Ray | Building in Public

Ex-software engineer turned builder - Learning through experiments aiming for $1K MRR 🚀

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

Ask important questions from LLMs on desktop not mobile.

They shorten the response on mobile for ‘aesthetics’

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

@SSShken Makes sense active owners will be easier to reach. That’s useful thanks

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

Finally. Out of four niches, two niche-task pairs passed all my filters, including spend evidence.

For one of them, there were lots of services already offering this. Most didn’t list prices, but there’s clearly demand and supply for this task.

Next step is the reachability test. I’ll try to gather contact info for 20 owners per niche, and after that I’ll decide which niche to fully focus on.

What’s the fastest way you’ve found to get owner contact details?

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

@IndieBeaverHere @nic_amadio Yeah walks and workout help a lot. Being on verge of burnout sounds tough but glad you can manage it.

I started 10 months ago but already burned out twice 😅 but I’ve adjusted my hours so it’s more sustainable

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

@IndieBeaverHere @nic_amadio That’s really inspiring. Full time job and building on the side is serious work. Curious how long it took you to reach $7k and did you ever burn out?

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

@hustle_fred @supabird_io I feel OF will take off soon 🚀

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

@SSShken Yeah, google maps data is solid, plus reviews give a sense of size of the company. I'm keeping the niches stealth for now :) but sharing my general approach.

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

@legacycodings Building while having a full time job is not easy. Respects.

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

I burnt out twice this year. Right now I’ve cut back to 4 hours a day.

I feel like I need 8+ to have a real shot. But both times I burnt out, I was doing about 7 hrs, and I lost 2 months each time to recover.

If you work long days, how do you avoid burning out? (I already work out 3 times a week.)

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

@chrissyinspace Congrats. great portfolio overall 🚀curious why do you think tiny launch is down, is it a seasonal thing?

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

I just don’t understand how they’re gazillion CRM software out there. How are they making money?

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

@olivervance_uk Cool, followed back hope to learn more

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

I noticed a big mistake I’ve been making as a solo builder is not tracking outcomes.

I’ve been only tracking inputs but that’s not enough.

For example: I set a goal, take action, don’t get results, set a new goal.

This is bad because I won’t be able to adjust quickly and wait until it’s too late. So for next week I’ll set specific outcomes for every task with a deadline.

These adjustments should make a big change.

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

@sophie_launch Pizza looks tasty. Let’s connect 🙏🏻

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

Couldn't find spend evidence online, so I'm looking at who's already getting paid instead.

For each of my four niche-task candidates, I'm finding who sells that service and what they charge.

For one of the tasks, a company charges $295/month plus a $300 one-time fee. That's a good sign.

Then comes the reachability test: I try to find 20 owner contacts per niche. The easier the owners are to reach, the higher the niche scores.

What signals do you trust most that a market will actually pay?

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

Honest update: my niche selection plan sucks and doesn’t make sense.

I realised it after almost five days on it. I was about to make another plan, but the real problem is that finding spend evidence online is difficult, and I’m mostly seeing noise.

Where I am: four niches with specific tasks, all boring jobs.

I’ve decided to keep going with what I have. No more adjusting. Tomorrow I'll filter them by how reachable the owners are, then pick two.

How do you decide when you have enough evidence to stop researching?

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

I like talking long walks recently. It’s a relaxing and I can think more clearly about my business.

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

@andilosing Congrats. I like your positive energy 🔥🚀

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

@NOnderbeke Cool, what does the Touch Bar for Ubuntu do ? I’m on MacBook Pro 2018.

[Ray | Building in Public @rayyzinoo]

Built a script that shows claude code status line inside the Touch Bar.

Custom modifications are so easy now.

What's something you built recently?