Building My First Chrome Extension and Launching My Next SaaS

The past few weeks have been super busy and exciting as I worked on building and launching my second SaaS project, which is also my first Chrome extension. It's also my first time working with a co-founder, @niepreneur. Here's how ReplyPulse was created, from idea to launch.

The Idea

A few weeks ago, Nie messaged me on Twitter/X with the idea. I had just finished Pingify and was thinking about my next project, so his message came at the perfect time. I quickly replied that I was all in.

The idea was to build a Chrome extension that uses the OpenAI API to suggest replies to Twitter/X posts, which helps users to boost their engagement rate. I had never built a Chrome extension before, but I love new challenges and learning. It was a Saturday, and I had the weekend free from my 9-5 job, so I started researching how to build a Chrome extension. I found some beginner tutorials and quickly made my first 'Hello world.' Surprisingly, it wasn't that hard — just JavaScript and HTML.

The Build

I started looking at more advanced examples, learning how to change a website's UI with a Chrome extension and connect it to Twitter/X. With the help of ChatGPT, I built the first version of the Chrome extension over the weekend and connected it to the OpenAI API using my reliable PHP/Laravel stack.

By Monday, I had a demo ready, and we set up a Google Meet with my co-founder to show what I had built. We talked about our plan, how to share the costs and marketing. Two weeks later, we completed the MVP. We had a working Chrome extension and a web app where users could sign up and connect the extension to their accounts.

The Launch

With the MVP ready, we spent a few days testing it while I worked on the landing page. Amazingly, we built and launched ReplyPulse in just 18 days.

The best part? A few hours after the launch, we made our first sale!

A week later, we added support for LinkedIn to ReplyPulse, so now it works on LinkedIn and Twitter/X. I'm very excited about the future and dedicated to making ReplyPulse even better.

Building my first Chrome extension and launching my second SaaS has been full of learning. Working with a co-founder has made the experience even better. I'm excited to see where this takes us and to keep achieving more.

I hope you liked this look at how we created ReplyPulse.

Have you ever worked on a project outside your comfort zone? I'd love to hear your stories!

Feel free to reply to this email or share your experiences on Twitter/X with me at @venelinkochev.

Thanks for reading!

Best,
Venelin K.