Apologies if this is the wrong subreddit.
I’m worn out from building (and more so thinking about) applications and projects that have no validation. I’ve been an IndieHackers lurker since day 1, but I still fail in the most predictable way every time. I’m constantly telling myself an idea is good, mapping out how to build it, putting too much time into a prototype, then never releasing anything that generates $$$.
Time to change. Looking through IH posts this morning, I hit upon Alberto Savoia’s Pretotyping lecture at Stanford (https://youtu.be/3sUozPcH4fY). In a sentence: Get them to buy it, then build it.
It’s not my first time coming across this idea (The Mom Test is a must read), but it made me feel like a total loser for not following his instructions. Fail fast and fail cheap.
So…I decided best to go the “Build in Public” route and Reddit has always been a faithful companion for receiving aggressive feedback.
Right now I have a newsletter about personal health stories (gettheplunge.com) that’s has some traction (240 subs), but it doesn’t have a clear path to revenue. That said, each email sent does feel like a “win” and it’s provided me with some confidence that I can build something people want and deliver consistently.
Some initial thoughts on finding a side project I can run with buy testing fast and cheap:
- Prioritize B2B. I want to make money with the project. Businesses spend much more easily than consumers.
- Learn to test. I’m clearly no expert at testing ideas. From what I can tell, building one page apps like Carrd is the right way to go. I’ll be digging into these to lower the time it takes me to test as much as possible.
- Go to the customers. I struggle a lot with this. I know I need to talk to customers, but where are they? Reddit? Regardless, I haven’t tried to sell someone a product in years. This will be key.
I’m most interested in personal health and what wearable devices will do for the world. That said, I spend way too much time thinking about a personal app that’s going to make my life totally efficient and link my whole life together. It’s a waste of brain space. I’ve seen so many people in r/quantifiedself build these apps but I’m not convinced there’s a real product there (at least not one that people will pay for, something 10x what Apple can offer).
I’m going to test if there’s some value for apps aimed at nutritionists and personal trainers, but also look outside this space. I believe if I can learn to test faster, my eye for ideas will start looking in new places.
I ought to mention that I’m a software dev, probably the curse of me. I enjoy seeing things work more than seeing them sold.
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading. Any thoughts or feedback on my experiences and plan, suggested resources, or general advice are welcome.
Why don’t you add a sponsored section to your newsletter? I imagine some personal health startups would be happy to pay.
I didn’t think it had reached a point of being able to monetize, at least not enough to deserve my attention. My only subs were 50 people in my network for most of it. In August I put it down because it wasn’t growing, then another Creator on ConvertKit started recommending it and it’s grown to 230 without any content.
Maybe I’ll start, it would definitely push me to try to gain subscribers organically (thru social networks, etc.)