PilotGate

Secure proxy for AI pilots that bypasses enterprise IT security hurdles.

Score: 7.6/10MexicoMedium BuildReady to Spawn
Brand Colors

The Opportunity

Problem

Indie AI product teams can't launch pilots with enterprises because IT security fears cause blanket resistance to integrations.

Solution

PilotGate acts as a managed proxy between your indie AI product and enterprise systems, enforcing zero-trust security, data encryption, and audit logs without requiring direct integrations. Enterprises get instant compliance visibility via dashboards, while you launch pilots in days. No code changes needed on your end—just point your API to our gateway.

Target Audience

Indie AI product developers and startups targeting enterprise customers

Differentiator

Purpose-built proxy optimized for AI workloads with built-in PII redaction and one-click SOC2 evidence collection, unlike generic API gateways.

Brand Voice

professional

Features

Proxy Endpoint Setup

must-have12h

One-click deployment of secure proxy URL for your AI API.

Enterprise Dashboard

must-have20h

Real-time logs, access controls, and compliance reports for IT teams.

Zero-Trust Auth

must-have15h

mTLS + JWT enforcement with enterprise SSO integration.

PII Redaction

must-have18h

Automatic detection and masking of sensitive data in AI requests/responses.

Audit Trail Export

must-have10h

Downloadable logs in CSV/JSON for security audits.

Rate Limiting

nice-to-have8h

Customizable throttling per enterprise user.

Custom Domains

nice-to-have10h

White-label proxy URLs matching your brand.

Slack Alerts

nice-to-have6h

Notifications for security events.

Total Build Time: 99 hours

Database Schema

users

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
emailtextNo
roletextNo
created_attimestampNo

Relationships:

  • owner of proxies (one-to-many)

proxies

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
user_iduuidNo
target_urltextNo
proxy_urltextNo
activeboolNo

Relationships:

  • belongs to users, has many logs

logs

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
proxy_iduuidNo
request_datatextYes
response_datatextYes
timestamptimestampNo

Relationships:

  • belongs to proxies

invites

ColumnTypeNullable
iduuidNo
proxy_iduuidNo
emailtextNo
statustextNo

Relationships:

  • belongs to proxies

API Endpoints

POST
/api/proxies

Create new proxy

🔒 Auth Required
GET
/api/proxies/:id

Get proxy details

🔒 Auth Required
GET
/api/logs/:proxyId

Fetch logs

🔒 Auth Required
POST
/api/invites

Generate enterprise invite

🔒 Auth Required
ANY
/api/proxy/:proxyUrl

Proxy requests to target

Tech Stack

Frontend
Next.js 14 + Tailwind + shadcn/ui
Backend
Next.js API routes + Supabase Edge Functions
Database
Supabase Postgres
Auth
Supabase Auth
Payments
Stripe
Hosting
Vercel
Additional Tools
Resend (emails)Vercel KV (caching)

Build Timeline

Week 1: Core setup and auth

40h
  • Project scaffold
  • User auth
  • Basic dashboard

Week 2: Proxy engine

45h
  • Proxy endpoint
  • Basic logging

Week 3: Security features

50h
  • Zero-trust auth
  • PII redaction

Week 4: Dashboards and invites

40h
  • Enterprise dashboard
  • Invite flow

Week 5: Payments and polish

35h
  • Stripe integration
  • Exports

Week 6: Testing and launch

30h
  • E2E tests
  • Landing page
Total Timeline: 6 weeks • 250 hours

Pricing Tiers

Free

$0/mo

No enterprise invites

  • 1 proxy
  • Basic logs
  • Unlimited bandwidth (fair use)

Pro

$30/mo

10k requests/month

  • Unlimited proxies
  • Enterprise invites
  • PII redaction
  • Audit exports

Enterprise

$99/mo

100k requests/month

  • All Pro + Custom SLAs
  • Priority support
  • Custom domains

Revenue Projections

MonthUsersConversionMRRARR
Month 11003%$90$1,080
Month 65008%$1,200$14,400

Unit Economics

$40
CAC
$360
LTV
5%
Churn
88%
Margin
LTV:CAC Ratio: 9.0xExcellent!

Landing Page Copy

Launch AI Pilots Past Enterprise IT Gates

Secure proxy turns 'no integration' into 'yes' for enterprise deals.

Feature Highlights

Zero-trust security
One-click setup
IT-friendly dashboards
PII-safe AI traffic
Unlimited scale

Social Proof (Placeholders)

"'Closed our first Fortune 500 pilot in a week' - AI Startup CEO"
"'IT approved instantly' - Indie Dev"

First Three Customers

Post in Indie Hackers and r/SaaS about the pain, DM 20 AI founders from Product Hunt AI launches offering free beta access. Follow up with personalized demos showing proxy setup in 5 mins. Convert via 14-day free trial shared on Twitter threads targeting 'enterprise AI sales'.

Launch Channels

Product HuntIndie HackersTwitter/Xr/SaaSAI newsletters

SEO Keywords

secure ai proxy enterprisebypass enterprise it security aiai pilot integration tool

Competitive Analysis

Freemium $5+
Strength

Easy tunneling

Weakness

No AI-specific security or compliance

Our Advantage

Built-in PII redaction and enterprise dashboards

Cloudflare Workers

cloudflare.com
Usage-based
Strength

Scalable edges

Weakness

Requires dev setup, no pilot-focused UX

Our Advantage

One-click AI proxy with IT invites

🏰 Moat Strategy

Data moat from aggregated anonymized security logs to improve AI-specific threat detection.

⏰ Why Now?

AI adoption exploding in enterprises, but IT lags on secure integrations amid rising data breach fears.

Risks & Mitigation

technicalmedium severity

Proxy latency impacts AI performance

Mitigation

Edge deployment on Vercel + caching

markethigh severity

Enterprises demand full SOC2

Mitigation

Partner with compliance auditors early

executionmedium severity

Low adoption by indie devs

Mitigation

Free tier + PH launch

Validation Roadmap

pre-build7 days

Interview 10 AI founders on pain

Success: 7/10 confirm they'd pay $30

mvp21 days

Build core proxy, get 3 beta users

Success: 1 paid conversion

launch14 days

PH launch, track signups

Success: 100 users week 1

Pivot Options

  • General API gateway
  • AI compliance scanner
  • Dev tool for mock integrations

Quick Stats

Build Time
250h
Target MRR (6 mo)
$5,000
Market Size
$500.0M
Features
8
Database Tables
4
API Endpoints
5
PilotGate - Complete Startup Blueprint | Startup Tribunal