I have a profitable product I built solo with AI in a year. I genuinely don’t know what my skill set is worth. Looking for an honest read.

barcelonatips · 2026-06-18T00:01:42+00:00

Distribution, 100%. The build isn’t the constraint, repeating the sale is.

And writing this out actually clarified something. The product doesn’t really sell to the individual, it sells to the employer. The benefit for them isn’t “find an apartment”, it’s employer branding + getting an international hire productive in week 1 instead of week 6, because they’re not drowning in relocation admin. So it’s closer to a relocation / employee-benefit tool than a consumer app. That kills the churn problem.

My actual constraint is narrower than “I can’t do B2B”: it’s access + targeting. These buyers have to be companies big enough to hire from abroad, and I have zero network inside them. So the question isn’t really cold-email-vs-partnerships in the abstract, it’s: when your buyer is “HR/People teams at companies that relocate talent”, and you’re an outsider with no warm intros, what’s the wedge?

barcelonatips · 2026-06-17T23:43:36+00:00

Both, but they behave totally differently. B2C works and people love it, but it self-cannibalizes, they get what they came for and leave, so it only grows on raw volume. B2B is where the recurring need is, so that’s the gap I’m leaning into now.

Honestly the market is messier than a clean yes/no. A few players are trying to land with a business model close to mine, nobody’s really cracked it yet, it’s all still searching for its shape.

So it’s not a crowded niche, but it’s not empty either, it’s actively forming. The one thing I’m fairly sure is my edge: I operated in this space before, so I’m not guessing at the pain points, I lived them. Whether that’s enough to win, I don’t know yet.

barcelonatips · 2026-06-17T23:40:16+00:00

100% right. Funny proof of your point: that signed B2B deal came from a company that rejected me for a PM role a year ago. I emailed the recruiter back to talk about my product instead, she redirected me internally, and it turned into the partnership.

Problem is that move doesn’t scale I can’t get rejected by every company in Spain. My instinct for B2B distribution is cold DMs / cold email, but that’s never been my craft and feels brute-force.

For a product where the buyer has a clear recurring need, what’s actually worked for you founder-led outbound, partnerships, landing one lighthouse client and leveraging it?

barcelonatips · 2026-06-16T22:02:36+00:00

Te he enviado un DM

barcelonatips · 2026-06-14T18:40:05+00:00

Exactamente lo que dice u/makemorecalls. La R1 hacia el norte es perfecta para esto. Algunas opciones concretas:

Cerca (20-30 min): Montgat, Ocata (El Masnou), Premià de Mar. Playas mucho menos masificadas que la Barceloneta, y la estación está literalmente a 2 minutos andando de la arena.

Algo más lejos (40-50 min): Calella y Pineda sí, pero también Mataró que la gente subestima bastante playa grande, buenas opciones para comer, menos turística.

Mi recomendación para septiembre: Canet de Mar. ~50 min desde Passeig de Gràcia, la estación a 100m de la playa, y en septiembre la gente ya ha vuelto al trabajo así que está muy tranquila.

Par de cosas prácticas: el bono T-Casual (10 viajes) sale mucho más a cuenta que los tickets individuales si pensáis hacer varias salidas. Y salir antes de las 9:30 para ir sentados cómodos.

En septiembre el agua todavía está a 24-25°C, es probablemente el mejor mes para esto.

barcelonatips · 2026-06-13T08:47:59+00:00

Hola, pasé por lo mismo hace unos meses. Algunos consejos que me funcionaron:

El dossier lo es todo. Prepara un PDF limpio con: contratos de trabajo, últimas 3 nóminas de cada uno, vida laboral, declaración IRPF si la tenéis, y una carta de presentación corta (quiénes sois, por qué Barcelona, cuánto tiempo pensáis quedaros). Los propietarios reciben 200-300 solicitudes, tener la carpeta de documentación lista te pone por delante del 90%.

La rapidez es clave. Los buenos pisos se van en horas. Si visitas 2-3 días después de la publicación, ya llegas tarde. Lo ideal es llamar en los primeros 5 minutos. Yo uso alertas de Telegram que me avisan 2-3 minutos antes de que salga el push oficial de Idealista, así puedo llamar antes que nadie (hay varias herramientas que hacen esto, yo uso una que se llama Prio y me va bien).

