My First Launch Didn’t Go As Planned — But I’m Still Shipping (With a Bigger Trial!)

Hey Indie Hackers 👋

I’m Sourav, a solo dev building PitchMirror — a tool that helps professionals analyze and improve their speech through AI-powered feedback on clarity, tone, and filler words.

I announced that I’d be launching on June 1st. That was the plan. But here’s what actually happened:

🚧 The Roadblock: Payment Documentation

I hit a blocker with Stripe’s business verification due to strict requirements for Indian founders. Even though the product is ready, I can’t accept payments until the paperwork clears.

Honestly, this caught me off-guard. I thought I had everything in place. But it’s part of the solo founder learning curve.

💡 The Fix: Expanding the Free Trial Instead

Rather than keep everyone waiting, I made a small pivot:

➡️ I extended the free trial to 7 days

➡️ And increased the upload limit to 7 recordings (previously 3)

This way, early users can still try the full experience, test their speech, and start getting feedback without having to pay upfront.

💬 Why I Built PitchMirror

I built PitchMirror because I struggled with sounding confident in meetings, especially when English wasn’t my first language. Most tools felt beginner-focused — I wanted something that gave serious, actionable insights for professionals.

Think of it as a mirror for your voice — helping you track filler words, pacing, and tone over time. It works well for founders, remote workers, or anyone trying to improve spoken communication.

🚀 What’s Next

• Finalizing business verification

• Improving UI

• Gathering early user feedback during the extended trial

• Launching the paid plans ASAP once I’m allowed to process payments

🙏 A Small Ask

If this sounds useful, please give it a try and let me know what you think.

You can sign up free here:

👉 pitchmirror.souravlayek.com

Or just DM me if you’re curious or want to share your own launch hiccups — I’m learning every day, and it’s a wild ride solo-building from India.

Thanks for reading — and shipping, even imperfectly.