u/amacg

Every time DHH does a podcast (David Senra pod dropped yesterday) I’m reminded he has one of the best workspaces I’ve ever seen.

Every time DHH does a podcast (David Senra pod dropped yesterday) I’m reminded he has one of the best workspaces I’ve ever seen.

In late 2024 I couldn’t code (tried but gave up numerous times).

I discovered vibe coding in late 2024.

Since then I’ve:

• shipped my first app
• built 8 products
• gone from almost no GitHub activity to nearly 5,000 contributions this year
• learned more by shipping than I ever did by consuming tutorials

Anyone else have a similar journey these past 2 years?

This was one of the most interesting charts from a Stripe’s report 'The age of the solopreneur'.

The number of solopreneurs crossing every major revenue threshold continues to accelerate, especially at the $500k and $1M levels.

My guess is it’s a combination of:

• AI reducing the cost of building
• Better developer tools
• Global payments becoming trivial
• Social media replacing traditional marketing

If you’re building today, do you think we’re at the beginning of the one-person company era, or is this just a temporary AI bubble?

I suspect the former, in fact, I'm betting on it!

I've spent the last year learning how to build software after a career in marketing.

Over that time I've launched a product discovery platform, a media database, and a handful of other projects. What surprised me most is that building has become easier thanks to AI, but getting users is still incredibly difficult.

I've gone from obsessing over features to obsessing over distribution. Most founders don't fail because they can't build. They fail because nobody knows they exist.

Recently I decided to start documenting the journey on YouTube. Mostly to keep myself accountable and to create a record of what works and what doesn't.

For those building startups today, what's the biggest lesson you've learned in the last 12 months?

After watching thousands of products launch here, Product Hunt, X, LinkedIn and elsewhere, I've tried to distill the 7 biggest factors behind startup product success. Here's my take:

1. Distribution > product

I'm biased but for the majority of software products now, you start with an prototype product and get distribution to create a customer feedback loop and make it better. Not the other way around.

2. Consistency compounds

The guys that consistently ship and push their product across X, LinkedIn, Reddit etc win. You have to put in the work every day between building, marketing and selling.

3. Founders with audience move faster

Part of the reason I built Launch is to help people have an audience. But it really starts with your own personal brand/following. Build that up even as you cycle through failure as it will stand you in good stead when you have something that clicks.

4. Speed wins

It's easier than ever to ship updates. Hell I'm not a developer and I can now ship daily with Codex that would've taken me weeks before. Use this to your advantage to move faster than existing players.

5. Most people price too low

$9. Yup been there, done that. You can't have a viable business unless you charge more. Everyone sees the massive success like Google, ChatGPT etc that do free products. That's not you. Charge more money and re-invest that back into your thing.

6. Momentum attracts momentum

People like when other people win. Might be cringe but you have to post your wins. MRR, ARR, users, traffic etc whatever is going up. Share that and people will follow you/try your thing.

7. The founders that keep going usually win

Hardest one of all. There's a fine line between giving up and keeping going. If you have traction, you'll know it and you have to keep going with that thing. The worst thing you can do is move on to something else when you have something that might just win.

Building is easier than ever, attention is the bottleneck now.

Most important: don't be one of those who quit too early. If you have traction, double down and go all-in.

After watching thousands of products launch here, Product Hunt, X, LinkedIn and elsewhere, I've tried to distill the 7 biggest factors behind startup product success. Here's my take:

1. Distribution > product

I'm biased but for the majority of software products now, you start with an prototype product and get distribution to create a customer feedback loop and make it better. Not the other way around.

2. Consistency compounds

The guys that consistently ship and push their product across X, LinkedIn, Reddit etc win. You have to put in the work every day between building, marketing and selling.

3. Founders with audience move faster

Part of the reason I built Launch is to help people have an audience. But it really starts with your own personal brand/following. Build that up even as you cycle through failure as it will stand you in good stead when you have something that clicks.

4. Speed wins

AI makes it easier than ever to ship updates. Hell I'm not a developer and I can now ship daily with Codex that would've taken me weeks before. Use this to your advantage to move faster than existing players.

