I don't feel so good...
I ended last week on a high, with a real sense of direction in what I'm doing.....today less so. I feel like this is recurring. In fact, at the start of last week I felt the same. This seems to be a cycle I fall into.
Find a process → do lots of work → find something exciting → stumble across a competitor or barrier → spiral into worry.
Last week I started looking at an idea that I thought had real legs; a marketplace for no-code templates. It was perfect. I love building with no code tools, I didn't know of any universal marketplaces, and people make buckets online selling templates for things. There have even been a flurry of makers launching paid notion templates on product hunt recently.
This week I feel much less confident about that idea. It seems some other bright individuals have also had this idea. They're also a good way along in turning their platforms into a reality. This doesn't write it off for sure, but to say I'm having second thoughts about attaching so much of my heart to it would be an understatement.
I feel a bit like I'm back at square one with ideas, but really, I probably never visited square two. I just got a bit carried away in my head with what this idea could grow into without properly evaluating it as a route forward.
I was thinking of ditching my 'build a lot of landing pages and test them' idea because...read full post below
Hello betaben , I liked what you had to say..it was heartfelt..however..I believe your forgetting or missing some key points about your no code project ...and those other bright Individuals working in your segment ..
I have been a product designer & Inventor since 1985
Because 1.a ..their product might be crappy..or
1.b..They might not understand how to execute after launch..remember ,there are many facets to sustaining a product SaaS , its not just about the launch..do not assume your competitors are good just because they know a little bit of code/no code .
here is my personal competitor evaluation list
6 .Who are their biggest customers / dream customers / how do they get customers / average $ per sale / what customers could you steal ?
9 .Total revenues for last year/last 3 years / sales per day/week/year / amount reinvested / have company cars / credit lines/ credit cards ?
14 .Best book they ever read/ have they written a book / if so , have your read their book / whats the name of your book ? - Did you know Patton Read Rommel's book ?
20 . number of competitors in your field & the market share of each/ whats YOUR market share / your plan to beat them is ?
23 .Average employee salary / turn over /hiring cycle/employment contracts , 1st/Last hired
24 .Competitors education level/training/degrees/certifications , industry associations , awards
it shouldn't take you more than a day to find out if these guys , have game or not...
As a product designer & inventor , I have used this many times to outpace my competitors..it is 1 of your most effective tools...
If no code is the future, then give it to your users
For example , their sites are 2d..
what if you made your site 3D
https://observablehq.com/@makio135/getting-started-with-ln
and then , what if you added ...........voice commands to your no code concept , so users could select different template components from a library to put together their idea using ONLY their voice .
https://www.talater.com/annyang/
and then added some minority report like features
https://github.com/victordibia/handtrack.js/
The Tony Stark
https://dev.to/teamxenox/javascript-quickies-controlling-3d-objects-with-hands-498n
The project is not about you..or your feelings..its about what you can give the users/customers
There are far more website submittal sites online tan you may think..so what they are on product hunt
https://www.datatau.com/
http://www.designfloat.com/
https://www.saasinvaders.com/
https://bootstrappers.io/
136 submital sites
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1W_OWWigt3SpqTIhUePEKJK4Xb9yfvFjMPy2Q7gegpgk/edit#gid=0
You can do it..dont follow what other people in your segment are doing or your competitors..they are just reinventing the wheel..your job is to invent the self driving no code tesla .
Hey SUPERVillAiN, thanks so much for the detailed reply! There are so many nuggets of gold in there and I'm really glad you liked what I wrote :)
I think you're right on the direction side of things. I've been thinking about this a lot for the last day or two. I wanted to niche down into something to begin with, I was thinking Notion templates but there are a few directories for them (both paid and free) and then I started to think more about why no/low code tools are useful.
For me, the attraction was 2 things, productivity or building quicker/cheaper. So if those are the two goals, whatever platform I make should help it's users achieve those. i.e. if it's build quicker your list above is perfect to help founders build quicker because really it's about finding out what to build rather than building 'something'
Pioneer.app is a really good example of this. They're basically gamifying their VC deal flow but have a window for advice and for the community to help one another. Really like this type of model and it makes a lot of sense.
Cheers for taking the time to reply :)