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Hey there, I’m Joshua, and welcome to the NCF Weekly newsletter where we share actionable guidance on building a business as a non-technical founder.

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It connects with 1,000+ apps (so it probably plugs straight into the tools you already use), and your accountant can collaborate with you directly inside the platform.

NCF members get an exclusive 95% off Xero for 6 months. That's basically free accounting software while you get set up.

NCF community member and creator, Christian Orsos, is taking on the Fastshot x Adapty Challenge, a 30-day sprint to build and ship a real mobile app with a $5,000 prize pool.

The app? Niche Quest, an AI-powered tool that helps founders figure out what to build. You tell it your skills and interests, and it surfaces trending markets, competitor gaps, and revenue estimates. The idea came from a problem he had himself: he signed up for the hackathon and had no clue what to make.

He's building the whole thing in Fastshot (YC-backed, no code required) and documenting the process week by week. Version one will ship with three core features: an interest-to-niche AI engine, competitor gap analysis, and revenue potential scoring.

Follow along as the build unfolds over the next few weeks.

Join the Hackathon for a chance to win from the $5,000 prize fund. Tag us in your posts @nocodefounders and we’ll feature the best stories here every week.

We’re looking for no-code & AI Content Creators.
If you’re fluent with no-code and AI tools, we want you to build real projects from scratch using new tools, and document the process through high-quality content. If that sounds like you, drop us an email.

You don't need a developer, a template, or an afternoon free. Here's how to go from nothing to a published portfolio using Macaly.

Step 1: Grab your LinkedIn profile URL

Copy the URL from your LinkedIn profile. That's all the raw material you need.

Step 2: Paste it into Macaly and give it one instruction

Something like: "Build me a personal portfolio website based on this LinkedIn profile." Macaly will pull your bio, surface relevant facts, find your social links, and structure the whole thing automatically.

Step 3: Review what it built

Check the basics: is the information accurate, are the links working, does anything look off? It may generate a quote you didn't say, so worth a quick scan.

Step 4: Ask for what's missing

Macaly will prompt you to add more. Common additions worth considering: a blog or writing section (it can pull directly from your Substack), a contact form routed to your email, and any projects or credentials you want highlighted.

Step 5: Adjust the design

Describe what you want in plain language. "Make the colour scheme light cream" works fine. No CSS knowledge needed.

Step 6: Publish

Hit publish directly in the app, or ask Macaly how to connect your own domain. It will walk you through it step by step.

That's the whole process. The output isn't a rough draft you need to clean up, it's a working site with real links, real content, and a contact form that actually sends emails.

Watch the full video of me building my portfolio site in real-time

It can now operate your computer

GPT-5.4 is the first OpenAI model that can directly control a browser and desktop, clicking, typing, and navigating through software the same way a human would. Agents built on this model can log into apps, fill out forms, navigate dashboards, and complete multi-step workflows across software that was never designed for AI. One company running property tax portals reported a 95% success rate on the first attempt, and 100% within three attempts, compared to 73-79% with previous computer-use models. That's the kind of result that makes automation actually usable in production.

It produces noticeably better documents and spreadsheets

The clearest upgrade for most users is output quality. Spreadsheet modeling, presentations, and financial analysis have all improved substantially over GPT-5.2. Human raters preferred its presentations citing better aesthetics and more effective use of image generation. If you're using AI to produce client-facing documents, pitch decks, or financial models, this is the most relevant change.

Tool search cuts costs for agent workflows

Previously, if you built an agent with lots of tools connected, every API call loaded all the tool definitions upfront, burning tokens before the model did anything useful. The new tool search feature loads definitions on demand instead, cutting token usage roughly in half for tool-heavy workflows. For anyone building with MCP servers or running complex automations through the API, that's a real cost reduction.

You can redirect it mid-thought

In ChatGPT, you can now adjust the model's output mid-response, so you can course-correct while it's working rather than waiting for a full response and starting over. Useful for long research tasks or anything where you realise halfway through that you need a different angle.

Fewer hallucinations

Factual accuracy has improved meaningfully over GPT-5.2, both at the level of individual claims and full responses. Not zero errors, but a step forward for anything where accuracy matters.

Pricing and access

The standard model is $2.50 per million input tokens and $12 per million output tokens via the API. Available now in ChatGPT (as GPT-5.4 Thinking for Plus, Team, and Pro users), the API, and Codex. The Pro variant is significantly more expensive and aimed at scientific research, so most builders won't need it.

Get full access to all our resources with Pro Membership for a one-time payment of $149.

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