From having worked at a (now-defunct) startup attempting to optimize inbox productivity, I can attest email is one tough animal. Congrats on sticking with it to the point of $50k/MRR. Incredible.
Since this is such a technically complex process, what did your MVP look like? How long did it take before you were able to gather paying customers, and were those all from ProductHunt, BetaList, Startups List initially?
1
Yes, email is a tough cookie :) When I mentioned, that I initially thought it has to do this and that, I've meant it sarcastically. A lot of hours goes into making parsing and delivery correct.
Regarding your questions, we developed the initial version within a year (we worked also on another project during the day). We let early beta testers use the system after 4 months and tested with them for 9 months.
After going live, it didn't take long for customers to sign up. I credit this to the blogging I was doing for almost a year up to the initial launch (my first ProductHunt launch only gathered around 40 upvotes).
Hope this helps.
2
@Nitai I'm still in the middle but I have to stop and echo how profoundly this resonates with me:
I guess that's the beauty of the blissful ignorance that sometimes comes with being an entrepreneur. You look back at this thing you built and realize that you never would have started if you knew how much time and stress and energy it was going to take!
Great read so far.
1
Thank you. Appreciate the comment a lot !
2
Wow learned a lot .. Thought working 18hrs is a better way to do everything. Maybe for now I will just dedicate 6hrs core for real work then rest of the 12hrs for something else coz I really have alot to get done
1
Thank you. I used to work for 15 years at least 18 hours a day. At one point, it was just not feasible anymore and I had to be honest with myself that most of those 18 hours were not "productive hours", i.e., totally concentrated and immersed.
2
Awesome insight!
1
Thank you. Appreciate the sentiment.
2
Nice work Nitai!
1
Cool. Hope it helps somehow.
1
What kind of successes and failures lead up to these past two busineses?
1
You can do everything in 6 hours but you can do more in 12.
10
Technically true, but there are some things to watch out for here:
First, it's a little myopic to only look at one day, because life is made up of consecutive days and weeks. What happens if you work a bunch of hours this week but burn out for most of next week and can't work or can't work efficiently?
Second, not all working hours are the same. Later in the day when you're feeling tired and overworked, you may be less likely to get quality work done. Those extra 6 hours you worked may only be worth 2 hours of normal work. And if you miss out on sleep, your overwork will affect what you do tomorrow, too.
Finally, work tends to expand to fill the time allotted. If you know you have 12 hours, you're likely to work far less efficiently than if you know you only have 6, meaning even your "good" working hours won't be as good when you're working longer.
1
Oh and your last point is soooo damn true!
A lot of the times if I want to get something done, I pressure myself because I work both better and more efficiently under pressure. That being said, there are a few things you can’t put a limit on.
1
There’s no doubt that this is true Courtland. It can be dangerous to have that mindset. If I want to work 6 hours to get something done though, I set out to work 9 hours because I know that every human being here doesn’t work effectively 100% of the time. For example, people who say they study for exams 3 hours a day, what they’re actually saying is that they study for 1.5 hours.
1
Couldn't have said it better :)
5
I've been working for 10+ years as a software developer. I've been keeping track of my active productive hours for a long time with tools like Toggl. And I can say that anything more than 6 hours is not healthy. This is breaks, meetings etc. excluded. If had worked 4-5 hours in zone, I consider that day very productive.
2
I also track my programming vs non-programming time using Wakatime and Rescue Time and agree that for an 8 hour work day 4-5 hours of programming time is very productive.
2
Totally agree.
I just had one of those "moments" this morning. I got up at 5 am and was cranking out two awesome features/enhancements within 4 hours.
At 9 am I already achieved what I wanted for today and now have no pressure for today and can meet with clients in a "relaxed" environment. Though, it took me two days to carve out those uninterrupted hours :)
1
Yes, those days are the best! So much more fulfilling...
