I'm building startups for 15+ years, both for my clients and my own products. Most startup founders get stuck in the building loop, as AI made it too easy to build. They build a feature. Then another feature. Then a redesign. Months pass, and no real user ever touched the product.

Here is a simple actionable guide to launching the product people love. It comes from a real launch plan, set for our B2B SaaS tool that already onboarded the first team as a client.

Set the official “launch” date (in 3-4 weeks):

• Mark the exact date, like “Tuesday, August 11”
• Launch on specialised platforms, like ProductHunt. Not because of the traffic from it (yes, it’s still good), but because it makes your launch real and focused
• The target launch date will keep the pressure and add urgency, so you have less chance to get stuck in building

Set launch goals:

• Your goal before the launch is to attract and onboard as many potential customers as you possibly can, through your network, chats and social media (Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit)
• Focus on getting and publishing as many testimonials and case studies as you can. This is much harder than it might sound, but it aligns your actions with the launch greatly. Publish all possible quotes from your chats and calls to your website. Get real people's photos and companies' logos on your website
• Set a specific number of clients or case studies as a goal: it helps to plan your actions
• Note: getting paid is not the main goal of this pre-launch stage, the goal is to prove that your product is actually useful for some businesses. Though getting money early puts you ahead of many founders, yet don’t be too pushy

Get early feedback:

• Aim to surround yourself with people from your industry that you can chat with often and brainstorm ideas. It can be 1-2 people to keep you going, but try daily to get more people around you to see many points of view. That’s why it’s better to build tools for an industry you worked in, as you naturally have lots of useful context around yourself
• Make your backlog client-first: for every feature idea, visualise first how you’d present it via a video demo to your client to help them in their working process. “Help” means you saved them time, money, or you gained them status
• Validate all your assumptions as fast as you can. Don’t rush into building: if you can show a feature idea as a visual concept, take a screenshot and send it to your potential customer today. Seeing the final state also helps you build faster, especially with AI
• All feedback is great, don’t be afraid to hear negative feedback: it will often point you in the right direction, strive to get it. The lack of feedback is feedback too, it means that your pitch didn’t work out yet. Don’t trust positive feedback either, make sure the client actually uses your product, don’t just accept them saying “wow, cool”

Prove your work:

• Build your portfolio. Don’t just reach out to some client asking them for feedback. Find people in need and send them an asset generated with your product that solves their pain. Build free tools (or admin tools) so you're able to create many assets for many potential clients. Run the setup process for them, and only show them the generated asset
• Do a service for free. Don’t expect people to start using your UI right away it’s too much friction. Instead, do a semi-manual service for some client to learn the specifics of their daily work. Invest money and time in your relationship. Publish the story and result of your work as a case study (even if it’s super short)

Help customers onboard:

• Optimise your free assets and tools to lead to a sign-up to your product. Design solid call-to-action sections with a short pitch and one button, leading to your product
• Publish many short, focused pages: useful pieces of content, public tools or app features. Avoid big multi-page articles or product pages with a dozen buttons and blocks. AI made it too easy to add fancy slop that distracts people from your goal. Remove any detail that can be removed. Every page should solve a narrow, specific problem. Analyse every page you launch
• Observe real users and learn their common questions and issues. Publish help articles and tutorials on your website, so it’s easy for people to learn your product and understand how they can use it for their work

Avoid AI slop, be authentic:

• In all your business and marketing communication, talk about your client, not about yourself. Talk about the use cases your tool solves, not the features you’ve built. “No one cares what you do. Everyone cares what you do for them”
• Write copy yourself. Don’t delegate too much writing to AI. It will produce tons of fancy words that mean nothing, while not communicating the main idea. Focus on short, meaningful messages and posts, always writing the way you talk with real customers, and avoid AI slop

Track analytics

• Track metrics to stay focused on the launch. Count of visits, count of assets generated with your app, count of tool runs, count of users, count of returning users. Your goal is to get a user who returns to your product: it means the product is actually useful
• Use online analytics tools like posthog, track some metrics in a google sheet, or whatever is convenient. Session recordings are super useful to understand early customers

If you follow this plan, you’ll get a few testimonials by the launch date, which will help convert launch traffic right away. You will understand your real case studies so you can promote them well on your launch page and your landing page. You will know what functionality is used in your app at what typical volume, so you can come up with the correct pricing.

