Week 2 building OriCards — still zero users, but shipping anyway
Hey IH,
Week 2 update on OriCards (oricards.com) — the AI trading card generator.
Still zero users. But I've been shipping.
Most of this week's changes came directly from feedback on my last post here and from Reddit comments. Turns out sharing publicly and actually listening is a faster feedback loop than I expected.
What shipped this week:
- Light theme — turns out not everyone wants to stare at a dark screen
- Explore page improvements — share buttons, deep links, social preview cards
- Better email templates — making sure emails don't end up in spam or promotions folder
- Google Analytics and Search Console set up — finally tracking real traffic and search performance
- A bunch of small UI polish across the website and navigation
None of this directly gets me users. But it makes the product feel more like something worth sharing when I do get them.
Still working on distribution. The Reddit and Discord no-AI-rule problem hasn't gone away. TikTok content is live but traction is slow. Journalist pitches sent to a few gaming publications, waiting to hear back.
One interesting thing — sourcing a local printer to make physical printed cards. Planning to use them for content once they arrive.
Current numbers:
- Users: 0
- DR: 0 (working on it)
- Videos posted: growing
- Morale: surprisingly intact
Week 3 goal: first real user who isn't me.
Would love to hear from anyone who's broken through the zero-to-first-user wall, what finally worked?
The 5 things you shipped this week (light theme, analytics, email templates, UI polish) are downstream of having users. None get users. Polishing without distribution is the solo founder trap.
The Reddit/Discord "no-AI-rule" isn't an obstacle — it's telling you the real story. When your target community actively bans your category, the wedge is wrong. AI trading card generators is saturated — TBPN, Media.io, Noonah, Pixelcut, Pincel all live here, most free.
But there's a real wedge buried in your post: physical printed cards. Almost no AI card tools do physical fulfillment. Physical cards have $2-5+ willingness to pay vs free digital and real buyer communities (events, gifts, collectibles).
"AI-generated printed trading cards shipped to your door" beats "AI trading card generator." Physical fulfillment is the moat digital tools can't copy.