🌋 In short, this channel is hosting a challenge to launch 12 projects in 12 months.
I launch projects using the simplest scheme:
1️⃣ 1 week — finding an idea that meets existing demand
2️⃣ 1 week — development
3️⃣ 2 weeks — promotion
We do only simple things according to this formula:
1 launch = 1 feature = solving 1 problem
🧲 This channel gathers the most talented people from the IT sphere. Here, we validate ideas and launch micro-projects.
You can subscribe if you want to learn from our mistakes instead of your own.
I talk about what and where we promote, what profit we make, what works and what doesn't. I share metrics that are usually hidden.
Contact with the author: @ig_zuev
I launch projects using the simplest scheme:
1️⃣ 1 week — finding an idea that meets existing demand
2️⃣ 1 week — development
3️⃣ 2 weeks — promotion
We do only simple things according to this formula:
1 launch = 1 feature = solving 1 problem
🧲 This channel gathers the most talented people from the IT sphere. Here, we validate ideas and launch micro-projects.
You can subscribe if you want to learn from our mistakes instead of your own.
I talk about what and where we promote, what profit we make, what works and what doesn't. I share metrics that are usually hidden.
Contact with the author: @ig_zuev
😈 In short, myth of Builder #1: «Why do it if it already exists?»
We always create micro-products for existing demand in search.
But why create a product if there is already something like it on the market?☝️
This is a very common question. I decided to answer in detail.
Remember where we start? We look for existing demand in search.
That is, we don't come up with an idea. Instead, we take numbers from real queries by real people.
And here lies half the mystery. If people are searching for it, it means something about the current solutions is not satisfying them.
📍 What most often dissatisfies them with current solutions?
1️⃣ Most importantly, people may simply not know about current solutions.
2️⃣ Current solutions may be too complicated for them. Remember how often you can't find a needed feature in a complex product? Other people feel the same. And they go searching for it. They want just that feature and nothing else.
In the end, we decide to create a product like our competitors, but much simpler. Just with the one feature people are searching for. Here’s a bonus: one function can be launched in one month. And occupy your micro-niche.
📍 After launching, the scheme looks like this:
1️⃣ People search specifically for this function
2️⃣ They find us (because we made it specifically for this search demand)
3️⃣ They install and get a wow-effect: wow, it's so simple! This is what I was looking for.
4️⃣ After a few days of testing, we offer to pay.
And someone pays, because with the rate of an American user at $50 an hour, it's easier to pay $5 than to spend an hour looking for a free (and not guaranteed) alternative.
Naturally, this doesn't happen with everyone. For example, a good conversion to payment is 1-2% of users (mostly from the American and European middle+ class). But this is enough if the product was initially made for an existing demand, which is plentiful.
Now imagine creating a product based on an idea from your head. Even if the product is good, but it's simply not searched for? That wouldn't work out well.
Let's look at specific products from the builder community to see how this method works.
We always create micro-products for existing demand in search.
But why create a product if there is already something like it on the market?☝️
This is a very common question. I decided to answer in detail.
Remember where we start? We look for existing demand in search.
That is, we don't come up with an idea. Instead, we take numbers from real queries by real people.
And here lies half the mystery. If people are searching for it, it means something about the current solutions is not satisfying them.
📍 What most often dissatisfies them with current solutions?
1️⃣ Most importantly, people may simply not know about current solutions.
2️⃣ Current solutions may be too complicated for them. Remember how often you can't find a needed feature in a complex product? Other people feel the same. And they go searching for it. They want just that feature and nothing else.
In the end, we decide to create a product like our competitors, but much simpler. Just with the one feature people are searching for. Here’s a bonus: one function can be launched in one month. And occupy your micro-niche.
📍 After launching, the scheme looks like this:
1️⃣ People search specifically for this function
2️⃣ They find us (because we made it specifically for this search demand)
3️⃣ They install and get a wow-effect: wow, it's so simple! This is what I was looking for.
4️⃣ After a few days of testing, we offer to pay.
And someone pays, because with the rate of an American user at $50 an hour, it's easier to pay $5 than to spend an hour looking for a free (and not guaranteed) alternative.
