck waiting for permission or funding.
These tools have given me a way to move. The direction, the standards and the willingness to keep working are still mine.
If you have a clear vision, understand your audience and are willing to put in the work, my advice is to give yourself the chance to build.
Explore the project at BuildMyTVApp.com, or see more of my work.