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Y Combinator Demo Strategy

Core Demo Requirements

YC partners: "At interviews we ask questions and look at what you've built." Our goal is to show the wallet actually doing wallet things, not just a fancy chatbot.

Non-negotiable Demo Beats

All features can use fake/seeded back-end as long as the experience is real.

1. Login with AI Wallet Button

  • Location: On a dead-simple "sample AI app" page
  • Action: Login with AI Wallet (tiny branded button)
  • Flow: Opens minimal "AI Wallet" modal/page with:
  • Sign in (email-only or magic fake flow)
  • "You have 10 demo credits" screen

2. Wallet Balance That Moves

  • Post-login Landing: Chatbot page with:
  • "Wallet: 10.0 demo credits remaining"
  • Simple dropdown to choose model (gpt-4.x, claude-3.x, local LLM via OpenRouter)
  • Per-Message Action:
  • Call OpenRouter via Vercel SDK with streaming
  • Visibly deduct credits (e.g., –0.2, –0.05) and show new balance
  • Display "Usage receipt" line under chat with timestamp, model, tokens, cost, app name

3. Tiny Usage Receipts Panel

  • Location: Right or bottom panel listing last 5 calls
  • Format: 2025-11-08 10:21 – my-app – gpt-4.x via OpenRouter – est. $0.0012 – 0.2 credits
  • Purpose: Demonstrates "tamper-evident usage ledger / consent receipts"

4. RAG for "What is AI Wallet?" (Simple Version)

  • Scope: Answer basic questions:
  • "What is AI Wallet?"
  • "How would this work if I'm a dev?"
  • "How do you make money?"
  • Implementation: Point at small wiki subset or hard-code FAQs
  • Note: YC won't interrogate RAG quality; they need to see the app is real

Two-Surface Demo Architecture

The demo validates two-component architecture:

1. AI Wallet Dashboard (Wallet-First View)

  • Route: /wallet
  • Features:
  • Login (Google OAuth backend)
  • Display: Username/identity, $5 demo credits
  • Simple "Activity" list: app used, when, model, amount deducted
  • All data from central DB

2. Demo AI App (Chatbot)

  • Route: /try
  • Features:
  • Separate interface, looks like external product
  • Login with AI Wallet button (from "SDK")
  • After login: Chat with bot (OpenRouter + Vercel SDK)
  • See credits decrease per call
  • Integration: Usage logged in same central DB

3. Loop Demonstration

Demo Flow for YC: 1. Go to /wallet: See $5 and 0 activity 2. Click "Try AI Wallet" → /try 3. Login → start at $5 4. Send 2-3 messages; watch balance drop 5. Return to /wallet → activity list shows those messages

Story: "Here's my wallet. Here's an app using my wallet. I use the app, come back, and my wallet shows everything that happened."

Feature Prioritization

Must-Have for 3-Day Build

Wallet Dashboard (/wallet): - Login (Google OAuth) - Display: "Hi, [email]", "Balance: $5 demo credits" - Activity table: Timestamp | App | Model | Credits used | Remaining balance

Chatbot Demo (/try): - Login with AI Wallet button (SDK component) - Simple chat UI with model dropdown (1-2 models) - Streaming responses via OpenRouter + Vercel SDK - Visible "Wallet: $X demo credits remaining" display - Per-message: Call LLM, append usage event, decrement credits, update balance

Nice-to-Have (Cuttable if Time Slips)

  • Fancy RAG: Drop if slowing down; hardcode 3-5 answers or FAQ mode
  • Multiple External Apps: Don't need more than one; show "App: Demo Chatbot" in receipts
  • Profile Editing: Show email and placeholder avatar only
  • Real Billing Integration: Demo credits are fine; explain Stripe integration is next

60-Second Video Storyboard

Video Flow (Rough Timing)

0–10s (Problem): - Screen recording of someone juggling multiple AI tabs/APIs - Voiceover: "Developers keep re-building billing and budgets for every AI app. Users can't see what they're spending or where their data goes."

10–35s (Solution + Demo): - Show sample app with Login with AI Wallet → wallet modal → back to chat app - Send message; highlight balance going down and usage receipt appearing - Quickly switch model dropdown from one to another (OpenRouter multi-model) - Show same wallet budget being used across models

35–50s (What this really is): - Voiceover: "This is a neutral wallet + login layer above OpenRouter and Vercel – we're not a router. Developers drop in our SDK; users get one wallet and clear budgets across apps."

50–60s (Traction + Plan): - Voiceover: "I'm a solo founder; this demo went from spec to working in 3 days. Next, I'm integrating this with 3–5 indie AI apps and pushing $1k+ through the wallet in the next couple of months."

Technical Implementation Notes

Single Codebase Approach

  • Use one Next.js project with routes:
  • /wallet → dashboard/landing
  • /try → chatbot "external" app
  • YC won't know/care it's one codebase; conceptual behavior matters

Fake SDK Implementation

  • LoginWithAIWalletButton as React component:
  • AI Wallet branding
  • Uses same underlying session/auth
  • Lives in /components/LoginWithAIWalletButton.tsx for demo
  • Later extract to proper SDK package

Minimal Data Model

  • users: id, email, name, credits
  • apps: id, name ('AI Wallet Dashboard', 'Demo Chatbot')
  • usage_events: id, user_id, app_id, model, tokens_estimate, credits_delta, created_at

3-Day Build Plan

Day 1 – Skeleton + Real LLM Calls: - Set up tiny "sample app" with Login with AI Wallet button - Wire OpenRouter via Vercel AI SDK with streaming - Hardcode fake balance in state; manually decrement per message - Goal: "I can chat with a model and a number on screen goes down"

Day 2 – Wallet & Receipts: - Add pseudo "AI Wallet login" modal/page (email form, user ID session) - Hook chat page to user object: display credits, deduct per call, keep usage log - Add small receipts panel - Goal: End-to-end "Login → Chat → balance moves → receipts appear"

Day 3 – Light RAG + YC Polish: - Simple RAG/FAQ wired to wiki content (or subset) - Polish UI to look intentional (spacing, labels, "Made with AI Wallet" footer) - Record 60s video - Finish YC written answers - If RAG takes too long: Ditch for hardcoded "Ask AI Wallet" tab

Key Success Metrics for Demo

  • Login Conversion: 100% (demo environment)
  • Credit Visibility: Clear real-time balance updates
  • Cross-App Proof: Activity appears in wallet after chat usage
  • Model Switching: Same wallet works across different AI models
  • Receipt Generation: Every call generates tamper-evident usage record

Sources: - Source: yc-071125-chatgpt+.md lines 108-145, 170-189, 264-299, 362-401 - Related: Technical Architecture, MVP Specifications, Product Demo