Naturally, this doesn't happen with everyone. For example, a good conversion to payment is 1-2% of users (mostly from the American and European middle+ class). But this is enough if the product was initially made for an existing demand, which is plentiful.
Now imagine creating a product based on an idea from your head. Even if the product is good, but it's simply not searched for? That wouldn't work out well.
Let's look at specific products from the builder community to see how this method works.
🎒 In short, I decided to make a summary of how we launch micro-products in a single post.
The most important thing. No method guarantees a 100% result. A lot depends on luck!
Therefore, our method is based on minimizing risks. Especially if you are launching alone or with a small team.
📍 Our way of reducing risks consists of 3 points:
1️⃣ Launch a micro-product only for existing demand. The most accurate tool to check market demand is the presence of competitors. No competitors = no demand = we do not make the product.
2️⃣ Then we simply extract strictly one function from competitors. Not necessarily the main one.
3️⃣ And launch it within a month. So if it doesn't catch on, the risks are minimal.
📍 Next. No complicated ventures! For example, in B2B enterprise, there's a lot of potential. But there’s almost zero chance to make something sellable in 1 month + without investments + alone + part-time. We don’t do it because of high risks.
📍We have 2 promotion methods:
1. Promotion for existing search demand (80% of our launches)
2. Building a community around the project (harder to do, 20% of our launches)
Such risk reduction allows us to influence luck, thanks to:
1️⃣ speed of launch
2️⃣ number of attempts
3️⃣ very low cost of launch.
But, as always, the devil is in the details.
I want to discuss more cases from our builder community. We worked closely from January to March, and as a result, a lot of new products emerged from the community ✨
I'll show examples of how ideas were selected and then launched products were promoted under existing search demand. And what came out of it.
The most important thing. No method guarantees a 100% result. A lot depends on luck!
Therefore, our method is based on minimizing risks. Especially if you are launching alone or with a small team.
📍 Our way of reducing risks consists of 3 points:
1️⃣ Launch a micro-product only for existing demand. The most accurate tool to check market demand is the presence of competitors. No competitors = no demand = we do not make the product.
2️⃣ Then we simply extract strictly one function from competitors. Not necessarily the main one.
3️⃣ And launch it within a month. So if it doesn't catch on, the risks are minimal.
📍 Next. No complicated ventures! For example, in B2B enterprise, there's a lot of potential. But there’s almost zero chance to make something sellable in 1 month + without investments + alone + part-time. We don’t do it because of high risks.
📍We have 2 promotion methods:
1. Promotion for existing search demand (80% of our launches)
2. Building a community around the project (harder to do, 20% of our launches)
Such risk reduction allows us to influence luck, thanks to:
1️⃣ speed of launch
2️⃣ number of attempts
3️⃣ very low cost of launch.
But, as always, the devil is in the details.
I want to discuss more cases from our builder community. We worked closely from January to March, and as a result, a lot of new products emerged from the community ✨
I'll show examples of how ideas were selected and then launched products were promoted under existing search demand. And what came out of it.
💔 In short, venture approach VS launching micro-products.
Some people compare major venture stories with our approach to launching micro-products.
I decided to explain why this comparison is incorrect and what key differences exist between them.
1️⃣ The venture approach is about huge future capitalization. Usually, it involves dominating an industry.
📍In venture capital, investors and funds are not interested in investing if you promise to earn either $500 or $5000 a month. They have large fortunes that they need to grow even more. For example, invest $1 million in your project at the seed stage and pull out $30 million.
📍Therefore, in venture capital, it's important to feed investors with promises and explain why the product will significantly grow from the initial large sum of investments. Forecasts are made, and rounds are played.
📍Multiplying significantly from an initially large amount is most often possible with complex innovative products that take a long time to develop (e.g., deeptech, B2B enterprise, etc.)
📍This is a working approach that produces beautiful stories. They change the world. Their founders gain fortunes of hundreds of millions of dollars. But this approach has one BUT: a critically low chance of a successful exit. It's understandable — a huge reward comes only with huge risks.
📍 Investors mitigate these risks by the number of projects. They invest in 100 projects, hoping 1 will succeed and pay off all the others. In fact, risks are transferred to the founder.
📍 Statistically, exits happen after 7 years of the company's life (if you're lucky). For example, in Y Combinator, 2% of companies make it — and that's in the world's most successful accelerator, with the most talented employees and one of the strictest selections.
