nico
i spent most of sunday in the replies.
the weather was amazing and i was inside on x. i know. but it’s sunday so i can’t complain. no phones, no manager, nobody to sell anything to. just me trying to get some work done and doing research.
i’m new to all of this. like days new. so i asked a lot of questions.
i got into it with a guy who’s building a personal finance app. not in a bad way. i asked him what he thinks is a huge waste of time, because to me making another finance app in a crowded market sounds like making another word app when we already have so many. i told him i wasn’t trying to criticize. i just wanted to understand how he thinks. maybe my thinking is all wrong.
he wrote me a real answer. long. find something with a real need, validate it before you sink a ton of time into it, then put everything into that one thing. somebody spending that much time typing to a guy with like 11 followers meant a lot.
and it hit on my actual struggle. every time i get an idea, i think there’s already an app for that. and even if there isn’t, how do you get customers? customer acquisition is the hardest part. i think that’s what everybody struggles with and nobody wants to say.
the secret to the sauce is figuring out how to get customers without an audience. i don’t know how to do that yet. if you do, tell me.
somebody told me it’s not about building, it’s about selling. i kind of agree. it’s about marketing. funny thing is i sell for a living. i just never sold anything i made.
i also asked about the people who build in secret. everybody talks about distribution like you need it first. but somebody had to build something before they had anybody to show it to.
another guy had a reddit post blowing up and he didn’t even put his app in the title. he just showed something cool it can do. that’s it right there. great info first. sales last.
i met some cool people too. a guy who launched his first app a few days ago. a guy on day 7 of trying to grow on here. a guy who’s going through it with his health and is still building apps from bed. that one stuck with me. his brain is strong. let’s go.
some guy posted that he works with a view in sf. so i posted my view.
my view is gus.
somebody said he’s cuter than theirs. correct. he’s also my cto. very firm with me. he decides when the laptop closes.
somebody asked if i code with music or in silence. neither. i code with blinders. ignore the slop, do the work. the distillers in my headphones don’t count.
that’s sunday. no product yet. a lot of questions. a dog on the bed.
so what are you building? i’m asking for real.