What's the worst product you've ever created?
We all shout our successes from the rooftops - as we should! But let's all take a step back and reflect on the blunders to put things in perspective for those just starting out.
My worst product was the first product I launched on Product Hunt - Proofree. It was a freemium proofreading service. It got to #1 of the day and a TON of traffic. Unfortunately, no one wanted to pay. To be fair, my revenue model was terribly flawed.
I ended up losing a good chunk of money on it and shut it down after a couple months. It was embarrassing AF, but it led me to finding my current co-founder and to the main product I'm working on now.
I wouldn't have had it any other way. Well, maybe I would have thought a little bit more about the revenue model :)
What's yours?
I tried to build an education service for my first product. The idea was to help people who work with developers to learn more about software development rather than having to feel helpless while the coding gets done.
I underestimated how much effort it takes to build a product when I'm not going to be a user of that product. I still think it is a good and under-served market, but not a great business for a bootstrapped solo founder.
It was a great learning experience though. I knew nothing about bootstrapping a company when I started. It was a better way to learn than just reading countless books on startups.
Sounds like a great stepping stone, which is what first products usually are.