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May 24, 2026 · 18m · starter-story

I Built A $30K/Month in 35 Days

Cedric Huberge · 9m spoken Pat Walls · 7m spoken
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

Starter Story host Pat Walls interviews college founder Cedric Huberge, who built PepAI using AI 'vibe coding' tools and generated over $50,000 in seven weeks by capitalizing on viral health trends. Cedric shares his five-step playbook for spotting trending niches on social media, overcoming App Store review hurdles, and driving rapid customer acquisition through influencer partnerships.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Pat holds 41.4% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Pat as informed peer 4.2 Guest teaching 4.8 Guest disagreement 0.0 Pat pushing back 0.2
05100:0010:000:53–3:17 · Pat as informed peer 4/10 PepAI Overview and Revenue Verification Pat asks Cedric to prove his revenue figures, prompting Cedric to share his RevenueCat dashboard and walk through his MRR and pricing tiers. Pat contextualizes Cedric's past failure by noting that building a campus marketplace is a classic trap for first-time founders.3:18–5:30 · Pat as informed peer 4/10 Vibe Coding with AI and Navigating App Store Approval Cedric describes vibe coding the app with Replit, Claude, and Firebase, as well as navigating App Store rejection for medical advice. Pat affirms the pattern from other founders before delivering a mid-roll pitch for his AI coding bootcamp.5:30–8:09 · Pat as informed peer 3/10 Discovering and Validating the Peptide Trend Cedric explains how algorithmic signals from TikTok and roommate conversations led him to research competitor app reviews. Pat reinforces the importance of personal curiosity combined with organic search demand.8:10–12:06 · Pat as informed peer 5/10 A Five-Step Playbook for Trend Spotting and Influencer Marketing Cedric outlines a structured five-step playbook for validating trends and running pre-launch influencer campaigns that drove four-figure revenue spikes. Pat reinforces Cedric's points by citing another founder who used Claude to rebrand from cancellation data.12:06–15:13 · Pat as informed peer 3/10 PepAI Product Demonstration and Feature Walkthrough Cedric conducts a live walkthrough of PepAI's reconstitution calculator, injection logging, and PubMed-backed research features. Pat live-checks the App Store ranking to verify organic discoverability.15:13–17:46 · Pat as informed peer 6/10 Post-Interview Analysis on AI Coding and Trend Capitalization In a post-interview debrief with his producer Gus, Pat analyzes why trend-riding provides structural distribution advantages for non-technical builders before closing with an outro pitch.0:53–3:17 · Guest teaching 5/10 PepAI Overview and Revenue Verification Pat asks Cedric to prove his revenue figures, prompting Cedric to share his RevenueCat dashboard and walk through his MRR and pricing tiers. Pat contextualizes Cedric's past failure by noting that building a campus marketplace is a classic trap for first-time founders.3:18–5:30 · Guest teaching 5/10 Vibe Coding with AI and Navigating App Store Approval Cedric describes vibe coding the app with Replit, Claude, and Firebase, as well as navigating App Store rejection for medical advice. Pat affirms the pattern from other founders before delivering a mid-roll pitch for his AI coding bootcamp.5:30–8:09 · Guest teaching 6/10 Discovering and Validating the Peptide Trend Cedric explains how algorithmic signals from TikTok and roommate conversations led him to research competitor app reviews. Pat reinforces the importance of personal curiosity combined with organic search demand.8:10–12:06 · Guest teaching 7/10 A Five-Step Playbook for Trend Spotting and Influencer Marketing Cedric outlines a structured five-step playbook for validating trends and running pre-launch influencer campaigns that drove four-figure revenue spikes. Pat reinforces Cedric's points by citing another founder who used Claude to rebrand from cancellation data.12:06–15:13 · Guest teaching 6/10 PepAI Product Demonstration and Feature Walkthrough Cedric conducts a live walkthrough of PepAI's reconstitution calculator, injection logging, and