Sunday Edition: Weekly Retro (The Good, Bad and The Ugly)

Sunday Edition: Weekly Retro (The Good, Bad and The Ugly)

#daily-stand-up (Awww yeah! We're in the side bar! Thanks, @csallen!)

Why?

While it's good shit to execute and execute consistently, it's critical to step back and ensure that our path of execution is the right path. Enter the Weekly Retro. This post gives us the opportunity to reflect on the past week. And for the next week, double-down on what's working and adjust course for what's not.

To join in:

01 Share your epic (a big chunk of work with a meaty objective) you'd like to complete by the end of January.

02 Share what happened last week that was Good, Bad and Ugly.

03 Decide where you'll be doubling down and where you'll be adjusting course.

04 Help at least one fellow hacker's with their Ugly and give them encouragement.

Optional

05 Share your Work In Progress to underscore your accomplishments.

Then come back on Monday and execute!

Janice

on January 27, 2019

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3
EPIC
Beta users February 18th

GOOD, BAD & UGLY
- Good I was alerted by @ryan217 & @Harlem that my landing page was too damn slow
- Bad My landing page was too damn slow. It was on GRAV, I grabbed the markup and turned it into a single index.html. That didn't help. I was using litesail, and decided just to spin up a new server for the markup. No improvement. I said fuck Amazon and just set up hosting on NameCheap where the domain is hosted.
- Good The site is loading faster.
- Good I'm closer on a service to help with code generation on php. Once I get a few more things figured out, I can hire someone to implement the service for JS/NodeJS and Python.
- Ugly My ongoing struggle of prioritizing my project. I think by setting a hard date and getting accountability here will help.
PATH
- Double Down I need this damn generator this week. I'm pushing other stuff out of the way to help get that done.
- Adjust Course I think holding the course is more important right now.
SUPPORT
@andreigaspar I feel you so much on this. I listened to Deep Work by Cal Newport and I found some useful ideas that have helped me some. I think being aware is a huge step in managing. Forgive yourself, make adjustments and keep going!

WORK IN PROGRESS
- https://xaddax.com
- code generator service
iampersistent

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8 years ago
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  Thanks for the support man! Your project is looking great btw. I got into graphql for a while, and it's definitely a great api to consume, but I found it to be ugly and messy on the server side so I threw it out quickly. I think you might be on to something here! Keep up the good work :)
  
  andreigaspar
  
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  8 years ago
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    I'm wondering if you remember which language and library were you using on the server side.
    
    iampersistent
    
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    8 years ago
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      Sure, typescript, node, graphql-yoga, postgres with typeorm. My comfort zone is typescript, node, express, mongo with mongoose.
      
      andreigaspar
      
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      8 years ago
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        Thanks! I'm going to need a graphql server in node set up and I still haven't decided which way I'm going to go.
        
        iampersistent
        
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        8 years ago
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3
EPIC
- By end of 2019: 100 users for Scheduled Memo
GOOD, BAD, UGLY
- Good : I found a couple test users who are familiar with the dev cycle and understand that bugs will occur
- Good : Turns out the distraction from other projects has been good for my mental stability. Feeling refreshed by working on this project.
- Good : I've actually been executing pretty well, a few hiccups but they came with straightforward and easily tackled solutions.
- Bad : The day job is a distraction right now that steals time from side projects. This however makes the small scope of scheduled memo a good thing to execute on, so silver lining.
- Ugly : I've wasted several hours of what should have been productive time on trying to produce elegant queries.
DOUBLE DOWN
- Execution in general, I've hit a groove in breaking tasks down into small steps that can be quickly turned around. I know I'll eventually let that slip but I need to feed and ride this wave in order to hit a launch by Tuesday night.
COURSE ADJUSTMENTS
- I've got post-its around to remind myself to just do it the dumb way if the elegant way takes more than 10 minutes. It's already paid off this morning.
SUPPORT:
PENDING...

WIP
ScheduledMemo.com (yet another task on my list is to actually put up a site here, domain is in my pocket but I haven't put a page in place).
jpusateri

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8 years ago
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  Props on working in smaller steps. For me, I find myself just making a "dev" branch and going crazy with any random idea form Trello and any tweaks I want to make, vs. having defined tasks that get their own branch like any legit software dev cycle.
  
  Any tips/good practices that've helped you?
  
  Ryan217
  
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  8 years ago
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    I recommend maintaining multiple lists: your project items, and a list of what your are actually going to do today.
    