1
Fair enough, excluding time when you’re not working effectively 6 hours is a solid goal. I never doubted that. Albeit, if someone sets out 6 hours to work they’ll end up only working effectively for 4 of them at most.
From having worked at a (now-defunct) startup attempting to optimize inbox productivity, I can attest email is one tough animal. Congrats on sticking with it to the point of $50k/MRR. Incredible.
Since this is such a technically complex process, what did your MVP look like? How long did it take before you were able to gather paying customers, and were those all from ProductHunt, BetaList, Startups List initially?
Yes, email is a tough cookie :) When I mentioned, that I initially thought it has to do this and that, I've meant it sarcastically. A lot of hours goes into making parsing and delivery correct.
Regarding your questions, we developed the initial version within a year (we worked also on another project during the day). We let early beta testers use the system after 4 months and tested with them for 9 months.
After going live, it didn't take long for customers to sign up. I credit this to the blogging I was doing for almost a year up to the initial launch (my first ProductHunt launch only gathered around 40 upvotes).
Hope this helps.
@Nitai I'm still in the middle but I have to stop and echo how profoundly this resonates with me:
Great read so far.
Thank you. Appreciate the comment a lot !
Wow learned a lot .. Thought working 18hrs is a better way to do everything. Maybe for now I will just dedicate 6hrs core for real work then rest of the 12hrs for something else coz I really have alot to get done
Thank you. I used to work for 15 years at least 18 hours a day. At one point, it was just not feasible anymore and I had to be honest with myself that most of those 18 hours were not "productive hours", i.e., totally concentrated and immersed.
Awesome insight!
Thank you. Appreciate the sentiment.
Nice work Nitai!
Cool. Hope it helps somehow.
What kind of successes and failures lead up to these past two busineses?
You can do everything in 6 hours but you can do more in 12.
Technically true, but there are some things to watch out for here:
First, it's a little myopic to only look at one day, because life is made up of consecutive days and weeks. What happens if you work a bunch of hours this week but burn out for most of next week and can't work or can't work efficiently?
Second, not all working hours are the same. Later in the day when you're feeling tired and overworked, you may be less likely to get quality work done. Those extra 6 hours you worked may only be worth 2 hours of normal work. And if you miss out on sleep, your overwork will affect what you do tomorrow, too.
Finally, work tends to expand to fill the time allotted. If you know you have 12 hours, you're likely to work far less efficiently than if you know you only have 6, meaning even your "good" working hours won't be as good when you're working longer.
Oh and your last point is soooo damn true!
A lot of the times if I want to get something done, I pressure myself because I work both better and more efficiently under pressure. That being said, there are a few things you can’t put a limit on.
There’s no doubt that this is true Courtland. It can be dangerous to have that mindset. If I want to work 6 hours to get something done though, I set out to work 9 hours because I know that every human being here doesn’t work effectively 100% of the time. For example, people who say they study for exams 3 hours a day, what they’re actually saying is that they study for 1.5 hours.
Couldn't have said it better :)
I've been working for 10+ years as a software developer. I've been keeping track of my active productive hours for a long time with tools like Toggl. And I can say that anything more than 6 hours is not healthy. This is breaks, meetings etc. excluded. If had worked 4-5 hours in zone, I consider that day very productive.
I also track my programming vs non-programming time using Wakatime and Rescue Time and agree that for an 8 hour work day 4-5 hours of programming time is very productive.
Totally agree.
I just had one of those "moments" this morning. I got up at 5 am and was cranking out two awesome features/enhancements within 4 hours.
At 9 am I already achieved what I wanted for today and now have no pressure for today and can meet with clients in a "relaxed" environment. Though, it took me two days to carve out those uninterrupted hours :)
Yes, those days are the best! So much more fulfilling...
Fair enough, excluding time when you’re not working effectively 6 hours is a solid goal. I never doubted that. Albeit, if someone sets out 6 hours to work they’ll end up only working effectively for 4 of them at most.