Side Project

Hey Reddit fam! 🌟 I'm thrilled to share my journey with ShipThat.App, the rollercoaster ride it's been, and yes, there's a happy dance involved at the end!

🚀 The Journey Begins It all started on September 14th when I stumbled upon Shipfa.st. Fast forward to September 23rd, and boom – inspiration struck! I had this brilliant idea to help iOS developers ship their apps faster. I even managed to snag a cool domain: shipthat.app!

🔧 The Building Phase By October 1st, I was ready to give the world a glimpse of my project with a landing page. I even gathered a waitlist of 24 interested iOS developers! Coding officially started a week later – my git log can vouch for that 😅. I had this straightforward plan in my Apple notes, all set to bring my ideas to life.

⏱️ Racing Against Time My goal was to hit Product Hunt by October 24th. I had three intense weeks to build and launch. However, life had other plans – a hiccup with Product Hunt over app ownership and email domain issues 🤪. So, I rescheduled the launch to October 30th.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Life’s Balancing Act Balancing this project with my 9 to 5 job, family time (storytelling sessions with my 5-year-old daughter are precious!), and late-night coding sessions was no joke. I remember finalizing things on a train from Venice to Rome during our family holiday in Italy. That moment deserved a snapshot! 📸

🎉 Launch Day I stepped up my marketing for the October 30th launch. I checked everything off my launch list, engaged with about 70 followers, emailed my waitlist, and focused on visuals. Launch day was buzzing with positive feedback on Product Hunt – though, oops, I forgot to share it on ProductHunters' Reddit. 🤦

🍰 The Sweet Success But here’s the best part: after returning from Italy, on a Friday evening, I got my first sale notification! 🥳 That moment was pure joy – I was literally dancing around my living room! 🕺 Plus, I got tons of valuable feedback which led to some quick bug fixes.

🛍️ Black Friday Surprise And guess what? During Black Friday, I made another 5 sales! I was over the moon! 🌙 Each sale felt like a validation of all the hard work and late nights.

🔜 What’s Next? Now, my focus is all about marketing this time-saving tool to fellow developers. It's not just a product; it's a solution that saves over 50 hours of development time.

Thanks for reading my story! I'm eager to hear any thoughts or suggestions from this amazing community! 🙏