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My story

How I got here, one bug at a time.

The coding story, start to now. Lots of building, plenty of breaking, and one competition I entered with my dad.

The story, chapter by chapter

  1. Chapter 01During COVID

    Started programming

    I started programming during COVID, and I haven't really stopped since.

  2. Chapter 02The years after

    Picked up six languages

    Over the next few years I picked up Python, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, R and C#. Mostly I learned by building small things, breaking them and working out why.

    • Python
    • JavaScript
    • HTML
    • CSS
    • R
    • C#C#

  3. Chapter 032025

    Found Base44

    Then in 2025 I found Base44. My first real app went live the same week I signed up. That's when it clicked: the bottleneck was the tooling, not the skill.

The bottleneck was the tooling, not the skill.

  1. Chapter 042025

    First paying client

    My first paying client came that same year. I built in public and made plenty of mistakes where people could see them. Ten apps turned into twenty.

    20+

    Apps shipped for clients

  2. Chapter 052025

    Got stuck into the Discord

    Then I got stuck into the Base44 Discord. I answered questions, got pulled into other people's problems and learned which questions actually uncover the real one.

    Read the Superagents Guide case study
    There are days where it feels like AJ is answering half the community himself.
    Niko Lee (Enterprise Dev)Base44 review
    The Superagents Guide homepage: the headline What are Superagents in Base44? with Superagents on a lime highlight, Nova the mascot, and floating chips reading Runs 24/7, No coding and Takes action.
    say hi to Nova

  3. Chapter 062025

    Became a Base44 Partner

    I also became a Base44 Partner, and I've been one for about a year now, helping people get their apps built and working properly.

    Read the reviewsSee my Base44 profile (opens in a new tab)

  4. Chapter 072026

    Won Best Build, with my dad

    In 2026 my dad and I built The Gridiron Guide for Base44's Big Game App competition. It won Best Build. Best bit? Building it together.

    See The Gridiron Guide
    Game Situations in The Gridiron Guide: an overtime scoreboard reading AJ's team (Eagles) 24, Dad's team (Cowboys) 24, a sticky-note tip from AJ, a field position bar and play options with risk and success odds.
    The Field in The Gridiron Guide: a 3D American football pitch with the red zone tapped and a side panel explaining it in plain English, with fun facts and an Ask AI button.
    Best Build, with Dad

  5. Chapter 08Along the way

    Highlighted by Base44

    Somewhere along the way, Base44 highlighted my work too.

    I'll take it.

  6. Chapter 09Now

    Still building, still learning

    I've been freelancing for the past year, and I keep picking up new AI tools and languages as I go.

    Right now I'm building websites and tools for Base44 users, growing on X and learning Rust, Windows apps, desktop systems and neural networks.

    What I'm up to nowRead the Hattle case study

The pattern hasn't changed since the start. I hit a problem I keep running into, especially a difficult or repetitive one with no good answer yet, and I build my way out of it.

Lessons

What shaped the work

None of this came from a textbook. Mostly it came from getting stuck.

  • The Base44 Discord

    Learning in public and helping people. Answering other people's questions is the quickest way to find your own gaps.

  • Breaking things

    And failing. A lot. Every bug I've shipped taught me something the tutorial skipped.

  • Working with clients

    Freelance work shows you fast what matters to real people, and what doesn't.

  • Asking better questions

    Learning which questions uncover the real problem, not just the one someone describes first.

  • Planning to ship fast

    Learning what you need to know up front to plan and ship fast without dropping quality.

Case studies

Built along the way

Every one of these is my own project. Each case study goes deeper on the problem, the build and what I learned.

  • Game Situations in The Gridiron Guide: an overtime scoreboard reading AJ's team (Eagles) 24, Dad's team (Cowboys) 24, a sticky-note tip from AJ and four play options with risk and success odds.
    Explainer app · 2026Live

    The Gridiron Guide

    American football, explained for people as confused as I was.

    Base44ReactTailwind CSS
  • The Superagents Guide homepage: the headline What are Superagents in Base44? with Superagents on a lime highlight, Nova the mascot, and floating chips reading Runs 24/7, No coding and Takes action.
    Guide · 2026Live

    Superagents Guide

    What are Superagents in Base44? A friendly guide, with a mascot called Nova.

    Base44ReactTailwind CSS
  • The Hattle homepage during the 2026 World Cup: a sticker wall around the HATTLE wordmark, the scribble who'd you get?, a Free forever badge and two buttons.
    Web app · 2026Live

    Hattle

    who'd you get? A World Cup sweepstake app, sketched on paper and shipped in 8 hours.

    Base44ReactTailwind CSS
  • The What's BaaS? homepage: the headline The backend that's already built into every Base44 app, a map of backend services with the RLS node lit up, and a code panel showing the matching rule.
    CourseLive

    What's BaaS?

    The backend that's already built into every Base44 app, explained in 12 bite-sized lessons.

    Base44ReactTailwind CSS
  • The recap page for Office Hours #68 on Superagents, headed Less chasing. More doing., with a summary card, recording date, host and format. Unofficial, community-made.
    Community archive · 2026Live

    Office Hours archive

    An unofficial, community-made home for every Base44 Office Hours session, searchable and recapped.

    Base44ReactTailwind CSS
  • All my workCase studies, my own products and open source.

That's the story so far.

The next bit might involve you. Got a hard problem or an internship in mind?

Get in touchSee what I'm up to now