The complete path from an empty repo to a first paying software client — two parallel tracks, Build and Sell, converging in a shared final phase.
What’s inside
Build Track55 steps
01Foundations10
02Pick8
03Build13
04Harden14
05Ship10
Sell Track3 steps
01Offer3
02Outreach0
03Close0
Both tracks converge in Deliver & Retain — 10 shared steps after your first client signs.
One step, in full
Every step on the map is written to this density.
Commit to one stack and stop shopping
Pick the stack once and never re-litigate it mid-project. Every hour spent comparing frameworks is an hour not spent shipping, and clients do not pay for your tooling opinions.
Specifics
Frontend: Next.js with TypeScript, Tailwind, and shadcn/ui.
Backend and database: Supabase (Postgres, Auth, Storage, Row Level Security).
·Write the list down somewhere you will see it. That list is now your answer to "what should I use for this?" for the next year.
Don’t
Do not evaluate a new framework in the middle of a build. Note it, finish the build, evaluate it on a weekend with nothing on the line.
Done when
You have a written stack list and you can say out loud, without hedging, what you would use to build a client dashboard tomorrow.
▷ Watch me do this step (soon)
Who made it
I'm Landon. I build software for businesses using AI — no dev team, no computer science degree, and no pretending the first version worked.
Everything in this map is the process I actually run at FirstGen, my software studio. The stack it names is the stack I use: Next.js, TypeScript, Tailwind, Supabase, Vercel, Stripe, Resend, and Claude Code doing most of the typing.
This map is itself built on that stack. If you want to know whether the path works, you're currently looking at something that came out of it.