Original Summary

Hey everyone! Today was a huge milestone for me - I got my very first paid subscriber ($30), and I couldn't be prouder. I wanted to share my journey here. It’s part motivation, part cautionary tale. Background I started web dev 20+ years ago at age 13. Since then, I’ve worked across corporate staregy, marketing tech, data science, and operations. I’ve always had a side project going, but I had a bad habit: I’d build, learn, get bored, and give up before ever launching. In Aug 2024, with baby #2 on the way, I decided to break the cycle and actually finish something. Juggling a full-time job, a wife, and 2 kids, I decided to give building a real shot and started to develop Peak Budget early in the morning and late at night. Finding my Approach I had used a major budgeting app for years, but felt I outgrew it. It focused heavily on day-to-day budgeting, but I wanted something that also helped me with long-term financial planning. In March 2025, during news around tariffs, someone online was looking for a Canadian alternative to mainstream finance apps. I jumped in and mentioned I was building one. To my surprise, ~100 people expressed interest wanting to support a local builder. The Terrible Beta Launch A month later, I launched a beta and ~70 people signed up. It was a disaster. Magic link login completely flopped - most couldn't even log in. The app was riddled with bugs for anyone who did make it past the gate. I started r/peakbudget to build a community and got zero traction. As AI tools blew up and competition flooded the personal finance space, it got tough psychologically. It felt pointless at times. But I promised myself I wouldn't abandon this one. My First Sale Last week, after 1.5 years of polishing, fixing bugs, and stabilizing the app, I finally got it to a point where I felt truly proud of what I built. I refused to ask people for money until I had a product I could stand behind. Once I hit that bar, I enabled subscriptions and emailed my ~200 beta testers offering a 40% lifetime discount for early supporters. And today, it happened. My first subscriber for $30. After 20 years of half-finished projects, someone actually paid for something I built. It feels incredible. Happy to answer any questions about the tech stack, balancing family life, or surviving a failed beta!   submitted by   /u/PassivePizzaPie [link]   [comments]

  • 情报分类：工作与职业机会
  • 分类依据：内容涉及招聘、求职或职业发展
  • 信息来源：Reddit · SideProject
  • 发布时间：2026/10/19 10:11:44