OpenAI 2026 hackathon

Ask yourselfes

Talk to yourself decades from now, in your own voice and aged face, grounded in your real life. The only AI you don't have to perform for.

Solo project by Tommy Maven · 0 likes · 0 comments

Archive position — measured, not model output

0 likes on Devpost

2,264 of the 7,856 archived projects have more likes, and 5,592 share exactly 0 — so this project's #2,753 place in the like-ranked listing is a tie-break inside that group, not a ranking.

Projects (log scale)

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Likes on Devpost. ▲ marks this project's group.

Show the figures
LikesProjectsShare of archive
05,59271.2%
11,75822.4%
22853.6%
3–41321.7%
5–9751.0%
10+140.2%
Devpost like counts for all 7,856 archived projects, captured when this archive was built.

Executive Summary

What the company appears to be

Ask Yourselfes is a self-developed, solo-built AI product that enables users to have conversations with an age-progressed version of themselves, grounded in their own life experiences and expressed through voice and image. The product is described as a tool for introspection, emotional support, and future self-reflection, built without funding or team.

What changed

The project was submitted to the OpenAI 2026 hackathon by a single founder (Tommy Maven), who describes it as a personal need that evolved into a product. It is presented as a minimal viable version of a larger vision involving cloned voices, legacy models, and time-locked messages.

The single most important open question

Is there any evidence of user traction or adoption beyond the author’s own use case? The description makes no claims about revenue, customers, or usage metrics — only self-reported intent and product design.

Note: This analysis is based solely on the self-reported, unverified description provided by the author. No external data, funding rounds, headcount, or customer evidence are available.

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What The Product Actually Is

The description states that Ask Yourselfes allows users to:

  • Answer a few questions in a guided flow.
  • Choose the age of their future self (via slider).
  • Select how the future self speaks (gentle, blunt, playful).
  • Upload a selfie.
  • Engage in conversation with an AI-generated version of themselves, aged and facially represented.
  • Have replies played aloud using text-to-speech.

The product uses:

  • GPT-5.6 for grounded conversations.
  • GPT-image-2 for age-progressed portraits.
  • GPT-4o-mini-tts for spoken replies.
  • Supabase for backend (auth, storage, edge functions).
  • Expo/React Native for cross-platform delivery.
  • TypeScript and Deno Edge Functions.

Inference: The product is described as a conversational AI tool with an emotional or therapeutic function. It is not a marketplace, SaaS platform, or developer tool. It is a personal reflection tool built around the concept of “future self” dialogue.

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Positioning & Claim Evolution

The author states:

  • The product is built to give back the feeling of being alone with oneself — no performance, no mask.
  • It is positioned as the "only AI you don't have to perform for."
  • It is intended for Gen Z, introverts, lonely people, and those who have experienced trauma or isolation.
  • The brand stake is “the only AI you do not have to perform for.”

Inference: The positioning has evolved from a personal need (to comfort the founder) into a product aimed at emotional support and introspection. It is not a performance-based or social tool, but rather a private, non-judgmental space for self-talk.

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Target Customer & ICP

The author states:

  • The target audience includes “the introverts, the lonely, and the people who have been through a lot.”
  • The founder identifies with this group: “I built it because I needed it.”
  • It is described as being for people who “can go a month without a single deep conversation,” or those who “shield his son from a feeling he is carrying himself.”

Inference: The ICP appears to be emotionally vulnerable individuals, particularly Gen Z and millennials, who are seeking private, non-judgmental introspection. No specific customer segments, personas, or market size are mentioned.

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Business Model & Pricing Evidence

The description does not state:

  • Any pricing model.
  • Revenue streams.
  • Monetization strategy.
  • Subscription plans or paywalls.
  • Customer acquisition costs or lifetime value.

Inference: There is no evidence of a business model. The author mentions the product runs at “pennies per user,” but this is not a commercial claim, only a technical observation.

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Technical & Delivery Signals

The project was built using:

  • Expo and React Native (cross-platform).
  • Supabase for backend services.
  • Deno Edge Functions.
  • OpenAI APIs (GPT-5.6, GPT-image-2, GPT-4o-mini-tts).
  • TypeScript.
  • Test-driven development on prompt builders.

The author notes:

  • The product was built solo with no funding.
  • It is deploy-ready and self-contained.
  • Challenges included CORS issues, API compatibility (GPT-5), and avatar realism.

Inference: The technical stack suggests a modern, lightweight, serverless approach. The solo build implies strong developer skills but also limited scalability or infrastructure support.

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Traction & Maturity Signals

The description states:

  • It was built by one person.
  • It is deploy-ready.
  • It was submitted to a hackathon (OpenAI 2026).
  • No revenue, customers, or usage data are mentioned.
  • The author says they “shipped the lean, science-backed core ourselves.”

Inference: There is no evidence of traction. No user base, adoption metrics, or commercial success are reported.

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Competitive Context

The description does not mention:

  • Competitors.
  • Market analysis.
  • Prior art in the space.
  • How this product differs from existing tools (e.g., journaling apps, therapy AI, etc.).

Inference: No competitive context is provided. The author does not reference similar products or markets.

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Key Risks & Red Flags

  • Solo development: The project was built by one person with no funding or team — a high-risk model for long-term viability.
  • No traction or monetization: No evidence of users, revenue, or adoption.
  • Unverified claims: All descriptions are self-reported and unverified.
  • Privacy and safety concerns: The product handles sensitive emotional content, but the description does not elaborate on how it ensures user safety or data privacy beyond “private by default.”
  • Technical limitations: GPT-5 model constraints (e.g., rejection of custom temperature values) were noted as issues.

Inference: The lack of team, funding, and traction raises significant risk. The emotional nature of the product also introduces potential liability without clear safeguards.

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Diligence Questions To Ask The Founders

  1. What is your actual user base or early adopter feedback?
  2. How do you plan to scale beyond a solo developer model?
  3. What are the technical and legal implications of cloning voices and faces?
  4. How do you ensure safety for emotionally vulnerable users?
  5. Do you have any plans for monetization or revenue generation?
  6. What is your roadmap beyond the current MVP?
  7. How do you plan to handle data retention, deletion, and compliance?

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Investment/Partnership Verdict

The description states that this is a solo-built product submitted to a hackathon with no funding, team, or traction. The author describes it as a personal need turned into a product, but there is no evidence of commercial viability, user adoption, or business model.

Verdict: Not evidenced for investment or partnership. The project appears to be an experimental MVP with no demonstrated traction or commercial potential. It is not ready for funding or strategic partnership at this stage.

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Source

Submitted to the OpenAI 2026 hackathon on Devpost. Project home on DevPost.

The analysis above was generated by a language model from the project's own one-line description. It is not independent research and contains no verified traction, revenue or customer data.