I've been working on my note-taking app with Excalidraw sketches for the past two weeks. I set a boundary for myself: I had only two weeks to work on it, then I had to stop and release it somewhere, even though I didn't know where. I had no plans to make a ton of money; I just wanted to have a project like this for myself and to get a feel for how solopreneurship works.
First, huge kudos to Marc Lou for his post: How to launch a startup on Hacker News. I didn't even know that I should name my post in a specific way. To launch there, you need to start the title of the post with Show HN. It also seems like HN users prefer short, straight-to-the-point titles.
One insight I gained is that people are not very happy about sharing their emails or going through a sign-up process. This wasn't obvious to me until I saw a video review from one user who basically said, "sorry, but no" after seeing the login screen. Lesson learned: I'll create demo pages for all my future projects.
What lessons have you learned from launching your side projects?
Top comments (3)
Well, what’s the problem with logging in?! Any app around allows creating notes on the web without a user account? I don’t recall a single one… So don’t listen to this pair of HN snobs, all fine. A video demo on the landing page probably would make sense though — showcasing the best parts.
Also, as a feedback (kinda bug report): I tried inserting a diagram in a note on mobile, and it’s a really cool experience. But when I try to input text below that, the diagram gets erased.
I fixed the issue where sketches were being deleted when adding a paragraph, making them more persistent. Now, the only way to delete a sketch is by explicitly clicking the delete button. Using backspace or delete on selected text won't remove it anymore.
Regarding the demo without sign-up, I think it's mostly about providing a low-friction way to explore the tool without the hassle of entering an email, etc. Of course, all the major features are behind the sign-up because I need a way to save users' notes linked to their accounts.
As for the video, I totally agree! I was waiting until the final UI was established to create them. I think now is the right time.
Thanks for the bug report! Losing a diagram is a terrible experience, especially if the user spent a lot of time creating it. I've got something to work on today.