Hello everyone!
I am a 17-year old self-taught developer from Estonia. In this post, I will point out everything I learned from launching my first side-project.
About a month ago I started building my first project/startup with my co-founder. We built the MVP pretty quickly and started looking for beta testers via Reddit, Indiehackers and random startup Discord servers. The feedback for the product was very good and a lot of people told us that they would use something like that, BUT we didn't get any sign-ups (signing up is free btw since we have a free tier).
After analyzing the feedback we decided that there indeed was a market for the product and that we should get ready for a bigger launch. I listen to a lot of successful startup owner interviews and podcasts and everyone kept mentioning Product Hunt and how it could bring up to 10 000 people to your website. So my initial thought on Product Hunt was that it was a so-called "magic pill" that could instantly bring users to your website and get everyone talking about it.
Before we launched on Product Hunt we had around 4 sign-ups. Since the feedback was good we still thought that we were about to get a lot of traffic and have people signing up left and right. So we launched on Product Hunt and we got around 5 visits to our website in 7 hours and none of them even signed up for a free trial.
What now?
Although we did not get a lot of sign-ups I think that the product might still be valuable to some people. Gordon Frayne from Indiehackers made a review on it and he thought it was one of the better ones from other 50 projects he was reviewing. We received a lot of good feedback from people from other platforms as well.
From now, I think we need to focus on growing our initial userbase and building the app with them by listening to their advice before attempting to launch again on other platforms.
Why did the first launch fail and what could we have done differently?
I think that mostly comes down to the basics. Good feedback without a purchase means nothing. Do not expect your product to do well or be the next big thing until people aren't willing to pay for it.
Also, you should not launch on Product Hunt before having an initial following or userbase. Your product might be very good, but because it is hidden in the Newest section nobody won't even get to see it. You need your users to help you push your product to higher rankings on PH so other people would see it.
The product is called Validatorapp and here is our website: https://validatorapp.com/
Would love to hear your thoughts on this!
Thanks for sharing :) A few thoughts...
When I check your pricing page, you're not really offering a free tier. There is a single monthly paid plan and a free trial.
Upon reading further (which many potential users won't) I can see the free trial limits access to any more than 3 submissions until you pay.
This type of trial would allow someone to be comfortable they can add the code snippet and see it working. But it's a far cry from any sort of true free tier where someone can use your product on an ongoing basis while you try to entice them up to a paid tier.
I'm not sure whether you've considered the economics of limiting your features/functionality in a such a way that you can offer a free tier?
I'm very unlikely to start this style of free trial unless it's a service that's absolutely crucial to my business, or I'd been thinking of buying it for a while already. In the past I've signed up to many more services that are genuinely useful at the free tier and are not time limited, then upgraded later.
I'm also wondering who you target market is? Given the nature of the product - which isn't doing much heavy lifting tech-wise - I guess it's someone towards the non technical end of the spectrum?
You use the term 'modal' a lot on your site. I think a lot of people who even know what a modal is, can also create one. And your documentation is very clear to me, a techie, but again I feel the kind of person who can add
onclick="openModal_validatorapp('m4ztP2lmVastxTx')"
to some page code, can also create the modal themselves.Have you considered creating a Wordpress plugin so it can be installed literally point-and-click by users with zero code expertise? I'd thoroughly recommend looking into that.
I think a Wordpress module coupled with a true free tier might get your some more initial traction.
Or if you are willing to consider a pivot, why not provide the entire landing page instead of just a modal? If someone is at the stage of concept validation, they maybe have a small site or no site at all. Add some analytics or other cool features.
I think it's quite an ask to get $15pm for it as it stands. At least if you were offering it as a landing page it might feel like it's of more value.
Thanks a lot for the great feedback @joejoejoe!
I agree with everything.
Our target market has currently been other developers and indies looking to validate their new ideas or MVPs, but now I can see where the problem comes in. Developers are willing to do everything themselves if the task isn't that hard, therefore the price becomes too high. I think that switching it up to a non-technical spectrum would definitely give us better options to work with.
Also, when we change our target market we need to change the product to fit it. Therefore making a Wordpress plugin or providing the entire landing page for validating ideas would be much better.
Very good feedback
So true, people often think IH and PH are magic potions which they would sign-up at, drink and boom! They're raking in millions.
That's not how it works, unless you're like very lucky(but then your chances are even higher at a lottery).
You need to put in enough time and sweat to build a functioning demo, take in lots of feedback, build networks, offer free beta access, build a list, help the users and eventually take their help while you're in the launch phase to get the best results.
I couldn't agree more, PH should be the last place to launch.
The more important is to get people that actually use your products and build the list.
Great post @BrunoHiis. Love the honesty. Keep getting feedback from initial users and leverage it to iterate.
Thanks Gordon!
Thank you for sharing your insights. I am almost on the verge of launching Designtack and I can learn from this.
This is key. Signups are one way of validating your product and if nobody signed up then you need to dig down into why they didn't sign up.
Unfortunately this is a weak and unreliable signal. Check out The Mom Test for a better way to determine whether the product is something a customer would buy and use. Hint: don't mention your product at all, rather ask the user about their problem in the space it occupies. If they have the problem your app solves they will be more than happy to tell you.
Congratulations on launching and good luck!
Thanks a lot, @chr15m!
Definitely agree with that, good feedback without a sign-up or a purchase means nothing. The Mom Test seems really interesting, will check it out.
Very interesting experience. I think it saved me from doing the exact same. I like when you say "From now, I think we need to focus on growing our initial userbase and building the app with them by listening to their advice before
attempting to launch again on other platforms.". Even though it definitely is the hard way, it's also the only real way.
Having a follower base would definetly help on launching.
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