File Finder February Income and Project Progress Report
PROJECT
File Finder
ELEVATOR PITCH
We help you find files you know you have, but can’t find, faster
BLUF
Major progress with getting another full time (FT) engineer on board.
In this update:
- Doing monthly updates vs.daily or weekly
- Financial update
- HR Updates
- Product progress
- Thoughts: Why I pushed more chips in to get a second FT engineer AND How it’s effected the team
- How I’m paying for this project
- Goals for rest of March & April
FULL UPDATE
BUILD IN PUBLIC UPDATES
I tried doing daily updates on Twitter, then weekly, and found that monthly is the best cadence for me. Here’s why:
Daily was good when we re-started the project, it helped build momentum.
Once the momentum got going it became more of a burden for me
If I missed doing an update it felt like I failed that day when in fact progress was being made.
The same cycle happened when I moved the expectation to weekly
Things got going fast and weekly wasn’t needed
Monthly feels just right
Take a look back, make adjustments as needed, celebrate progress, set next four week goals.
WHY BUILD IN PUBLIC?
- Holds us accountable
- Builds a community of followers who can become testers and customers. Hint: Twitter is great for this.
- I promised to deliver value to you, [FIRST NAME GOES HERE], when you joined these weekly emails. I can’t think of a better way to learn how to turn an idea on the back of napkin into a side hustle and that into a business, than to pull back the curtain and show the reality.
FINANCIALS
See graphic for February Expenses ????
February actual expenses for File Finder
HR
Starting last week we now have two FT engineers, 2 part time, & me.
PRODUCT PROGRESS
About a week away from Google security audit competition.
To get here we’ve made major fixes on the backend and front end from updating old code libraries from our original MVP, updating session time outs, allowing data deletion with one button, server environment configuration adjustments (AWS, Google), updating and creating some written security policies, and some other fixes in the front and backend.
Note that on the engineering front we run an agile process and do daily standups and hotwashes at the end of the day via Slack where everyone gives a quick update what got worked on so everyone is in synch. Also serves for people to express any blockers so we can knock them down the next day.
THOUGHTS
Why I pushed more chips on the table to get a second engineer and it’s effect on the team
You’d think after starting and selling two companies and having another two dozen projects that didn’t work, you’d remember all lessons learned. But, sometimes you need a reminder.
I read a tweet or email, I can’t remember exactly, recently from from Nathan Berry where he outlined his lessons learned from building ConvertKit (the email program we use to send these emails. I’ve been a customer since he first started. You can try it via our affiliate link.
One the points that really stood out to me was he said he wished he committed more resources early in building ConvertKit. They now do $32m/year in revenue, completely bootstrapped.
I thought about that point on a bunch of bike rides, looking back on my two decades building companies.
I decided he couldn’t be more right.
The way I see it, it gets you to success, an adjustment (aka pivot), or a miss, FASTER. And that’s what we’re aiming for.
Spend a little more, yea it costs more money and/or equity, but it also SAVES time so if, for one reason or another, it doesn’t work, I can do something else.
SO, that’s why I pushed more chips in. And…
It’s UPLIFTED everyone.
We’ve made more progress in one week than we did in the last eight!
Not because people aren’t working hard, but because 2x engineers = 2.5x worth of output because it is a force multiplier on the people who work part-time.
Feeling positive about it right now. Like the wise man says, we’ll see how it works out.
HOW I”M PAYING FOR THIS PROJECT
So far I’ve been paying out of savings and supporting our household out of savings. We have plenty of runway, but I don’t like more going out than coming in. Soooo
A few people wrote to me about the book I have coming out soon called…
Back of the Napkin to…Business Plan in 11 Slides
And asked if I’d just build their business plan for them. I used to tell people to take my course and do it themselves. But, this time…
I listened to the market, got out of my own way, set a price, and I’m building it for them.
So far it’s worked out great. Truth is I can build plans fast.
Time truly is your biggest asset.
Get your plan built 10x faster and you’re WAY ahead.
This includes the business plan and financials.
Financials are probably the MOST important part of the whole plan because it shows if you can make money or not, and if so, when, so you know how much money you need. And…
It’s a business expense for them, so it has a tax advantage.
If you want your business plan done for you, reply to this email or email directly anytime : [email protected]
It will not get you out of getting a copy of the book, but it will get your business plan done fast and correctly. You’ll be launched before you know it!
GOALS for next four weeks
- Finish security audit
- Release our first version of FIle Finder to users for fast feedback
- Get our first, second and third paying customers
That’s it for this month, stay tuned next month for more massive progress ????
If you enjoyed this article be sure to claim your subscription to the weekly email I send out. It’s full of great information and other articles just like this one. This piece is from my 3/26/23, Week 13 update.