I Built a CRM in an Uber
Why the barrier between your imagination and reality has officially collapsed.
The noise inside the Hilton in Midtown NYC during Inman Connect is a specific frequency designed to liquefy the human brain.
It’s a cacophony of 3,000 real estate professionals running on nothing but espresso, ambition, and blistered feet.
The air smells like expensive cologne and people pretending they aren't reading your name tag.
Everywhere you look, there is a vendor pitching a CRM dashboard that looks like it was designed to launch the Space Shuttle.
I was standing in the middle of this chaos yesterday, talking to an agent.
He looked exhausted.
He’s showing me his current CRM on his phone.
It has pipelines and automations..and what looked like 30 different actions they could take.
"Drew, I know I need to use it," he shouted over the noise.
"But honestly? It’s incredibly overwhelming.”
He wasn't alone, I hear it all the time.
We have built tools so powerful that nobody uses them and in effect we’ve optimized ourselves into paralysis.
I had a thought. What if we made it stupid? Like stupid simple.
What if we stripped away the dashboard?
What if we stripped away the pipelines?
What if the entire interface was just... a button?
I closed my eyes and imagined it…
A screen that is one solid, calming color. Big text: “Call Lisa.” Context (fed by AI): “Ask about her kid’s soccer game.” One giant button. You press it, it dials. You hang up, you swipe right. Tinder for Prospecting…?
(Side note: My wife and I actually met on Tinder, so I am statistically biased toward swiping right on life-changing decisions.)
Now, here is where the story usually ends.
In 2022, this idea would have gone into the “Graveyard of Good Intentions” aka my Moleskine notebook.
I would have told myself, “I need a developer. I need $50k. I need six months.”
But it’s not 2022.
I walked out of the conference center and hailed an Uber to get to 55th/Park for dinner. It’s about an 18 minute ride.
I gave myself a challenge…could I build a fully functional software product before the driver hits the brakes at the restaurant?
I pulled out my phone and opened Claude + Replit. I didn’t open a code editor. I didn’t open GitHub. I started “Vibe Coding.”
Here is the secret most people miss: I don’t know Python. I don’t know Java (..thought it was just coffee)
But I know English.
And right now, English is the most powerful programming language on earth.
I didn’t try to “code.” I just directed the AI like a CEO. I gave it the vision, not the mechanics.
Here is exactly what I typed (…well kinda, I elaborated a little more)
“I want to build a CRM for people who hate CRMs. Make the background one solid, calming color. No menus. No dashboard. Just a massive button in the center that says ‘CALL LISA.’ Connect it to the phone dialer. When I hang up, I want to swipe right for the next lead. Make it addictive
The first version popped up a minute later. The swipe animation was a little clunky. I didn’t panic. I didn’t call a dev shop.
I just typed: “Make it smooth. Make it feel like Tinder.”
The AI didn’t ask for a scope change. It didn’t bill me for extra hours. It just fixed it. In 17 seconds.
We pulled up to steakhouse. I paid the driver. I stepped onto the sidewalk and looked at my phone.
Done.
A fully functional, swipe-based CRM. Total development time? 18 minutes.
I walked into Reserve Cut, sat down, ordered a drink, and slid my phone across the table to my friend Karen “Check this out,” I said. “I literally just founded a software company in the car.”
Here is why this matters to you.
This story isn't about a CRM.
It’s not about me knowing how to use Claude, or Replit, or understanding the nuances of "prompt engineering."
It’s not me wanting to build a software company…(although this idea is pretty good, scroll down to see screenshots)
It is about the fact that the gap between Imagination and Reality has evaporated.
In the old world, you needed three things to bridge that gap:
Capital, Talent, and Time.
Today, that gap is an Uber ride.
Now, let’s be real. If I were going to scale this app to 10 million users and enterprise-level security, I would eventually bring in a developer to tighten the bolts.
But to get from “Idea in my head” to “Working Product in my hand”?
That barrier is gone.
Don’t believe me? Look at this.
I actually put this live so you can see it. It has dummy data in it, but go ahead, click around. See what 18 minutes of focus looks like.
https://swipe-call-crm.replit.app
We are living in a moment where you can build anything.
Need an event dashboard? I just helped a friend build one. We didn’t use a spreadsheet. We vibe-coded a dashboard that looks like the Netflix interface, so he can see his entire event at a glance. (Time invested: 10 minutes)
Need a productivity calculator? Check this out. I built this yesterday. It physically counts down the dollars I’m losing every second I waste. (Time invested: 45 seconds)
Most of us walk around with a voice in our head saying, I can’t do it. I don’t have the skills to build a landing page for my CMA.
That excuse is now obsolete.
If you can describe a problem in detail, and if you can use natural language to explain what you want, the AI can build the solution.
You don’t need to be a genius.
You don’t need to learn C++.
You just need to be the human who connects the dots.