Tipp
Tipp was my first real app — the project that turned me from someone who knew how to code into someone who actually builds things. I made it at 13 during Buildspace, and even though it never launched, it's probably the most important thing I've ever built.
The Idea
Living in Dubai, you see service workers everywhere — restaurant staff, delivery guys, hotel workers. These people work insane hours and tipping culture here is basically nonexistent compared to the US. I thought: what if there was an app that made it dead simple to tip anyone? Scan a QR code, tap an amount, done. No cash, no awkwardness.
That was Tipp. A digital tipping platform for Dubai's service workers.
What I Built
This was me going all-in for the first time:
- Designed the full UI in Figma — every screen, every flow, every color. This was the first time I properly learned design, not just code.
- Built the frontend in React — my first time using React for a real product, not just a tutorial project.
- Created pitch videos and content — learned video editing and how to communicate an idea clearly.
- Went through the full Buildspace program — weekly demos, feedback, iteration. Real accountability.
I was 13 and building a fintech product. Looking back, that's kind of insane.
Why It Didn't Launch
Here's the thing nobody tells you when you're a kid building a payments app: collecting and distributing money in the UAE requires serious licensing. We're talking financial regulations, compliance, the works. There was no way a 13-year-old was getting through that.
I hit a wall I couldn't code my way around. No amount of React or Figma could fix a regulatory problem.
Why It Actually Mattered
The failure was actually the biggest win of my life. Tipp taught me:
- End-to-end product thinking — not just writing code, but designing, building, and trying to ship a complete product
- Figma and design skills — I went from zero to designing full app flows
- React fundamentals — real project learning, not tutorial hell
- Video creation and storytelling — communicating why something matters
- Business reality — not every problem can be solved with code alone
- Resilience — I didn't quit building after this. I built more.
"But that just did not... never give up. It gave me so many skills and let me explore more — like video creation, Figma, coding."
The Bridge
Tipp sits right at the inflection point of my origin story. Before Tipp, I was a kid who knew Python and had done some crash courses. After Tipp, I was a builder. I understood the full stack — not just the code, but the design, the product, the pitch.
Everything I've built since — Simplifly, LockIn, Raly — I can trace back to what I learned building Tipp. My whole building philosophy of "ship first, learn by doing" started here.
Buildspace gave me the structure. Tipp gave me the skills. The failure gave me the hunger.