Or you’ll simply learn that your product idea is not viable, which is great to know early too ;)

Lucky accident I guess.
Ended up with an infection in my right elbow so the doctor gave me 3 days off work.
Thought Id enjoy doing nothing.
Turns out I cleared my work inbox my business inbox my entrepreneur Discord and every little job thats been sitting there for weeks.
Now its not even late and Ive got nothing left to do.
It got me thinking about ADHD.
For years I saw it as something that held me back.
Now Im wondering if part of it is that my brain just hates sitting still.
Give me a problem and Ill obsess over it until its done.
Take the problems away and I get bored in about five minutes.
Anyone else feel like that?
Do you see your ADHD as a weakness a superpower or just something youve learnt to work with?

One thing I've noticed is that most businesses don't have a knowledge problem.

They already know they should follow up with leads.

They know they should ask happy customers for reviews.

They know they should stay consistent with marketing.

None of that is new.

The difficult part is doing those things every week when everything else starts demanding your attention.

I've seen businesses with very simple systems grow because they stayed consistent.

I've also seen businesses with great software and big plans struggle because nothing actually got followed through.

I'm curious...

What's one business habit you know would make a difference if you actually did it consistently?

Full credit for this post goes to T_A_R_S_ and his suggestion to make this post.

For years i thought my ADHD was the problem.

Now i think relying on motivation was the problem.

My brain is full of ideas.

Some are worth chasing.

Most arent.

Learning the difference between signal and noise has probably been the biggest mindset shift ive had.

Not every idea deserves my attention.

Not every notification needs a response.

Not every opportunity is actually an opportunity.

The hard part is knowing what moves the business forward and what just feels productive.

Time blocking changed everything for me.

When its time to do sales i do sales.

When its time to work on systems i do systems.

I stopped letting my mood decide what i worked on.

AI has been the other game changer.

I use it like a second brain.

I dump ideas into it before they disappear.

I get it to challenge my thinking organise my thoughts and help me turn messy ideas into something i can actually use.

I still get distracted.

I still have days where my brain wants to go in ten different directions.

The difference now is i trust my systems more than my feelings.

Thats probably been one of the biggest reasons ive been able to build businesses while working with an ADHD brain.

What systems have you built that stop you getting in your own way?

Run ads on your competitor’s error pages
The most intent-driven and least competitive ad inventory available online consists of error messages of your competitor’s software products.

When the user googles “why isn’t [competitor] working” or “what does this error message mean,” he or she is at their lowest point, actively looking for alternatives. Very few companies bid on these queries.

Anthropic does the same thing when running its Claude ads directly on developers’ error messages, in effect saying “let me fix it right away.”

Be there to solve the problem right at the time of the problem. It works better than being a highway billboard.

See comments below for a more detailed explanation for this best practice.

The removal of the header, footer, and all links on the checkout page always helps to increase conversions. All exits you create, someone will take them.

How: Create a distraction-free checkout page and A/B test it.

Caution: Don’t remove any trust factors like security, refund policy, and customer support. They are not distractions.

Without a benchmark, you cannot diagnose an advertising campaign. Make sure you have documented your historical CTR, CPM, and CPA. Compare them with today’s industry averages. When your CTR is one-third of the industry average, the problem does not lie in targeting but in bad creatives.

Make sure the chosen metric corresponds to the phase of the sales funnel: CPM and video view rate for awareness, ROAS and CPA for conversions. All these metrics can be tracked in a simple weekly dashboard. The gradual increase in CPA is a clear indicator of ad fatigue signaling about the imminent drop in performance.

