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I Quit My Tech Job, Learned to Code with AI, & Built a $6M App | Starter Story

August 14, 2026

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5 min read

I Quit My Tech Job, Learned to Code with AI, & Built a $6M App

Josh Moore built Wave, an AI note-taking app that now generates $400,000–$500,000 per month in revenue, despite having no formal coding background. He quit his operating role at a health tech startup in November 2022, and two weeks later ChatGPT launched. His first instinct was to ask it whether it could help him build an app. It could.

From Operator to Builder

Moore spent his career on the business side of technology companies. He joined Uber in 2012 as the first general manager of New York, handling marketing, operations, and later government affairs and PR. After Uber, he tried venture capital—founded a firm, found he wasn't particularly good at it and didn't particularly like it—then joined Levels, a health tech startup, as head of operations. He left that role after eighteen months.

"I was the one-to-n guy," Moore says. "It wasn't the zero-to-one guy. I would come in early, but after the thing was established. I almost sort of defined myself as someone who couldn't do zero to one. Turns out I can do zero to one too."

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (02:28) **Josh Moore Introduces Himself and Wave AI** - Josh says he built Wave AI Note Taker, which now makes between $400K and $500K per month.
  • 2 (03:38) **Framework for Building with AI** - Josh explains how he learned to code by keeping ChatGPT on one side of his screen and the IDE on the other.
  • 3 (04:36) **Background from eBay to Uber to VC** - Josh walks through his career from selling on eBay in the 90s to joining Uber as the first GM of New York.
  • 4 (05:48) **Motivation to Become a Builder** - Josh reveals that entrepreneurship has been a "common thread" since the beginning, but he always felt frustrated as companies grew because he wasn't running them.
  • 5 (09:57) **How Wave Was Built and the Idea Behind It** - Josh explains that when ChatGPT launched, he saw it as a tool to help him build, even without coding skills.
  • 6 (10:54) **The MVP and Step-by-Step Build Process** - The very first version was a one-screen Swift app using APIs for transcription and summarization.
  • 7 (11:41) **Current Numbers Behind Wave** - Josh shares key metrics: 8,000 hours of audio recorded per day, 30,000 subscribers, and 10,000 daily active users.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Josh Moore

Show Notes

I Quit My Tech Job, Learned to Code with AI, & Built a $6M AppSharing ideas that make money! ---- Keywords: indie hacker, tech entrepreneur, entrepreneur podcast, app monetization, software business, startup advice, app flipping

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