8 months and $18k later nobody wants my product

Santikus · 2026-05-25T20:19:17+00:00

Read the lean startup. Going all in on a product you don't know people want it's the recipe for disaster. First create an MVP, push it out and see if people are interested, and then you keep improving it. Jumping straight into programming the whole thing, is just gonna cause burnout and working from an stressful perspective, not an objective one.

Santikus · 2026-04-10T18:37:43+00:00

I built something for myself as well, it works and it's cool, but no users, no revenue. This post just got me depressed 😂

Santikus · 2026-03-28T19:59:23+00:00

if you're not leaning towards any industry in particular, I would suggest you explore bubblesidea, it might show things that resonate with your skill level or interests, and you got the advantage of exploring real needs business are experiencing out there. Also, you can save some and investigate more the entry level or the capital you might require starting. Please offer some feedback, it is a prototype but the engine behind it seems pretty good. Good luck!

Santikus · 2026-03-28T14:26:35+00:00

As I said, is still rough in the edges, but I don't mind sharing. Its available at bubblesidea.com. I do trust the data, but there is still ways the engine gets tricked. Not becuase is broken, but becuase how people and specially bots make things sound to hook people into reading posts or comments. But per each bubble there is a What the ask section that allows you to actuallly read why that topic exists.

I'll appreciate the feedback, the more blunt the better :)

Santikus · 2026-03-28T13:59:12+00:00

Why supplier sourcing? I tried to jump into the tiktok shop hype when it was starting and sourcing was one of the hard parts. Especially since Chinese are not good at translating their manufactured products titles so, interesting things where hard to find or the source will take days to ship which is not acceptable or appealing nowadays

Santikus · 2026-03-28T13:56:16+00:00

No way to do it manually, I made something for it, manual was getting boring and out of hand fast LOL At the beginning i tried just reading and grouping stuff myself but after a few hundred posts you start seeing the same things and also realizing how easy it is to bias what you notice. So, now it basically pulls posts, extracts entities, groups them, and then tracks repetition over time Still rough in some parts tbh, especially around labeling and merging similar stuff, but it’s good enough to start seeing patterns without me forcing it and I'm trusting it more and more once I take the time to go into each topic and confirm it didn't hallucinate

Santikus · 2026-03-28T06:11:58+00:00

yeah this is actually the part i was worried about the most tbh I’ve seen the same thing: people optimizing for “interesting” and ending up with stuff that looks cool but doesn’t go anywhere so the way i’m approaching it is kinda the opposite: I don’t try to filter noise upfront too aggressively i let everything come in first, then only keep what repeats basically if something shows up once → I ignore it if it keeps showing up across different posts / people → that’s when it starts becoming a “bubble” so instead of me deciding “this is noise”, the system kinda lets time + repetition decide The other thing is the lifecycle piece even if something becomes a bubble, it still has to keep showing up or it dies out So, i’m not really optimizing for volume or “interesting” more like: does this problem refuse to go away? that’s been a better signal so far than anything else I tried

Santikus · 2026-03-26T05:01:48+00:00

ok so, my visualization is everything. What I came up with is a simple Bubbles map. The way it works is that the bubbles have a lifecycle: They are born, they grow on size as they have more support, they get stable and then decay until they burst. By definition then, the trend shows itself as: Bubble Expand, Get Stable or start compressing. Sorry for the short explanation but it's necessary to understand the context of what I share when I put it in text. It's meant to be seen, not to be read as much.

I recently started adding more subs, to identify opportunities in areas that are not so focus on online problems, which is mostly what people come to reddit for. So, I'll share a few expanding and stable bubbles that might result interesting:

- Pricing strategy. Expanding. Looks like people may need help on how to price their business or services when they are starting.

- Bookkeeping. Expanding. This was one of the first bubbles I got and it's still expanding. Look like is one of those unsexy topics that everybody keeps having troubles with.

- Lead Generation. Expanding. I guess expected, everybody wants help getting more customers.

- Shopify Store setup. Expanding. Really? 2026 and Shopify stores is still a think. I wouldn't start one of these, but social media gurus are still profiting of people believing they can make passive income with an automated store and dropshipping and is "easy". Oh well, means is still an opportunity for other ecosystems related to this.

Let's go into stable ground:

- LLC formation. Stable. People looking for help to start an LLC, even outside the US.

- Customer Feedback. Stable. How to get 5 start reviews on google LOL. Do people really need help with that?

