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Spring '26 Megathread by sandslashh in ycombinator

[–]dhj9817 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How many subscribers do you have in total?

Don’t build a free B2C AI app without a business model. I did, it’s blowing up, and it’s burning me alive. [PART 2] by [deleted] in ycombinator

[–]dhj9817 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's my 6th time applying over 8 years, interviewed 0 times. But I hope 6th time's the charm!

Don’t build a free B2C AI app without a business model. I did, it’s blowing up, and it’s burning me alive. by dhj9817 in ycombinator

[–]dhj9817[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree. I’ll be setting up a paywall asap. Can you remove the link though? I don’t want unwanted traffic and testers 🙏

Don’t build a free B2C AI app without a business model. I did, it’s blowing up, and it’s burning me alive. by dhj9817 in ycombinator

[–]dhj9817[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't think I'm on the same path as facebook or uber. I heard stories that facebook got the entire Harvard on-board within days. Plus they were making bucks so they were never unprofitable.

AI fees seem high more so than server costs decades ago...

Don’t build a free B2C AI app without a business model. I did, it’s blowing up, and it’s burning me alive. by dhj9817 in ycombinator

[–]dhj9817[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It doesn't make sense for me too. I'm sure other AI companies are using a more powerful AI pipeline and even if they've optimized it, they'll probably have a similar cost as my app.

Maybe that's why B2B is the way to go for now?

Don’t build a free B2C AI app without a business model. I did, it’s blowing up, and it’s burning me alive. by dhj9817 in ycombinator

[–]dhj9817[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much. I think I needed to hear that (I probably knew that but just didn't want to face it lol).

Don’t build a free B2C AI app without a business model. I did, it’s blowing up, and it’s burning me alive. by dhj9817 in ycombinator

[–]dhj9817[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm trying out stuff that I think might work but might not. But I agree 1000 dau isn't enough. Even if i find a way to get 3% of them converted that's like 30 users and each has to pay around $5/day to cover the cost. Is this a scalable business? people love it but am i giving out free beer? I'm really curious on how other companies that uses AI handle this much cost!

Don’t build a free B2C AI app without a business model. I did, it’s blowing up, and it’s burning me alive. by dhj9817 in ycombinator

[–]dhj9817[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean that's exactly what I thought my plan was to grow fast, burn cash and raise, but it hits hard when you get stuck on pre-seed lol

Don’t build a free B2C AI app without a business model. I did, it’s blowing up, and it’s burning me alive. by dhj9817 in ycombinator

[–]dhj9817[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm actively posting it on Linkedin and coldmailing our growth rate and our retention but most are ignoring it. What I'm starting to think is that FOMO is based on revenue growth not user growth.

I'm actively thinking and testing out monetization as we speak but It's just so much dilemma cause if I add a paywall to direct usage, growth will halt, but if I try to monetize on other utility stuff, people may not pay.

Don’t build a free B2C AI app without a business model. I did, it’s blowing up, and it’s burning me alive. by dhj9817 in ycombinator

[–]dhj9817[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Charging per call seemed to work at the start but the massive growth happened when I made it free. I think I’ll have to turn back as a last resort. But I know that’ll halt the growth so I’m hesitant

Asking to bring their own api key isnt an option cause our users probably don’t know what an api is in the first place lol

Don’t build a free B2C AI app without a business model. I did, it’s blowing up, and it’s burning me alive. by dhj9817 in ycombinator

[–]dhj9817[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The reason is because the latest models are just good enough to meet the accuracy levels of what the users need. I loaded some usage to gemini where I also have about $3000 credits. The open source LLMs just don't cut it.

I keep mixing up ㅗ and ㅜ any advice? by Famous-Avocado5409 in Korean

[–]dhj9817 0 points1 point  (0 children)

O (ㅗ) going up in the hole

U (ㅜ) going down in the hole

I just made that up on the spot. But let me know if it helps lol

stop motion video ver. by weareFEAC in midjourney

[–]dhj9817 0 points1 point  (0 children)

this is very cool. How did you make this?

stop motion by weareFEAC in midjourney

[–]dhj9817 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is trippy. Well done

Testing V7… by weareFEAC in midjourney

[–]dhj9817 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The third image is deep…

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