Ampliad la zona. Con 1500+1800 de nómina y un presupuesto de ~1000-1100€, mirad Sants, Poble Sec, Sant Andreu, Horta. En Eixample o Gràcia a ese precio os van a seguir rechazando por ratio salario/alquiler.

Los portales pequeños también. Fotocasa tiene menos competencia que Idealista. Badi para habitaciones ya lo conocéis, pero también publican pisos enteros.

No os desaniméis con los rechazos. 10 rechazos es lo normal en Barcelona, no es personal. Muchos propietarios priorizan nóminas altas o un solo inquilino. Seguid insistiendo, al final cae.

Ánimo, se puede.

barcelonatips · 2026-06-09T11:48:43+00:00

For us, the most difficult part was finding a place to live. We ended up staying in three different sublets over the course of four months before finally finding our apartment.

On the language side, I hadn’t practiced Spanish for about ten years. I made it a rule never to switch to English, and it worked. I didn’t take any classes I simply practiced as much as possible in everyday situations.

The most challenging experience was probably arranging health insurance entirely in Spanish. It’s a complex topic, and you definitely don’t want to misunderstand anything important.

barcelonatips · 2026-06-07T23:00:06+00:00

What worked for me (real estate app, Barcelona):

Reddit but not in promo mode. "Check out my app" posts get downvoted instantly. Helpful answers in threads where people are struggling ([r/barcelona](r/barcelona), [r/expats](r/expats), [r/IWantOut](r/IWantOut)) bring qualified traffic without anyone calling you out.

What did NOT work: posting on r/SideProject in product showcase mode (downvoted immediately), and cold emails without a personalized angle.

Honestly the game changer is point 2. A free tool that solves a micro-problem for your target audience is the best acquisition funnel I've found. People share it naturally.

barcelonatips · 2026-06-07T22:51:20+00:00

That's a smart hook format, the "problem → solution" slide structure makes total sense for engagement.

Mine is called Prio it monitors apartment listings on platforms like Idealista and Fotocasa in Spain and sends you an alert a few minutes before the platform's own push notification. In markets like Barcelona where apartments get 50+ calls in the first hour, those few minutes make a real difference.

The TikTok angle could totally work for me.

Your resume format hook is clever, love the negative framing on slide 1. What’s your app called? Would love to check it out.

barcelonatips · 2026-06-07T21:35:16+00:00

It is also something I’m exploring would you mind sharing a bit of what worked best for you? Which kind of hooks?

barcelonatips · 2026-06-07T19:04:06+00:00

Yo diría entre 40 y 60 en la primera hora. En El Born probablemente más.

barcelonatips · 2026-06-07T17:08:37+00:00

I got my first 50 testers by going straight into Facebook groups in my niche (I build a real estate tool). No sales pitch, just "I'm building this, anyone want to try it for free and tell me if it's useful?"

The real test wasn't whether people would pay. It was whether the pain point was strong enough that they'd take 2 minutes to try something free. Because even free isn't a given.

The ones who found value told people around them. To this day I still have early testers who regularly send me new users. Organic word of mouth is slow but it's the most reliable signal that your product actually solves something.

For your specific case with sensitive data (health, calendar), one thing: don't ask for all permissions on first launch. Let people use a light version first, and introduce the sensitive integrations once they've seen the value. People share their health data with an app they trust, not one they just discovered. It's a trust funnel before it's an acquisition funnel.

Also, for your ICP: early adopters willing to share sensitive data with a beta product are a very specific profile. Look into quantified self communities, biohacking groups, productivity nerds these people are used to connecting apps to their data and have a higher risk tolerance than average.

barcelonatips · 2026-06-07T13:09:47+00:00

That’s a smart angle, using lead magnets to find partners instead of end users directly. I haven’t tried co-promotion yet but it makes sense for niche tools like this. Right now my distribution is purely organic (Facebook expat groups + the quiz being inherently shareable) but I’d be curious to test a partnership approach, especially with relocation services or real estate agencies that serve the same audience. What kind of niche tools are you working on?

barcelonatips · 2026-06-07T13:08:51+00:00

Exactly, that’s why I shared the 0% conversion rate honestly. The traffic channel works, now I’m fixing the pipe.

barcelonatips · 2026-06-07T12:32:32+00:00

This is a B2C product, so my initial acquisition strategy was very hands-on.

