How I AI

How a non-technical founder built a $100K ARR meme company | Jason Levin (Memelord CEO)

Jason Levin is the CEO and founder of Memelord, an AI-powered meme creation platform that helps brands and individuals create contextual, trending memes. He started Memelord as a $6.90-per-month newsletter sending subscribers to a Google Slides deck, grew it to $100K ARR on Bubble without hiring engineers, then raised $3M to build it into an API-first product. *What you’ll learn:* 1. How Jason grew Memelord from a $6.90/month newsletter to $100K ARR without writing a single line of code 2. Why “no UX is the best UX” and how agents are becoming Memelord’s primary users 3. The mandatory vibe-coding rule for his marketing team and how it unlocks unprecedented creativity 4. Why free tools are the new PDF downloads and how they’ve generated hundreds of thousands of emails 5. Jason’s hardware hacking projects, including a bedside keyboard that creates Linear tickets without waking his wife 6. Why AI can be funny (but humans are still funnier) and which model is the funniest 7. The philosophy of building hyper-personalized software just for yourself *Brought to you by:* WorkOS—Make your app enterprise-ready today: https://workos.com?utm_source=lennys_howiai&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=q22025 Persona—Trusted identity verification for any use case: https://withpersona.com/lp/howiai *In this episode, we cover:* (00:00) Introduction to Jason Levin and Memelord (04:28) Demo: Agentic meme creation with OpenClaw (06:55) “No UX is the best UX”—building for an agent-first future (08:35) How Memelord started as a $6.90 newsletter with Google Slides (12:35) Building to $100K ARR on Bubble with 395 workflows (15:20) Demo: Free tools section that generates hundreds of thousands of emails (17:59) Why Cursor is perfect for non-technical founders (20:20) Let your marketers cook—or watch them leave (24:19) Commit graph that shows the vibe-coding inflection point (25:25) Tools: Claude, Gemini, Linear, PostHog (28:19) Build weird stuff in the real world (33:24) Creative AI use cases (39:56) Using OpenClaw for calendar analysis (43:37) Can AI be funny? Which model is funniest? (45:26) Memes are not slop (46:45) What Jason doesn’t use AI for (48:12) Final thoughts *Blog & detailed workflow walkthroughs from this episode:* How I AI: Jason Levin’s Workflows for Agentic Memes, Vibe Coding, and Hardware Hacking: https://www.chatprd.ai/how-i-ai/jason-levins-workflows-for-agentic-memes-vibe-coding-and-hardware-hacking ↳ Build a Custom Bedside Keyboard for Idea Capture with Raspberry Pi and ChatGPT: https://www.chatprd.ai/how-i-ai/workflows/build-a-custom-bedside-keyboard-for-idea-capture-with-raspberry-pi-and-chatgpt ↳ Build Free Marketing Tools as Lead Magnets Using AI Code Assistants: https://www.chatprd.ai/how-i-ai/workflows/build-free-marketing-tools-as-lead-magnets-using-ai-code-assistants ↳ Automate Meme Marketing with an AI Agent and OpenClaw: https://www.chatprd.ai/how-i-ai/workflows/automate-meme-marketing-with-an-ai-agent-and-openclaw *Tools referenced:* • Memelord API: https://memelord.com/api • Cursor: https://cursor.com/ • Bubble: https://bubble.io/ • OpenClaw: https://openclaw.ai • Claude: https://claude.ai/ • ChatGPT: https://chat.openai.com/ • Gemini: https://gemini.google.com/ • Grok: https://grok.x.ai/ • Linear: https://linear.app/ • PostHog: https://posthog.com/ • Zapier: https://zapier.com/ *Other references:* • Diego Zaks—“The best UX is no UX”: https://x.com/diegozaks/status/1966526522136649980 • Sam Lessin: https://wlessin.com/ • “Stop giving me advice”: https://stopgivingmeadvice.com • Memelord free tools: https://memelord.com/tools *Where to find Jason Levin:* Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamjasonlevin Instagram: https://instagram.com/iamjasonlevin LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamjasonlevin/ Memelord: https://memelord.com *Where to find Claire Vo:* ChatPRD: https://www.chatprd.ai/ Website: https://clairevo.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairevo/ X: https://x.com/clairevo _Production and marketing by https://penname.co/._ _For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co._

JLJason LevinguestCVClaire Vohost

Apr 27, 2026·51m·Watch on YouTube ↗

📖 CHAPTERS

1. 1

   Memelord’s thesis: entertainment wins, and memes are cultural transmission

   Claire introduces Jason Levin and the Memelord premise: taking “being funny” seriously as a marketing advantage. Jason frames Memelord around the idea that the most entertaining brands win attention, and memes are the most information-dense unit of culture.