Imagine what the success statistics for the venture model are on average worldwide?
2️⃣ Indie launches are about small profits here and now in a narrow niche.
📍 We do not aim for billion-dollar exits but set a goal of a few senior programmer's passive salaries per month.
📍 In our method, every second launch gets thousands of users within six months, and every third makes around $500-1500 after a year. These are micro amounts, absolutely uninteresting in the venture world. But they are respectable sums for a specialist with incomparably lower risks.
📍Also, this approach activates a kind of magic of small numbers. Consider:
◾️ Against the backdrop of large IT exits, earning $500/month from 1 application a year after launch may not seem very serious. But you should count not only revenue!
◾️ The fact is that in such simple micro-products, there are almost no expenses. For example, here are the average costs for one of our launches:
• Time to launch: 2-4 weeks
• Support expenses: $0-$50 per month
• Search optimization attracts users by itself
• Profit almost equals revenue
Considering that each new product almost does not require efforts for support, we simply launch several such products.
Thus, even $500-$1500/month turn into an amount comparable to a senior programmer's salary, thanks to several launches of such micro-products.
P.S. By the way, a very common mistake is trying to apply the venture approach to product development where it fundamentally cannot work. Or an indie approach, focused on profit, where only venture can work. We'll discuss this with an example in the next post.
Some people compare major venture stories with our approach to launching micro-products.
I decided to explain why this comparison is incorrect and what key differences exist between them.
1️⃣ The venture approach is about huge future capitalization. Usually, it involves dominating an industry.
📍In venture capital, investors and funds are not interested in investing if you promise to earn either $500 or $5000 a month. They have large fortunes that they need to grow even more. For example, invest $1 million in your project at the seed stage and pull out $30 million.
📍Therefore, in venture capital, it's important to feed investors with promises and explain why the product will significantly grow from the initial large sum of investments. Forecasts are made, and rounds are played.
📍Multiplying significantly from an initially large amount is most often possible with complex innovative products that take a long time to develop (e.g., deeptech, B2B enterprise, etc.)
📍This is a working approach that produces beautiful stories. They change the world. Their founders gain fortunes of hundreds of millions of dollars. But this approach has one BUT: a critically low chance of a successful exit. It's understandable — a huge reward comes only with huge risks.
📍 Investors mitigate these risks by the number of projects. They invest in 100 projects, hoping 1 will succeed and pay off all the others. In fact, risks are transferred to the founder.
📍 Statistically, exits happen after 7 years of the company's life (if you're lucky). For example, in Y Combinator, 2% of companies make it — and that's in the world's most successful accelerator, with the most talented employees and one of the strictest selections.
Imagine what the success statistics for the venture model are on average worldwide?
2️⃣ Indie launches are about small profits here and now in a narrow niche.
📍 We do not aim for billion-dollar exits but set a goal of a few senior programmer's passive salaries per month.
📍 In our method, every second launch gets thousands of users within six months, and every third makes around $500-1500 after a year. These are micro amounts, absolutely uninteresting in the venture world. But they are respectable sums for a specialist with incomparably lower risks.
📍Also, this approach activates a kind of magic of small numbers. Consider:
◾️ Against the backdrop of large IT exits, earning $500/month from 1 application a year after launch may not seem very serious. But you should count not only revenue!
◾️ The fact is that in such simple micro-products, there are almost no expenses. For example, here are the average costs for one of our launches:
• Time to launch: 2-4 weeks
• Support expenses: $0-$50 per month
• Search optimization attracts users by itself
• Profit almost equals revenue
Considering that each new product almost does not require efforts for support, we simply launch several such products.
Thus, even $500-$1500/month turn into an amount comparable to a senior programmer's salary, thanks to several launches of such micro-products.
P.S. By the way, a very common mistake is trying to apply the venture approach to product development where it fundamentally cannot work. Or an indie approach, focused on profit, where only venture can work. We'll discuss this with an example in the next post.
😳 In short, in 2024, we launched a calculator 🙂
This amusing example perfectly illustrates important aspects of our method of launching in the community of builders.
Who even needs another calculator in 2024? Let’s dig into this.
