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Welcome to my startup journey

In March 2022 I set out to build a $1M startup in public. My hope is to shine a light on what it's like to be a founder and to share my progress in real-time. I hope you'll join me in celebrating the ups and pushing through the downs!

Philosophy
As a maker, I aim to build the most empathetic, useful, and joyful product I possibly can.

From a personal perspective, owning my destiny is what motivates me. I seek the freedom to better myself and the world around me without worrying how to for pay it.

I believe that pursuing something challenging through honest reflection, hard work, and compassion creates the right conditions for you to emerge a stronger, kinder person.
My latest video update

About my background

I'm a technical founder who started my first startup in 2006. It's been a bumpy ride, but my biggest success was Mailshake, which generated ~$20M in revenue during my tenure and was bootstrapped from day one.

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Products

Dropboard
Embed jobs and let candidates apply. Automate your hiring pipeline with workflows and templates. Recruiters can build a white-labeled job portal.
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Key moments from journey
Day 168: Did I Just Discover My Product Vision? Day 168: Did I Just Discover My Product Vision? Week 39: Dropboard is Live, AI, and More Week 39: Dropboard is Live, AI, and More
Today's Menu
Delightful software for building and hosting restaurant menus. In less than 5 minutes you'll have professional menus on your website. Desserts, happy hour, or just one menu to rule them all.
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Snaptro
I create Snaptro pages when I need a human touch to explain something. Great for including in cold email outreach or as a one-stop link to direct people to everything you’re working on.
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Project Wiverna
Financial survival is the blood of your startup. Keeping track of the subscriptions you’re paying for and forecasting your runway is the one unskippable step in building a business.
View Project Wiverna
Key moments from journey
Day 203: Rough Patch Day 203: Rough Patch
New Teammate
New Teammate is an onboarding experience for new employees where they meet coworkers through video introductions.
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Key moments from journey
Day 14: The Idea Day 14: The Idea

The Journey

Day 0 Day 0 The first step into the unknown! I lay out my goals and initial plan for documenting each step.
Day 7
Day 14 Day 14 I share my initial idea, New Teammate, that’s going to kick things off.
Day 21
Day 28
Day 35
Day 42
Day 49
Day 56
Day 63
Day 70 Day 70 I see an opportunity for a small, side product that could help me seed my audience.
Day 77
Day 84
Day 91
Day 98
Day 105
Day 112
Day 119
Day 126
Day 133
Day 140 Day 140 Snaptro launches on Product Hunt to very little fanfare. I put the project on hold but it leads to new ideas.
Day 147
Day 154
Day 161
Day 168 Day 168 Conversations with you all help me refine my strategy and I focus on building a straightforward ATS focused on the candidate experience.
Day 175
Day 182 Day 182 The simplest version of my ATS is ready for customers. I purposefully wait on a name and I look back at the 6-months so far.
Day 189
Day 196
Day 203 Day 203 I need a break from selling. I come up with some fun ideas to get me out of my frustrations.
Day 210
Day 217
Day 224
Day 231
Day 238
Day 245
Day 252
Week 37 Week 37 I explain the switch from "days" to "weeks" and I submit Dropboard to Wix and Shopify.
Week 38
Week 39
Week 40 Week 40 I get my first paying customer! The first dollar is the hardest. I talk validation and where to go from here.
Week 41
Week 43
Week 44
Week 45
Week 46
Week 47
Week 48
Week 49
Week 50
Week 51
Week 52 Week 52 Such an exciting week. I reach profitability!
Week 53
Week 54
Week 55
Week 56
Week 57 Week 57 I cross the $1k MRR milestone, which to me is the 3rd most important step in this journey.
Week 58
Week 59
Week 60
Week 61
Week 62 Week 62 A big opportunity landed in my path and I look back at the 62 consecutive weeks of videos.
Week 97 Week 97 After 8 months I'm back with an update on everything that's been going on.
Week 98 Week 98 I wrap up the story about my 8-month side quest while I look ahead to 2024.
Week 107 Week 107 I get prepped for a partnership with AppSumo to sell a limited-time offer of a lifetime plan for Dropboard.
Week 110 Week 110 Dropboard reaches over $13k in sales on its lifetime deal on AppSumo.
Week 113 Week 113 Customer interactions revealed a big insight for the direction Dropboard should be moving.
Week 116 Week 116 I go over the results of the AppSumo promotion: grossing nearly $65k in sales.
Week 134 Week 134 I talk about how I juggle life as a startup founder and building an affiliate program for Dropboard.
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