    My general strategy:
    I maintain project goals, milestones, stories in things like TFS Online or Trello or even sometimes on plain old post-its.
    I also maintain a daily to do list (I'm a todoist fan) that spans my personal scope across projects and personal needs.
    
    This sounds like a lot of maintenance maybe, I generally will take a few things from my story board and turn them into actual action items on my todo list. Might sound like 10 minutes of wasted time ever morning, but picking 1-4 important things to take from a storyboard and then forcing myself to fit it into my schedule causes two things to happen.
    
    1.) it forces me to plan enough so that any item can be 'single-tasked' and generally has to fit inside of an hour
    2.) if it can't fit into an hour, it generally forces me to break it down and plan better
    
    I also take a piece of every weekend and review my storyboards (scrum style) to see what I think I'll need to break down or delete and to touch base with overall project progress.
    
    I also prune my to do list like I prune my backlog. If something is becoming routine or is no longer adding value, I cut or combine to streamline that list for completion.
    
    jpusateri
    
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    8 years ago
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      Awesome stuff, thanks for taking the time! Will have to try and apply some of this to my life/workflow.
      
      Ryan217
      
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      8 years ago
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3

EPIC

By end of 2019:

Get 100 paying customers. 0/100 so far

By end of February:

Publically release of Brooklet to IOS and Android app stores.

Get 15 Beta testers. 3/15 so far (a qualifier here. I only consider a beta tester to be real if they create streams and log events)

GOOD, BAD, UGLY

Good. I set up UI and bug reporting so I can keep a pulse on if/how people user Brooklet.

Good. I applied the feedback from my first users to fix a bug and develop some features.

Good. Tried out marketing on Twitter, Reddit, and Indie Hackers. This has led to a rise in traffic on Brooklet.app.

Bad. I release a bug to my brand new users.

Ugly. Was distracted from my plan a couple times this week by social media and by features that I didn't plan. I need to set goals and stick to them.

PATH
Continue light marketing to get a trickle of new users coming into the app and (hopefully) providing feedback. Get more formal about the release process.

Focus in on testing and preparing for release in Feb. This means testing and logging bugs and polish tasks. Later on, it means learning how to submit apps to the Android app store and preparing screenshots and descriptions for the app stores.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Brooklet

jimbol

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8 years ago
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  What's your plan this week to obliterate distractions?
  
  Janice
  
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  8 years ago
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    Focus on the top item in my todo list at a time.
    Only check social media and attempt marketing when I complete a task. Which means I shouldn't be in here now :D
    
    jimbol
    
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    8 years ago
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3
#daily-stand-up

EPIC
By end of 2019:

100 paying customers. 3 earned to date.

By end of January:
- 💥💥💥100 first chapters published. 103 published to date. 💥💥💥
- 50 qualitative chapters published. (Will provide update after I finish pruning.)
GOOD, BAD, UGLY
- Good. I've received a tremendous amount of support this week. Many thanks to @louisswiss, @AndrewV and @csallen for the candid feedback and serving as a brainstorm catalyst as well as a reality check.
- Good. I've my first 100 customers.
- Good. No more dick pics! First task I've automated since launching and the automation is working!
- Bad. Day gig. Lucky for me, I love it. But I hate when it bleeds into my hacker time. And this week, it's been bleeding.
- Bad. I haven't been consistent with executing "do things that don't scale" and evaluating which ones are worth automating.
- Ugly. Lots of self-doubt this week. Questioning whether I've the capacity (either creativity or funding) to scale this sucker. @csallen provided a great framework for me to evaluate my capacity, which I'll do today.
PATH
- Double Down. I commit to doing "things that don't scale" this week daily and to record the results diligently. At the end of the week, I'll decide what's worth automating.
- Adjust Course. Now that I have my first 100 customers, I need to adjust the path and focus on interactions. Which means I need more chicks on the site.
SUPPORT: Pending others joining in.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Happy Endings
Janice

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8 years ago
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  I just signed up to check out what your site is about. I literally LOLed at your email address. I'm not big on writing, but I passed the site on to my partner.
  
  iampersistent
  
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  8 years ago
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    (Laughing!) Glad that I could delight! Thanks for taking the time to check out my app!
    
    Janice
    
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    8 years ago
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  Congrats on reaching your goal!! And with time to spare!
  
  jimbol
  
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  8 years ago
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  1. 1
    
    Just a touch! And thanks! It always feels great to conquer an epic!
    
