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Hey there,
When I asked Madan about his coding experience before building a credit card research engine a few months ago, he gave me the most honest answer: "It would be difficult, if not impossible, for me to write a line of code in Python or Java"
Three months and a few hundred hours later, he shipped Koko—an AI-powered app that gives personalized credit card recommendations.
Madan and I go way back to our analyst days at Capital One. He's worked as a product manager at Goldman Sachs, Freddie Mac, and Berkadia. But when his son headed off to college and needed a credit card, Madan couldn't find decent personalized advice online. So he decided to build it himself.
We spent 10 mins catching up and talking about his application, how he built it, and where he plans to take it from here. And we recorded our chat so that you can watch!
[Watch the full conversation here]
Trying something new with the recorded conversations - let me know if you want more of them!
What He Built
Koko takes your credit card portfolio and spending patterns, then tells you exactly which card to use in different situations. Planning a vacation? It'll optimize your rewards strategy. Making everyday purchases? It shows you how to maximize benefits.
His vision for v2? Pull in actual transaction data to make the recommendations even more personal.
How He Did It (Without Being a Developer)
His stack:
- Claude Code + Visual Studio for generating Python backend and HTML frontend
- A LOT of prompt engineering
His process:
- Write detailed requirements docs (these become your prompts)
- Let AI generate the code
- Use AI to auto-generate documentation so you can reference it later
- Iterate, iterate, iterate
Why This Matters
Madan chose tools that kept him in control. Claude Code generates files you own—if you want to move platforms tomorrow, you can. No lock-in.
And he proved something important: you don't need to be a developer to build real, functional software anymore. You need a problem worth solving, willingness to learn, and patience to experiment.
If you're interested in trying out his app, check it out here. And please send him feedback (you can do this directly on his site).
Want to Be Featured Next?
This is the first in my Featured Builders series.
If you're building something with AI—an app, a workflow, a tool, or even an experiment that taught you something—I want to hear about it.
No technical background required. Actually, especially if you don't have a technical background.
Just reply to this email. Let's share your story with 1,500+ builders who want to see what's possible.
More soon,
Shaalin