Building for 28 months. Finally launched. 2 users. I'm ecstatic.
Nope, that title isn't being sarcastic. I've been lurking on here for ages and thought it was time I joined in.
I've been working on HeadStack for (checks github) 28 months. Yep, even with all the lessons everyone has shared, I spent way too long building. There were always bugs which needed fixing, features which needed adding and the obligatory dark mode. With all the info about there about launching, I was paralysed by how to launch. Product hunt? Waitlists? Twitter? There were so many choices, I couldn't focus on any of them.
It was hard to keep up motivation building and working in the dark.
For context, HeadStack is a meetup alternative, specifically for tech meetups. I've started using twitter again so I reached out a to a meetup organiser via DM and asked if he'd be interested in using my new website.
We arranged a zoom call, I told him about what I was building and asked about his meetup, how he organises it and what he needs the most help with.
He's now my first user, we talk almost every day - some of the stuff he's reporting are bugs, others is feedback and ideas for improving the app. The first meetup is scheduled for 6th June, I'm working every minute I'm not at the day job to make sure the site it ready. I'm incredibly grateful for his candid feedback and the motivation this is giving me to improve my site.
After the success of getting my first user, I used a similar approach to land my second user.
It doesn't sound like much but for me this is huge. After so many failed products, this is the first one which is actually seeing the light of day and has real users. I'm hoping to keep working the same way, building connections with real people.
I can feel a spark forming, and am trying with all my strength to fan the flames.
Good luck comrades.
Congratulations man! I am also started building my product from last 2 months. Almost every day starts with good energy and motivation and ends with the feeling of being late. But it's part of the journey. Please keep up the good work, you are not alone!
Thanks! It feels good to finally be speaking with customers instead of feeling like I'm watching everyone else on their journey from the sidelines.
Re Poplitu, I've actually been thinking it would be good to have a nicer way of sending automated emails. If you focussed on just that, the market alone for that would be huge. Good luck with the build!
Absolutely! Having a seamless and efficient way to send automated emails is definitely a game-changer. We're dedicated to creating a solution that meets that need. Thank you for your support and well wishes!
Don't give up, I trying to build a product for about 6 months but keep loosing the motivation, every month start that will do it and 6 months later not build yet.
Well done that you done it.
Thank you! I'm trying to focus on the two users I have and building something that will really help them. It feels good to be speaking with people instead of just building by myself all the time. I just read your post and realised we're the same but opposite: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/how-can-i-motivate-myself-to-finish-my-business-idea-f9b1e05f61. I am a React developer but work with Python/Django for my backend. It is hard working outside your comfort zone :)
28 months, woah! Well done
persevering though, if meet-ups are a topic you are truly interested in.
I find it helpful to frequently review features and move any I can from to-do into backlog/ideas. Keep pruning so only the most needed features remain. Same with the UI design. Remove anything not required in a given context.
Thanks for the support! Interesting you mention about keeping only the most needed features. I actually spent months building a built in video tool with daily.co, so meetups could do virtual events within the site without having to use Zoom. It took too long and was full of bugs. I decided to remove the feature and just launch with the simple features I already had. I'm so glad I made that decision because otherwise I'd still be building in the dark. Instead, now I use feedback from users to decide what to work on. If it's not important to them, I won't bother with it.
There is one issue to be aware of when you only have feedback from one or two people. You could add features that are too niche.
Is there something preventing you from doing a larger private beta? 10 - 20 people would be much better for initial feedback. All the marketing advice I hear says to do lots of customer interviews.
So far, all the suggestions have been things I can see being useful to other meetups too. I would love to do get feedback from more people. I'm currently trying to do direct outreach with meetup organisers, hopefully this will minimise the risk of building anything too niche!
Congratulations Marilyn!!! I can’t even imagine how much if a relief that must be to finally push this out after that long dev period. I’m super happy for you.
Question: you mentioned that you were considering waitlists, and other avenues to launch. After your first two customers, what do you think you’ll do to launch to a bigger audience?
Thank you! I hope to eventually to be able to do a proper launch. Probably on product hunt and paid ads to drive traffic. But for now, I'm really focussed on just getting those first few users, building good relationships with them and hopefully building something they will find really useful. If I can create something good for a handful of people, that would give me enough confidence to do a bigger push for growth.
This is truly inspiring :)
Congratulations!
thank you!
28 months! How do you keep that level of motivation when there are no results? Congrats on the launch and sticking it through
Thanks! I've started projects before and got 75% of the way through and given up or got distracted by another idea. I just really wanted the satisfaction of finishing something, so I promised myself I would finish building this before I could do anything else. The site isn't perfect but it's usable and people are getting value from it so I'm stoked to be at this point.
That's great, congrats! I always check here whenever I lose my motivation to keep going on my projects, and eventually I go back stronger. Wish you the best!
I would love hear from you when you have the 3rd client :)
Thank you! If I can do a good enough job to keep my two users, I will try to spend some time on marketing to get more users. Will come back to Indie Hackers to update :)
Congratulations! Every win is worth celebrating. Feedback is great too so glad you're getting some!
Thank you! Everything he's said has made me realise I spent too much time building features I don't need yet. I should have been focused on shipping earlier, then I could have used this whole time to build features he would actually use. I've decided not to build anything new unless a real user has specifically asked for it.
All sounds like valuable learning. All the best!
Hey there! I've been building on and off for 4-5 months now and I'm always losing morale whenever people ask me what's my unique value proposition and how do I make money from my app... It's super discouraging but I just call up my friends who will give me new ideas and lift my spirits. Keep going! You are not in this alone!
It’s super encouraging to connect with other people who are in the same boat. You’re lucky to have god friends who will lift your spirits!
Please keep in touch - we are on this journey together! I am also trying to build a simple micro-SaaS that's useful for people and get some basic income. No unicorn dreams now that the tech bubble has popped, but good honest work will go a long way!
Will do! I've followed you :)