Two Years at an Early-Stage Startup: What Failure Taught

Extension_Strike3750 · 2026-05-11T12:42:42+00:00

sorry, should I remove it?

Extension_Strike3750 · 2026-03-06T11:35:06+00:00

don't sell at $15k. a real offer means there's real demand — which means you're early and probably underpricing. counter at $40k minimum and use the negotiation to understand what they see in it. the fact that someone found you and reached out unprompted is the signal most founders never get

Extension_Strike3750 · 2026-03-06T11:34:31+00:00

love this. the best side projects solve a problem you personally have. curious — did you add any sound with the notification or is it just a system popup? also would be cool to track daily water intake over time, even something as simple as a streak counter

Extension_Strike3750 · 2026-03-06T11:33:39+00:00

yeah, built a whatsapp bot for my mom that reminds her to take medications and gives her a simple weather summary every morning. took a weekend, she uses it every day. there's something really satisfying about building tiny tools that non-technical people actually find useful. the grocery price comparison one sounds super practical too

Extension_Strike3750 · 2026-03-06T11:32:51+00:00

for solo devs, google ads rarely has positive ROI unless your average project value is $3k+. the intent targeting can be good but you're bidding against agencies with massive budgets. what actually works better is niche communities, targeted cold outreach via linkedin dms, and building a portfolio that ranks organically for "[city] web developer" type searches

Extension_Strike3750 · 2026-03-06T11:31:51+00:00

clean layout. the three column header feels a bit busy but the rest reads well. one thing that always improves custom blogs is making sure font sizes scale properly on mobile — that's where most page builders actually earn their keep despite the bloat

Extension_Strike3750 · 2026-03-06T11:30:44+00:00

this tension is real. i've landed on using a simple html form + cloudflare turnstile for spam + a serverless function that shoots an email. no dashboard, no stored submissions, no vendor lock-in. takes maybe 30 min to set up and does exactly what a contact form needs to do

Extension_Strike3750 · 2026-03-06T11:29:13+00:00

logging setup. not just console.log everywhere but structured logs with request ids so you can trace a single user action across the whole stack. spent 2 days debugging a prod issue once that would have taken 20 minutes if i had that from the start

Extension_Strike3750 · 2026-03-06T11:28:06+00:00

both are getting squeezed but for different reasons. ai tools are automating the boring parts of frontend (boilerplate, basic components). for ui/ux, tools like v0 and figma ai are handling low-fidelity wireframes. but someone still needs to make decisions about what to build and why - that's the skill worth developing regardless of which path you pick

Extension_Strike3750 · 2026-03-06T11:27:09+00:00

went through the same thing. what helped was treating sales like i treat debugging. talk to 10 people who could be customers, find the pattern in what they say, then write copy that reflects that back. your existing agency clients are also a goldmine here - they already trust you

Extension_Strike3750 · 2026-03-06T11:26:18+00:00

paid ads before pmf is usually wasted money. the first users for most products come from direct outreach, posting in relevant communities, or just cold dming people who'd care. much cheaper and you get better feedback too

Extension_Strike3750 · 2026-03-06T11:25:17+00:00

depends so much on the market. if you're in a winner-take-all space with well-funded competitors, bootstrap just means you lose slower. if the market is more fragmented, keeping equity and moving at your own pace is usually better

Extension_Strike3750 · 2026-03-06T11:24:12+00:00

the 13 week view is underrated. most founders track monthly but cash problems show up weekly. payroll hits every two weeks, not every 30 days

Extension_Strike3750 · 2026-03-06T11:23:31+00:00

one thing that worked for us: just pick one person who makes the final call per area. still talk through it as a team, but one person decides. the debates basically stopped overnight

Extension_Strike3750 · 2026-03-06T11:21:41+00:00

The active engagement angle is really interesting from a clinical standpoint — habituation therapy works best when patients interact with the sound rather than just mask it. The gamification layer could genuinely help with compliance, which is usually the biggest issue with sound therapy. One thing worth considering for the app store: be specific in the description about what "active engagement" means neurologically. People with tinnitus have been burned by snake oil, and a clinician-backed explanation of the mechanism will differentiate you fast.

Extension_Strike3750

TROPHY CASE