Lessons from building nine startups in 2023
marclou.beehiiv.com
Lessons from building nine startups in 2023
1–10 of 65 posts
Re: Lessons from building nine startups in 2023
#2OP here. I call my products startups because I need to believe each will make $ at some point, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to grind for 6 years.
Some are actual startups with decent userbase and recurring revenue, and some are just free logo makers.
Re: Lessons from building nine startups in 2023
#3OP here. I call my products startups because I need to believe each will make $ at some point, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to grind for 6 years. Some are actual startups with decent userbase and recurring revenue, and some are just free logo makers.
Why is it so much about $? What about just creating something out of passion and curiosity?
Do you have projects like that at all (maybe even ones that were not shared with the world)?
Re: Lessons from building nine startups in 2023
#4OP here. I call my products startups because I need to believe each will make $ at some point, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to grind for 6 years. Some are actual startups with decent userbase and recurring revenue, and some are just free logo makers.
Why is it so much about $? What about just creating something out of passion and curiosity? Do you have projects like that at all (maybe even ones that were not shared with the world)?
I like programming but not as much as I like other hobbies. If I’m not making money in some capacity from programming, then I just go do something else that I enjoy more. Money is a strong motivator and for most people, it is stronger than passion and curiosity because those don’t put food on my table.
Re: Lessons from building nine startups in 2023
#5I admire your work ethic and perseverance.
One thing I personally learned from trying to build a startup this way, is that the problems you’re building a solution for become very narrow as your main source of inspiration becomes startup culture and digital SaaS products.
I made the decision to first get real work experience in a relevant industry, learn the problems there and only then start building a product. This opens up the door to building software for industries like the AEC industry, defense or healthcare, where you could have far greater impact, instead of getting stuck on building todo apps, online communities or platforms.
Re: Lessons from building nine startups in 2023
#6OP here. I call my products startups because I need to believe each will make $ at some point, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to grind for 6 years. Some are actual startups with decent userbase and recurring revenue, and some are just free logo makers.
Why is it so much about $? What about just creating something out of passion and curiosity? Do you have projects like that at all (maybe even ones that were not shared with the world)?
If you don’t have a full-time job that generates income, you better think of ways to monetize your side-projects. Completely different story when you have stable income.
Re: Lessons from building nine startups in 2023
#7OP here. I call my products startups because I need to believe each will make $ at some point, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to grind for 6 years. Some are actual startups with decent userbase and recurring revenue, and some are just free logo makers.
Why is it so much about $? What about just creating something out of passion and curiosity? Do you have projects like that at all (maybe even ones that were not shared with the world)?
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Re: Lessons from building nine startups in 2023
#8I admire your work ethic and perseverance. One thing I personally learned from trying to build a startup this way, is that the problems you’re building a solution for become very narrow as your main source of inspiration becomes startup culture and digital SaaS products. I made the decision to first get real work experience in a relevant industry, learn the problems there and only then start building a product. This…
100% with you.
It's so hard to find real problems if you spend 90% of your time finding problems.
Having a job is a great fix.
Building side projects with no purpose works too.
For instance, you can sell a boilerplate to make it faster, or get feedback from users and build for them.
Although it's much harder to start, and hard to navigate life without $ for months (years in my case)
Re: Lessons from building nine startups in 2023
#9I admire your work ethic and perseverance. One thing I personally learned from trying to build a startup this way, is that the problems you’re building a solution for become very narrow as your main source of inspiration becomes startup culture and digital SaaS products. I made the decision to first get real work experience in a relevant industry, learn the problems there and only then start building a product. This…
100% with you. It's so hard to find real problems if you spend 90% of your time finding problems. Having a job is a great fix. Building side projects with no purpose works too. For instance, you can sell a boilerplate to make it faster, or get feedback from users and build for them. Although it's much harder to start, and hard to navigate life without $ for months (years in my case)
The way I see it for you Marc, you spent 6 years building an audience on Twitter. Shipfa.st has a very short shelf life. The audience and trust of startup founders/lovers in the ecosystem has lasting value.
Any ideas on how to capitalize on that?
Re: Lessons from building nine startups in 2023
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
100% with you. It's so hard to find real problems if you spend 90% of your time finding problems. Having a job is a great fix. Building side projects with no purpose works too. For instance, you can sell a boilerplate to make it faster, or get feedback from users and build for them. Although it's much harder to start, and hard to navigate life without $ for months (years in my case)
The way I see it for you Marc, you spent 6 years building an audience on Twitter. Shipfa.st has a very short shelf life. The audience and trust of startup founders/lovers in the ecosystem has lasting value. Any ideas on how to capitalize on that?
Good point.
Either I'll build an audience on YouTube
And/Or I'll build new startups
Also, my Twitter is really small so there's much more work to do there.
Any thoughts?
Note: I've been building an audience there for 2 years (the first 4 years was me building in the dark)