Lovable, until it breaks.

Welcome to this Week 36 edition!

How reliable are AI apps?

Many Lovable users are increasingly vocal about inconsistency, especially when used for real use cases. Complaints are about Lovable but all lookalike such as Bolt are concerned too. What is shared is mainly around:

• Deployments getting stuck mid-process.
• Burning through credits just to fix AI mistakes.

I tried Lovable to build a prototype (I’ll share the full story later this year). More than once, I got blocked for reasons that weren’t about my prompts or the project’s complexity but just the product itself.

When I covered Lovable’s fundraising, I hadn’t seen this wave of feedback yet.

Lovable is Doomed. Forbes’ fastest-growing startup is burning through user trust faster than credits.

Branded merchandise is the new cool!

(Well probably a good way to put a number on your actual number of VIP customers!).

A blog post from Assembly that clicked with me: yes, branded merchandise is cool!

You see it everywhere. Pictarine' colleagues proudly wearing Figma hoodies, or even me buying a few branded items. Now merch plays a powerful role:

• Identity.
• Belonging.
• Brand aesthetics.
• Cultural relevance.

The right piece of merch doesn’t just carry a logo. It says this is who we are. And then when it clicks, it pulls people closer to the brand than any campaign ever could.

Custom merch that builds community: why brands are rethinking merchandise.

🍿Snacks

• Actual Meta Ads screenshots to look at as food for thought. David Vargas shared multiple screenshots of his ad testing methodology to identify winners and reduce CAC. Straightforward with real data. Go see it! Read David Vargas Linkedin post.
• ChatGPT usage tokens is up again. Last week, I highlighted a build in public question from Tally's team about their number of signups coming from ChatGPT decreasing; it could be due to seasonality after all.

• Google Chrome is not for sale. A US federal judge has ruled but Google must share information with competitors and will be barred from having exclusive contracts. Google avoids break-up but must share data with rivals.

See you next week,

Alice