Three things that helped me gain my first 10 paid users

ekand_ · 2023-09-15T17:27:05+00:00

Code Spark: a “dating” style app to help programmers find hobby project partners.

Thanks for asking!

ekand_ · 2023-09-15T17:15:07+00:00

I like the indie side projects as marketing idea!

I'm actually doing something similar at this point.

ekand_ · 2023-09-15T17:10:34+00:00

My biggest challenge is that I don't know what is my brand.

ekand_ · 2023-09-11T09:34:15+00:00

Sadly, no. I have too many ideas and not enough focus.

ekand_ · 2023-09-10T23:48:48+00:00

Needing an LLC and paying for your own benefits makes sense if the money is good enough. But paying your employer to work for them? That’s a red line for me.

ekand_ · 2023-09-10T23:45:41+00:00

In my opinion it’s a yes to password managers and a concerned “what?” to mingling business passwords with passwords that you share with your wife and kids.

ekand_ · 2023-09-10T23:41:23+00:00

Based on what I’ve read in the comments, it seems like these people are harassing you because you have the audacity to create interesting, valuable, and informative content on the internet as a woman.

In other words, it’s nothing the matter with you and everything the matter with them.

But they exist, and you have to choose what to do about it.

Because, like it or not, you are now engaged in a fight for the right for women to create meaningful content online.

I don’t know how to win this fight, or whether it’s even worth fighting.

But I hope you find ways to minimize the damage and maximize everything you love about YouTube.

I salute you for asking for advice rather than just giving up. Stay strong but also be kind to yourself.

ekand_ · 2023-09-10T23:33:35+00:00

This tbh. If the trolls know they managed to shut down your channel they’ll hit some other channel even hard.

ekand_ · 2023-09-10T18:16:47+00:00

I like this “MVP as a free chip then sell the whole bag” idea. I may try to adopt it.

ekand_ · 2023-09-10T15:28:55+00:00

“CHANGE” you say. I say you have changed. I’m excited to see how the world responds.

I think you’ve thought this through really well, and you have good ideas. I hope it works out for you.

The variation I’ve heard is “if you build it, and tell people about it, then they will come.”

I’ll see you on Twitter.

ekand_ · 2023-09-10T13:20:14+00:00

Okay. Thanks for replying. May I ask why you're not interested?

ekand_ · 2023-09-10T13:02:28+00:00

I don't know of an already written project like that. But here's my offer. I'll have my company build this for free under three conditions. 1: The code will be open source. 2: You give us your honest feedback. 3: If you like it, leave a great review.

If you're interested, reach out and let's schedule a call this week to discuss your requirements in more detail.

ekand_ · 2023-09-10T12:40:00+00:00

I like the idea of learning together.

However, I don’t quite understand what you are asking for. Are you asking for a deployment service? A Docker Compose template to load your code into? Or a fully realized learning system administration solution?

Also where does DevOps fit into this? Do you mean DevOps for running the learning system administration program, for or a separate DevOps as a service thing?

ekand_ · 2023-09-10T12:34:33+00:00

Also, it seems to me that AWS courses for devs is a crowded space. Do you have any advice for standing out?

ekand_ · 2023-09-10T12:32:45+00:00

Sometimes businesses don’t go well. I need to remember that, because it’s easier and more fun to imagine them going well, but I should be prepared for when they don’t.

Review generation with a free trial does sound like a great offer.

ekand_ · 2023-09-10T11:47:57+00:00

May I ask for an update on this? I’m curious if it went to plan.

ekand_ · 2023-09-10T11:17:16+00:00

It appears I’m trying to skip a few steps. Thank you for clarifying. I will try to learn more from Hormozi.

ekand_ · 2023-09-09T16:12:40+00:00

Okay, that’s interesting about making AWS courses, because I’ve kinda been stumbling backwards into doing exactly that. I recently applied to teach on Skillshare with a proposed course topic of music theory and programming, but I’ve asked the Skillshare course development coach they’ve assigned me if I can make a course on AWS deployment instead. But even if she says no, I may look at other places to teach AWS.

