Ask HN: Growth for me,is realizing how much I didn't know 6 months ago. Yours?

5 pointskathir053d ago4 comments

I have been building startup for past 8 months.

I have started with idea and assumed customers will follow.

few signups, 0 revenue growth.

We kept learning, improving self and product. Talked to lot of customers and shaped our product for one use case. Now we are getting some traction.

Every decision we took looks 6 months ago stupid now. but it is not completely irrelevant. It shaped ourselves what we are, how we make decisions, how we execute today.

Things we do today, might look stupid in future. but we will be definitely be making better outcomes out of it.

No playbook exists. Keep moving, do better mistakes.

What do "Growth" means for you guys?

4 comments

matrixgard1d ago

eight months is usually when the first version of "what you built" stops working and you have to build the thing customers actually want. the gap between those two is what most people call "0 revenue growth."

we went through something similar building a fintech tool — spent months on features nobody asked for because we assumed we understood the problem. what actually changed it: stopped building for what we assumed and started building for one specific thing one customer said they'd pay for that day. just one. then the next.

what was the specific use case you landed on?

kathir05OP1d ago

We started portfolio builder, where professionals can comprehensively express their work with ease. We believed work speaks louder than shiny websites.

but 5 months, we learned we can't build sustainable business out of it. But we had around 1000+ signups. Users gave us feedback, currently my portfolio looks standalone, if you could connect me with maybe potentials jobs etc then, something value i can pay for.

Then we tried to connect portfolio with ATS. Portfolio-first ATS for startups and lean teams. Then yeah, we got around 10 customers who are ready to pay.

Recently couple of colleges, also expressed interest for such tool.

Now we got our core principle in place, "Build by feedbacks, not with assumptions"

But reality is most startups begins with idea at day 1.

Real game changer is Idea -> problem -> solution -> value for money -> customer, how quickly your startup make these transitions and get your Market Product Fit.

Journey will be hard but hang in there and keep your product floating and keep connecting the dots. No playbook exists

chistev2d ago

Realizing how much I didn't know seven months ago.

kathir05OP2d ago

yup. self growth will be staying with you forever.

Everything else just auxiliary things

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