I'm a college senior who built a vintage clothing marketplace with Claude. It took me 5 days to build the pilot. (www.businessinsider.com)

Hana Elster, a college senior at Boston University, successfully built VYA, a vintage clothing marketplace, using AI tool Claude in just five days. Inspired by her love for thrift shopping and identifying a gap in the market for a centralized vintage platform, Elster connected with vintage shop owners to understand their challenges. Many reported difficulty attracting online customers and spending excessive time on social media for marketing. With Claude's help, she transformed her vision into a functional website, attracting nearly 900 users and onboarding 38 stores within months while keeping her development costs under $2,000. This venture highlights the significant impact of AI in entrepreneurial endeavors, particularly in lowering technical barriers for new founders. Elster’s experience illustrates how accessible AI tools can democratize business creation, allowing aspiring entrepreneurs to rapidly develop solutions with minimal coding expertise. As she plans to monetize VYA through commission and a unique sourcing model, her story emphasizes the evolving landscape of startup culture, where young founders can innovate and grow alongside traditional career paths, reshaping conventional narratives around entrepreneurship.