1️⃣ Remember where we start? We don't judge by ourselves but look for existing demand in search. We did the same here and were surprised to learn that in 2024, calculators are actively searched for on Google!
And here lies half the solution. If people are searching for it, it means they are not satisfied with the current solutions. Even if it's just a calculator.
Most often, there are one of two reasons:
1️⃣ People may simply not know where to find this calculator or don't want to bother searching for it (again, we don't judge by ourselves).
2️⃣ The current solutions might be inconvenient or insufficient for them.
In the end, they Google it. And they find our convenient product, install it, and use it.
We had this sequence:
1️⃣ Guys in the community of builders discovered demand for two types of calculators — a standard and a scientific one.
2️⃣ We quickly made two simple applications.
3️⃣ And optimized them so that the existing demand would find our products.
One month after the launch, here are the results:
1. Calculator App by Alex — 3K active users per week.
2. Advanced Calculator by Max — 882 active users per week.
That is, people really started to find the product organically, install it, and use it. After 1 month — already great numbers, and then traffic usually grows progressively.
Our plans are as follows: grow to several thousand active users weekly and implement monetization.
And here again, we don't take this idea out of our heads but rely on facts:
In mobile stores, there are already many simple paid calculator applications. That is, the market confirms that people are willing to pay for such a simple utility.
We also launch our products. So, we wait to see what the numbers will be on desktop. We will share them here.
A normal conversion rate from installation to payment is around ~ 1%. This will be more than enough, considering that the traffic we attract from search is systematic and free ✊
This amusing example perfectly illustrates important aspects of our method of launching in the community of builders.
Who even needs another calculator in 2024? Let’s dig into this.
1️⃣ Remember where we start? We don't judge by ourselves but look for existing demand in search. We did the same here and were surprised to learn that in 2024, calculators are actively searched for on Google!
And here lies half the solution. If people are searching for it, it means they are not satisfied with the current solutions. Even if it's just a calculator.
Most often, there are one of two reasons:
1️⃣ People may simply not know where to find this calculator or don't want to bother searching for it (again, we don't judge by ourselves).
2️⃣ The current solutions might be inconvenient or insufficient for them.
In the end, they Google it. And they find our convenient product, install it, and use it.
We had this sequence:
1️⃣ Guys in the community of builders discovered demand for two types of calculators — a standard and a scientific one.
2️⃣ We quickly made two simple applications.
3️⃣ And optimized them so that the existing demand would find our products.
One month after the launch, here are the results:
1. Calculator App by Alex — 3K active users per week.
2. Advanced Calculator by Max — 882 active users per week.
That is, people really started to find the product organically, install it, and use it. After 1 month — already great numbers, and then traffic usually grows progressively.
Our plans are as follows: grow to several thousand active users weekly and implement monetization.
And here again, we don't take this idea out of our heads but rely on facts:
In mobile stores, there are already many simple paid calculator applications. That is, the market confirms that people are willing to pay for such a simple utility.
We also launch our products. So, we wait to see what the numbers will be on desktop. We will share them here.
A normal conversion rate from installation to payment is around ~ 1%. This will be more than enough, considering that the traffic we attract from search is systematic and free ✊
🖤 In short, having your own product helps... in hiring.
I received feedback from someone who created their product in our community of builders.
The gist is: "man, when you have 1K users, you perceive tasks at your main job differently, and sometimes you're amazed at the thoughts of colleagues who don't have their own products."
I’ll add from myself. You can’t imagine how much more advantageous it is for a business to work with an employee who has their own product.
Look. Many professions operate within the vacuum of their specialization. Especially where there's no direct interaction with customers. A prime example — developers, designers.
We constantly hire developers to our team. And I've long noticed that a person with experience in their own product is just in a different universe. 🪐
📍 If a person has a product with 1K users — we'll invite them to the team and mesh with a x10 probability.
Why?
You understand that you’re dealing with a specialist who has experienced real users firsthand. Who has been amazed by their behavior in analytics. Who understands how much developers' thoughts differ from those of real users.
Such a developer/product manager/designer has recalibrated their internal coordinate system, and you as a business don’t need to redo it. You’re ready to listen and hear such a person. Trust them more. And ultimately pay significantly more.
