Resources

AI Stack Roadmap

"Which AI should I use?" is the wrong question for most projects. The real answer is almost always a stack — a few different tools, each doing the part it's actually good at. Below are the stacks for five common project types.

These are common starting paths, not the only way to do it. Swap in whatever you already know or already pay for — the sequence matters more than the specific brand name in any one slot.

Build a Website or App

The build itself is the smallest piece of this. Planning and hosting take almost as much thought as writing the code.

1. Planning & Design

  • Claude or ChatGPT — spec out features and user flows
  • Figma — wireframes and visual design

2. Creation

  • Claude Code, Cursor, or v0 by Vercel — write and scaffold the actual code

3. Refinement & Testing

  • Claude Code or GitHub Copilot — debugging and code review
  • Browser dev tools — manual testing before launch

4. Deployment & Hosting

  • GitHub — version control
  • Vercel — hosting and deployment
  • Supabase — database and auth, if you need one

Write a Book or Long-Form Content

Almost nobody drafts a whole book in one tool. Outlining, writing, and editing usually happen in different places.

1. Planning & Outlining

  • Claude or ChatGPT — brainstorm structure and chapter outlines
  • Notion — organize chapters and notes

2. Drafting

  • Claude or ChatGPT — draft sections, work through writer's block
  • Scrivener — organize and manage a long manuscript

3. Editing & Feedback

  • Grammarly or ProWritingAid — line editing
  • Claude — developmental feedback on structure and pacing

4. Publishing & Distribution

  • Canva — cover design
  • Amazon KDP — self-publish print and ebook
  • Draft2Digital — wider ebook distribution

Start a Podcast or Video Series

The gear matters less than people think. The editing and distribution tools matter more.

1. Planning & Scripting

  • Claude or ChatGPT — episode outlines and talking points
  • Google Sheets — content calendar

2. Recording & Editing

  • Descript — record, transcribe, and edit by editing the text
  • CapCut — video editing and captions

3. Polish & Refinement

  • Descript — filler-word and silence removal
  • Auphonic — audio leveling if you're uploading elsewhere

4. Publishing & Distribution

  • Spotify for Podcasters or Buzzsprout — podcast hosting and distribution
  • YouTube — video

Automate Business Tasks

This one is less about creating something new and more about wiring existing tools together.

1. Mapping the Workflow

  • Claude or ChatGPT — map out the actual steps and find the real bottleneck

2. Building the Automation

  • Make.com — free tier, multi-step scenarios
  • Zapier — simpler single-step automations

3. Testing & Debugging

  • Make.com's run history and scenario logs — see exactly where a run failed

4. Going Live

  • Turn the scenario on, then check back daily at first — most failures show up in the first few real runs, not in testing

Do Market Research

Good research is mostly asking the right question before you touch a tool.

1. Framing the Questions

  • Claude or ChatGPT — sharpen a vague question into specific, answerable ones

2. Gathering Data

  • Google Forms — primary data, surveys
  • Perplexity — synthesizing what's already been written or reported

3. Analysis

  • Claude — summarize open-ended answers and find patterns
  • Google Sheets — organize and chart the numbers

4. Sharing the Findings

  • Canva or Google Slides — turn the findings into something you can actually show someone