If you don't have enough resources (people, time, money), don't build big things

Well, we lost all users in 4 weeks.

What? Wow. That's unusual.

We listen to people, do some changes, fix bugs but no tangible outcome.

I also found this strange, because whenever I did this, it moved the needle revenue-wise.

My guess is that the product wasn't good enough to justify the switching costs.

Like you said, it's a big thing for a big market. Plenty of large players.

I always tell aspiring founders to go for "stupidly-simple" ideas.

Because that "stupidly-simple" idea will turn out to be 10-20x more complex than you initially thought.

Sometimes people build a product and then look for a problem that it can solve. Recipe for disaster.

Often the best product to start with are simple boring product

From my personal experience, I now feel that if you don't have at least a few thousand followers on Twitter, don't rush to develop anything. First, obtain at least a few thousand valid followers in this field through your own ideas before starting. Otherwise, all efforts may be in vain. I hope someone can refute me.

Hi! How do you start getting resources when you are starting from zero. Say you have an idea but you have no money/no coding skills to start the journey. Where do you start?

I think a better strategy would be to THINK big and BUILD small :D

This is our approach with our start-up UpEmbed. We have mapped out all of the features we plan to build, and honestly, if we built at least 60% of what we have planned and both founders went all in with the resources (people + money + time), it would take us a year to get into the market!

So our strategy is to focus on the core of our application (the builder) as an MVP. This would also allow us to test the waters, gather customer feedback, make faster changes, and adapt to customers' needs. This would also allow us to pivot and redefine the scope if we run into any trouble to be more competitive in the market.

Lean strategy is a new way forward - https://www.planview.com/resources/articles/lkdc-principles-lean-development/

We are still in the development phase, and it is extremely difficult to stay on track while managing our resources effectively. Do follow our journey on our product page.

Market research on the viability of a product (both tangible and perceived value) is the first thing one should do as a founder and plotting them on a matrix can help further to analyse the shortfalls, the viability and sometimes the gaps. Building something today is much easier than it was earlier and there are plethora of businesses popping up everyday but building what is needed is a different game all together because most us don't enough information about the market or the information are too hard to come by - but that is the kick you get being a founder isn't it?

It can be so hard to accept that our abilities are finite. It’s much easier to take on an impossibly big task with no resources. The very first piece of software I wanted to write was a video game that would have been pushing the boundaries of state of the art for AAA studios at the time. I just had no concept of how hard it can be to build software.

Don't get yourself burnout, once you got that you won't have any feelings for your product anymore.

"If you are going to start a new project first pick a persona then ask questions in the present or past tense."

This is so critical. I enjoyed reading about your adventure and just know that it's not a failure, it's just an experiment that you learned from. Thank you for letting the rest of us learn as well. On to your next adventure!

Exactly, i did this mistake too. I was trying to build a social network for heath during corona time. It was a grand vision with tiny resources to accomplish it.

The problem was an oversaturated market. Unfortunately, there is an abundance of "better JIRAs."

Me and my team don't have enough resources but we manage to build big. For me consistency and effort is needed, resources is just a plus.

Thanks for sharing, great lessons for someone interested in starting a side business

People are the backbone of any business. Having good employees who are willing to work hard will ensure that your company runs smoothly. Good employees will also teach others about your business and what you stand for.

thanks for sharing this useful information i like your reasons. No doubt most of the startup fails due to lake of resources but in reality they think they can do any thing with the idea they are working.

I enjoyed the article. I enjoyed the conclusion. I enjoyed your lessons. It's a lesson for everybody who wants to grow in this game, because if you learn the lessons, you'll grow in the game. Thanks for sharing your lessons in the game.

It's also important to make sure that you have a clear plan for what you're building, and that everyone involved understands that plan. Trying to build something without a clear plan is likely to lead to problems and wasted resources.

What is written on the blog is definitely important and it happened to me too. I think that starting small and going consistently will bring better results in the long run.

This is good advice. You can still be ambitious and take risks, but the scope of your project should be proportional to the investment. If you execute well with a small investment and limited scope, you can always reinvent gains to expand the scope.

Thanks for sharing your story. Sorry to hear it didn't work out. These are some classic mistakes but hard to see when you're in the thick of it because you always think 'your' product will be different. Hope you succeed with your next one.

I like the idea of putting a limit on an MVP. And 2 months sounds realistic. I spent way too long on my first MVP and people actually got bored of waiting for it. When I finally launched, people had found alternative solutions and my product failed. Ship fast. That's key.