The latest articles on DEV Community by Lior Karaev (@l_build). https://dev.to/l_build https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4015457%2Fa06f94b3-fc2b-462d-9b46-8621e7552ae8.png https://dev.to/l_build en Lior Karaev Sat, 04 Jul 2026 19:40:44 +0000 https://dev.to/l_build/i-launched-a-job-board-for-bootstrapped-startups-today-heres-what-the-first-day-looked-like-4foe https://dev.to/l_build/i-launched-a-job-board-for-bootstrapped-startups-today-heres-what-the-first-day-looked-like-4foe <h1> I launched a job board for bootstrapped startups today — here's what the first day looked like </h1> <h2> Who I am </h2> <p>I'm a full-stack developer who's been building side projects for a while, <br> but always as a hobby. This week I decided to take it seriously — shipping <br> real products, building in public, and documenting the journey honestly. <br> RamenHire is my first serious attempt.</p> <h2> The idea </h2> <p>A friend got laid off from his third "high-growth" startup in four years. <br> Great engineer. Terrible luck with employers chasing runway instead of revenue.</p> <p>That conversation stuck with me. Because there ARE great companies out there <br> — Basecamp, Plausible, Transistor, Payhip — calm, profitable, founder-run <br> businesses that have been growing steadily for years without ever taking a <br> cent of VC money. Places where people actually stay for years.</p> <p>But there's nowhere to find jobs at them specifically. LinkedIn and Indeed <br> are flooded with VC-backed startups. So I built RamenHire 🍜 — a job board <br> exclusively for bootstrapped, self-funded startups.</p> <h2> What I actually shipped today </h2> <p>This wasn't just a landing page day. Here's what went live:</p> <p><strong>Validation → real product</strong>: Started with a static landing page and Google <br> Forms. By end of day, replaced everything with internal Supabase-backed forms, <br> a CV upload system using Supabase Storage, and a proper Post a Job page at /post-job.</p> <p><strong>CV upload with Supabase Storage</strong>: Users can now drag and drop their CV <br> directly in the apply modal. Files go to a private Supabase Storage bucket — <br> no public URLs, admin-only access. Took longer than expected because of RLS <br> policy gotchas (more on that below).</p> <p><strong>Admin email notifications with Resend</strong>: Every new job post request, <br> application, and subscriber now triggers an instant email to me with all <br> the details. No more manually checking Supabase tables. Resend was incredibly <br> easy to set up — had it working in under an hour.</p> <p><strong>Local Docker development environment</strong>: Set up Supabase CLI with Docker <br> for local development. Production DB stays untouched until changes are stable <br> and explicitly pushed. Should have done this from day one.</p> <p><strong>Analytics and SEO</strong>: Google Analytics 4, Google Search Console, sitemap, <br> robots.txt, Open Graph tags, and JobPosting schema markup for rich results.</p> <h2> What I actually learned today </h2> <p><strong>Supabase RLS with Storage is not the same as RLS on tables.</strong><br> I spent an embarrassing amount of time getting a 400 error on CV uploads. <br> The policies were correctly set in the UI but uploads kept failing. Turns out <br> Storage RLS policies need to target <code>storage.objects</code> directly via SQL — <br> the UI policies weren't applying correctly. Once I ran the SQL directly <br> in the editor, it worked immediately.</p> <p><strong>Validate the idea before writing a single line of real code.</strong><br> I launched a static landing page first — no backend, no auth, just a headline <br> and two Google Form links. Only after seeing real signups from 6 different <br> countries did I invest in building the real product. This saved me weeks of <br> building something nobody wanted.</p> <p><strong>DNS propagation is always slower than you expect 😅</strong><br> Spent way too long staring at "Pending" status on Resend's domain verification. <br> It eventually resolved itself. Lesson: set it up and go do something else.</p> <p><strong>Claude Code is a genuine force multiplier.</strong><br> 100% of this was built with Claude Code. Not vibe coding — I reviewed every <br> decision, understood every line, and caught several issues before they hit <br> production. But the speed difference is real. What would have taken me a week <br> of evenings took one focused day.</p> <h2> What's next </h2> <ul> <li>Admin dashboard — approve/reject job posts without logging into Supabase</li> <li>Move hardcoded job listings to database-driven</li> <li>Stripe integration once validated</li> <li>Blog section for SEO content</li> </ul> <h2> The honest numbers </h2> <ul> <li>33 users in the first few days from 6 countries (US, Germany, Israel, Canada, UK, South Korea)</li> <li>0 paying customers</li> <li>0 real job listings yet — still hardcoded</li> <li>Built in roughly one week of evenings and one full day</li> </ul> <h2> I'd love to hear from you </h2> <ul> <li>Would you use a job board specifically for bootstrapped companies?</li> <li>If you run a bootstrapped startup and are hiring — would you post there?</li> <li>What would make this more useful for you?</li> </ul> <p>All job posts are free during early access. </p> <p>🍜 <a href="https://www.ramenhire.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Visit RamenHire</a></p> webdev startup showdev beginners