Ship-in-30-Days Challenge: Seeking advice
Hey there,
I’m building a 30-day challenge meant to help solo builders stay accountable and actually ship their projects.
I’ve put together a quick 2-min video showing what I’ve made so far:
https://www.tella.tv/video/starttofinish-feedback-dcjj
I'd love your feedback on the challenge and on what tools you would find useful.
Thanks so much!
I love the concept! As a beginner web developer, I think the initial inertia each day is my biggest sticking point. Once I've achieved something, no matter how small, it gives me a feeling of accomplishment that propels me into the next task. The financial and social accountability is great for this... like why people pay a lot to do a marathon and then tell all their friends that they're going to do it.
A tool to map out milestones on a calendar could be helpful. Instead of taking on a full product in 30 days, automatically set milestones could help make sure you were breaking down into smaller builds. Then, if milestones get delayed, the tool could help you adjust future milestones where it makes the most sense. (E.g. Postpone a feature that is not as critical for mvp so that the testing milestone can still be met).
Thanks a lot for the feedback! Yes, I like your idea on breaking things down to smaller builds and reflecting them on the calendar.
Quick question: have you ever set up any personal accountability system for past projects?
For example telling friends, posting publicly, setting a daily target...
Would love to know if any worked particularly well for you.
Cool! With regards accountability, I found posting everyday on Instagram/TikTok really helpful - knowing I had to make a post pushed me to work on learning to code in the early stages and that momentum sort of carried on when I started building my first app.
Hey Davy, thanks for the feedback!
Is the push to show up every day more about knowing other people will see it, or more of a personal commitment?
By the way, congrats on the launch of Tezu a couple weeks ago!
Thanks! For me it was a personal commitment, knowing that if I didn't post I would let myself down. Currently on 19 downloads (1 paying)!
Btw, how are you thinking about getting your next users?
If you ever want to bounce growth ideas, happy to riff
Awesome Davy! Keep it up
I'm running a competition between some universities to try and build awareness, to see who can complete the puzzle fastest. Also telling everyone I meet about it (and posting on here). I tried to add my story on the IndieHackers Reddit but for some reason it was 'removed by Reddit's filters'!
I'm going through the same issue with Reddit. It's a karma + Reddit age issue. I'll be trying to fix it for myself so can let you know once I've figured it out.
Regarding your awareness-building, great! I have a couple comments/questions (if I may):
Where do typical players of such types of games hang out? If you find online or offline spots, these may be good places to promote.
Are students the best target for the game? Financially, students are not usually the most "attractive" customer (because they don't have money), but you'll know whether these games are popular among students rn.
My gut tells me that these types of games mainly grow from online ads. Could be worth considering. The key here would be to get the cost of acquiring a new customer (CAC) lower than what you earn per customer.
I love this idea! I recently challenged myself to ship a product in two weeks, and it wound up taking almost exactly 30 days. That feels like the perfect timeframe for a solo builder to encounter, and overcome all the unknowns that will inevitably come up. And the money back idea is fascinating. I bet that will really resonate with lots of people.
One thought I had on the accountability is that I tend to go in phases. When I'm "on", I don't feel like I need daily accountability. When I'm "off", and need to lean on some external scaffolding, I tend to want to look at my project from a different perspective, and find a new direction that will bring my energy back. In other words, what I would appreciate is less "what did you do yesterday", and more "here's a pattern from your body of work that seems to relate to where you're going with this project."
Hey Daniel, really interesting insights. Thank you for that!
What do you mean when you say you like looking at the project from a different perspective? I'd love to see if it's something I could build into the support tools.
StartToFinish’s Ship-in-30-Days challenge is exciting — focus on clear goals, lean planning, and rapid iteration to meet the tight deadline effectively.
Thanks Phil! Have you tried any accountability setup yourself when working on a project?