When should you start writing code?
At number eight, not number one. The seven steps before it are the ones most people skip, and they are what the code has to answer to
Free, no call
13 things you do before you build your app
Most people start at number eight. That is why the app works and the business never does
The build order13 steps
- 1Mission statement
- 2Your bio
- 3Your genesis rant
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8Your proof of conceptFirst code
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
The short answer
13 things you do before you build your app
There are thirteen things to do before you build an app, and writing code is number eight. Most people start at eight, which is why the app works and the business never does. The list comes with a prompt that makes Claude or Cursor refuse to build until the first seven exist.
Why does the order matter?
Something that works before you earned it is something you abandon. The steps before the code are what keep you going once the code works
Does the prompt work with Cursor?
Yes. You paste it at the top of Claude or Cursor, and it holds the order for you by refusing to build until the first seven steps exist
What’s inside
The list, in order, and a prompt that holds it
The order is the point
Thirteen things, and you do not write a line of code until number eight
What done looks like
One or two lines per step so you know when to move on, not a course
The prompt
Paste it at the top of Claude or Cursor. It refuses to build until the first seven exist
Why the order
Something that works before you earned it is something you abandon
Free, no call
Get the 13, in order, and the prompt that holds them
One or two lines per step, and a prompt that makes Claude or Cursor wait until step eight
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1 min readDo you still need a CLAUDE.md file?
Today's models read your code better than the long CLAUDE.md you wrote three versions ago. What to cut, what to keep, and the context that belongs somewhere else
Bring what you have. We’ll tell you where it stands
You’ll leave the call knowing what’s risky and what to do next
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