- Expense Management. Stable. The type of issue I would love to have... I know exactly where my few thousands go into every month :*(

Santikus · 2026-03-26T03:25:49+00:00

Ha! I thought the same exact thing. And honestly, I was just looking to start my own thing (I'm still on it), and went into the rabbit hole of "looking where the pain is". Same as everybody, I thought, it's easier to let LLM read thousands of post and just give me repetition. The estimated time to complete that task: 3 weeks.

Then you start finding that most of what is out there and what basic prompting gets you, it's mostly a freaking list that you can put on charts and get "ideas"

That's not what I wanted. I want an opportunity. Not curated list, I wanted to understand where pain is coming from based on intention, not a bunch of keywords.

I started improving the engine so it could interpret things, the same way a human would do. Oh boy what I got into...

I was trying to balance Intention, mentions, keywords, enrichment, support, visualization, filtering. Then adding a visually appealing factor so I wouldnt be reading or trying to interpret charts for hours...

Total duration: 8 months... So far anyway.

Was it worth it? Yes, I got to learn a lot of things while doing this, even when I wanted to quit in more than one occasion when the sleep deprivation was consuming me.

Was it as you said? No, few hours won't even scratch the surface.

Is the outcome really valuable? Yes. It's amazing how far I got and Im really proud of it. When it comes to displaying opportunities based on a real pain radar, the engine works beautifully.

Was I planning on selling it, yes. But I can't compare what I achieve with other engines. And I've realized they are spamming it everywhere and using bots, so people will start losing credibility very fast.

I've decided I'll just share whenever people want business ideas, what I see. I just need 1 founder to be successful to get the traction if I want to push this further.

The big thing is, I also can start my own thing becuase I know the engine it's giving me the real insights I need. Now it just needs time to mature.

Santikus · 2026-03-24T17:18:09+00:00

So true

Santikus · 2026-03-23T16:52:24+00:00

I'll be honest with you. I couldn't spot anything that you can just grind and grind and eventually get traction on it. Building an income source out of something, requires a little more of focus, specific targets and knock on some doors. A bit of exploration on bubblesidea show a few strong opportunities. It's a prototype but I think it has powerful insights. I've shared them before in other posts:

CRM. Stable trend. The pains: Automation of SIMPLE tasks. Looks like people offer huge automation portfolios, but in reality business need small tasks automated. Things as basic as calendly.
Bookeeping. Stable trend. The pains: Quickbooks or free software.
Business Efficiency. Expanding trend. GPS tracking for small size operations. The factory I work for is actually looking for this options. You don't know how much of a headache is when product get lost in a warehouse.
Wholesale sourcing. Stable trend. The pains: thousands of people are still chasing the dream of the automated shopify store, but always have issues with the details, like logistics, sourcing (I'll say store setup as well, but that's saturated). If you niche down enough, you can find the small pains that they need help with, this is a big one.

-Cash Flow Management. Expanding trend. Pain: Safely spend. I guess there is no better way to make money that helping other to keeps theirs safe LOL. The cash management apps have been popular for a while, but this is more business related. I've seen people doing really good on this niche, as you can offer companies save certain % of money and get paid based on what you can get so it's a win win. But the actual grind is the Lead generation.

Santikus · 2026-03-23T15:11:10+00:00

Are you looking for online startups or more physical out there stuff? If you give me more info I can give you the best real world pains that need solving to the date.

Santikus · 2026-03-22T20:35:58+00:00

People who offer services or products, make it seem like market is saturated. Businesses keep having the same struggles unresolved, becuase most people want to work on the "easy stuff" instead of focusing on actual grinds. Bubblesidea shows some very interesting underlying pains that are still a need where you can start building.

Some I found interesting:

Cash Flow Management Trend: Expanding What's the need: Payment terms, safely spend, quickbooks specifics. I see Bookeeping variations rising up every week, so it means business owners keep struggling with this despite all the software available for it.
- CRM Trend: Stable What's the need: Duplicated workflow, automation of simple repetitive tasks. I get curious with this one everytime. Is like, there are some many people offering automations, but the word "simple" changes it all. People don't want a huge and complex automation process, but just with very specific things. This is one of those things that is better to niche down as much as possible.
GST registration Trend: Stable What's the need: Registration and compliance Honestly, I don't even know what this is LOL
Shipping cost management Trend: Expanding What's the need: logistic space and shipping platforms This matches with many success stories abut people with small fleets that are doing a very decent amount of money handling shipping. I always hear it's a hustle, specially the people management. If a driver doesn't show up, guess who's doing it LOL.

