May 2024 - Present

AudiowaveAI.com transforms articles, PDFs, and any text into high-quality, natural-sounding audio. Built for learners, entrepreneurs, and anyone who wants to consume content while on the go.

The Origin Story

AudiowaveAI was born from personal frustration. I bought Peter Levels' book and wanted to listen to it at the gym, but the iPhone's built-in text-to-speech was unbearable - robotic and impossible to listen to for more than a few seconds.

What started as a one-evening hack to solve my own problem turned into a product that went viral on Twitter three times in six months.

The 52 Startups Journey

AudiowaveAI emerged from my "52 startups in 52 weeks" experiment - a commitment to ship something new every week. It took 16 weeks and 12 failed projects before AudiowaveAI generated the first dollar of MRR.

Key milestone: I converted all 63 hours of Paul Graham's essays into audio. The thought that drives me: "If you had this 10 years ago, where would you be today?"

Product Features

• Natural AI voices that actually sound human
• 10 different voice options to choose from
• Multi-language support
• Mobile-optimized web app
• Process articles, PDFs, blog posts, and more
• Up to 10 hours of audio generation

Target Audience

AudiowaveAI serves productivity-focused individuals who want to:

• Learn while commuting or exercising
• Reduce screen time while still consuming content
• Make better use of "dead time" throughout the day
• Access information in their preferred learning style

Business Model

• Free tier: 2 articles, up to 10 minutes of audio
• Paid tier: $15 (limited time) for 100 articles, up to 10 hours

The key innovation: Finding APIs that were 10x cheaper than initial solutions, making the business model viable.

Current Traction

• 60+ paying customers
• Growing organically through word-of-mouth
• Multiple viral moments on social media
• Used daily by the founder (essential dogfooding)

Technical Innovation

Unlike traditional text-to-speech that sounds robotic, AudiowaveAI uses advanced AI models to create engaging, natural-sounding audio that people actually want to listen to. The challenge was making it affordable - text-to-speech synthesis is one of the most expensive AI operations.

Vision

AudiowaveAI is more than a text-to-speech tool - it's a productivity platform. The goal is to make all written content as accessible as podcasts, enabling people to learn and grow without being chained to screens.

"Enjoy learning while being on the go. Spend more time outside in the sun ☀️ and less time in front of a screen 💻📱"

Indie Hacker Approach

Building AudiowaveAI solo has taught me:

• You don't always need a co-founder
• Ship fast, but maintain quality standards
• Use your own product daily
• Marketing is hard but essential
• Small atomic habits compound

Try it: audiowaveai.com