Don't Make The Same Embarrassing Mistakes I've Made In My Journey

I saw "The Social Network" when I was a 19-year-old sophomore computer science student, and it made the world of startups seem like a realm of endless possibilities. In my daydreams about boundless potential I built Taleten, a social marketplace designed for creatives to showcase and sell their work. My vision was to build a platform where art and commerce met in harmony, and creatives could get recognition and reward.

It was a rough journey. I was so deeply enthralled in my idea that I came up with 10 features with complex designs, but the product struggled to find its footing. The realization soon dawned that while the vision was clear, its execution was not aligned with the market's needs. I only found few users, and the anticipated buzz was barely a whisper. It was a hard pill to swallow, but Taleten wasn't the answer the market sought. The failure was disheartening, but it was also a treasure trove of lessons. It took me about two years to realize that this wasn't working out.

In the aftermath, I dove into understanding where Taleten faltered:

Failure mode 1: poor validation

The first revelation was the importance of validating an idea before diving headfirst into development. The only validation I had done was asking my artist friends what they thought of the idea instead of the real questions to find their pain points.

I sent out an ineffective survey that, in retrospect, was a step in the right direction but was not enough. I did not set up a landing page, let alone a domain because I thought that was meant for when you have a product ready. I did, however, spend an entirely embarrassing and wasted amount of time deciding the tech stack I should go with. Which leads me to my second lesson.

Failure mode 2: wrong tech stack

The choice of tech stack, I realized, was secondary to the solution I was providing but still important. This one came down to the experience I did not have. At this point, I was only familiar with basic programming and had never built a real product that lived outside of my terminal window. I didn't have an internship or someone around me to tell me that I should go with:

1. something you know, which for me should've been python/Django or java/spring, and
2. choose a tech stack with a good community.

I worried about should I be using a MySQL or PostgreSQL database, and which PHP framework would work best for this and other silly mistakes a young rookie indie hacker would make.

I learned that Facebook was built with PHP so I decided to learn PHP/Laravel from scratch just because I thought "Since the big players are doing that, so should I." Which is another mistake that I made: my comparison should not have been with a company that started 15+ years ago because they were working with the technology that limited them. I should've been looking at projects or companies from the last 3-5 years instead.

Failure mode 3: poor marketing

Next mistake I made, and I would say is the biggest one of them all, was thinking that marketing wasn't necessary if I just built a good enough project.

I imagined, and partly due to articles and movies, that if I just build the product then people will come. I was also limited to a college student budget so my marketing likely would not have taken me far. All I knew about marketing was posting to social media and Facebook and Google ads. I didn't know how to find my target audience and how to appeal to them. I didn't know about marketing channels or building an audience.

Failure mode 4: moving too slowly

Lastly, I failed to launch fast to iterate based on feedback and focus on a minimum viable product.

Limited by my skill set, I sat on the idea for an entire year (regrettably, no landing page or serious validation done during this point) just gaining the technical skills and learning from other entrepreneurs on building a product and launching to get this project to come to fruition.

This wasn't a total waste because during this time I discovered a podcast called Masters of Scale by Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn. In many of his episodes, he mentions that you should launch quickly and if you're not embarrassed by your first product, then it's too late. I eventually took this advice, but I misapplied it. As soon as I heard it, I realized I'd wasted time and started rushing the development of the project accordingly, and I launched version one several months later. I made every mistake in the book with this one, including:

1. Bad design. I neglected the design of the web app to get it out to market quickly. I tried to do this myself but I am in no way a designer and because I took it too literal that I should launch quickly, I made a very unappealing website. Undoubtedly, this ended up costing me way more time and money when I worked on version 2 of the site.

2. Building in private. Because of my shyness in college, I built the entire thing in private. The only thing that applied to me from Reid Hoffman's advice was that I was totally embarrassed by the result of my work. I didn't do a beta test or talk about my product with anyone until the launch.

3. No niche. My target audience was too broad. I learned the hard lesson that finding the right audience, especially early adopters who were more willing to try new things, was crucial. I wanted to target all types of creatives in art. With what I know now, I would narrow that down to something like indie hip/hop producers in rural areas of the US.

In the end, I tried moving so fast that I blew a tire and took more time getting the repairs done.

Honorable mentions

Other mistakes I made and lessons I've learned include:

1. Single-player mode. Not getting help from people. A buddy of mine wanted to help with the idea and I fended him off, not because I didn't want his help but because I just didn't know what I was doing or how to delegate tasks.

2. Sales. Not learning how to sell.

3. Custom code. Building the landing page from scratch instead of using a website builder. Looking back, this was possibly the worst time spent.

4. Vanity metrics. Using google analytics just to look at vanity metrics like how many visitors came to the site and when nobody would sign up, I did nothing about it except change the wording of the site. Only after reading The Lean Startup was when I learned what to do about this.

Ultimately, these mistakes led me to working on this project for almost two years without any traction. But I don't see any of this as a waste of time. I always say that I enrolled in a two-year, self-paced masterclass. I gained valuable technical skills, learned about, and studied the greats, joined interesting forums like Indie Hackers, read many books on entrepreneurship and business, learned how to move fast, I got out of my shell and got better at speaking to people.

My latest project

Now at 24, I stand at the helm of Halisi, my third project, an AI-driven personal finance assistant. Halisi is not just a product; it's the culmination of my journey, a testament to the resilience and wisdom gained from past failures. With each lesson learned, Halisi was crafted with a clearer focus, a better understanding of its users, and a more defined purpose.

Halisi, unlike Taleten, I set out to validate the idea as soon as possible with a landing page and domain. I will be launching faster, with a simple, user-friendly design, and an MVP that addresses the core needs of my audience. Marketing strategies are in place before the launch, targeting a specific audience of young tech-savvy individuals looking for an efficient way to manage their finances. This has been the most efficient and effective use of my time on any of my projects. I have spent a total of two and a half months on Halisi. Simultaneously, validating the idea (that includes getting a domain, setting up the landing page, reaching out to potential customers, getting feedback through surveys), two days to choose the tech stack, and building a minimum viable product, all while building in public.

As Halisi grows, so do I. Each day brings new challenges, but also new opportunities to learn and improve. The journey from Taleten to Halisi is more than a story of projects; it's a tale of personal growth, perseverance, and the relentless pursuit of a dream. In the world of startups, success is not guaranteed, but armed with experience, insight, and an unyielding spirit, I stand ready to navigate the ever-changing tides of the tech world.

Before you leave, I am taking this "build in public" seriously and hope that I am taking a step in the right direction. Please help us by giving checking out our landing page and leaving us feedback https://halisiai.com/. We will have a beta launch soon for the first 100 users.

Thank you fellow hackers