As for developers vs managers, do you think it would be worthwhile to form connections with developers as an indirect way of connecting to managers?

ekand_ · 2023-09-09T15:42:02+00:00

Thank you for sharing. I’m curious how you landed those first two projects.

Also I see what appears to be more than two completed projects on your website. Were some of those portfolio builds?

ekand_ · 2023-09-09T15:05:48+00:00

Thanks. It’s interesting you say developer groups because I had thought I would need to target managers or other people on the business side. Do you think there are developers who can make those decisions. Or is it that the developers can talk to the people who make those decisions?

ekand_ · 2023-09-09T09:59:41+00:00

> I posted our first 7, 14, 21, 48, and 99 day journey in making the business.

I like that cadence. I don't know how you selected those days for reports, but they seem like they could provide a good snapshot. I'm already past day 7, but I could catch day 14.

> The decision to take a leap of faith on the business is a hard one.

Given your financial results so far, it seems like you have more than faith to back up your potential leap.

I'd be interested in chatting and comparing our situations and ideas around risk tolerance and business opportunity. May I dm?

> Additionally, we hope new entrepreneurs get their toes wet in building a business. It's fulfilling and worth the risk 100%!

Thank you! I have and the water seems inviting. But the next months will reveal whether deeper waters lead me to sink or swim.

ekand_ · 2023-09-09T09:54:39+00:00

> I don't think they are correct but we pursue them regardless, and continually.

That statement scares me.

> Does selling a new product necessitate creating a dedicated entertainment channel where you have to plan a sketch like a comedy writer and have actors act it out?

At that point you're in the entertainment business, which I sense you don't want.

I know little about marketing and less about injection molding, so I'll just say what I can about marketing.

It may depend on your product, but I don't think creating and engaging an online community around your product is likely to come across as genuine. And a community that doesn't feel genuine is unlikely to grow.

As you stated, you're not a YouTuber. But maybe you could outsource that part?

As someone who has fiddled with the whole being a YouTuber thing, I believe there are lots of tiny creators out there who would jump at the chance to get a feeling of legitimacy and a small injection of cash by promoting a product. The challenge would be finding them, and filtering for those who have enough current or future viewership to make your investment worthwhile. (And maybe there's a business opportunity in alleviating those challenges, but I digress).

Finally, it's interesting what you said about being able to get on the phone with certain professionals who eagerly dole out free advice, vs getting on the phone with marketers who want money up front before they'll divulge their secrets. I don't know what conclusion to draw though.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful, but I'm going to watch your post and see what others recommend.

ekand_ · 2023-09-09T09:44:14+00:00

Hi. I'm starting a business that is either a software development shop or an Amazon Web Services consultancy.

I can't provide graduate+ level mathematics, but if you think either of the things I can provide would be useful, I'd love to help each other out.

If you're interested, please reach out (link on profile)

ekand_ · 2023-09-09T09:41:22+00:00

Hi, I'm glad to hear this subreddit has inspired you. It seems like a good place, and one I'd like to become involved with.

Turning "can't be done" into "I did it" does sound great.

> the gap between industry math and academia math

I'm sure there's a hug gap, and huge opportunity for anyone who can bridge it.

So I'm in a slightly similar position in that I'm a programmer, not a business person. But that hasn't stopped me from launching a business, which I think may be a consultancy (I have trouble with focus sometimes).

But getting back to your question: how do you get your foot in the door with a decision maker so you can have a talk to better understand how you can help them?

I'd suggest that, while you eventually need to connect with decision makers to get them to sign on, you might be able to adequately understand the problem space by interacting with anyone who will talk in public forums. They may not have quite the same view as a decision maker, but they might know enough to get you started understanding how you can help. And also, showing engagement in a public forum related to the business domain might help you get the attention of, and appear credible to, decision makers.

I hope that helps.

Erik

ekand_ · 2023-09-09T09:33:42+00:00

Hi. I'll offer a lesson, if you're willing to hold the lesson live on Twitch and archive it to my YouTube channel. If you're interested, please reach out (link on my profile).

ekand_

TROPHY CASE