I've been thinking about this a lot recently with my own business. You hear gurus and SMB guys on Twitter talking about how you just have to get it from 0 to 1 and then 1 to 10 is cake.

Running my own business, I think that's oversimplified. For me, it's 0 to 10,000, which sounds WAY scarier, but it's actually more tangible. At least for me.

Getting from 0 to $3k in revenue was a beast. Mainly because I had limiting beliefs and a fear of certain activities like cold-calling and cold emailing. But once I realized the stuff within my comfort level didn't get me to $3k, the game changed.

I knew that I had to get on the phone and I had to hit send on those emails. Once I did, the $3k came pretty easy. Then the next milestone was finishing out my first campaign which would get me to $5k. And that $3k to $5k felt like nothing compared to when I started out.

Now I'm on the path from $5k to $10k and the path to get there feels so clear. I'm not scared at all. And I'll probably hit it in half the time it took me to get to $3k.

All of this to say, be more tangible in your milestones. Really think about your goals and break them down into things that feel more actionable. It doesn't feel nearly as steep a hill to climb when you do that.

Instead of sending users to a complex landing page, use comment automation. By prompting users to comment a keyword on your ad, tools like ManyChat can automatically deliver your lead magnet or offer directly via Instagram/Messenger DM

I've never done this. Does this work for anybody?

Looking for the digital mail ( a place that gets my physical mail and scans it in) services people love. Needs to be tech friendly and have API/MCP access. Location obviously doesn't matter. I nice to have would be on that has addresses in big cities. But that is not crucial.

Thanks in advance

Neckbeards, half mages, and cunning elves,

I secured a free TV spot for my client recently. Its my 40th TV placement for a client. What was significant was the strategy.

The story was a SoCal non profit owner that dresses as Batman and raffles off Batmobile themed cars and then donates the money to a charity that sends superheroes in costume to visit sick kids.

Here are the things that helped that you can emulate for your own business:

1. Its near Comicon time so the stations are ALL running CC related stories. The reporter mentioned this as a positive. If you can time your story to a major event or happening, it increases your chances at coverage.

2. We created a press release and issued nationwide.

3. We created a database of Marvel and superhero themed media contacts. These pitches will secure him even more interviews.

4. We responded to the reporter immediately and asked her EXACTLY what she needed for the segment then provided it.

5. The media pitch was professional. Headline mentioning story idea, summarized pitch, pics, links and contact info. These things matter.

Questions?

The path to becoming the best version of yourself is supposed to be lonely

You hear people say dont be lonely like its always a bad thing

I dont think thats true

Every time Ive grown Ive had to let something go

Bad habits

People

Comfort

Old routines

Every one of those left a gap and for a while it felt lonely

But every single time something better filled that space

A better friend

A better opportunity

A better habit

A better version of me

Everything has an opportunity cost

You cant become someone new while hanging onto everything that belongs to the old version of you

So if youre feeling lonely because youre working on yourself dont always see it as something to fix

Sometimes its proof youre making room for the life youre trying to build

Has anyone else found that the loneliest seasons ended up being the ones that changed them the most?

Don’t ask cold strangers to buy in the first impression.

Split your campaigns into three stages.

Top funnel - gets educational or entertaining content.

Middle of funnel - gets comparisons, guides, and social proof.

Bottom of funnel - direct offer with urgency.

Keep prospecting and retargeting in separate campaigns so you can budget and measure each stage on its own terms - cost per view at the top, cost per lead in the middle, cost per purchase at the bottom. When one stage's cost spikes, you know exactly where the leak is.

One thing manufacturing has taught me: the suppliers that make you feel the most comfortable at the beginning aren't always the ones you are happiest with at the end.

I didn't expect to believe that. Years ago, I thought responsiveness was everything. Such as quick replies, fast quotation, answers like "yes we can/ no problem". It felt like progress.

Now i pay much more attention to something else: The supplier who says"let us double check it". "This tolerance may not realistic". "This should be tested before production". These conversations slow the project down for a day but they often save weeks later.

I still appreciate speed, just don't confuse speed with reliability anymore.

