This essay shares insights from a conversation with Christina Puder, a 35-year-old solo founder based in Madrid. The content has been refined for brevity and clarity.
When I transitioned to running my side hustle full-time, I quickly realized that I needed a website. This led me to unexpectedly explore the realm of AI website building.
Initially, I attempted to create my website using an outdated builder, but after facing challenges, I opted to hire a designer and engineer part-time. However, their pace was slow, so while waiting for them, I decided to experiment with an AI tool recommended to me.
With no funding and lacking a technical background, I created a free account with Lovable, an AI coding assistant. By entering basic information about my desired website design, I was astonished when the AI platform generated an entire landing page for me. This was my introduction to the capabilities of AI.
Sometimes using AI can feel like working with someone who struggles to understand—yet the concept of “constraint” rarely crosses my mind when I consider how it’s empowering my business.
The Journey to an AI-Powered Business
For nearly a decade, I offered career coaching for product managers alongside my full-time job, growing from having no clients to maintaining a steady stream. In 2025, I made the leap to coaching full-time.
My goal was to bootstrap my venture, and hiring full-time employees proved too costly. Part-time help came with its challenges; I worried that those employees might not fully grasp my business needs as their primary focus lay elsewhere.
Prior to developing my website, I had only dabbled in AI. Occasionally, I would turn to ChatGPT for assistance with ideas, writing, and research. Lacking a tech background, I hadn’t initially considered AI as a business enabler. However, developing my website opened my eyes to how beneficial AI could be, not just for my public-facing content but also for my internal business operations.
Leveraging Free Credits for Business Growth
When I first attempted to build my website without AI, I invested around 30 to 40 hours, but the outcome was lackluster. After transitioning to testing Lovable, which offered five free credits daily, I was amazed at how quickly the AI produced aesthetically pleasing results. It was clear I would be back the following day to continue my efforts.
Initially, I noticed that the credits were linked to the number of messages I sent. After testing, I discovered that submitting a single request could cost me a credit, whereas combining multiple requests could still result in just one credit being deducted. I suspect they’ve since addressed that loophole, as now my credits seem more correlated to the energy consumption of each request. There were times I was surprised at the credit cost without realizing the complexity of my request.
While I’m uncertain about the total credits needed to build my entire website, I know it exceeded five. However, with clever prompts, someone could create a basic landing page with three sections and specific brand colors using just about two and a half credits.
Maximizing Free Daily Credits
Despite now having a paid account for $20 a month, which grants me 100 credits monthly plus five daily free credits, I still utilize my free credits every day. I consider my AI tools as valuable workers. My objective is to maximize their output, which incentivizes me to use my non-carryover credits efficiently. It’s akin to having employees—I want to ensure they contribute effectively every day.
When my website’s backend requires some maintenance, I often write a prompt asking the AI to identify which code areas would benefit most from a refactor, ranking them accordingly. Based on my remaining credits, I instruct it on which areas to focus on.
Reducing Task Time Significantly
One of the services I provide is finding job opportunities for my clients. Each has distinct criteria, leading me to manually search for suitable roles, a process that once took me around 60 minutes per client each day.
With the help of AI-driven automations, I managed to reduce that job searching time to just one minute per client. Recovering that hour per client has been a significant game-changer for scaling my operations.
I honestly didn’t expect such efficiency was achievable.
When to Consult Humans in a Tech-Driven World
There are moments when technical glitches occur or bugs arise. I’ve had instances where I’ve spent numerous credits trying to address issues only to realize the best approach was to ask the AI to entirely remove a troublesome feature and start fresh.
Once, I encountered a problem with the logos on my website. Despite multiple attempts to prompt it for consistent sizing, the AI failed. In the end, I reverted to my part-time engineer for a simple fix.
Occasionally, I seek external help for particular tasks I can’t manage through AI alone.
If you have an intriguing story about navigating the landscape of an AI-powered business, reach out to this reporter, Agnes Applegate, at aapplegate@businessinsider.com.