Because a person with their own product thinks differently. Acts differently. We understand each other better.
If I open a resume of a specialist and see a link to their own product with 1K users — it commands immense respect.
🕹 Moreover, the complexity of the product does not matter. Let it be a micro-product, but with users.
In short, create your own product. Let it be a micro-extension. A small plugin. A tiny mobile app. A little bot. But with satisfied users.
And write feedback on what changes at work).
I received feedback from someone who created their product in our community of builders.
The gist is: "man, when you have 1K users, you perceive tasks at your main job differently, and sometimes you're amazed at the thoughts of colleagues who don't have their own products."
I’ll add from myself. You can’t imagine how much more advantageous it is for a business to work with an employee who has their own product.
Look. Many professions operate within the vacuum of their specialization. Especially where there's no direct interaction with customers. A prime example — developers, designers.
We constantly hire developers to our team. And I've long noticed that a person with experience in their own product is just in a different universe. 🪐
📍 If a person has a product with 1K users — we'll invite them to the team and mesh with a x10 probability.
Why?
You understand that you’re dealing with a specialist who has experienced real users firsthand. Who has been amazed by their behavior in analytics. Who understands how much developers' thoughts differ from those of real users.
Such a developer/product manager/designer has recalibrated their internal coordinate system, and you as a business don’t need to redo it. You’re ready to listen and hear such a person. Trust them more. And ultimately pay significantly more.
Because a person with their own product thinks differently. Acts differently. We understand each other better.
If I open a resume of a specialist and see a link to their own product with 1K users — it commands immense respect.
🕹 Moreover, the complexity of the product does not matter. Let it be a micro-product, but with users.
In short, create your own product. Let it be a micro-extension. A small plugin. A tiny mobile app. A little bot. But with satisfied users.
And write feedback on what changes at work).
🕺It's time to introduce you to what the participants in our community of builders are up to)
Based on this channel, we have a community of builders where we launch micro-products using the following method:
1️⃣ We find existing demand through search, rather than coming up with an idea out of thin air.
2️⃣ We create a future micro-product to meet this demand. We aim to solve the user's problem as simply as possible (ideally with one button). Because in a simple product, the user can benefit more quickly. And such a product will be easier for us to make.
3️⃣ We launch (and promote!) such a product in 1 month.
📍 Important. We spend 30% of the time on development. 70% on promotion in search.
This week, another round of launches in the community of builders was completed. You asked to hear more about such cases.
Let me introduce you to Shamil — a builder from our community.
🔦 What did we find?
Shamil didn't come up with the idea himself. Instead, he looked at the market and saw there was demand for apps that show the history of what you've copied on your computer the last 5-10 times.
⚙️ What did we do?
We simplified our competitors to the maximum and programmed such a solution:
1️⃣ You copied important text
2️⃣ Then you copied another text
3️⃣ You quickly needed access to the original text
4️⃣ Open the app in one click, and there is your copy history. And in one click, you copied what you needed.
In short, a basic app that allows you to quickly see your entire copy history. And take any text from it with one button.
🍉 The first results?
It's only been a 10 days after launch. And Shamil has the first 140 active users per week!
This is a great result for the start. We will observe the growth of users from the target countries and soon implement an inexpensive paid version. We will report back here on the results.
I've actually become hooked on this product myself) Sometimes you copy a lot of text and it's very convenient to take it from the copy history, rather than looking for it in the original source.
If this problem is familiar to you too — here you can install the app in one click.
And also, launching is an exciting business, let's give some fire to the author if this project seems interesting and you'll be waiting for the next report on users and in-app purchases 🔥
Based on this channel, we have a community of builders where we launch micro-products using the following method:
1️⃣ We find existing demand through search, rather than coming up with an idea out of thin air.
2️⃣ We create a future micro-product to meet this demand. We aim to solve the user's problem as simply as possible (ideally with one button). Because in a simple product, the user can benefit more quickly. And such a product will be easier for us to make.
3️⃣ We launch (and promote!) such a product in 1 month.
📍 Important. We spend 30% of the time on development. 70% on promotion in search.
This week, another round of launches in the community of builders was completed. You asked to hear more about such cases.
Let me introduce you to Shamil — a builder from our community.