2. 2

   Demo: Agentic meme creation via Memelord API + OpenClaw

   Jason shows what it looks like when an agent generates memes on demand. The workflow pulls from a trending meme database, selects a relevant template, and writes captions—then iterates quickly with variations like “switch the caption.”

3. 3

   “No UX is the best UX”: building for an agent-first future

   They discuss the shift from polished human interfaces to agent-driven usage, where the best experience is often just an API key. Jason shares how Memelord invested heavily in onboarding UX while knowing agents would eventually bypass it.

4. 4

   From $6.90 newsletter to product: Google Slides MVP and meme alerts

   Jason traces Memelord’s origin as a paid newsletter that sent meme alerts and linked to a Google Slides deck. The scrappy MVP validated the demand: people needed help staying current on memes and remixing trends fast.

5. 5

   Scaling without engineers: Bubble build to $100K ARR (395 workflows)

   Jason explains how he grew to $100K ARR using Bubble, despite being non-technical. The tradeoff was complexity: hundreds of workflows that became hard to reason about—yet it proved the business before hiring engineers.

6. 6

   Cursor for non-technical builders + “everyone vibe codes” as policy

   Jason describes how Cursor enabled him (and his marketers) to contribute directly, while engineers handle security-critical work. Claire highlights why Cursor is especially approachable: it teaches by letting non-technical people read and modify code safely with guidance modes.

7. 7

   Free tools as demand gen: meme utilities that captured hundreds of thousands of emails

   Jason tours Memelord’s free tools section (lead magnets) and explains how small, weird utilities can outperform traditional PDFs. These tools went viral—especially in unexpected geographies—driving massive email capture and top-of-funnel growth.

8. 8

   Let marketers cook—or they’ll leave: talent, autonomy, and the abundance mindset

   They argue that AI makes traditional “prioritization” less relevant; organizations should bias toward shipping. Jason warns that restricting creative builders (especially marketers) leads to attrition—he left a prior company for that reason.

9. 9

   Tool stack and operating cadence: Claude/Gemini, Linear, PostHog (and agent-friendly workflows)

   Jason shares the team’s core tools and why they matter in an agentic workflow. Linear and PostHog stand out because their AI layers and APIs let agents manage tasks and generate analytics insights without constant human UI usage.

10. 10

    Build weird stuff IRL too: barbell strategy of digital agents + physical antics

    Jason advocates pairing AI building with real-world creativity to stay grounded and generate differentiated content. He gives examples like Memelord CDs, domain hacks, and hosting quirky events to create memorable brand moments.

11. 11

    Hyper-personal personal software: bedtime idea capture with Raspberry Pi + keyboard

    Jason walks through a bespoke system to capture ideas at night without a phone, screen, or waking his wife. He built a keyboard+Raspberry Pi setup that sends Zapier-triggered actions (emails, Linear tickets) based on simple prefixes.

12. 12

    Agentic calendar analysis: weekly review, time allocation, and meeting elimination

    Jason shows how OpenClaw reviews his calendar weekly to summarize patterns and recommend changes. He extends the idea toward canceling meetings that could be emails and generating content ideas from real-life interactions logged in the calendar.

13. 13

    Can AI be funny? Models, safety, and why “memes are not slop”

    They debate AI humor: Jason believes top humans remain funniest, but AI is rapidly closing the gap with the right prompting and model choice. He distinguishes contextual memes from contextless slop and explains why many “safe” models underperform at edgier humor.

14. 14

    What Jason doesn’t use AI for + closing advice: ship, cook, and stay human

    Jason notes he avoids using AI to write in his own voice, preserving creative muscles like writing and stand-up. The episode ends with a call to embrace abundance, build fast, and maintain strong human craft alongside agent-first product surfaces.