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Why my projects keep failing

adayinthelifeof.nl

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Re: Why my projects keep failing

#51

Post by kingcharles »

astrange wrote: post #45
kingcharles wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was one of my dumbest failures: http://www.dudefactory.com/ (it has no SSL cert, it uses Flash which is 110% dead) It was launched at the height of AIM/MSN Messenger/etc. I thought we could charge $1/£1/€1 per picture. Two things: none of our target market had money (you could pay by SMS as well as card, but no-one was doing that), and the avatars just weren't attractive - the women wanted ones that looked like…

This is https://picrew.me which is popular enough.

That's neat, thanks for the link.

Re: Why my projects keep failing

#52

Post by selfadjoint »

joexuyi wrote: post #49

There are coders like the OP, highly technical but makes no money; and then there are people like Pieter Levels, a solopreneur hitting multiple millions of dollars in annual revenue...

Pieter is a pretty attractive guy, which doesn't hurt in starting a community.

Re: Why my projects keep failing

#53

Post by arsenico »

kingcharles wrote: post #33
happytiger wrote: post #20

This is great. I love it when there’s honest post from a builder. The explanation for failure is clear to me. None of these products as they are constructed are customer-lead. They don’t start with product market fit. As crazy as it hounds the number one reason startups fail is a lack of customers. You love building the technical solution. You want to have market success. But your passion is probably not talking to t…

This was one of my dumbest failures: http://www.dudefactory.com/ (it has no SSL cert, it uses Flash which is 110% dead) It was launched at the height of AIM/MSN Messenger/etc. I thought we could charge $1/£1/€1 per picture. Two things: none of our target market had money (you could pay by SMS as well as card, but no-one was doing that), and the avatars just weren't attractive - the women wanted ones that looked like…

You were just so ahead of the whole NFT curve.

Re: Why my projects keep failing

#54

Post by tnolet »

happytiger wrote: post #20

This is great. I love it when there’s honest post from a builder. The explanation for failure is clear to me. None of these products as they are constructed are customer-lead. They don’t start with product market fit. As crazy as it hounds the number one reason startups fail is a lack of customers. You love building the technical solution. You want to have market success. But your passion is probably not talking to t…

Came here to say something like this. I’m a tech person. You have to teach/force yourself to love listening to and talking to customers’ problems. The programming comes later.

Re: Why my projects keep failing

#55

Post by danjac »

happytiger wrote: post #20

This is great. I love it when there’s honest post from a builder. The explanation for failure is clear to me. None of these products as they are constructed are customer-lead. They don’t start with product market fit. As crazy as it hounds the number one reason startups fail is a lack of customers. You love building the technical solution. You want to have market success. But your passion is probably not talking to t…

The successful SME owners I've known have worked in an industry for some time, and have found (often by accident) a profitable niche or pain point. If they needed to build something they've done it themselves with a "For Dummies" book on their lap or hired a student or junior dev for peanuts, but the technical side is very much an afterthought. One or two I know started with just an Excel spreadsheet and a Rolodex of contacts (or the modern equivalents).

Sure their "solutions" were a pile of technical debt held together with duct tape and a prayer, but they got profitable to the point they could afford professional developers to build something more sustainable.

An experienced developer should be able to out-compete these guys out of the park - they would be able to build a solid solution, or at least an MVP with a good foundation, on day 1. But it's quite rare to find a developer with both coding experience and the insights and contacts in a specific industry. Often when I see a developer running a successful SAAS, here or on Indie Hackers, they tend to be selling pickaxes and shovels back to the developer industry such as web analytics, IDE plugins, books, etc. because that's what they know.

Re: Why my projects keep failing

#56

Post by 127 »

For what it's worth:

My biggest product came just from a random easy project that happened to touch a very large market and a growing user-base with a need. It was quite boring and trivial. But very annoying library and space.

My biggest project that I have spent months and months of my life, that has been very fun and challenging, has made a small pittance.

I've definitely learnt a few lessons these past few years.

Re: Why my projects keep failing

#58

Post by kingcharles »

arsenico wrote: post #53
kingcharles wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was one of my dumbest failures: http://www.dudefactory.com/ (it has no SSL cert, it uses Flash which is 110% dead) It was launched at the height of AIM/MSN Messenger/etc. I thought we could charge $1/£1/€1 per picture. Two things: none of our target market had money (you could pay by SMS as well as card, but no-one was doing that), and the avatars just weren't attractive - the women wanted ones that looked like…

You were just so ahead of the whole NFT curve.

Yeah, 20 years later and Paris Hilton would have been showing off her Dudette on talk shows.
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