Almost there...

I started working on Candid, the version it is today, in December 2021. That's not even 1.5 years ago. However, I worked on other versions of this idea for years before...

Candid Reviews

The very first iteration of Candid was going to be a software review site, focused on SEO to rank reviews, with a few unique ideas on how to get genuinely candid content about the software (hence the name).

I went as far as spending a few thousand dollars on a UX design, which I quite liked, with help from an Australian UX designer friend. I also hired an Indian developer and poured in another few thousand dollars on the backend work.

Then I stopped.

I felt the idea was not different enough from all the other review sites, plus I just wasn't that excited about software reviews. I know the SEO game, but I was probably forcing this idea on myself without really having passion for it.

So I pivoted.

Candid Courses

The next version of Candid was a platform for selling digital courses, focused on simplicity.

The idea was to avoid the complexity of all the course/membership site/digital product selling tools out there, and make it super easy. Record videos on your phone, upload them, set the price, and click publish.

Part of my thought process when it comes to idea generation for a new business is whether I'm excited about promoting what I will build and whether I understand the audience I will sell to, or at least I am willing to learn about this audience and excited to do so.

With my background as an information product creator, blogger and email marketer, I understand what it takes and why it's so amazing to build a solo-brand powered education business.

Hence, Candid as a tool to sell courses was in my wheelhouse.

I started playing around with the design, approached some friends to become co-founders, and we began working on the MVP.

Things moved VERY slowly. There were several reasons why, mostly because we all had other main projects and Candid was very much a side thing.

As the months went by I read a book about the foundation of Spotify, which lead me to decide that Candid should actually start out as an app. I wanted simplicity and mobile-first as key pillars of the idea, so making an app made sense.

By this point it was clear the project had stalled. I told my partners that we should put things on hold for now, mainly because at this pace we'd never get anything out the door.

Ukrainian Development Agency

While all of this was happening, I also toyed with the idea of starting a new agency for software devs using my Ukrainian connections. I already had success with one agency (InboxDone.com), so I felt confident with the right partners I could make it work again.

As I was getting to know the Ukrainian developers I was connected with, I came to the conclusion that the best way to get an agency started was to be the first client.

Candid could be built by the Ukrainian team, helping me to learn what a client cares about (because I would be the first client) and I could test them to see they were capable. Hopefully this would also finally get Candid built.

Web3

Meanwhile, Web3 was entering its craze phase, and of course I thought Candid could benefit from it.

As I've written about here in my Candid thread on IndieHackers, I decided to build Candid on the DeSo blockchain, mainly because there was a funding program I hoped to qualify for. There are also some cool social functions built into DeSo, which would be nice-to-haves for Candid.

To cut a long story short, DeSo was all over the place and I realized it was not going to happen. My Ukrainian team spent a month or two integrating with DeSo, then spent a couple of weeks moving us off the platform. I wasted some money, but I didn't feel too bad about it -- it's good to experiment and jump at opportunities, even if they don't come to fruition.

After this I decided to just get a web-based MVP done with my Ukrainian devs, and hire a new UX designer in Canada to get the final layout ready. It took a few weeks of hiring and a few more weeks of designing, but things started to move at a good pace.

Candid Conversations On WhatsApp

While my team was designing and coding, I began contemplating taking on investors as I was spending quite a bit of my own capital on the Candid team.

While communicating what the Candid idea was to potential investors and friends, I mentioned how Candid was not just for courses, you could sell one on one or group conversations through video, for fan interactions or coaching experiences. Much like coaches already do with WhatsApp.

The WhatsApp aspect really seemed to grab attention.

After one particular conversation with an investor who almost came on board (see previous posts for why it didn't happen), I concluded that just using WhatsApp as the delivery platform would be enough, certainly for an MVP.

Candid then became even simpler. The concept turned into selling access to you via WhatsApp, be that for one on one or group text, audio or video conversations. Candid provides the simple tool to create sales pages and take payments.

This was great because we no longer had to build the delivery platform, only the sales and payment aspects, which we had already designed and coded.

I also liked this idea for what it could be for people - an easy entry way to sell direct access to themselves via WhatsApp. Possibly the simplest method to get started earning an income online -- and a natural first step for an education business.

I already use WhatsApp to carry on conversations with several friends, which are very much like masterminds, so I understood the value.

And so here we are today. Almost there with this version of the idea for Candid.

Candid conversations, beginning with WhatsApp.

The platform is basically complete. The integrations are done. Now all that is left is to keep finding those bugs in both desktop and mobile versions.

Almost there...