C.Roberts

Solo founder building an app that turns your travel photos into a photo journal. Four apps in, zero revenue, one baby due. Posting the honest version.

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

I'm 34.

solo founder from Australia buy living in the Netherlands.

looking to connect with more builders & ai enthusiasts!

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

So I went myself.
Yesterday's story: 20 signups, 19 walked at the deposit deadline, one woman had paid and had nobody to go with. I didn't tell her I'd built it. We spent the day at the festival and honestly it was a great day.
Near the end I told her. I'm the founder, and you're the only one who paid.
She wasn't angry. She turned into the closest thing that app ever had to an ambassador and we still talk.
The app died on its numbers. That day is still the best thing I got out of it.
What's the best thing you got out of something that failed?

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

@mikepat711 Nope. Tell me why i should become one and how do I do it.

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

@trikcode That's a wise thing to say. I agree.

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

@annasoreskin @wilczyn connected 😎

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

@melvindvivas Haha i need ideas too

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

@SuiBuilds 2 max. Otherwise it's harder to sleep 🛌

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

@dannypostma Yeah I feel liked you’ve gone all in with that price! Hope it pays off

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

@SkyscannerJapan Japan. Haha just kidding

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

To reset now or wait...
I'm on 20X plan, and I've used Claude Opus 5.5 on medium effort the whole week, and this is where I'm at. Do I use the reset now with the weekend coming, or do I just wait till Monday? Help me choose.

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

I'm on 20X plan, and I've used Claude Opus 5.5 on medium effort the whole week, and this is where I'm at. Do I use the reset now with the weekend coming, or do I just wait till Monday? Help me choose.

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

I'm on 20X plan, and I've used Claude Opus 5.5 on medium effort the whole week, and this is where I'm at. Do I use the reset now with the weekend coming, or do I just wait till Monday? Help me choose.

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

@alexhawat I agree

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

I will win.

[Sui_Builds @SuiBuilds]

i will win.

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

@skpnky I don't actually get this too much, but sounds cool.

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

@pirwot For me the risk went the other way. I spent months building foundations for products nobody had asked for. What does a foundation look like to you before there's a single paying customer?

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

Learned this one on a small scale. My first app was free with paid ads as the only channel, and the unit economcs never worked and was never properly thought about before launching. I parked it at about 130 users. What would you track instead in year one?

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

I agree, but it is quite a tricky balance. For one of my products, I've got 15 users, but these people typically sign up, use it once, and then they don't use it again. Of course, I have to speak to them, but maybe there was a bug and it scared them off. It's a hard balance in my opinion, and I haven't cracked it yet.

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

@b4dgerr Tell me which of my replies turned into a real conversaton. I can see likes, but I've no idea which threads actually got me a follow or a DM. What made you start building it?

[C.Roberts @SerotinyBuilds]

@omarsar0 Question from a non-dev: when does a custom harness start to beat Claude Code with a spec and a plan written first? That setup has carried me through four apps and I haven't hit the wall yet.