Wild stuff — seventeen days.
Pieter Levels spun up a lean, browser-based flight sim with Three.js and AI—and hit $1 million in ARR.
Literally 3 hours to get a fully functioning demo:
No long specs. No bloated roadmaps. He “vibe coded”: prompt-driven AI snippets for shaders, UI components, data models, even placeholder art. In hours he had a runnable demo. In days he had a money-making SaaS.
The game is free to play. You load a tab, pilot simple shapes, and enjoy slick visuals. Revenue lives in ad slots: branded zeppelins, floating billboards and terrain logos at about $5,000 a month each. Stack enough placements—and you get real ARR numbers fast.
This is just another example of the massive leverage you get from AI as a devpreneur.
AI slashes months off your backlog. You can chew through boilerplate and focus on high-leverage features: core loops, retention hooks, monetization edges.
Think about what that means:
- Accelerate Monetization Cycles
Ship a monetizable prototype in a week, test ad yield or microtransactions live, then pivot before your competition has finished specs. - Collapse Development Timelines
With AI scaffolding, you scaffold services, UIs, and even tests in minutes. That’s hours saved on wiring and debugging. - Turn Audience + Execution into Unfair Advantage
Levels already had followers. He teased progress, built hype, then captured early ad buyers. You can mirror that: build in public, rally your network, and lock in brand deals before final launch. - Iterate Before Spec Docs Are Done
Stop over-engineering. Ship minimal viable features, gather real user data, then refine—without a months-long spec freeze.
The tech stack here is trivial: Three.js in a browser. No heavy engines. No complex backends. Just a tab and some serverless endpoints for ad tracking. Combine that with Copilot-style code generation, GPT-powered API clients, and quick-start templates—and you’ve got a launchpad.
Of course, success at this speed takes more than AI prompts. You need:
- A Clear Value Hook. Free flight demos grab attention. But you still need a reason for users to return—and for brands to pay again next month.
- A Monetization Plan from Day One. Design your ad slots or paywalls around genuine engagement points.
- Audience Playbook. Share dev logs. Release teasers. Let your early adopters champion your launch.
Pieter’s flight sim nailed all three. He built in public. He sold ad inventory before full polish. He lean-iterated on visuals to maximize time on screen (and ad impressions).
Here’s a quick blueprint for your next SaaS:
- Ideate Your Core Loop. What’s the smallest, repeatable action that drives value?
- AI-First Scaffolding. Prompt for code, UI, tests. Then stitch modules together.
- Vibe Code Your MVP. Ship within days. Track usage. Gather feedback.
- Monetize Early. Offer ad slots, subscriptions, or pay-per-feature. Get real cash flowing.
- Iterate Relentlessly. Use real metrics to prioritize fixes and features—no gut-feel guesses.
AI plus vibe coding isn’t a buzzword. It’s your secret weapon to outpace big teams, collapse timelines, and monetize before most devs even start testing. Build. Ship. Monetize. Repeat. That’s your unfair edge.