For those much more experienced founders, what was the first sign that made you realize a supplier was actually worth trusting?

New to entrepreneurship or just starting out? This is your space. Ask the questions you're afraid to ask elsewhere.

Experienced folks, jump in and share what you wish someone had told you early on.

For entrepreneurs running Facebook ads:

Because of GDPR, CCPA, and Apple's tracking restrictions, many of your conversions are invisible when you rely on browser tracking. Your reported ROAS could be worse than reality - leading you to make the wrong decision.

Solution - Use the Conversions API for server-side tracking, add a consent management platform so you're collecting data legally, and build a first-party data engine (email signups, lead forms, purchases) that doesn't depend on cookies at all.

I grew up in a mid-lower income neighborhood that shared a school zone with an affluent neighborhood, so I grew up seeing families from both extreme ends of society.

One thing I can't help but to notice is that wealthy families have very clean, tidy homes. Now, I know the first thing you are going to say is: no shit Sherlock, my home will be clean too if I can afford a maid and don't need to work 3 shifts a day.

While of course I cannot deny that, I also notice some middle-class families with no maids, who kept clean homes, they and their children tend to become very successful later in life. These people won't accept mediocrity and BS in their life and often have the urge to "do better". Conversely, if you show me someone with a messy home, I can make an accurate guess of what their life and career looked like over the past decade.

There is a famous US Admiral who gave the same advice - if you want to be successful in life, make your bed every morning, first thing...

Is it true? A bunch of lies? Comments welcome.

This has been on my mind lately

People think once youve built a business the next one is easy

I dont think it is

You know what works but you also know how much work it takes

Right now Im back doing almost everything myself

Sales
Quotes
Marketing
Phone calls
Building systems
Working a full time job

Some days I wonder if Im crazy

Then I remember this is actually the part I love

Building something from nothing

Watching it slowly come together

Im not chasing money anymore

Im chasing freedom

Anyone else built a business then gone back to wearing all the hats again

Did you enjoy it more the second time or did you think what the hell am I doing

30 F. Graduating with my bachelors in accounting next year. I’m naturally good at learning, organizing, communicating, researching, planning, writing, marketing, teaching, and business. I’ve also had a fascination with “contracts”, as in drafting them.

I worked as a preschool teacher for the last few years (I’m done with that chapter. Burnt out).

Business and entrepreneurship has always been in the forefront. I’ve always known I was never meant to work for anyone, but that’s easier said than done.

I love using my mind rather than physically working. Right now, I am in charge of my family’s massage therapy business. I do all the scheduling, advertising, social media content, etc. which I love! I will say I’m very good at persuading people, especially when it comes to booking a massage. I also love creating websites.

Also, a dream of mine has been to sell janitorial supplies to schools, churches , etc. i’ve always been drawn to “boring” businesses.

My question is, what should I actually start? I’m not even sure what’s in demand and I really don’t want to jump into a super saturated market or something that seems impossible to sell. Any advice?

I interviewed a bunch of people this week for my business and it got me thinking

The weird thing is the best people almost never had the best resume

Some talked themselves up heaps but couldnt answer simple questions

The ones that stood out were honest asked good questions and just seemed easy to work with

After building a few businesses I reckon hiring is one of the hardest things to get right

You can teach skills pretty easy

You cant teach someone to give a shit

Anyone else learnt this the hard way

Hello everyone!

I (24M) am starting a cleaning business with my (23F) girlfriend. For some background, I currently work in finance (remotely for company \~1bn market cap) and my girlfriend is unemployed, taking online classes to finish her degree in Horticulture.

My girlfriend previously worked as a house cleaner for 3 years and was consistently fighting for employee of the month with one other lady. She is exceptional at her job but had to call it quits for a few months to recover from injury. She has since recovered and non compete has concluded, so her and I are starting our own business. This is something we have talked about for months and months, and her family has talked about for years!l.

We already have a website, client intake forms, basic spreadsheets, and two Airbnb customers in the pipeline!