PubMed-backed research features. Pat live-checks the App Store ranking to verify organic discoverability.15:13–17:46 · Guest teaching 0/10 Post-Interview Analysis on AI Coding and Trend Capitalization In a post-interview debrief with his producer Gus, Pat analyzes why trend-riding provides structural distribution advantages for non-technical builders before closing with an outro pitch.0:53–3:17 · Guest disagreement 0/10 PepAI Overview and Revenue Verification Pat asks Cedric to prove his revenue figures, prompting Cedric to share his RevenueCat dashboard and walk through his MRR and pricing tiers. Pat contextualizes Cedric's past failure by noting that building a campus marketplace is a classic trap for first-time founders.3:18–5:30 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Vibe Coding with AI and Navigating App Store Approval Cedric describes vibe coding the app with Replit, Claude, and Firebase, as well as navigating App Store rejection for medical advice. Pat affirms the pattern from other founders before delivering a mid-roll pitch for his AI coding bootcamp.5:30–8:09 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Discovering and Validating the Peptide Trend Cedric explains how algorithmic signals from TikTok and roommate conversations led him to research competitor app reviews. Pat reinforces the importance of personal curiosity combined with organic search demand.8:10–12:06 · Guest disagreement 0/10 A Five-Step Playbook for Trend Spotting and Influencer Marketing Cedric outlines a structured five-step playbook for validating trends and running pre-launch influencer campaigns that drove four-figure revenue spikes. Pat reinforces Cedric's points by citing another founder who used Claude to rebrand from cancellation data.12:06–15:13 · Guest disagreement 0/10 PepAI Product Demonstration and Feature Walkthrough Cedric conducts a live walkthrough of PepAI's reconstitution calculator, injection logging, and PubMed-backed research features. Pat live-checks the App Store ranking to verify organic discoverability.15:13–17:46 · Guest disagreement 0/10 Post-Interview Analysis on AI Coding and Trend Capitalization In a post-interview debrief with his producer Gus, Pat analyzes why trend-riding provides structural distribution advantages for non-technical builders before closing with an outro pitch.0:53–3:17 · Pat pushing back 1/10 PepAI Overview and Revenue Verification Pat asks Cedric to prove his revenue figures, prompting Cedric to share his RevenueCat dashboard and walk through his MRR and pricing tiers. Pat contextualizes Cedric's past failure by noting that building a campus marketplace is a classic trap for first-time founders.3:18–5:30 · Pat pushing back 0/10 Vibe Coding with AI and Navigating App Store Approval Cedric describes vibe coding the app with Replit, Claude, and Firebase, as well as navigating App Store rejection for medical advice. Pat affirms the pattern from other founders before delivering a mid-roll pitch for his AI coding bootcamp.5:30–8:09 · Pat pushing back 0/10 Discovering and Validating the Peptide Trend Cedric explains how algorithmic signals from TikTok and roommate conversations led him to research competitor app reviews. Pat reinforces the importance of personal curiosity combined with organic search demand.8:10–12:06 · Pat pushing back 0/10 A Five-Step Playbook for Trend Spotting and Influencer Marketing Cedric outlines a structured five-step playbook for validating trends and running pre-launch influencer campaigns that drove four-figure revenue spikes. Pat reinforces Cedric's points by citing another founder who used Claude to rebrand from cancellation data.12:06–15:13 · Pat pushing back 0/10 PepAI Product Demonstration and Feature Walkthrough Cedric conducts a live walkthrough of PepAI's reconstitution calculator, injection logging, and PubMed-backed research features. Pat live-checks the App Store ranking to verify organic discoverability.15:13–17:46 · Pat pushing back 0/10 Post-Interview Analysis on AI Coding and Trend Capitalization In a post-interview debrief with his producer Gus, Pat analyzes why trend-riding provides structural distribution advantages for non-technical builders before closing with an outro pitch.