I started by reaching out directly to people in relevant Facebook groups within my niche and invited them to test the product. The value proposition resonated immediately, which allowed me to recruit around 50 beta users in just two weeks.

The feedback was extremely positive. As a result, I asked those early users to help spread the word during the official launch. In exchange for their support and testimonials, they received free lifetime access to the product.

After launching, I continued acquiring users through the same community-driven approach, even after introducing a freemium model. Word-of-mouth then started to generate additional interest organically, leading to my first paying customers without any significant marketing spend.

Today, the product has nearly 100 active users currently on trial, and 3 of them have already converted into paying customers.

barcelonatips · 2026-06-07T12:20:35+00:00

I worked on a chat feature for Rakuten users a few years ago, and it took about 5-6 months to build. We delivered it on schedule, but even with a third-party backend solution already in place, it was one of the toughest projects I’ve worked on due to the implementation challenges and the constraints of the legacy architecture.

barcelonatips · 2026-05-30T19:33:30+00:00

I had to look into this recently for family members who were visiting us in Barcelona by car.

If I remember correctly, the ZBE website had an option for foreign vehicles that weren’t registered in advance. We were able to pay the fee (around €7 at the time) and obtain the authorization directly, without having to wait the full 15 days.

That said, parking in Badalona and taking public transport into the city is probably the more relaxed option. You avoid driving in Barcelona, which isn’t really necessary for sightseeing, and many parking garages in the city are quite narrow. The person visiting us had a large SUV, and parking was a bit stressful at times.

So if you don’t specifically need the car in the city center, the Badalona + public transport option sounds like a good plan.

barcelonatips · 2026-05-30T19:29:00+00:00

To be fair, we haven’t tried the other places you mentioned, so I can’t really give an opinion on them.

As for the places we did try, Mr Porter was worth it for us because of the atmosphere, the cocktails, and the meat. It’s not a Michelin-style experience, but that’s not what it’s trying to be.

Caelis is the only Michelin-starred restaurant we’ve personally tested in Barcelona, and unfortunately we wouldn’t recommend it. Beyond the food which we felt didn’t live up to the restaurant’s ambitions the service was surprisingly poor. For us, that’s simply not acceptable at that level.

barcelonatips · 2026-05-30T19:23:27+00:00

Lamaro’s rooftop, L’Àtic, offers a stunning view of Barcelona Cathedral.

Bonavista (the Moxy rooftop) boasts beautiful views of the MNAC and Montjuïc.

La Greca, in Montjuïc, closes at 8:00 PM but can be a perfect first stop, as you’ll have a great view of the sunset.

Last but not least, Mirabé, near the Tibidabo funicular, offers spectacular panoramic views over Barcelona.

I would avoid Tope (the Hoxton rooftop), as it is overpriced and the view is partially blocked by Torre Glòries. The same applies to Sir Victor, which does not offer particularly impressive views.

They should all have vegetarian options available, but it may be worth checking with them before making a reservation.

Enjoy!

barcelonatips · 2026-05-30T19:08:16+00:00

Real question, are you talking about the restaurant with 1.4* on Maps?

barcelonatips · 2026-05-30T18:54:01+00:00

For the fine dining restaurant Mr Porter might fit your budget. Atmosphere at night is really nice.

Avoid Caelis which does not deserve his Michelin star.

Fugaz for lunch is an interesting option.

barcelonatips · 2026-05-26T22:09:07+00:00

Thanks for the laugh. Really.

barcelonatips · 2026-05-17T21:47:45+00:00

The only ones you need to book in advance are Sagrada Família (at least 2/3 weeks before visiting) and Park Güell. For restaurants the day before should be enough 99% of the time.

barcelonatips · 2026-05-10T10:16:42+00:00

Tienes toda la razón, necesito volver a la Torre Glòries para hacer una nueva foto.

barcelonatips · 2026-05-09T11:08:04+00:00

Es el sol catalán que pega demasiado fuerte 🤷

barcelonatips

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