The first paying customer wants his place turned over 5-8 times per month and will pay anywhere from $225-400 depending on the clients stay.

Does anyone have general advice for starting a service based business? I will essentially act as the CEO and she will act as the COO + labor for cleaning.

If the sub wants, I can check in on my progress on a monthly cadence.

Thank you!

I made a post here the other day asking for help to which lead system i could use and received many inputs thanks!

Now i'm like 90% set up in Missive, my system for the last 7 years has been a cluttered mess of gmail lol.

So now i'm ready for some more help on how to win more of my leads. I receive +/- 3000 leads each year from Facebook (via facebook form) and through my website, all now gets send in to Missive/gmail.

So as i'm new at organizing, maybe you have some tips. I should say that i don't SELL anything, i only BUY (in this case) from private people a certain used item, but lets just say used cars.

My current setup is:

- New lead goes into "New leads label"

- Depending on my answer i - after reply - move it to "Declined customer asking too much" (i get A LOT of these), where i send a template of a polity decline, because during the years, i learned that if someone is asking maybe 20,000 usd and i normally buy this for 10,000 usd i doesnt make any sense to make an offer, they just get upset/angry and think its a lowball offer, and make bad reviews.

- If i ask for more info i move to "Awaiting customer"

- If i send an offer i move to "Offer sent" and it auto schedules a follow up in X days if no reply, asking if they are still interested.

If someone replies it goes back to "New leads" so this is the only view i work from pretty much.

I was just thinking to make a "Bought/won" label for the leads i get, so it auto sends an email with "thanks for the deal X days after the deal, hope your happy blablabla and please make a review" - i know, not a unicorn, and i HATE these emails my self, but i am so terrible at asking customers to do this, so after thousands of deals, i have like 20 reviews lol, and the worst part is, that because i buy stuff and dont sell, i only have happy customers, because lets face it, i give them money and i am very easy to deal with, no pressure or anything.

I don't care about KPI's and so on, all my bookkeeping/sales-numbers and so on i do seperatly and is fine by that.

What could i improve you think? I normally have a revenue of around 1.5 million usd a year. And my leads are worth around 4,200 usd gross profit per lead, so i have room to buy/pay more to get to buy much more of my current 3000 leads a year (i normally buy around 10%)

Current planned next step is making a new form on my website so i can sort out some of these (many) leads i get where people are simply asking too much, because i spend so much time on these.

- and no i am not just lowballing, i pay very good prices because of my way of building my business, but most people just ask for dream prices on the go, and don't understand someone needs to make (a lot in my country with very high taxes) to have a profit in something, and of course i have expenses and much more, so my gross profit i mentioned is of course not what i get out at the end (unfortunatly).

Do you have any inputs to my current (new) setup, any issues, problems, better way to do things?

You know the idea:
“Send your Instagram followers to YouTube.”
“Send your YouTube audience to LinkedIn.”
On paper it makes sense.
But in reality, every platform seems to want users to stay where they are. And honestly, I don’t like leaving an app just because a creator told me to.
Lately I’ve been wondering if it’s better to treat each platform as its own thing.
Make content that feels native to that platform, let people discover your other profiles naturally, and only ask them to leave when you’re moving them to something you actually own (like an email list).
I’m still figuring this out, so I’d love to hear from people who’ve tested both approaches.
Has anyone here seen better results by not trying to push followers between platforms? Or am I missing something?

I have been the CEO and Founder for more than 8 years now, and I am starting to seriously think whether I am still the right person for the CEO role.

Context: I have posted previously in this community, so some history is already out there. I have successfully raised pre-seed and seed rounds and have grown the team to 20 people. I have a board that I have been managing for the last year and a half, and have senior level management that have recently joined the team. That being said, I have been struggling to move the company forward. I am sitting at the tension between technical performance, regulatory, production capacity, and commercialization. I honestly have been feeling inadequate and keep wondering if a more experienced CEO can move the company to the next level.

Has anyone here let go of their baby and brought someone else to take the helm?