speaking balance: gold is Pat, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Pat 43.2% · guest 56.8%0:00 · Pat 43.2% · guest 56.8%3:00 · Pat 56.6% · guest 43.4%3:00 · Pat 56.6% · guest 43.4%6:00 · Pat 30.2% · guest 69.8%6:00 · Pat 30.2% · guest 69.8%9:00 · Pat 26.3% · guest 73.7%9:00 · Pat 26.3% · guest 73.7%12:00 · Pat 27.7% · guest 72.3%12:00 · Pat 27.7% · guest 72.3%15:00 · Pat 60% · guest 40%15:00 · Pat 60% · guest 40%18:00 · Pat 100% · guest 0%18:00 · Pat 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 7:51 Competitor copycats response

In a completely collaborative episode, Cedric gently pushes back against the idea that organic search is effortless by explaining how emerging copycat apps try to hijack their brand traffic on X and the App Store.

 Hardest push from Pat ▶ 1:12 Revenue verification request

Pat challenges Cedric to verify his claims on screen with actual backend metrics before proceeding into the tactical breakdown.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 10:01 Pre-launch influencer playbook

Cedric educates the host on how tapping micro-influencers before launch built an immediate waitlist and generated massive ROI on single story posts.

 Pat holds their own ▶ 9:32 Synthesizing AI review analysis with industry case study

Pat validates and expands Cedric's scraping workflow by citing a specific case study of a founder who rebranded using cancellation reasons fed into Claude to achieve 350 percent growth.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicPat as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementPat pushing backWhy
PepAI Overview and Revenue Verification 4501 Pat asks Cedric to prove his revenue figures, prompting Cedric to share his RevenueCat dashboard and walk through his MRR and pricing tiers. Pat contextualizes Cedric's past failure by noting that building a campus marketplace is a classic trap for first-time founders.
Vibe Coding with AI and Navigating App Store Approval 4500 Cedric describes vibe coding the app with Replit, Claude, and Firebase, as well as navigating App Store rejection for medical advice. Pat affirms the pattern from other founders before delivering a mid-roll pitch for his AI coding bootcamp.
Discovering and Validating the Peptide Trend 3600 Cedric explains how algorithmic signals from TikTok and roommate conversations led him to research competitor app reviews. Pat reinforces the importance of personal curiosity combined with organic search demand.
A Five-Step Playbook for Trend Spotting and Influencer Marketing 5700 Cedric outlines a structured five-step playbook for validating trends and running pre-launch influencer campaigns that drove four-figure revenue spikes. Pat reinforces Cedric's points by citing another founder who used Claude to rebrand from cancellation data.
PepAI Product Demonstration and Feature Walkthrough 3600 Cedric conducts a live walkthrough of PepAI's reconstitution calculator, injection logging, and PubMed-backed research features. Pat live-checks the App Store ranking to verify organic discoverability.
Post-Interview Analysis on AI Coding and Trend Capitalization 6000 In a post-interview debrief with his producer Gus, Pat analyzes why trend-riding provides structural distribution advantages for non-technical builders before closing with an outro pitch.

Statements from this episode (5)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Huberge: PepAI reached $11,000 MRR and $51,000 total revenue in seven weeks
“So this is our revenue cat dashboard. This is in the last 28 days. We have 33,000 revenue, almost 2000 active subscriptions. Our MRR is 11 K total revenue 51 K.”
Cedric Huberge May 24, 2026 ▶ 1:49
Disclosure
Huberge built PepAI in two weeks using Claude and Replit
“So using Claude and Replit, it took about two weeks to build out.”
Cedric Huberge May 24, 2026 ▶ 3:49
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Huberge: PepAI captured App Store traffic from a competitor's viral post
“One of them, like there was a post on X that blew up about that. People started looking up peptide AI, but ours was the top search and we got like a bunch of like just traction from that. So it puts us in a good spot.”
Cedric Huberge May 24, 2026 ▶ 7:59
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Huberge: A single influencer post generated over $10,000 for PepAI
“We had one guy that had made one story post and from that we did a thousand dollars in revenue, which is insane for one story post on Instagram. And then when he made his actual first post, it got 50,000 views and we did like 4000 dollars in revenue just from …”
Cedric Huberge May 24, 2026 ▶ 10:45
Insight
Walls: Even low-quality apps can succeed in fast-growing niche markets
“Let's say he had a really crappy app. It still would make money. It still would be successful. If you just build it on something exciting rather than something that's dying, like, I don't know, newspapers or something like that.”
Pat Walls May 24, 2026 ▶ 17:06
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