A YouTuber told me my project looks like it'll die. He's not wrong — yet.
Day 3 of trying to get my Docker monitoring tool noticed.
Yesterday I told you about Reddit banning me and HN blocking Show HN posts. Today I pitched a YouTube creator (DB Tech, ~100K subs in the self-hosted space) and got the most honest response I've received so far:
"The self-hosting marketplace has been overrun with AI nonsense that gets dropped into the community and then will likely never receive further updates."
He's not wrong. I've seen it too. New tool every week, nice dark UI, zero commits after launch. He told me he's concerned because my first release is only 2 weeks old.
And here's the thing — his concern is the exact same catch-22 I'm stuck in:
I can't prove longevity without time
I can't get users without visibility
I can't get visibility because every platform either bans me or wants 6 months of karma first
I can't fund ongoing development without users who convert to Pro
If I can't fund it, it actually dies — proving everyone right
So I told him the truth: this is meant to be a business. I have a Pro tier at 9€/mo. If it converts, this becomes my livelihood. That's the strongest signal I can give that I'm not disappearing. I've been writing software for 25 years, I'm not a hobbyist who discovered Cursor last month.
He hasn't replied yet. But honestly, I respect the pushback. The self-hosted community should be skeptical. Too many projects have burned them.
The uncomfortable reality of launching open-source in 2026: you're guilty until proven innocent, and proving yourself requires the exact visibility that nobody wants to give you yet.
Current stats: 0€ revenue, 1 YouTuber on the fence, 1 newsletter pitched, 1 Reddit account still dead. But the IH post yesterday hit #6 on the Build Board, so at least something works.
Anyone else dealt with the "prove you'll stick around" problem when launching?
