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Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what?

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Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what?

#1
Hi HN,

I have built an application to scratch my own itch. It’s a tool that I had a need for in my day job for years. The problem it’s solving is a problem that I felt many people had too. But when I talked to people about it, most times it didn’t really click. So I thought “crap, they don’t get it, cause they don’t see it. Once I build it, they’ll get it”.

I didn’t spend an awful lot of time on it. And I think the app is ok-ish for an MVP.

Now I posted it here and there and sent it to a few people I know, but it doesnt seem good enough.

I realize now the importance of having a broad reach. If I was someone like Mike Bostock, with a bunch of followers, I’d just post it to Twitter and voila. Someone said earlier on HN: building an MVP should include a distribution strategy. And I can feel that pain. Now distribution is something I have zero skills at.

What should I do? There are a few things I could be doing, like:

- get better at marketing, make a video for my target customers

- try and build an audience through blogging and things of that nature

- go and sell it to customers in real life.

- try and find a co founder who would have the time and skills to do these things.

- add more features to the MVP that people tell me are missing

- create more documentation for the MVP, so that onboarding is smoother.

What would have most impact in getting the app in front of people?

Re: Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what?

#4
It looks like you're targeting a very specific niche. I don't think you can just assume your target audience is going to seek this one out. You'll have to be active in getting in contact with your potential users and help them see the value you are providing to drive early adoption.

Re: Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what?

#6

It looks like you're targeting a very specific niche. I don't think you can just assume your target audience is going to seek this one out. You'll have to be active in getting in contact with your potential users and help them see the value you are providing to drive early adoption.

Yes, this was what I realized too.

What do you think the best way of doing this is though?

I need to 1. find potential users 2. Get in touch with them 3. Convince them that a half baked product will eventually solve their problems.

Going one on one seems easy but with limited reach, while “trying to build an audience” seems hard but with more upside.

Re: Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what?

#7
post #5
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a “Rapid application development” tool, targeting developers who create internal apps.

Why not post it right here? Most HN users are developers.

I did.

It didn’t even reach the Show HN page. And I don’t want to spam by repeat-posting...

Re: Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what?

#8
post #7
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not post it right here? Most HN users are developers.

I did. It didn’t even reach the Show HN page. And I don’t want to spam by repeat-posting...

To save anyone else a few clicks: https://www.jigdev.com/index.html

Re: Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what?

#9
Have you tried posting to Indie Hackers? https://www.indiehackers.com

IH is a community of people working on their own products, often solo devs, and it may be a good place to introduce yourself and your project (possible customers could read IH), but also ask for some more advice.

Re: Ask HN: I built it, nobody came, now what?

#10
post #3
post #2

What does it do, what user segment are you looking at?

It’s a “Rapid application development” tool, targeting developers who create internal apps.

Have you asked other developers if they want to use such a tool? (most developers don't want to use a custom, web-based IDE, also fear vendor lockin)

RAD or low-code should be targeted towards non-developers in the org.

This market is heavily saturated with most solutions falling short of expectations and being limited in what can be achieved.

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