It Didn't Start With AI
<p>It started with a problem.</p><p>We've always loved supporting local businesses. Farmers markets, family-owned restaurants, home-based businesses, neighborhood shops. The kinds of places you usually hear about from a friend, not from a search engine.</p><p>But every time we tried to find one online, we kept running into the same wall.</p><p>You had to already know the business name.</p><p>Searching for <em>what they actually do</em> usually led to chain stores, paid ads, or businesses hundreds of miles away. Meanwhile, incredible local businesses stayed almost invisible.</p><p>After seeing this happen over and over again, we stopped asking, "Why is this so hard?"</p><p>We started asking, "Why hasn't someone fixed it?"</p><p>That's where Locals of Texas began.</p>
Building Something That Didn't Already Exist
<p>Creating a local directory sounds simple.</p><p>It isn't.</p><p>Finding businesses is one challenge.</p><p>Helping people discover businesses they didn't already know existed is an entirely different one.</p><p>Every decision forced us to rethink how local discovery should work.</p><p>How should businesses be categorized?</p><p>How do you make searching by service actually useful?</p><p>How do you verify listings without turning everything into an automated mess?</p><p>How do you build trust instead of simply collecting data?</p><p>Those questions shaped every feature on the platform.</p>
AI Became Our Construction Crew
<p>One of the biggest topics during the presentation wasn't the website itself.</p><p>It was <strong>how we built it.</strong></p><p>Instead of hiring a large software team, we used modern AI development tools, including Claude Code, as part of the engineering process.</p><p>That doesn't mean AI built the idea.</p><p>It didn't decide what problems to solve.</p><p>It didn't interview business owners.</p><p>It didn't spend weekends walking farmers markets or listening to people explain why they couldn't find local services online.</p><p>The vision, architecture, priorities, and thousands of product decisions still came from us.</p><p>AI simply became an incredibly capable development partner that helped us turn those ideas into working software much faster than would have been possible only a few years ago.</p><p>For many people in the room, that combination was the interesting part.</p><p>Not using AI.</p><p>Using it with intention.</p>
Every Feature Solves a Real Problem
<p>During the presentation we walked through feature after feature, but none of them began with technology.</p><p>Every one started with a real conversation.</p><p>A business owner struggling to get discovered.</p><p>A customer searching Facebook groups hoping someone would recommend a plumber.</p><p>A vendor who only exists at weekend markets.</p><p>A family-owned business that delivers amazing service but doesn't appear when someone searches for what they actually do.</p><p>Technology was never the goal.</p><p>Making those businesses easier to find was.</p>
The Conversation Didn't End When the Presentation Did
<p>What surprised us most wasn't the presentation itself.</p><p>It was what happened after.</p><p>The discussion quickly shifted away from software and toward community.</p><p>People started talking about businesses they love but struggle to find online. Favorite <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://localsoftexas.com/directory?category=Food+Trucks">food trucks</a>. Family-owned shops. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://melissafarmersmarket.com/vendors/">Farmers market vendors</a>. Skilled tradespeople whose entire business depends on word of mouth because they simply don't appear where people search.</p><p>That was the moment we knew the idea resonated.</p><p>Not because the technology impressed people.</p><p>Because the problem felt familiar.</p>
From a Presentation to More Local Discoveries
<p>Within days of sharing Locals of Texas with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.synchrony.com/">Synchrony's</a> AI Hub community, we began seeing exactly what we hoped for.</p><p>People weren't just visiting the website to see how it was built.</p><p>They were using it.</p><p>Browsing nearby businesses.</p><p>Searching categories in their own cities.</p><p>Sharing local businesses with friends and family.</p><p>Discovering places they admitted they would've never found otherwise.</p><p>That's the outcome we've been working toward since the first line of code.</p><p>Every new visitor has the chance to discover a local coffee shop instead of another chain. A family-owned contractor instead of the company spending the most on ads. A weekend market vendor whose products deserve to be seen long after the market closes.</p><p>If a room full of engineers, developers, and AI builders walked away talking about local businesses instead of technology, then we accomplished exactly what we set out to do.</p><p>Technology was never meant to be the destination.</p><p>It's simply the bridge connecting Texans with the businesses that make their communities unique.</p><p>So if you haven't explored your own city lately, give it a try! <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://localsoftexas.com/">Browse here</a>.</p><p>Search for something you've been meaning to find. Browse a category you've never looked at before. You might discover a business just a few miles away that's been there all along, quietly waiting to be found.</p><p>That's why we built <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://localsoftexas.com/">Locals of Texas</a>.</p><p>And after sharing its story with the AI Hub, we're even more excited about where it's headed next.</p>
