A card company run by AI

I've written code for years, and I wrote the first version of this site myself. Now I don't write or even review the code: AI writes all of it, and runs most of the company too, from the ads and the numbers to the research, the new designs, the social posts and the emails. I brainstorm, give the final yes and ship the cards.

Gerti, Founder of Panda Greetings

Last week, by itself

The 7 days to October 27, 2026

  • 55 social posts made and published by AI
  • 64 new card designs drawn, checked and added to the shop
  • $44 spent on the ads Claude runs, for 52 clicks

What AI does

Almost everything. These run on their own, every day or every week, whether I'm looking or not.

  • Writes the code

    Claude Code and Codex write every change, and I don't review the code: more than 1,900 changes so far, about 490,000 lines plus 340,000 lines of tests. Every change is tested before it goes live, and Codex audits Claude's recent changes afterward.

  • Designs the cards

    Every week it comes up with new cards, draws and checks them, and emails me. I pick, and the shop fills itself.

  • Runs the ads

    Claude set up our Microsoft ads and runs them: the keywords, the ad groups, and a report on what each one costs per click, per card and per order.

  • Posts on social media

    It plans, writes, makes and publishes the posts on Instagram, Facebook, Threads and Pinterest, then reads back how each one did.

  • Reads the numbers

    Last night's sales every morning, and every Monday the whole week: orders, visits, searches, ads and social posts.

  • Meets as The Brain

    Every Monday I start The Brain: four AI leads, one for each part of the company, meet and bring me at most three decisions. Once I approve one, Claude builds it.

  • Does the research

    It finds websites worth writing to every week, keeps an eye on competitors, and drafts holiday pages months ahead from what people search for.

  • Writes to customers

    Welcome emails, holiday emails, reminders before someone's birthday, asking for a review: all sent by themselves.

  • Watches over every order

    Every 15 minutes a watchdog checks that every card went out and every reminder was sent. If something is wrong, it emails me once.

  • Fixes its own mistakes

    When the site throws an error, a fix is prepared on its own copy of the code and waits for my go.

  • Checks every picture

    Before a customer sees a card, a check looks for other companies' characters and logos, and swaps a copied logo for an original one.

  • Draws and writes the cards

    When a customer describes a card, OpenAI's image model draws it and its text model writes the message inside.

What's left for me

  • Ideas I brainstorm, and run every idea by Claude before anything is built.
  • The final yes On every change, every design and anything that spends money.
  • Shipping I print, pack and mail every printed card.

How I got here

  1. First

    I've written code for years, and in 2024 I wrote the first version of Panda Greetings myself: the card maker and the card.

  2. ChatGPT

    Then I wanted to see if ChatGPT could write it. I'd ask in the chat and paste its code into my editor, and when something broke and I couldn't find why, I pasted the error back in. I did that for a few months.

  3. Claude

    With Claude it went much more smoothly, and I stopped reviewing the code altogether. The first versions still made a lot of bugs, but it was so much faster. When Sonnet came out, it was night and day.

  4. Today

    Since January 2026, Claude Code writes and commits every change itself, and Codex audits its recent work. Then I let AI run most of the company too.

One decision, start to finish

The Brain first met on October 13. It took two minutes and brought me three decisions. Here's one.

  1. 10:53 AM

    The meeting ends. The numbers department wants our Microsoft ads in my Monday email: they started two days before, and nothing shows what they cost per order.

  2. Around noon

    I read it and click Approve.

  3. 12:14 PM

    Claude, running on my Mac, starts building it on its own copy of the code, then emails me what it did.

  4. 3:25 PM

    I say go, and it's live, showing what the ads had cost so far: $11.04 for 16 clicks.

The other two decisions went the same way that afternoon.

What AI still gets wrong

  • It can't see small mistakes in its own drawings

    An arm goes missing, or a fishing line misses the fish. We tried having AI check every design for this: of seven known mistakes, it caught none. So I look at every design myself, for now.

  • Its writing drifts

    Left alone, it reaches for the same few words. At one point 242 of the shop's 347 messages used “steady”, “quiet”, “gentle” or “calm”, and some messages sound kind but say nothing. We count words, read samples and change its instructions when it slips.

  • Its checks can be too careful

    The check that keeps other companies' characters off our cards once stopped a card made from my own kitchen photo, because of the Minnie Mouse magnets on the fridge. It's fixed, but it took a person to notice.

  • Finished isn't the same as running

    Until October 1, no group card went out on its send date by itself. The code was right, but the scheduled job that runs it had never been switched on. That's why there's a watchdog now.

  • It can't find customers

    It built the site, the shop and the marketing. People still have to hear about it, and that part is slow.

The honest numbers

As of October 27, 2026. These include the cards my family and I bought: we paid for them like anyone else. 15 of the orders came from outside customers.

  • 63 orders since February, my family's and mine included
  • $537 taken in from those orders
  • ~$400 a month to run
  • 637 card designs in the shop
  • 1,900+ changes to the code, nearly all written by AI
  • 32 clicks last week from Google and Bing

Of the monthly cost, about $165 is hosting, the database, email and the AI models that make the cards. The rest is Claude and Codex.

Building isn't the hard part anymore. Being found is.

Where it's going

My goal is for AI to run the whole website on its own, and for my part to keep getting smaller.

  • Printed cards

    Today: I print, pack and mail each one.

    The goal: Orders go straight to a print partner, who prints and mails them.

  • Customers' questions

    Today: They come to my inbox, and I answer.

    The goal: AI answers them on the website, at any hour.

  • Email

    Today: I read the business email.

    The goal: AI reads and answers it, and brings me only what needs a person.

  • New designs

    Today: AI draws and checks them, and I pick.

    The goal: AI judges them itself.

  • Everything else

    Today: I give the final yes.

    The goal: AI runs it, and I set the direction.

Why I'm sharing this

Because it's a real test of how much of a company AI can run today, mistakes included. And because a small card shop needs people to hear about it.

If you write about AI or small businesses, I'm happy to show you more: a real week of The Brain and the watchdog at work, with customers' details taken out, and the numbers.

Write to support@pandagreetings.com.

Gerti, Founder of Panda Greetings

What it's built with

React on Vercel, Node.js on Render, Supabase for the database, Stripe for payments and Resend for email. The cards' pictures and words come from OpenAI's models. The code comes from Claude Code and Codex.