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16 Comments

Weekly Check-In (2021 Week 5 - All welcome!)

Hey everybody! Time again for the weekly check-in. I wanted to do a separate January wrap up, but also wanted a couple more days to wrap up January ;)

So here's what we're working with...
In the tradition of what was started by @Janice..

  • January Wrap-Up.. did you hit your monthly goals?
  • How did you fare last week?
  • What's on deck for this week?
  • What's your goal for this month?
  • [Optional] Brief description of project with link (if applicable)
  1. 2

    January was the launch so I'm just happy the site is out!
    Very productive week.
    Still haven't had the time to comment in youtube but now I have all the urls indexed in google and improved the speed of site for better search performance.
    I will write sooner next week with better answer :D

  2. 2

    [Last Week]

    Solid week! We're executing against our roadmap, squashing bugs, and adding polish. I'm also having fun planning Impact, a new marketing initiative that will hopefully also impact our bottom line.

    [This Week]

    The plan is to wrap up a few more bugs, then implement some features that will: a) improve our presentation, b) preempt some standard customer objections, and c) clarify some of our offerings. Not exciting work, but necessary. In parallel, I'll implement access management in Staging, progress Impact, and rekindle direct sales channels.

    [This Month]

    February is shaping up to be 70% product management, 20% marketing, and 10% sales. But hoping to redirect some of that allocation to onboarding new customers and daily operations. Let's see how it goes!

    [Brief Description]

    About Hello World.

  3. 2

    Last week definitely slowed down. The day-job always takes priority.

    ## Last week
    But I did manage to improve the UI on the website -- it is now fully responsive across most device. Yay -- and thanks to https://getbootstrap.com for all the hard work there.

    ## This week
    This week I begin curating bookmarks in subject areas as I build up my use-cases for different verticals. Topics include expat life in Sweden and AWS Alternatives.

    ## This month
    I'd like to begin creating videos as evergreen content. How to use the app and all the small features.

    https://www.curabase.com

    1. 2

      And the site is fast! I’m going to be doing app tutorial videos too, good luck!

  4. 2

    Had a very busy week at the new job and side contract but I'm happy!

    As far as last month goes.. I got a lot accomplished but didn't quite get there for release. I really needed to simplify my UI and that took a lot of time. I'm VERY pleased with where it's at right now, and have lots of notes about what I can do for my entry to market this month.

    I'm copy/pasting the goals from last week to reflect planned vs actual.
    [Last Week]
    Announcr Release 1 increased from 85% to 94% complete

    • Streamline the UI a bit more to make it easier for beginners to use. Considering an "Advanced" view vs Standard view - DONE. HUGE
    • Create help pages - NOPE
    • Make final decision on how/which features to include for a smooth transition to IAP functionality for monetization - ALMOST
    • Release? Gonna be tight - NOPE

    These weren't on my major ToDo list, but all popped into my radar ahead of the "writing" style stuff:

    • Created a new complex button to use for Trigger Statuses, which allows the building of a custom notification message, toggle state, status text, etc.
    • Fixed bug with converting strings to datetime, which enabled the tracking of previously triggered actions across app launches
    • Added sound examples for all the AWS Polly voices
    • Added arbitrary message API endpoint
    • Added a Do Not Disturb button to the location speaker app
    • Enabled a countdown timer for Outside arrival
    • Fixed lots of little state bugs with trigger states

    [This Week]

    • Add an API limiter to help prevent DDOS attacks or API abuse
    • Add an Auto-Greet limiter to prevent massive numbers of API calls when someone is driving fast
    • Create help pages
    • Create a tutorial screen for the Trigger Screen
    • Make video of app in use
    • Make final decision on how/which features to include for a smooth transition to IAP functionality for monetization
    • Release? Gonna be tight

    [Goal for Month]
    Landing page and early signups for "Talking Houses" by Announcr

    [Description]
    Announcr is a connected speaker and notification platform. Trigger various actions depending on user locations. Play sounds, make API calls, etc. New Landing Page

    1. 1

      Congrats on the new job and side contract. Also looks like you're making some headway on Announcr. Meant to ask this a while back, are you producing a hardware component with this product or integrating with existing hardware?

      1. 1

        I’m going to look at doing my own hardware, but for now I created a speaker app which is relatively cross platform. Can run it on a computer somewhere or on a Firestick without a display. I have a DIY guide for setting up a location speaker device using a FireStick and some cheap speakers. Some use cases will have it running with a display as well to show accompanying images, fx, video. If I can source some cheapo Android sticks again I may resell those too, preinstalled!

  5. 1

    How did you fare last week?
    Finally got a new version for vimarun released yesterday.
    I kept on bumping into issues that could prevent the "move VM to foreground" logic from working and I think that I now have it covered. At least the part that is technically possible.
    Then there was a user who pointed out some use case I had not even considered.
    What to do when a host suspends/hibernation and the user resumes the host.
    The current release does not yet have that part covered, but at least I got a new version out now with a bunch of improvements.

    What's on deck for this week?
    Getting ready for the weekend :)

    Well OK.. without the kidding, getting back to Vimalin.
    There's a few things I want to look into.

    Goal for the month?
    Keep on growing the sales for Vimalin and fix a few issues with vimarun.

    Brief description
    Vimarun - run VMware Virtual Machines automatically.
    Vimalin - automated Virtual Machine backups for VMware Fusion, Workstation and Player.

    1. 1

      Congrats on the release of the new version! Did the VM to foreground stay working?

  6. 1

    Project paperless.io

    • We hit our goal of creating the new landing page 🎉

    • Last week was fantastic because hit our main goal and also hit a few other goals.

    • This week we need to test our new landing page 🤓 So if one of you have some feedback let me know 🙌🏻

    • Our goal is to get ready for our launch in March. There we still have many small tasks like filling our waiting list, get some press and board more people on to test the paperless.io

    What is Paperless: Paperless helps you to create, customize and send documents to get them filled and signed in no time.

    Our Mission is to enable businesses to transition to frictionless e-signature and document workflows. For a paperless world with peace of mind.

    Hope you all have an awesome week 🔥

    1. 2

      Great job! I’ll check out the landing page

        1. 1

          Forgot to mention that I liked the new page, and I really like the transitions/animations, not sure if they were new. Feels more like a unique combination of Docusign and Adobe PFD builder now, which does help it stand out from competition.

  7. 1

    Thanks @Davey for keeping these posts going. I'm getting things back on track after a rocky January.

    Last Week

    • Completed another iteration of messaging after feedback from late last year
    • Made new graphics with screenshots of product functionality
    • Finished updating the landing page with the updated messaging and graphics.

    This Week

    • Kicking back into product dev this week after a few false start at the end of the year. I'm purposely trying to learn some new things with this product so currently digging into AWS services and setting up the core app. Planning this week to have a rough prototype API and web app in place.
    • Heavily considering going back to finding a full time gig after the last year of consulting so will be spending some time on that.

    This Month

    • Complete the roughed out web app and begin development of the browser extension and mobile app.

    Product Description
    Browse Me Later is a bookmarking service coming soon to help you get back to the things you already want to read rather than throwing more at you.

    1. 2

      I’m a couple weeks into a new full time after sparsely consulting and it really does feel good. Grats on the page updates!

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