Presented by Zapier
Episode Highlights / Timestamps
[00:00] Why Pat decided to build his own video platform after YouTube strikes
[02:06] Rebuilding a YouTube-style site in just a few hours with Claude Code
[07:30] Designing the video experience before worrying about features
[14:06] Using modern frameworks without writing code
[23:06] Adding video streaming with third-party APIs instead of building from scratch
[34:03] Letting AI debug and test the app automatically
[42:00] Deploying the app live with one command
[48:18] Why your website should be the hub, not social platforms
In this episode of The Next New Thing, Andrew Warner talks with Pat Walls, founder of Starter Story, about how he used AI coding tools to quickly rebuild a version of YouTube after his channel was hit with content strikes.
Pat walks through how he used Claude Code to design, build, debug, and deploy a working video platform in real time — without writing traditional code. Along the way, he explains why founders should treat social platforms as distribution, not infrastructure, and how owning your audience and your software changes how you think about risk, growth, and leverage.
If you’ve ever wondered how far AI can really take you in building real products, this episode shows exactly what’s possible today.
