Athlete. Hustler.
Builder.

Former collegiate basketball player, six-figure bartender, car wrap shop owner, and now software engineering student building AI-powered apps with my personal assistant SADIE. The era of figuring it out has arrived.

OpenClaw Solo Leveling App AI Engineering Software Engineering
Sydney Franks
Photo coming soon
$100k Auto Mixology year 1
SADIE AI assistant, live now
Basketball * Entrepreneurship * Auto Mixology * OpenClaw * Software Engineering * SADIE AI * Solo Leveling App * AI Engineering * * Minneapolis * Basketball * Entrepreneurship * Auto Mixology * OpenClaw * Software Engineering * SADIE AI * Solo Leveling App * AI Engineering * * Minneapolis *

The long way around is still a path.

I was a collegiate basketball player before I decided two years in that the traditional route was not for me. I dropped out, chased entrepreneurship, and spent years throwing myself at anything that seemed like an opportunity. Fitness training, car wrapping, a coffee shop, dropshipping (I know), day trading (I really know). None of it stuck the way I needed it to.

The last three years I have been bartending at one of the top clubs in Minneapolis and building something real on the side. Bartending gave me financial stability, six figures annually, and enough clarity to stop flailing and start focusing. I used that income to launch Auto Mixology, a car wrapping and customization shop, and grew it to $100k in revenue in the first year.

Then I realized I did not want to spend the next decade on my feet wrapping cars 40 hours a week. I wanted to build something that scales. Something where the work I put in at 2 AM compounds instead of resets.

Fall 2025, I made a decision: go back to school for Software Engineering. Not just for the degree, but for the skills. Because if I am going to build businesses, I want to understand the technology that powers them. I want to be the one who builds the thing, not just hires someone to.

Then I discovered OpenClaw and everything accelerated. I built SADIE, my personal AI assistant, and gave her the same alt-baddie energy I have carried for the last three years behind the bar. She is sharp, she executes, and she does not waste time. I have two apps in development and a very clear vision for what comes next.

I am documenting everything. The wins, the failures, the late nights, the code, the pivots. If you want a front-row seat to what it actually looks like to build from zero with AI as your co-founder, this is it.

Every detour was data.

Early

Collegiate Basketball

Competed at the collegiate level. Learned discipline, resilience, and what it feels like to commit fully to something. Left after two years to bet on myself.

The Grind

Business Experiments

Fitness training, car wrapping, coffee, dropshipping, day trading. Every one taught something. None of them were the answer. But they built the instinct.

3 Years

Six-Figure Bartender

Built a financial foundation bartending at one of Minneapolis's top clubs. Used the income and the time to think clearly and build strategically.

Year 1

Auto Mixology — $100k

Launched a car wrapping and customization shop. Hit $100k in revenue in year one. Proved I could build a real business. Then decided I wanted to build something that scales without trading time for dollars.

Fall 2025

Software Engineering Student

Enrolled in a Software Engineering degree program. Not to get a job. To get the skills to build the things I can already see in my head.

Now

OpenClaw + SADIE + Two Apps

Discovered OpenClaw, built SADIE, and started developing two apps. This is the chapter where everything clicks. You are watching it happen in real time.

Two apps. Both dropping soon.

App 1

Personal Development RPG

Inspired by the anime Solo Leveling. A gamified personal development app that turns your real-life goals, habits, and growth into an RPG experience. Level up your actual self, not just a character.

Solo Leveling Gamification Personal Development Mobile App
In development
App 2

Project Management for AI Engineers

A project management tool built specifically for the way AI engineers actually work: fast, non-linear, idea-first. Not another Jira clone. Something that matches the energy of building with AI in 2025.

Project Management AI Engineering Productivity Web App
In development

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