How I built a startup in 24 hours.
Hey IH đź‘‹
This is sort of a Show IH and a story about how I made the product.
I built and launched a startup in 24 hours and streamed the whole process on Twitch to thousands of viewers.
Some numbers from the launch:
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15k uniques
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9,000 Twitch views
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1,000 registered users
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18 hours of continuous streaming
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12 La Croix’s
I started the day with ZERO lines of code, and ended the day with a submission to Product Hunt.
During the live stream, I decided on an idea, bought a domain, planned features, wrote code, got feedback, tested, and ultimately launched it - all in the same day.
After it all went down, there was a ton of buzz on Twitter about it, so I wanted to write an in-depth post about the whole process. I also wanted to write about a couple of things I believe made the stream so successful.
### What sparked this crazy idea
First of all, I just want to say that I had NO IDEA this was going to blow up - I just wanted to build something.
I came up with the idea to build a startup in 24 hours while I was on a run last Tuesday. Sidebar - a couple months ago, I set a goal to go for a run every day for 100 days.
Running is a great way to come up with and challenge your own ideas.
During my runs I think a lot. I come up with little ideas on how to improve my life and my projects.
### Why build a startup in 24 hours?
I have a full time job and I run StarterStory.com on the side. My time is super limited. But I have a lot of ideas, and no time to implement them.
Even though I’m busy, I get bored sometimes. I want to BUILD STUFF.
This idea I had - to create a blog “powered by Google docs” had been in the back of my mind for a while, and it kept coming back every so often. I was getting antsy to implement it.
But how could I justify spending a few weeks building it? I couldn’t.
The only way I could justify it was getting it done AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. I realized I had a free weekend and I was already ahead of my work on StarterStory.com.
So I thought.. how can I actually build this as quickly as possible? Also, I need to hold myself accountable! How can I hold myself accountable?
... the post is pretty long, but I wrote more about the stream here 👉 https://starterstory.com/blog/how-i-built-a-startup-on-twitch-in-24-hours
Novel idea, and the fact you streamed it on Twitch is very cool. But I don’t really understand why everybody calls any type of side project a “startup.” This is not a startup. It’s not even a business.
Haters gonna hate. It takes some guts to put yourself out there and do everything Pat did. Whether he calls it a "side project" or "startup" doesn't really matter. The lines between the two are pretty blurred in my opinion.
Thanks Davis! I agree the definition of startup/business/sideproject/company is not really important. Building stuff quickly and experimentation is what this was about.
And also, this helped me to let go of my ego about my final product and be more comfortable with just getting my stuff out there.
For some reason, I stopped getting notifications about new comments on Indie Hackers, so just seeing many of these comments now...
@csallen
Whole 18 hour video if anyone wants to check it out.
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/313288148
Great job @patwalls
My thoughts on this:
Firstly, Pat is awesome. Love what he is doing with StarterStory, loved what he did here with the livestream. Pat has this magic ability to defy inertia like pretty much no Indie Hacker I've come across before (Pieter Levels, Ryan Kulp and Courtland aren't far off though).
People can learn a lot from what Pat did with this project and how he approached it. Shipping is important. Deadlines help with that.
This is the second such livestream I have watched (Ryan from FOMO did a similar one a few months ago). Both of them built tools which work, both had users, both touched on marketing.
What neither is (in my opinion) is a product however. No-one is paying for this tool and there's no proof that anyone will/would (unless I missed that part of the epic stream perhaps).
Now that isn't a criticism of what Pat achieved here - getting sales in just a few hours is super hard (and even harder to make good viewing for the stream).
In fact I'm not even sure if building a product with paying users is even possible to do in the format of a 24h live stream.
But I'd love to see someone try - it seems like that's the part many (especially technical) founders fail at...
The internet swooned at Pat's transparency and work ethic. He inspired Pieter Levels to launch No More Google within a day.
I'm waiting for Pat's next update -
🎩 How I built a business sending out a $XX Pro offer to all my free users.💰
If I actually inspired @levelsio, my work on this earth is done.
Ah man - I really appreciate your comment Louis!!
Agreed on all parts. We originally planned to add a paid plan in the stream, but didn't have time. I wanted to have that to be able to validate it.
I'm currently working on fixing up the project and adding features and I'll add a paid plan to have your own domain and add google analytics.
I also want to take you up on your challenge! I'm going to continue streaming and see if we can make a profitable business on live stream. Cheers.
I've tried it twice (with a friend and 48 hours) and failed both times to get even near sales.
I'd say it's very hard, but that doesn't mean I won't be trying it again :D
Hell yeah. First one do this and get legit sales - I can't wait to see it.
Can't please everyone, haters gonna hate. IMO, I think it's super cool and inspiring. Sure, it may not be the "correct" way to start a side project, but what I gained from this, and what it reinforced in my mind was to not procrastinate, wallow in self doubt. Get my ass off and so domething, build something and learn from the process. It may not be beautiful, it may not be perfect but it's amazing what can be achieved in less than 24 hours. That in itself is inspiring.
It may or may not have been intended but I think it's a fantastic marketing and publicity stunt pre product, pre-sales. Can't beat that! Great stuff!
Thank you! Comment means a lot. This is exactly how I hope it inspires people.
Great idea - and fun to watch !
Thanks!
Great job Pat. How big is your personal following on starter story and how much does that help in promoting something like that.
I think it shows how valuable an audience is!
I had a small following on Twitter. Starter Story is a different niche (e-commerce) so I did not even advertise to my audience there that I was doing this.
well execution!
The ideea has merit, but the buzz came from the way you managed to package everything in a storytelling 24 hour endeavour.
Never heard of StarterStory. Cool concept and congrats @patwalls
Thanks! yeah been working on that project for a year. Inspired by Indie Hackers! (but for ecommerce and CPG)
Does that include making the website for it or just the tech? Seems odd that I can't login with my Google account :)
Everything. Built from scratch. The login flow is not great working on that. You login with regular account then oAuth to google.
Great job dude!
I wish we could see more of those initiatives to get the crap out of people that says "i dont have time"
Great job Pat
Nice work Pat!!!!