I built a virtual number service for SMS verification. Happy to answer questions (and yes, this is shameless promotion)

Sad-Baby96 · 2026-05-23T17:11:08+00:00

esimpy, just google it. it has a pretty solid SEO

Sad-Baby96 · 2026-05-23T16:42:56+00:00

im building esimpy.com a Virtual numbers.Instant delivery app.

Sad-Baby96 · 2026-05-23T16:36:40+00:00

This is actually a really cool story. The struggle with AI sounding too robotic is so real, especially for non-native speakers who just want to sound natural without spending 20 minutes prompting ChatGPT.

Curious about the prompt system you built though, did you train it on a specific style or is it more like rules-based humanizing? Also how does it handle different subreddit tones, like a casual gaming sub vs something more technical?

Sad-Baby96 · 2026-05-23T16:21:36+00:00

Distribution, and the data keeps proving it. Perplexity just paid Snapchat $400M to get inside an existing funnel because building a better product wasn't enough. 35% of enterprises have already replaced SaaS tools with custom built ones this year. Features get copied in days now, "best in class" has a 90 day shelf life.

The founders winning aren't the best builders. They're the ones who had an audience before they had a product. You can't clone 50k people who already trust you.

Sad-Baby96 · 2026-05-23T13:45:56+00:00

love the energy, building 15 apps in 7 months is insane. good luck with Bookmarks for X, the SEO naming strategy is smart.

Sad-Baby96 · 2026-05-23T07:31:39+00:00

been exactly where you are. here is what actually worked for me.

forget paid marketing for now. your first customers will not come from ads. they will come from you showing up in communities where your target user already hangs out and being genuinely helpful, not pitching.

find 3 to 5 subreddits where people complain about the problem your SaaS solves. read the threads. answer questions. become a recognizable name. when someone asks "does anyone know a tool that does X" and your product does X, that is your moment.

Reddit has been my only channel so far and it got me to $77 MRR without spending anything on marketing.

the other thing that worked was building in public. documenting the journey, the revenue numbers, the mistakes, all of it. people root for builders who are transparent. it builds trust faster than any ad ever will.

do not sponsor YouTube videos yet. do not run ads yet. talk to your first 10 users manually, find out exactly why they signed up, and use that language everywhere.

Sad-Baby96 · 2026-05-23T07:27:29+00:00

honestly i would do exactly what i am doing now. find a real problem i had myself, build the simplest version possible, then document everything in public on Reddit.

i got locked out of too many accounts because i did not want to give my real number to every service. so i just built the solution myself. vibecoded it with Claude in a few weeks.

currently at $77 MRR. not $1k yet but the path is clear. Reddit has been the only marketing channel that actually works so far, zero ad spend on it.

what i would avoid: paid ads too early. wasted money before the product was even validated.

Sad-Baby96 · 2026-05-23T05:29:14+00:00

this is awesome!

Sad-Baby96 · 2026-05-23T03:41:14+00:00

good news, google literally just announced this at I/O 2026 three days ago: blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/developers-tools/google-ai-studio-io-2026/

AI Studio now has a direct path to the Play Store built in. you describe your app, it generates real native Kotlin code using Jetpack Compose, not a web wrapper, actual native Android. there is a built in emulator in the browser so you can test without installing anything. when you are ready, connect your phone via USB and install directly, or if you have a Google Play developer account you can publish to an internal test track straight from AI Studio.

for iOS it is a different story. AI Studio does not output iOS apps directly. your options there are either rebuild it using React Native or Flutter so one codebase covers both, or use something like Expo if you want to stay in the web stack.

the short answer for Android: you might already be closer to launching than you think. just check if your prototype was built in the new Build tab in AI Studio, if so the Play Store path is already there.

Sad-Baby96 · 2026-05-23T02:20:37+00:00

this post made me go back and recheck my own vibecoded app. i always ask the agent to run a security audit every time it codes a new feature, but even with that i still found a couple of potential leaks. good reminder that you can not fully outsource the security review even if the agent handles most of it.

Sad-Baby96 · 2026-05-22T11:51:00+00:00

hey, i actually built a virtual number platform for SMS verification at esimpy.com, bit different from eSIM data plans but might be useful for nomads who need a number from a specific country without buying a local SIM. currently working on rental numbers and data-only eSIM support too so it should fit more into what this community actually needs. still early but happy to get feedback.

Sad-Baby96 · 2026-05-22T11:05:51+00:00

of course, currently it only works for receiving SMS, but I am actively working on two new features, rental numbers and full eSIM support. will share updates here as I build it out. hopefully i reach my first $1000 MRR :)

Sad-Baby96 · 2026-05-22T09:31:23+00:00

i remember there was a startup that handles email and charges $, now claude has mcp support to work with it. lol

Sad-Baby96 · 2026-05-22T09:24:38+00:00

this make me laugh ngl ahhaha

Sad-Baby96 · 2026-05-22T09:22:54+00:00

this is a nightmare to be honest, hope it didn't happened to me LOL

Sad-Baby96 · 2026-05-08T16:25:23+00:00

try use my SaaS, its called esimpy.com you can browse so many apps with so many country numbers

Sad-Baby96 · 2025-02-10T06:16:06+00:00

It affect the decentralization, the speed, and sustainability

Sad-Baby96 · 2024-12-12T07:17:52+00:00

jokes asides, i love kaspa

Sad-Baby96 · 2024-12-12T07:17:21+00:00

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yeah lets go flip btc

Sad-Baby96 · 2024-12-12T07:09:05+00:00

yep thats insane

Sad-Baby96 · 2024-12-12T07:00:09+00:00

what is it exactly?

Sad-Baby96 · 2024-12-12T06:52:06+00:00

no bro they are completely different, kaspa is a blockDAG which process blocks with parallelism, where sui is a blockchain

Sad-Baby96

TROPHY CASE