Did I Make a Mistake by Releasing My Service Too Early?

[sonyeondan_ello]

Hey,

I am a former architect turned software engineer and over the past couple of months I have been working on an app that (Yes, it may be a generic idea) uses the OpenAI API and vector databases to help construction professionals navigate building codes (construction law)

A few days days ago I said f**k it and I share my half baked app on related subreddits and to my surprise I got a lot of people saying how useful it seems and 10 people signed up (no paywall yet).

The issue is that my app is the literal most minimum viable product. It can only sign people up and let them interact with 1 set of laws through a chat interface. I have this thing even running on a raspberry pi, which fortunately seems to be holding up.

I have no idea how to proceed or if I shot myself in the foot doing this so early.

 

[lyso]

@sonyeondan_ello This is the way. Early and often feedback from people that want to use the service. Good on ya!

I don't know your process for connecting with them via a call or what bot to gain more feedback after a 3-5 days of usage.

 

[613jono]

@lyso This is the way

 

[armah]

@sonyeondan_ello No, in fact, you did things perfectly.

Now you just need to refine your product, get it off a Raspberry Pi would also be high on the list, and expand your features. Add laws, see if several of these users ask for the same feature(s) and then build them. Market more to add more users.

Wash, rinse, repeat. This is the way.

 

[flashback]

@armah I wouldn’t even say getting off the pi is a high priority. He could just add another pi which would be a good way to check his horizontal scaling chops for cheap. Nothing he’s doing is very resource intensive.

 

[jewlyen]

@sonyeondan_ello That moment you said "fu** it" is the moment you actually started your journey to success, don't worry about it, as long as you have POSITIVE FEEDBACK, you're good.

I may not be a professional, but i think the best next move is to split your time between fixing and completing your platform, and to keep riding this wave, don't stop.

 

[brisbane12]

@jewlyen what do you think , f** *t is more accurate or F*** this s***t , cuz when i started my saas i used the second one

 

[jewlyen]

@brisbane12 "Fu** it" is just like nike's logo "let's do it".
"F**k this shit" is more like giving up and hating what you're doing.

It's all about the vibe.

 

[narniaforever]

@jewlyen You've now up leveled yourself ( and your MVP startup of one) to I just F$#KING DID IT! Past tense, it's a roller coaster now where I'd say focus on these three guiding principals

1. Create a looped ( figure 8 infinity logo) learning lifecycle of feedback from existing ( important, they are a x 3 and non using customers are a x1 value) users ( who may not be a paying customer)
2. potentially explore a round table of the first 10 users having one year free no cost if they give you a 20 min call every two weeks to check in how they are using the app and what's next nano / micro problem they would love your app to fix
3. Fall in love with the problem ( space) and not your solution... Know the customers problem better than anyone.
4. Don't overly focus on how powerful the AI is and what it does.. Instead tunnel vision a two layer cake of.. Before you'd have to do XYZ, which would cost you more take longer or make you look bad in front of others ( status / perception friction) and NOW, with our app, here's the desired outcome future, how it will optimize your speed and confidence in answers and make you a superhero in your tasks / business.

Iterate iterate iterate! If you ever are needing help with the CX ( customer experience) or UI, dm me

Good luck! Now go be great

 

[jesuslovespizza]

@sonyeondan_ello Have you ever played "Rummy"? You can either try to "go out" and catch your opponent with a bunch of cards in their hand or you just play everything as soon as you can. Releasing early is akin to playing whatever you can as soon as you can. Just keep adding to your pile as best you can. It's a good approach in my opinion.

 

[brisbane12]

@sonyeondan_ello lunching it early is like gambling , it depends on the customers while they appreciate it and help you develop , or you gonna receive negative feedback

 

[jewlyen]

@brisbane12 Exactly, he needs to build on the positive and fix the negative, i believe he will do just fine.

 

[brisbane12]

@jewlyen well , in case anyone needs help for free in brainstorming anykind of ideas , am here

 

[jewlyen]

@brisbane12 You're really appreciated.

 

[feargodonly]

@sonyeondan_ello Send it!

 

[sonyeondan_ello]

@feargodonly Just sent a pm

 

[lindalee1456]

@sonyeondan_ello It depends on your bandwidth, but I think the majority of SaaS products ship too late. It's better to get feedback now than wonder months from now if anyone is going to use it. Your time is very valuable since you're the only one working on it, and it depends on how much is leveraged by your development process. At least now, if you make changes and add features early on, you can see how users will react instead of assuming.

I'm sure there will be teething issues, but if you can scale up on a raspberry pi, then you're going to be fine. Also, you should probably further validate a price point so you can plan and budget operations before you double down and start building out a server rack full of pi boards, lol

 

[brothermichael]

@sonyeondan_ello Sounds good, now talk with your users, gather all the feedback you can, and improve the app accordingly.

 

[coffeeclaw_1986]

@sonyeondan_ello Follow up with each of the 10 people that signed up, try to get on a call with them, ask them each what pain they were looking at solving when they tried it out.

 

[kostas]

@sonyeondan_ello I'd love to trial it.