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Co-founder here, I'm sure there are many things I forgot to include in this list, still, a nice summary of the many things we haven't done. Were we successful

Co-founder here, I'm sure there are many things I forgot to include in this list, still, a nice summary of the many things we haven't done. Were we successful because or despite of all of these did-nots? There are presumably many things there that would have made us more successful. And obviously many things we might do soon. The takeaway? Don't stress over all the things you are not doing but focus on the few you are doing right.

the_common_man 5y ago
Congrats on your success! How big is your team?
- plehoux 5y ago
  At the moment we are three (co-founders) + a part-time dev doing integrations.
- _tom_ 5y ago
  > We did not grow our headcount past four. (Not OP)
bspear 5y ago
And what were the right things for you?
- plehoux 5y ago
  Main one was our ability not to be distracted. Plus, setting up ourselves for a long-distance run from day one.
  - darod 5y ago
    What does setting yourself up for a long-distance run look like?
    - iamacyborg 5y ago
      Go to the toilet before you start, ime.
dvnguyen 5y ago
What did you do for marketing?
- scld 5y ago
  Well, at least one part of it is this HN post :)
manquer 5y ago
Congrats on making it!, and making it without doing things you didn't like to do! That is truly rate. You were successful because you have very good product market fit period. I think of all those did-nots as makeup, some are born with great genes don't need makeup or just basic excercise to look great to be in Hollywood or a model, for some they are good enough that they can make it with loads of makeup and lot of hard work to be in shape, and sadly for many there is no hope to be a model no matter what they do. Product market fit is like that, you can succeed without it but that requires a really strong fit, most products don't have that strong fit, so the crutches are essential for their success. The more interesting question for you is with some of those did-nots would have grown to say 20M ARR in the 7 years ? Maximizing ARR likely is not your goal, you want to create your business and be happy doing only things you like. however when recommending your path to others you need to consider that hypothetical.
doctor_eval 5y ago
I just thought this was such a great list. Some of them were head scratchers for me (untyped languages? OMG NO) but that seems to be the point. Can you tell us some of the things you DID do? I’m assuming you were focussed on building a great product? What did you do to get your first sale? What made you decide to pull the trigger and build in the first place?

the_common_man 5y ago

Congrats on your success! How big is your team?

plehoux 5y ago
At the moment we are three (co-founders) + a part-time dev doing integrations.
_tom_ 5y ago
> We did not grow our headcount past four. (Not OP)

bspear 5y ago

And what were the right things for you?

plehoux 5y ago
Main one was our ability not to be distracted. Plus, setting up ourselves for a long-distance run from day one.
- darod 5y ago
  What does setting yourself up for a long-distance run look like?
  - iamacyborg 5y ago
    Go to the toilet before you start, ime.

dvnguyen 5y ago

What did you do for marketing?

scld 5y ago
Well, at least one part of it is this HN post :)

manquer 5y ago

Congrats on making it!, and making it without doing things you didn't like to do! That is truly rate. You were successful because you have very good product market fit period. I think of all those did-nots as makeup, some are born with great genes don't need makeup or just basic excercise to look great to be in Hollywood or a model, for some they are good enough that they can make it with loads of makeup and lot of hard work to be in shape, and sadly for many there is no hope to be a model no matter what they do. Product market fit is like that, you can succeed without it but that requires a really strong fit, most products don't have that strong fit, so the crutches are essential for their success. The more interesting question for you is with some of those did-nots would have grown to say 20M ARR in the 7 years ? Maximizing ARR likely is not your goal, you want to create your business and be happy doing only things you like. however when recommending your path to others you need to consider that hypothetical.

doctor_eval 5y ago

I just thought this was such a great list. Some of them were head scratchers for me (untyped languages? OMG NO) but that seems to be the point. Can you tell us some of the things you DID do? I’m assuming you were focussed on building a great product? What did you do to get your first sale? What made you decide to pull the trigger and build in the first place?