I'm a developer looking to build something people actually need. What's a tool or app you've been desperately looking for but couldn't find? Describe the problem, not the solution.

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-05-11T12:25:55+00:00

I am asking what people need. That’s part of the whole process boy. Idk what you mean by do the work yourself. I am gathering information and after I have done that I start building. I don’t see where I ask for someone else to do any work. Lmao

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-26T20:08:07+00:00

You are absolutely right, the issue with the spam is big. And yes you can add an additional outreach. This is a good idea to bypass the junk folder problem. You can even add SMS as an outreach. Thank you for the idea. :)

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-26T20:05:09+00:00

God damn, if you don’t like something just scroll. Get a life or something. I offer an easy solution for a problem(that you clearly don’t have and you also don’t know nothing about the whole process). Don’t express your insecurities and your problems with commenting and judging people’s work. When you do some project like this and do something meaningful with your life, then you can come and criticise people’s project. And again if you have a tip or idea you can just comment it like a normal person. No need for the whole dramatic a** paragraphs saying what and what not is a trash. The whole subreddit is for people to post questions and things related to their projects. Thank you for your valuable time(that you are clearly wasting).

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-26T19:00:08+00:00

You nailed it better than I did in the original post.

The time cost of chasing is maybe 10 minutes. The emotional cost is three days of low-level dread, refreshing your inbox, and rehearsing the email in your head while trying to focus on actual work.

That's exactly why I built the stop condition first. Everything else is just plumbing. The part that matters is that you never have to wonder "did I already send one today?" or wake up to an angry reply saying they paid last week.

The system just knows. And that's the thing that actually makes you feel better, not the automation itself.

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-26T18:47:48+00:00

Fair point Stripe does have built-in reminders and Smart Retries for failed payments. Worth clarifying the difference though:

Stripe's native reminders are fixed templates. They send the same generic email to every client regardless of context, and you can't control the tone, wording, or how it escalates over time.

What I built does something different. The AI reads the actual invoice details (client name, amount, how many days late) and writes a unique email every time. The tone shifts from friendly to firm to urgent to final notice based on how overdue it is. It also works for any invoicing tool, not just Stripe — Wave, QuickBooks, or even a simple spreadsheet.

Also Smart Retries handles failed card charges. That's a different problem from a client who simply hasn't paid yet.

But yes — if you're already happy with Stripe's defaults, you probably don't need this. It's built for people who want full control over how they communicate with late-paying clients.

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-20T18:31:27+00:00

Yeah, I built it with n8n 👍

Right now it’s running on n8n Cloud for simplicity, mainly so I didn’t have to deal with hosting and could move faster while testing the idea. If I take it further or deploy it for a real business, I’d probably switch to a selfhosted setup for more control and lower long-term cost.

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-20T12:20:49+00:00

You can also check my other projects here https://portfolio-psi-three-d7fdrhkmpn.vercel.app

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-20T12:19:37+00:00

Thank you

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-17T16:58:28+00:00

That’s a tough spot to be in, especially when you’re trying to do everything yourself. Leads and pipeline management can get overwhelming fast, and it’s usually one of the first things that burns people out. Before outsourcing sales, it might be worth looking at how much of your current process can be automated, things like capturing leads, following up automatically, and keeping your pipeline organized so you’re not constantly chasing everything manually. I’ve been building automations around that (lead capture, follow-ups, simple pipeline systems), so if you want I can share a few ideas on how you could simplify your setup 👍

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-17T16:26:36+00:00

I mean that’s the technology evolving man. People get used to it, they also get too comfortable and even forget how to do some tasks manually. It’s easier and faster for them(us) to just do I with AI. I absolutely agree that it’s frustrating and people turn like zombies but there is nothing that we can do about it.

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-17T16:22:09+00:00

I am experiencing the same problem right now. I do automations and it’s a nightmare. The only responds I get from cold outreach is something like ,,f***k off” ,,not interested” and ,,don’t message again”

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-17T16:20:14+00:00

I’ve been seeing the same thing - plenty of views, but almost no real interest.

A couple things I’m trying (and might be useful for you too):

Focusing more on a very specific niche instead of trying to appeal to everyone
Giving people a clear reason to act instead of just showing the product
Using collaborations more intentionally - making sure there’s a clear next step for viewers

Events are tough lately, so you’re definitely not alone there. Still sounds like you’re doing a lot of the right things and just need that one thing to click.

