📍Surf Diary

After getting my first customer in February, I realized the formula for success: listen to customers and ship often. I did this consistently for six months, and my revenue doubled every month.

In June, we hit a major milestone, generating R10,000 ($550) in revenue. To make the platform more enticing for photographers, I added a revenue share model that gives them 70% of the income.

At this stage, I'm not worried about earning revenue for myself. I'm just enjoying shipping new features and seeing a product that people want to use.

I had almost given up on Surf Diary. I had been working on it for months, but it wasn't generating any revenue. I was about to shut it down when one of the photographers who used the platform asked me to add a watermarking feature to protect their content.

I thought it was a great idea, so I added the feature. Within a few weeks, customers started paying for the watermarking feature, and Surf Diary started to generate revenue.

I'm so glad I didn't give up on Surf Diary. The watermarking feature was a simple addition, but it made a big difference. It showed me that there was a real need for a platform that could help photographers protect their content.

I initially hypothesized that surfers wanted to capture their surfing sessions. However, after conducting surveys and talking to customers, I learned that the biggest challenge they faced was getting surf footage.

As a surfer myself, I can relate to this frustration. There's nothing more incredible than having someone capture that perfect wave of yours. But it's not just about getting the perfect shots. Surfers also want to be able to watch their day-to-day footage over and over again, so they can improve their skills and learn from their mistakes.

I haven't programmed in a while, so I decided to use no-code tools to build my MVP. I took the "peacemeal" approach, stitching together a bunch of different tools in the hopes that it would work.

It turns out, this strategy was a success. I was able to build a working MVP in a relatively short amount of time, and it's already helping surfers capture and share their footage.

I'm still working on improving the product, but I'm confident that it has the potential to solve a real problem for surfers everywhere.

http://diary.surf/ was born!