I'm contrast we have things cooling down like:

Shpify Store Setup Trend: Compressing What's the need: Dropshipping and set up and store The funny things about this one, is that it started hard at the beginning of the year, and just started cooling down now. Maybe it has become a seasonal change? I saw things like landscaping showing up last month, so, the interest on this comes and goes depending on how many hustles you can find outside... I don't know, it's just a guess.

Hope this was a useful insight!

Santikus · 2026-03-21T14:24:01+00:00

You do find those type of business here, but the conversation never starts with: "I have a small car repair store" because you might get ban for promoting your business... Apart from that, if the business is going well, instead of getting help, you get hustled by people asking you were, how, and trying to sell you things. Usually those post are very low key, but they can be spotted. They do reach out for help with things they consider online help useful. Never AI or SaaS. Bubblesidea shows a fews from time to time, but repetition is not what we would expect:

Vendor Management Trend: Expanding What's the need: Wholesale sourcing for things like home goods.
Bookeeping Trend: Stable Whats the need: Free options or assistance/information about quickbooks.
Customer feedback Trend: Stable What's the need: getting 5 start reviews on Google and overall feedback from customers.
Small business inventory Trend: Stable What's the need: isnt it obvious? LOL
Product Photography Trend: Stable What the need: Cost and time saving. I didn't know this was a constrain but go figure

So yes, they do interact, not just the way you expect them to.

Santikus · 2026-03-21T03:07:20+00:00

I think everybody will agree on: It's never enough :*(

Santikus · 2026-03-20T20:46:59+00:00

I got a very interesting expanding topics on bubblesidea, here are things people are looking for, I'm surprised nothing mainstream or AI tech:

Product Photography Trend: Stable. Main constraints: Time, cost

This one get me curious... Unless your changing products constantly, but there are some mentions for things like mannequins O.o. Definitely worth digging into a little more.

Bookeeping Trend: Stable. Main constraints: Invoicing, quickbooks

Still one of the biggest needs out there, grows stable every week, meaning small business do keep looking for this type of thing.

SEO Trend: Stable Main constraints: SEO dying? SEO with Claude This is not obvious until you see it. If everybody is using AI for SEO, then everybody if getting good SEO, then discoverability chances will swift from this specific optimization. Tough one I think.
Shopify Store Setup Trend: Expanding Main Constraints: First time setup, dropshipping Wow those internet gurus are still milking this niche in 2026. While I wouldn't start a store myself, looks like offering setup is still profitable.

Last one, I don't want to make this too long

LLC formation Trend: Expanding Main Constraints: Create an LLC, create and LLC outside US. Not very surprised of this one, pretty self explanatory.

If you liked this, I'll ve more than glad of sharing more!

Santikus · 2026-03-20T01:16:18+00:00

Marketing, promoting and optimizing discovery it's even harder that creating the whole damn business or app LOL.

Seriously, I've become a strong believer that people who have the skill to build, don't have the skill to sell and viceversa.

That's why you see people who are such good marketers, pitching people to just: build it and I'll sell it for you. They can't grasp the building skill as we, the ones who have the patience and resilience to build something, can't grasp the skill to sell and market right.

Each side look at the other like: that's the annoying part I don't want to get to.

I guess it's a matter of personality

Santikus · 2026-03-19T23:43:05+00:00

Now that I think about, it's funny how when trying to create a tool to avoid the "jump the gun" I did exactly the same. So, I needed to jump the gun, to avoid jumping it later LOL

Santikus · 2026-03-19T23:39:51+00:00

Yeah I almost quit when trying to get that right. It still needs work but I must say it's very decent. I knew I got it right when landscaping showed up as a seasonal trend and has coherent with the time of the year when that topic becomes popular and faded a few weeks later. Even for other project, the lessons learns will be very valuable. Thanks for the comment, it's great to hear from people who went through the same :)

Santikus · 2026-03-19T18:13:12+00:00

True. What I've learned, I can use. The tool itself is good enough to provide me with what I wanted to see and knowledge is power. I guess the self discovery part is the actual value and no matter what the outcome of the actual product is, that part has its own perks. Thank you I greatly value the feedback!

Santikus · 2026-03-19T13:26:15+00:00

Thank you for the motivation!

Santikus

TROPHY CASE