5. Most people price too low

$9. Yup been there, done that. You can't have a viable business unless you charge more. Everyone sees the massive success like Google, ChatGPT etc that do free products. That's not you. Charge more money and re-invest that back into your thing.

6. Momentum attracts momentum

People like when other people win. Might be cringe but you have to post your wins. MRR, ARR, users, traffic etc whatever is going up. Share that and people will follow you/try your thing.

7. The founders that keep going usually win

Hardest one of all. There's a fine line between giving up and keeping going. If you have traction, you'll know it and you have to keep going with that thing. The worst thing you can do is move on to something else when you have something that might just win.

Building is easier than ever, attention is the bottleneck now.

Most important: don't be one of those who quit too early. If you have traction, double down and go all-in.

After watching thousands of products launch here, Product Hunt, X, LinkedIn and elsewhere, I've tried to distill the 7 biggest factors behind startup product success. Here's my take:

1. Distribution > product

I'm biased but for the majority of software products now, you start with an prototype product and get distribution to create a customer feedback loop and make it better. Not the other way around.

2. Consistency compounds

The guys that consistently ship and push their product across X, LinkedIn, Reddit etc win. You have to put in the work every day between building, marketing and selling.

3. Founders with audience move faster

Part of the reason I built Launch is to help people have an audience. But it really starts with your own personal brand/following. Build that up even as you cycle through failure as it will stand you in good stead when you have something that clicks.

4. Speed wins

AI makes it easier than ever to ship updates. Hell I'm not a developer and I can now ship daily with Codex that would've taken me weeks before. Use this to your advantage to move faster than existing players.

5. Most people price too low

$9. Yup been there, done that. You can't have a viable business unless you charge more. Everyone sees the massive success like Google, ChatGPT etc that do free products. That's not you. Charge more money and re-invest that back into your thing.

6. Momentum attracts momentum

People like when other people win. Might be cringe but you have to post your wins. MRR, ARR, users, traffic etc whatever is going up. Share that and people will follow you/try your thing.

7. The founders that keep going usually win

Hardest one of all. There's a fine line between giving up and keeping going. If you have traction, you'll know it and you have to keep going with that thing. The worst thing you can do is move on to something else when you have something that might just win.

Building is easier than ever, attention is the bottleneck now.

Most important: don't be one of those who quit too early. If you have traction, double down and go all-in.

After watching thousands of products launch here, Product Hunt, X, LinkedIn and elsewhere, I've tried to distill the 7 biggest factors behind startup product success. Here's my take:

1. Distribution > product

I'm biased but for the majority of software products now, you start with an prototype product and get distribution to create a customer feedback loop and make it better. Not the other way around.

2. Consistency compounds

The guys that consistently ship and push their product across X, LinkedIn, Reddit etc win. You have to put in the work every day between building, marketing and selling.

3. Founders with audience move faster

Part of the reason I built Launch is to help people have an audience. But it really starts with your own personal brand/following. Build that up even as you cycle through failure as it will stand you in good stead when you have something that clicks.

4. Speed wins

AI makes it easier than ever to ship updates. Hell I'm not a developer and I can now ship daily with Codex that would've taken me weeks before. Use this to your advantage to move faster than existing players.

5. Most people price too low

$9. Yup been there, done that. You can't have a viable business unless you charge more. Everyone sees the massive success like Google, ChatGPT etc that do free products. That's not you. Charge more money and re-invest that back into your thing.

6. Momentum attracts momentum

People like when other people win. Might be cringe but you have to post your wins. MRR, ARR, users, traffic etc whatever is going up. Share that and people will follow you/try your thing.

7. The founders that keep going usually win

Hardest one of all. There's a fine line between giving up and keeping going. If you have traction, you'll know it and you have to keep going with that thing. The worst thing you can do is move on to something else when you have something that might just win.

Building is easier than ever, attention is the bottleneck now.

Most important: don't be one of those who quit too early. If you have traction, double down and go all-in.