Two months ago I started to work on a little side project. An idea, as usual, came to my mind randomly, but this time I tried to solve my own problem. Scratch my own Inch, if you like.
I thought I can finish the project in a few weeks, but, as it turns out, estimating is not my best skill, and it took a month to create an MVP. At the time being I already was active IndieHackers lurker and was quite familiar with the community, so I had no doubt who to share my app with.
Started Learning - MVP v1 🎓
Here we go, weeks of hard work - and the moment has come. I wrote the text for IH discussion with a drum roll and fanfare. I pressed the button. A discussion has been created. The excitement was all over my head. So many expectations! But an hour has passed. And two hours. And half of a day. Nothing. No person reacted to my discussion. The silence was the best friend of my discussion. Nothing new by next morning. I’m the saddest person alive, no one wants my little thing, but the app is really cool! - my thoughts by that morning. Someone actually visited the site, but they did nothing except quitting after a minute. I almost threw away my favorite t-shirt with big “Indie” print on it.
But I decided not to despair. Rather I wanted to know one simple thing - the Truth. Why no one answered? Was the app bad? Was the design bad? Or no one understands my comment in the post? I decided to ask directly - What did I do wrong? I created a new discussion with such title. I lost hope for any comments, so I just went for a walk. And on my return I faced a miracle - someone left a comment, and not even one! Then people started visiting my site and performing some actions. First I jumped back to my favorite t-shirt and started to answer comments. Yes, you are right. Yes, this is an MVP. Thanks for the feedback, good suggestions! It was really great! Faith has returned, and my Trello tasklist started to grow again.
To summarize, the stats - 107 views with 7 comments (3 of which are mine) in the first discussion, and 151 views with 5 comments (2 of which are mine) in the second one. For someone these numbers may seem ridiculously small, but not for me. Not for a small indie. The very fact that his creation is being discussed and used by someone is alike to small step after landing on the Moon. Thanks for the support, IH!
What I Learned - MVP v2 🎉
From a month after these events, I finished and launched the second version of my MVP - Threebook. Threebook is a community that recommends books to you. Threebook is a list of three books, tied with some vibe. Maybe these are three books that mostly mentioned on IH. Or three books, that Elon Musk recommended to read for anyone who wants to conquer outer space. The list is limited only by your imagination. And I hope this is only the beginning. The community of readers - this is what I want to build.
What’s new in Threebook?
- Brand new look.
- Sunday Booksletter. No automation. Maintained by me and my hands.
- Twitter authorization. Find more readers and tell the world about yourself.
- User profile with a list of created and rated threebooks. View what you saved to read.
- Similar threebooks. Find more great reads.
- Vibes. Mark threebook with your feels.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for all help, IH! Feedback is really appreciated! I always available here and on twitter as @wastedeugene.