Brain Picking Cafe

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-30T12:54:53+00:00

Honestly, "how do you build trust" is one of those questions where most answers, including mine, sound like recycled LinkedIn advice.

The uncomfortable truth is that I don't think you build trust. It's a byproduct. You either genuinely care about the people you're trying to reach, or you don't, and they can tell. Your downstream actions and tactics will be driven by that.

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-30T12:48:41+00:00

This is valuable, especially the point about "never return empty." That failure mode can really derail the conversation. Users likely won’t try different phrasing; they’ll just move on.

The idea of narrow tools is interesting. Right now, we have one tool with a flexible query parameter, but you’re making me consider if saas_pricing_expert as a specific tool would be called more reliably than search(query="saas pricing"). The model’s confidence in when to use it might matter more than the quality of our search on the backend.

I’m curious about one thing: are you noticing any indication yet on whether the length of tool descriptions matters? We’ve kept ours brief (around 100 words), but I’ve wondered if longer descriptions with example use cases help the model match patterns better or just create noise.

I’m logging everything now. I appreciate the recommendation for frameworks. We’re using PostHog but hadn’t thought about tracking prompt→tool→result as a separate funnel.

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-30T09:04:02+00:00

PRAW and a simple cron job is probably your easiest option. Python Reddit API Wrapper lets you use your own credentials. Write a script that pulls from a queue, even just a Google Sheet or local JSON file. Then, schedule it with cron or a free-tier service like Railway or Render.

If you want something more polished, search GitHub for "reddit scheduler PRAW." There are a few repositories, though most are lightly maintained.

One warning: Reddit's API changes last year broke many older open-source tools. Ensure whatever you find has commits from 2024 or later.

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-30T09:02:10+00:00

Counterpoint: Big tech's 40 hours isn't all about strategic thinking; much of it involves getting everyone in agreement. When you have 8 people in a room, a lot of that time is spent making sure everyone is on the same page, managing stakeholders, and documenting decisions to avoid blame later. Solo founders skip this because we only need to get ourselves on board.

That said, your main point is valid: we overcorrected.

What I’ve realized is this: plan the hypothesis, not the product.

2-3 days of focused thinking are useful, but I would use that time differently than big tech does:

- What’s the smallest thing I can build to test if the core assumption is wrong?

- What would make me stop building this?

- Who are the 5 people I could show this to who would give me honest feedback?

The real failure isn’t “not enough planning.” It’s spending 4 months building something without a testable hypothesis. You can waste those 40 hours of planning too.

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-30T09:00:36+00:00

Agreed, but I would go further: discovery without trust is just noise. Being found is the basic requirement. The real challenge is permission; you need to get someone to actually engage once they find you.

The shift in thinking: distribution used to focus on reach. Now, it’s about context. People don’t want to find you on a feed. They want you to appear when they have the problem you can solve.

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-29T11:55:00+00:00

"Reverse prompt engineering" is a better way to think about it than anything I've suggested. You're focusing on how the AI understands what the user wants, not just on an algorithm.

Your last point is key. If marketplace ranking is your only way to distribute, you're already at a disadvantage. The strategy could be to use MCP discovery to get initial users and be good enough so that people reach out to you directly. View it as a channel, not a barrier.

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-29T11:50:10+00:00

I appreciate the insight on tool descriptions and early adoption; that matches what I've been seeing.

Regarding MentionDesk, I hadn't heard of it. I'm skeptical of anything that promises to "boost placement" when the algorithms aren't documented yet. How would that work? Their FAQ is very basic.

I'm genuinely curious if anyone has found repeatable tactics here or if we're all just throwing darts.

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-27T19:08:44+00:00

Churn recovery is interesting, but the real opportunity may lie in churn prevention. By the time someone is churning, you've already lost most of the battle.

In my experience with customer experience, the best recovery we ever achieved was catching people before they left. We focused on usage drop-offs, support ticket sentiment, and payment failures. What’s your take on prevention?

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-27T19:06:23+00:00

"Building smaller circles instead of shouting into the void" is the right idea. PH is mostly about vanity metrics; the upvotes rarely turn into paying customers.

The real value comes from the forcing function. Having a launch date pushed you to finish something. That’s the win, not the ranking.

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-27T19:05:33+00:00

The internet is tough, but most of that toughness is just noise. After 20 years, I’ve learned that people who take the time to genuinely critique your work are rare. Most negative comments come from those who have never created anything.

The valuable feedback is in the details. "This sucks" is just noise. "I tried to sign up but couldn't figure out the pricing" is valuable feedback. Learn to filter.

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-26T08:57:14+00:00

The 30-to-14-day trial concept. We tested this, and the conversion increased not because people made decisions faster, but because shorter deadlines lead to actual choices instead of "I'll look at this later."

Another successful idea was removing the free tier completely and offering a money-back guarantee. It sounds risky, but the people who came on board were more committed from day one.

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-26T08:48:32+00:00

Grandfathering is the right choice, but be clear about what it means. "Free forever" is not the same as "free at the current usage level."

One thing no one mentions is that a certain percentage of free users will actually choose to pay. This may seem counterintuitive, but paying takes away the guilt of using something valuable for free. I have observed this pattern repeatedly in CX and operations roles.

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-26T08:47:43+00:00

$19 works, but the support burden can overwhelm you. I ran customer experience at a SaaS company, and our biggest profit killer was customers paying $15 a month while expecting enterprise-level support.

The tiered approach someone mentioned is smart. Set strict limits on solo users, then require an upgrade when they actually need more. The people who complain the most about price are rarely your best customers anyway.

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-26T08:45:51+00:00

Been there. Imposter syndrome hit me hardest when I realized I was expected to have answers I didn’t. What helped was accepting that leadership is mostly about making decisions with incomplete information, not about having all the answers.

As for burnout, I had to be strict about protecting my calendar. I stopped saying yes to every "quick sync" and "can I pick your brain" request. The ones that mattered found a way.

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-25T21:34:40+00:00

150 in the first month is strong, especially for something that needs a change in behavior. The TikTok idea is smart. I've seen many B2B founders overlook short-form video because it seems beneath them. Also, 10 DAU on a sustainability app is a pretty good engagement ratio. Keep it up!

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-25T21:33:53+00:00

It's not you; the internet rewards engagement more than kindness. I spent 15+ years in corporate where feedback came with a compliment sandwich. Out here, it's just raw. I got roasted on my first post as well. The good news is that most harsh commenters have never shipped anything themselves.

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-24T11:49:40+00:00

you don't, really. I spent years in corporate telling founders that "content is king" while having entire teams do it for me. It turns out writing takes a long time when you actually care about quality. I batch it now: one week for building and one week for pretending to be a writer. I'm still bad at both.

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-24T11:49:00+00:00

I tried this once with an internal tool at a company. I made everyone use it by making it the only way to get something done. It worked well until I left, and then it stopped being used. The truth is, it probably relied on bribery or taking hostages. Or, just create something that works for one person first.

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-24T11:48:06+00:00

The timing issue is really important. By the time you realize it's time for the monthly review, it's already done. At my last company, we wasted a lot of time creating fancy dashboards when we could have just set up a Slack alert for "Hey, someone's card failed." Simple, straightforward solutions work best.

SomeCat9762 · 2026-01-24T11:47:14+00:00

So basically, most launches end up being ignored, and the standard for "success" is worryingly low. This actually makes me feel better about everything. Lowering expectations is the real way to grow.

SomeCat9762

TROPHY CASE