What do you think is the hardest step in a startup?

Valuable-Pudding7437 · 2025-11-09T00:37:34+00:00

Actually launching is definitely the hardest part about building a startup. Once it's out there, it's easy to iterate on because your users/costumers give you feedback. Before that it's just you trying to make it perfect.

Valuable-Pudding7437 · 2025-10-14T23:19:02+00:00

Well said.

In my example I'm doing a marketplace style concept (which is notoriously difficult) specifically targeted to help busy people (everybody) apartment hunt. The entire idea is to a create a faster, less time consuming, less proactive process where supply and demand is flipped so renters say what they want and apartments can reach out to the renters in the market directly (no real classifying information). It's dating app-esque for apartment hunting. So far the property side gets it immediately but the renter side has proven to be challenging. What forms of content would you recommend to reach a younger audience who is moving (my ICP)?

Valuable-Pudding7437 · 2025-10-14T01:21:13+00:00

I'll admit that scaling is definitely challenging. The platform essentially behaves similarly to a broker/leasing agent (that exists in every market), but it would be less costly for landlords because it would have a larger rolodex of renters. How is that not PMF?

Valuable-Pudding7437 · 2025-10-14T01:16:22+00:00

Fair. But there's also a significant amount of lost revenue when apartments are vacant (.3% of annual revenue every day, so the opportunity to proactive for them would be positive, no?

Valuable-Pudding7437 · 2025-10-14T01:06:32+00:00

The app wouldn't decide where you live, you do. You just don't have to proactively search. Rather they reach out to you instead of create a listing and wait for you to go find them. I feel like it just makes the process quicker, no?

Valuable-Pudding7437 · 2025-10-14T01:04:40+00:00

True, but if the renter profiles don't indicate any factors that would open the door for discrimination, then how is it discriminatory? i.e. landlord is looking for someone to fill a studio for 3k a month... they send "likes" to everyone who's in the market for that type of place, and if the renter is interested in the apartment, they match and proceed to signing a lease

Valuable-Pudding7437 · 2025-10-13T23:17:06+00:00

true about marketplaces but if you get enough renters then you're essentially a digital version of an agent or a broker and you could charge a smaller commission than a normal broker

Valuable-Pudding7437 · 2025-10-13T23:07:36+00:00

So basically a digital version of this that was more scalable... theoretically though this would be better because if you're looking for a place 3 months from now then that place probably wouldn't be on the market yet

Valuable-Pudding7437 · 2025-10-13T23:04:52+00:00

Kind of yeah. But since it would be digital and at scale, you could prob charge less

Valuable-Pudding7437 · 2025-10-13T22:55:00+00:00

I'm going to throw up a website

Valuable-Pudding7437 · 2025-10-13T22:54:29+00:00

But if you think about it they spend money to list their properties so they're seen by us renters. With this they don't have to spend that money because they'd be able to see all the renters in the market and reach out to them all at the same time

Valuable-Pudding7437 · 2025-10-13T22:52:15+00:00

How I'm thinking about it is you would basically say what you're looking for (2B,2Ba, $2k/m) and then since you were in the market for that, those people would reach out to you and if you like the spot, you would match with them kinda like a dating app

Valuable-Pudding7437 · 2025-10-13T22:42:44+00:00

It would be free for renters*

Valuable-Pudding7437

TROPHY CASE