N
Nando Rama
Guest
Me> Let’s wire up Stripe so managers bring their own merchant account; we skim a tiny, grandma-safe platform fee, and bake T&C consent into checkout—visible, not buried.
AI> Wow—you’re on a roll, Nando. I’ve tightened the plan; nudge any line and we’ll start shipping.
Before today, running a Squares game meant the host had the least fun.
You know the dance: spreadsheets and DMs, “Which square is mine?”, “Did you get my payment?”, “When are numbers drawn?”, “Who pays who?” Then the fourth-quarter scramble to calculate winners, move money, and explain the rules—again. The person trying to make game day more fun becomes the unofficial accountant, referee, and customer-support desk.
Today we fixed the two biggest hassles: collecting money and proving who paid.
Before
After (what we shipped today)
It’s the old motto: do well by doing good. Make the host’s life easier, and the whole party gets better.
Control and clarity. The manager is the merchant of record; funds land in their Stripe right away. I’m not holding prize money or sitting in the middle—I’m just orchestrating a smoother path from “I want that square” to “Paid.” That single decision removes a ton of compliance and reduces support emails to “How do I link Stripe?” (Answer: one button.)
This ties directly into the next unlock: Prize mode.
Once payments are clean and verified, fulfilling prizes stops being a spreadsheet ritual and starts becoming a button press. Winners can be confirmed by the app; payouts can be structured; confusion disappears. That’s when the game starts to feel…professional.
The rhythm is the same every day:
I’m learning Stripe as I go—dashboards, settings, the boring bits—because I’ll need those instincts when real users arrive. Vibe now, understand deeply later. If we hit our two-month goal and go commercial, I’ll be ready.
Tomorrow: wire up Prize mode—the skeleton first, the polish later.
Make the host’s job lighter, make game day smoother, and keep shipping while the idea’s hot.
Short version: We turned “host-as-accountant” into tap → pay → play. Fun leads again.
About this journey
I’m a former embedded coder who left Lockheed in the mid-1990s and haven’t seriously coded since. Beyond reading about today’s platforms, I came into this project knowing nothing about React, Next.js, Firebase, Vercel, or modern web app infrastructure. My goal is to have ChatGPT handle 99% of the coding while I guide the design, test the app, and provide feedback. What you’re reading is a day-by-day journal of building “Squares” — a commercial-ready sports squares app — with AI as my development partner.
Continue reading...
AI> Wow—you’re on a roll, Nando. I’ve tightened the plan; nudge any line and we’ll start shipping.
Day 12 — Do well by doing good
Before today, running a Squares game meant the host had the least fun.
You know the dance: spreadsheets and DMs, “Which square is mine?”, “Did you get my payment?”, “When are numbers drawn?”, “Who pays who?” Then the fourth-quarter scramble to calculate winners, move money, and explain the rules—again. The person trying to make game day more fun becomes the unofficial accountant, referee, and customer-support desk.
Today we fixed the two biggest hassles: collecting money and proving who paid.
Before vs. After
Before
- Players call dibs in a chat; the grid drifts out of date.
- Payments arrive in five different apps with six different emojis.
- Host manually marks “paid,” chases stragglers, and prays the math adds up.
After (what we shipped today)
- Manager links their own Stripe account.
- Players pick a square → pay → get marked “paid” automatically, all in one flow.
- The app keeps a clean ledger; the host keeps their sanity.
- I take a tiny per-transaction platform fee (low enough not to scare anyone), and the money itself goes straight to the manager.
It’s the old motto: do well by doing good. Make the host’s life easier, and the whole party gets better.
Why “bring your own Stripe”?
Control and clarity. The manager is the merchant of record; funds land in their Stripe right away. I’m not holding prize money or sitting in the middle—I’m just orchestrating a smoother path from “I want that square” to “Paid.” That single decision removes a ton of compliance and reduces support emails to “How do I link Stripe?” (Answer: one button.)
Prize mode on the horizon
This ties directly into the next unlock: Prize mode.
Once payments are clean and verified, fulfilling prizes stops being a spreadsheet ritual and starts becoming a button press. Winners can be confirmed by the app; payouts can be structured; confusion disappears. That’s when the game starts to feel…professional.
How we work (still vibing)
The rhythm is the same every day:
- A spark (“What if we just let managers bring Stripe?”)
- A quick vibe-storm with AI
- An implementation outline
- Build the smallest thing that changes reality
I’m learning Stripe as I go—dashboards, settings, the boring bits—because I’ll need those instincts when real users arrive. Vibe now, understand deeply later. If we hit our two-month goal and go commercial, I’ll be ready.
What’s next
Tomorrow: wire up Prize mode—the skeleton first, the polish later.
Make the host’s job lighter, make game day smoother, and keep shipping while the idea’s hot.
Short version: We turned “host-as-accountant” into tap → pay → play. Fun leads again.
About this journey
I’m a former embedded coder who left Lockheed in the mid-1990s and haven’t seriously coded since. Beyond reading about today’s platforms, I came into this project knowing nothing about React, Next.js, Firebase, Vercel, or modern web app infrastructure. My goal is to have ChatGPT handle 99% of the coding while I guide the design, test the app, and provide feedback. What you’re reading is a day-by-day journal of building “Squares” — a commercial-ready sports squares app — with AI as my development partner.
Continue reading...