    Janice
    
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    8 years ago
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2
EPIC

By end of January:

Updated website to convey the use cases of the product (more details found here - https://www.indiehackers.com/product/reminder-bot/-LWe3Az0CfOa4g3rbIJc)

YESTERDAY

I found a very simple way of signing up on a website I visited. It's inspired me to spend the extra time to simplify my own.

TODAY
- Add a quick show sign up modal on the home page
- Convert the registration flow to look like the home page
- Perform a big clean up of the sign up page. It's been a pain point since it was updated a week ago.
- Test test test!
- Deploy changes
WORK IN PROGRESS: Reminder Bot - https://reminderbot.io/
sayhitovincent

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8 years ago
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2
EPIC
- For February, gather feedback from my colleagues using the MVP, get the MVP in front of more people, and do some research/brainstorming to determine whether this is a product worth pursuing.
- For 2019, get a paying customer.
GOOD, BAD, UGLY*
- Good Only spent a few days building the MVP, and deployed something I know could be improved upon but was good enough to move on
- Good I got my colleague using the MVP within a week of him saying he'd use it if I built it
- Good Colleague using the MVP said it's already adding value to his team.
- Good Scheduled follow up chat with my alpha user to better understand the problem DepChecker helps solve and what more value I can add
- Bad Spent a few days dealing with some backend stuff, when I probably could've simplified or more efficiently found a solution.
- Bad I didn't charge immediately. Half joking, especially given my only user is a colleague and it'd be pretty jerk move to charge him, but if I'm saving him even an hour of work with my app, then it's got a value worth charging for.
PATH
- Adjust course and offer a more manual service, with me doing a dependency audit of client projects for software consultants. I'll use the current, basic app in the background and think of ways to productize the service over time.
- Double down on using my colleague as a guinea pig
WIP https://depchecker.com
Ryan217

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8 years ago
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  Ooh! And congrats again for building lean and launching!
  
  Janice
  
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  8 years ago
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  What does this mean?
  
  Offer a more manual service...
  
  Janice
  
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  8 years ago
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  1. 1
    
    That would mean me offering the service of doing a full audit of a project's dependencies - so in addition to the data I already collect programmatically, I'd compile stuff like changelogs, breaking changes, examine what in the project would need to be updated, find alternatives to unmaintained projects, etc.
    
    Idea being that I can do it more cheaply and in less time than a software consultant/freelancer could with their high billable hours. And hopefully the manual work would help me learn what I can automate and productize over time.
    
    Ryan217
    
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    8 years ago
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      Ah. Got it. Where are you planning to offer the service? Do you have a personal network? Or is this something you'd push via a landing page?
      
      Janice
      
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      8 years ago
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        Zero idea. Probably cold outreach to software consultants. But for now I'm letting the needs of my colleague lead the way - I don't wanna overthink or pour too much effort into this while I'm still learning what I can about his needs.
        
        Ryan217
        
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        8 years ago
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Hey - So this is where you guys were hiding!
I was wondering what happened to the group!

EPIC
- By February 15 - release the alpha
GOOD
- Released a revised version of the website, rebuilt the whole thing.
- Got a colleague on board to help me with rebuilding the client.
- A team is born around a new project. A designer, a marketer, an engineer and myself. The skills and determination these guys have in their respective domains is insane. I'm super pumped to see how we fit together.
BAD
- The new client is coming together too slowly, I am constantly wondering if I made a mistake. But then again, the previous one didn't raise many eyebrows, so if I would have stuck with that one probably nobody would use it.
- Freelance is getting in the way, I'll need to make a better schedule.
UGLY
- Feels like I have too many irons in the fire. It's not the amount of work, but the amount of different unrelated topics that are fighting in my mind simultaneously. I'm a bit overwhelmed, but I'll get over it :)
SUPPORT
@jpusateri time spent on improving quality is not wasted, it's time invested! Keep up the good work :)

WORK IN PROGRESS
https://www.scrumbs.app
All the Scrumbs related repos on my GitHub
andreigaspar

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8 years ago
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  So what's your game plan for the irons? Reduce? Combine? Divide and conquer?
  
  Janice
  
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  8 years ago
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    So far my game plan is to weather the storm honestly... and avoid putting any more irons in! If it doesn't work, I'm going for divide and conquer, which in my head looks like having a really strict schedule, and not let one task bleed into another.
    
    andreigaspar
    
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    8 years ago
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DeletedUser

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8 years ago