🔦 What did we find?
Shamil didn't come up with the idea himself. Instead, he looked at the market and saw there was demand for apps that show the history of what you've copied on your computer the last 5-10 times.
⚙️ What did we do?
We simplified our competitors to the maximum and programmed such a solution:
1️⃣ You copied important text
2️⃣ Then you copied another text
3️⃣ You quickly needed access to the original text
4️⃣ Open the app in one click, and there is your copy history. And in one click, you copied what you needed.
In short, a basic app that allows you to quickly see your entire copy history. And take any text from it with one button.
🍉 The first results?
It's only been a 10 days after launch. And Shamil has the first 140 active users per week!
This is a great result for the start. We will observe the growth of users from the target countries and soon implement an inexpensive paid version. We will report back here on the results.
I've actually become hooked on this product myself) Sometimes you copy a lot of text and it's very convenient to take it from the copy history, rather than looking for it in the original source.
If this problem is familiar to you too — here you can install the app in one click.
And also, launching is an exciting business, let's give some fire to the author if this project seems interesting and you'll be waiting for the next report on users and in-app purchases 🔥
❤️🩹 In short, a kind product that offers a very simple yet clear benefit!
A special place in our community of builders is reserved for kind launches.
Kamil is a participant in our community of builders and now the creator of not just a useful, but also a very kind product.
We followed our standard scheme:
1️⃣ We found existing demand in search, rather than reinventing the wheel.
We looked at the market and discovered that there is a condition that prevents people from reading without a reading ruler. This is one type of dyslexia — the percentage of people with its symptoms worldwide varies from 9-12% to 17-23%, depending on the source.
2️⃣ We designed a maximally simple product with one function that already has demand.
We decided to create Reading Line — a simple virtual reading ruler that allows people with dyslexia to read line by line without losing their place.
Effectively, we created a virtual equivalent of physical reading rulers, which people with dyslexia already (!) regularly search for and buy.
3️⃣ We launched the product in one month and optimized it so that traffic would find our product.
The initial results fully confirm the hypothesis: 10 days after the launch, Kamil has 61 weekly active users! That is, people are indeed finding and installing the product.
One of the most common misconceptions is to think that people pay for the complexity of a product. In reality, the average person often doesn't know how difficult it is to create a particular product. They only pay for the benefit it brings to them.
📍 And most importantly: the entire hypothesis is based not on thoughts from our heads, but on statistics that are already known: users are already (!) searching for this and already (!) buying paid alternatives because they provide benefit.
We will publish the next report on user dynamics and in-app purchases here later.
If you're looking forward to it, let's support the author and send him some fire. After all, Kamil made a simple, yet useful thing — essentially made reading text much easier for many people with dyslexia.
A special place in our community of builders is reserved for kind launches.
Kamil is a participant in our community of builders and now the creator of not just a useful, but also a very kind product.
We followed our standard scheme:
1️⃣ We found existing demand in search, rather than reinventing the wheel.
We looked at the market and discovered that there is a condition that prevents people from reading without a reading ruler. This is one type of dyslexia — the percentage of people with its symptoms worldwide varies from 9-12% to 17-23%, depending on the source.
2️⃣ We designed a maximally simple product with one function that already has demand.
We decided to create Reading Line — a simple virtual reading ruler that allows people with dyslexia to read line by line without losing their place.
Effectively, we created a virtual equivalent of physical reading rulers, which people with dyslexia already (!) regularly search for and buy.
3️⃣ We launched the product in one month and optimized it so that traffic would find our product.
The initial results fully confirm the hypothesis: 10 days after the launch, Kamil has 61 weekly active users! That is, people are indeed finding and installing the product.
One of the most common misconceptions is to think that people pay for the complexity of a product. In reality, the average person often doesn't know how difficult it is to create a particular product. They only pay for the benefit it brings to them.
📍 And most importantly: the entire hypothesis is based not on thoughts from our heads, but on statistics that are already known: users are already (!) searching for this and already (!) buying paid alternatives because they provide benefit.
We will publish the next report on user dynamics and in-app purchases here later.
If you're looking forward to it, let's support the author and send him some fire. After all, Kamil made a simple, yet useful thing — essentially made reading text much easier for many people with dyslexia.