Ladle Platform
AI-native recipe SaaS with generative personalization and smart appliance integrations. Concept to MVP in 4 months. Announced at CES 2024.
Ladle was the first time I built with generative AI as the core product mechanic — not a feature bolted on, but the reason the product exists. The idea: recipes are static, but cooking is dynamic. A recipe that knows your appliances, your pantry, your skill level, and your dietary constraints is a fundamentally different product than a PDF with measurements. We went from concept to MVP in four months, shipped integrations with smart appliances, and announced at CES 2024. The hard truth we learned: the generative AI product spec rewrites itself every few weeks as model capabilities change, which makes roadmapping feel like building on sand.
Lessons learned
- Generative AI products require product specs that expire — build for iteration velocity
- Appliance integration is the moat; the recipe is the hook
- Speed to MVP matters more than initial perfection when the technology is moving fast