u/iirfann

I’m a new founder with a registered business in Berlin. I recently launched my first public plugin and managed to get 40 users and a small amount of MRR. It’s tiny, but it proved to me that I can build things people want.

Recently, I started building a second internal tool for myself: an all-in-one dashboard to manage reports, transactions, subscriptions, traffic analytics, feature flags, and third-party event integrations.

Realizing other founders might need this, I threw up a landing page and shared it around. So far, I’ve got 10 people on the waitlist who expressed genuine interest.
However, I also received some pretty harsh criticism. A few people told me that "any vibe coder could build this in a weekend" and that they "would never trust a vibe-coding project with their app data."

Although it was gdpr compliant. But I thought may be their concerns were also correct. May be the time I would spent to make it public, would not worth it. So I have given the project a pause.

If you were in my shoes, would you call it quits based on the trust/security feedback, or double down on marketing to see if I can grow the waitlist to 50–100 people?

Hi everyone,

I have a question about VAT as a Kleinunternehmer in Germany.

I registered a sole proprietorship alongside my full-time job and opted for the Kleinunternehmerregelung, so I don’t charge or collect German VAT.

My app generates revenue, but the payment processing fees are charged by a Canadian company (they invoice me for their service).

Do I still need to account for reverse charge VAT in Germany on those fees, even though I’m a Kleinunternehmer?

Has anyone been in a similar situation or knows how this works?

Thanks!

Hey everyone,
Like a lot of you, I have a Shopify app up and running https://apps.shopify.com/pricing-schedule and the news about Mantle winding down has been a bit of a wake-up call. I realized I was going to be in trouble if I didn't figure out an alternative.

But as I started sketching out a solution, I realized something important: I don't want to build another massive suite of billing and indexing tools. Mantle had a huge, distinct set of products, but for a bootstrapped founder running on organic support, that’s not actually what moves the needle.

What does move the needle is staying incredibly close to the customer.

I’ve found that direct, organic support makes you a more pragmatic founder. It keeps your updates relevant and is the true engine behind Product-Led Growth (PLG).

So, I’m building AppDesh.

It’s an ecosystem specifically designed to help Shopify app founders provide the best possible customer experience. It strips away the bloat and focuses entirely on the tools you need to stay connected to your users and turn their feedback into growth.

I just put up a landing page and I’m looking for a small group of beta users/validators to test it out, give raw feedback, and help shape the roadmap.

If you’re a Shopify app founder who believes in product-led growth and customer-centric building, I’d love for you to check it out: https://www.appdesh.com

Let me know what you think, or drop any questions in the comments!

=== ENGLISH VERSION ===

Hello fellow group members! I’m registered as a small business here in Berlin. I currently run a small plugin that has 35 users, is growing steadily, and is already generating revenue.

I’m now building a new product and would love to get your feedback.

How many of you feel like sending physical letters is a massive hassle? Between writing the content, buying envelopes and stamps, and dealing with registered mail, the whole process feels incredibly tedious and time-consuming.

Do any of you have to send a lot of physical letters every month? I’d love to hear about your pain points!

=== GERMAN VERSION ===

Subject: Kurzes Feedback von einem Berliner Gründer gesucht! 📬

Hallo zusammen! Ich bin in Berlin als Kleinunternehmer registriert und betreibe ein kleines Plugin, das aktuell 35 Nutzer hat, stetig wächst und bereits erste Umsätze generiert.

Aktuell arbeite ich an einem neuen Produkt und würde mir dazu gerne euer Feedback einholen.

Wie viele von euch empfinden das Verschicken von physischen Briefen auch als totalen Krampf? Vom Schreiben über den Kauf von Umschlägen und Briefmarken bis hin zum Gang zur Post für ein Einschreiben – das Ganze ist super mühsam und zeitraubend.

Müsst ihr geschäftlich oder privat jeden Monat viele Briefe verschicken? Ich würde mich riesig über eure Erfahrungen und Meinungen freuen!

Hello everyone, I have curated a list of upcoming events for Berlin based founders:

1. Your Product is Great. Your Pitch? Not So Much (Workshop)
   ◦ When: May 26
   ◦ Where: Denizen
   ◦ Details: A 3-hour, hands-on workshop focused on clarifying your startup's pitch to grab attention. Community members get 20% off with code FHB_MEMBERS.

2. Founders Co-working Day
   ◦ When: May 29
   ◦ Where: Mindspace Krausenstraße
   ◦ Details: A day for deep work, real conversations, and connecting with other founders.

3. Ship Your First GPT App in One Evening
   ◦ When: May 28
   ◦ Where: Mindspace Krausenstraße
   ◦ Details: A hack night to ship a working GPT App in 90 minutes using Alpic's Skybridge framework. Includes pizza, drinks, Codex credits, and a prize pool.

4. Happy Hour with Peec AI, Linkup & Zero
   ◦ When: May 28
   ◦ Where: Berlin
   ◦ Details: Three AI teams are hosting a low-key happy hour for Berlin's AI scene (builders, founders, engineers, GTM, designers).

5. Builders & Brews Berlin @ St. Oberholz
   ◦ When: May 27, 10:00-18:00
   ◦ Where: St. Oberholz
   ◦ Details: A relaxed full-day builder session hosted by Tavily, Nebius, n8n, and Base44. Free, approval required.

6. Build with Agents — Berlin Night with Modal & dltHub
   ◦ Details: For founders and engineers who are shipping agents into production. Includes two short technical demos, drinks, and snacks. Approval required.

7. Amateur Chess 2.0 @ Schnelle Quelle
   ◦ Where: Schnelle Quelle
   ◦ Details: A chess event for all levels. €5 per player, 60 spots; level matching via the checkmateIRL app.

8. RUN-N-RAVE @ CIC Berlin
   ◦ When: Every Thursday, 7:00 AM
   ◦ Where: CIC Berlin
   ◦ Details: A running club that includes a slow-pace 3.5km run, community workout, breakfast, beats, and free coworking afterward.

All the best!

How do you validate your idea? How do you collect and measure feedbacks before you want to start a new idea?

Hi, I am a solo founder based in Berlin. I have one product with a few paid users and I'm currently building another. I’d love to connect with like-minded solo founders!

Because I have a full-time job, I can only make time during weekends for meetups.

Looking forward to meeting you! 😊