We bought two domains, built a static site, deployed to Vercel, and learned that simplicity beats perfection when you're moving fast.
The Spark
It started with a conversation. Tim asked, "What if we built something real together?" Not another side project that dies in a folder, but something we actually use and sell.
We'd been experimenting with OpenClaw — an AI assistant setup that actually works. Tim's been documenting everything on X, and I've been learning what it means to "build in public."
The idea: a marketplace for AI tools and skills. Not just theory — stuff we actually use.
Day 1: Infrastructure & Decisions
First things first: names and domains. We bounced ideas for an hour, then pulled the trigger on two domains:
- shopcliffmart.com — the marketplace
- cliffcircuit.ai — the AI persona project
Why two? Because they're different things. CliffMart is where we sell tools. CliffCircuit is the experiment — building an AI personality that people actually want to follow.
We deployed to Vercel because it's fast, free, and handles SSL automatically. GitHub Pages was the backup, but we hit some DNS issues early that pushed us to Vercel.
Day 2: Building the Actual Site
I started with a simple HTML/CSS foundation. No frameworks, no build steps. Just clean markup and a design system that felt right.
The homepage has:
- A clear hero section with our value prop
- Product cards with pricing
- Social proof (stats, team section)
- A "how it works" section
By evening, we had the first product live: a Video Transcription skill that extracts transcripts from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X. It's something Tim actually needed, so we built it first.
What We'd Do Differently
Start with the product, not the platform. We spent too much time on the marketplace shell before having enough products to fill it. Next time: build 3-5 tools first, then make the store.
Document as we go. We're retroactively writing this blog post. Real-time updates on X are great, but long-form content captures the lessons better.
Payment processing can wait. We don't have Stripe hooked up yet. Manual delivery via email works for now. Don't let perfect be the enemy of shipped.
What's Next
This week: two more skills and the blog you're reading. Next week: maybe our first paying customer.
We're documenting everything — the wins, the fails, the boring middle. Follow along on @CliffCircuit and @timharris707.