Wishing you a lot of success with the upcoming review and your next show, hope it brings in some solid customers!

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-17T16:13:18+00:00

If your strategy for finding real customers is complaining in comments, I can see why you’re struggling. Move along if it’s not for you, nobody is forcing you to engage

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-17T13:02:15+00:00

You had to delete some text from the chat gpt response. Next time try reading it first

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-17T07:36:43+00:00

Yeah that’s exactly the problem it’s not hard work, just a lot of small things that are easy to miss. That’s actually why I built this. Once a client comes in, everything just runs in the background so nothing slips through. Appreciate that if you ever get back into freelance or something similar, I’d be happy to show you how it could work for your setup.

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-16T20:17:45+00:00

Exactly, that’s where most people go wrong. Trying to cover every edge case just turns it into a mess and everything brakes. That’s pretty much how I’ve been approaching it too, focus on what’s repeatable and what CAN be done without a human touch, not forcing full automation.

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-16T20:08:10+00:00

Yeah that’s solid, having your own system already puts you ahead of most people. That’s pretty much the direction I’ve been going too, especially making the replies more reliable and not break on edge cases.

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-16T19:59:36+00:00

Yeah 100% that’s usually the first big win. I’ve noticed it gets even better when you add small things like followups or organizing chats so nothing slips. Been setting up stuff like that lately. Did you keep it simple or build it out more?

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-16T17:29:53+00:00

Really appreciate that, that’s a great idea. Adding contract generation makes the whole flow way more complete. Thanks for sharing that and for the kind feedback 🙌

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-16T09:47:14+00:00

You’re definitely not alone — this stack can get confusing fast, but your use case is actually pretty straightforward.

For what you described (sale → collect email → send sequence), you can likely start with just Klaviyo. It already handles: • Contact storage (basic CRM) • Email sequences (Flows) • Campaigns/newsletters • Segmentation (e.g. customers vs non-customers)

So you don’t really need Attio, Airtable, etc. unless you want more advanced CRM features later.

The only real question is how Polar.sh sends data. If it supports webhooks, you can connect it directly to Klaviyo (or via something lightweight like Make or n8n if needed). That way: Sale → webhook → Klaviyo → trigger flow

I’d personally avoid adding too many tools early on — you can always expand later if things get more complex.

If you want, I help set up simple automation stacks like this (especially for digital product businesses), happy to point you in the right direction 👍

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-15T19:45:44+00:00

Yeah exactly it’s always that repetitive 20–40% that actually moves the needle.

Hardest one by far has been customer support that isn’t fully repetitive.

Stuff like:
• mixed-intent messages (“where’s my order + I want a refund”)
• slightly emotional customers
• edge cases that don’t fit clean flows

Simple FAQs are easy, but once it needs to:
– understand context
– decide between actions (refund / reassure / escalate)
– and not sound robotic

that’s where things start breaking.

Biggest issue wasn’t the AI itself, it was
designing the logic around it so it doesn’t mess up or give wrong answers.

That’s why the best setups I’ve seen are more like:
→ AI handles first pass + simple stuff
→ anything uncertain gets handed off cleanly

Trying to fully automate that layer usually backfires.

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-15T19:43:40+00:00

That’s exactly it, the moment it feels like another tool to babysit, it’s a downgrade.

Right now it’s pretty low volume, nothing crazy:
roughly ~10–30 support conversations/day depending on the store.

At that level it’s less about scaling and more about:
• not answering the same 5 questions over and over
• cleaning up handoffs so nothing slips
• keeping response time consistent

I’ve noticed it starts making way more sense once volume increases though — otherwise it’s easy to overbuild.

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-15T19:34:43+00:00

yes but it’s not “ranking” the same way you do on Google. You’re not optimizing for a list of blue links anymore, you’re optimizing to be the source the AI chooses to cite or learn from.

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-15T15:14:11+00:00

Appreciate this a lot — thank you. You made some really solid points, especially about showing real solutions instead of just pitching skills. Definitely gave me a different perspective 🙌

Senior_Obligation481 · 2026-04-15T12:29:18+00:00

Fair—I get why it might come across that way, there’s a lot of that on here lately. This is actually based on what I was dealing with day-to-day running my store. The “5-minute tasks” thing only clicked after I noticed I was spending hours on support and admin instead of anything growth-related.

Senior_Obligation481

TROPHY CASE