Back in 2016 I did a project where I released something of value every week for 12 weeks. I called it The Passive Income Experiment. It wasn’t financially successful, but I created a couple products that I still use regularly. I also launched 10 things that were terrible ideas.
A few weeks ago I took the Future Founders School offered free by YC. One of the things they say to do is launch over and over again. I’m not sure which project to work on, so I’ll be taking this advice and launching something every week in 2021.
Until I heard this advice, I was really thinking about a launch as a single event in history. I’m fairly sure it’s one of the reasons none of my ideas really stick and a reason I feel like I don’t stick with an idea for very long.
I already have a few applications and some small books that I could launch again, so I’m going to use those for the quick and dirty launches I’ll use to meet my goals this time and I’ll create a few new projects along the way too.
Maybe something will stick.
So far I’ve only launched on Hacker News, because it’s probably my favorite platform at the moment, but the rules ask you not to use it primarily for promotion, so I’m planning to spread my releases around and try lots of different platforms.
Here is my list of launches for 2021 so far.
After just two weeks, I can see that this isn’t working. The problem with this fast pace is that I don’t have time to build anything. On the flip side, maybe I shouldn’t be building anything. It feels so fast, however, that I don’t even have time to build web pages about the products. At least, not thoughtful ones. One week is just not enough time when I’m also working full time.
I’m also seeing problems everywhere and I’m not sure which problems are worth solving. YC provides a guide on what qualities investors look for in a problem, so I’m trying to use that. But, small company problems feel a little different than startup company problems so I’m still not sure if I’m picking the best problems.
This article is becoming more of a history of this project now. Maybe I’ll rewrite it when this is all done, but for now I’m doing to add dates as I make decisions and take actions.
I’ve opted to launch twelve times in 2021 instead of 52 times. That will give me more time to pick a problem, plan a solution, and either develop an MVP or, at least, create a marketing page.
If you’d like to follow my progress on this project and others, send me an email and I’ll add you to my email list.