I built an AI tool that turned my phone selfie into a LinkedIn headshot — here's what I learned

Source: Dev.to

The product

I shipped HeadshotAI a couple of days ago. Upload one photo, pay £4.99, and get a professional headshot in about 30 seconds. The service is powered by FLUX.

Lessons learned

• Before/after comparison is essential
  I launched without any example outputs—just a description and a CTA. The first comment on the Hacker News “Show HN” post pointed out that a before → after visual is needed. I added a before/after section within 40 minutes. For AI tools that transform content, this comparison is the core of the value proposition.

• Technical limits vs. product promise
  FLUX img2img without fine‑tuning relies on the base model’s understanding of portrait photography. It works well for most inputs, but unusual angles, extreme lighting, or heavily stylised photos can cause failures. The promise “looks like a professional headshot” is realistic; “looks exactly like you but better” generally requires more data (e.g., 10‑25 photos for fine‑tuning as used by services like HeadshotPro or Aragon).

• Price anchoring needs visible reference points
  £4.99 is cheap compared with photographers who charge £100‑£300, but without social proof or visible examples users perceive the risk of paying for a potentially poor result. The before/after section drives conversion more effectively than the price alone.

• Launch fast, iterate faster
  I could have polished copy, added more examples, or A/B‑tested the CTA before launch. Instead, I released a raw version, received actionable feedback within the first hour, and fixed the biggest issue in 40 minutes. Without launching, I would have spent days optimizing the wrong things.

Metrics (early)

• Live site:
• Traffic: Early days, driven by Hacker News and some dev.to exposure.
• Conversions: Not yet measurable, but the product is functioning as intended.

Call for discussion

Happy to swap notes with anyone building in the AI image space or other “instant gratification” tools.

What’s the fastest you’ve moved from “idea” to “live product”?