yusra ☾

on a journey to get better at life

⚒️ building @the20space

[Farza 🇵🇰🇺🇸 @FarzaTV]

We usually stay away from the topic of raising money or finding investors -- we just wanna show you how to make stuff.

Yet, every week I see a new @_buildspace alumni raise $50K - $500K.

Yes. If you ship, tell the world, repeat... capital finds it's way to you.

But, it's not guaranteed (nothing is).

The reason I stay away from the topic is because I know chasing investors early on can often just be a terrible sinkhole for focus.

Most know this.

You go from making cool products -- to methodically begging others for money.

But, I also don't think fully ignoring the money world is good either, you wanna set yourself up to get lucky + potentially pursue investors.

So -- how do you do that.

Those I see from buildspace that end up raising money magically, scoring a $25K grant, getting a small angel check, whatever often are just really good at "telling the world" consistently over a long horizon (ex. 12-24 months).

I don't mean going viral on Twitter with a demo or blowing up on Reddit once -- these are difficult to control + disappear fast.

You wanna build trust with an audience over a long time.

The most underrated way to "tell the world" your story is simply by writing a newsletter each week with your progress.

This is something I can't believe every builder doesn't just do.

Write about things you tried that week, how you're thinking about your work, how you're feeling, literally whatever.

I wrote mine every week for nearly 3-years, that's nearly 150 newsletters.

It covered everything from the deep dark trenches of my emotions to how I analyzed different markets to decide what to work on. It gave people a view into my head, every week.

Tbh, I thought no one cared and I mainly wrote it for my Mom to help her understand what I was doing (lol).

But, I had 125 people on the list after 3-years (2017 - 2020).

I ended up building an audience of people that deeply understood me + my journey -- and when one day I needed $25,000 to start this company, I ended up getting it from one person on that newsletter.

Your story matters.

It's just your job to package it up nicely for others to also be a part of it.

I often see builders tweet stuff, and then it doesn't blow up, and they move on but issue is Twitter is extremely ephemeral -- your story fades away quickly.

Something like a newsletter, blog, etc helps people see your long-term history + lets you communicate more thoroughly.

I also have some builders who literally send me a YouTube vlog once a month covering what they did that month.

Do whatever, just please tell your story.

You never know who may read it.

And if you think you have nothing to say you are lying -- because you're living the story right now.

Just takes some practice to tell it.

[yusra ☾ @yusrap02]

@YALI_SAfrica What timezone is this please?

[yusra ☾ @yusrap02]

@YALI_SAfrica @YALI4AFRICA @YALINetwork @unisa @UnisaSBL @USAID_SAfrica @YALI_SAfrica
Hello, I registered but am not getting any email verification to proceed with login and more, please help!

[yusra ☾ @yusrap02]

@wateriscoding this what i vibe with man 😭

[Rahul★Agarwalla @designuar]

Hey buildspace

We also launched our Spotify channel along with Episode 1 !

https://t.co/szLZOjLXQU

@_nightsweekends @_buildspace

[Rahul★Agarwalla @designuar]

Yo buildspace!

We launched our first podcast on Youtube https://t.co/3byo697ZZy

Demo day soooon. Something big coming uppp after this

@_nightsweekends @_buildspace

[yusra ☾ @yusrap02]

i got the link: https://t.co/Frd4Dq7Jf9

thank me later :3

[yusra ☾ @yusrap02]

yooo who else is watching lecture 5 tonight? im locked in 🔒

p.s. THE PLAYLIST AT THE START SLAPS, pls gib link @_nightsweekends

cc: @_buildspace @FarzaTV

[yusra ☾ @yusrap02]

@_nightsweekends @_buildspace @FarzaTV not me saying 'tonight' then realising timezones exist

[yusra ☾ @yusrap02]

where do ppl in their (early) 20s hang out the most?

tryna find my 'channel' based on l5 n&w ╰（‵0′）╯

cc: @_buildspace @_nightsweekends

[yusra ☾ @yusrap02]

@itsbehnam_ @_nightsweekends @_buildspace @FarzaTV @the20space yeahh that's a good idea, i'll do it, thanks!

[yusra ☾ @yusrap02]

any social media pros in buildspace s5?

this is our insta stats, how can we reach our followers better?

cc: @_nightsweekends @_buildspace @FarzaTV @the20space

[yusra ☾ @yusrap02]

not my alarm going on and on in the bg💀pls keep the feedback coming in, we really need it!

@the20space • Instagram photos and videos
The 20 Space (@the20space) | TikTok

[yusra ☾ @yusrap02]

cant believe it's 7am and im doing this when i gotta be at work in 30m

but heyy, here's how we took extra feedback for @the20space this week and implemented it, thankyou all so much!

cc: @_buildspace @_nightsweekends @FarzaTV

[w4 n&w s5] https://t.co/UGH2cEUqBy

[Rahul★Agarwalla @designuar]

where are all the serious builders from s5?

hows your build going?
for us week 4 is hitting us hard, and we really need feedback.

@_buildspace @_nightsweekends

[Rahul★Agarwalla @designuar]

yo buildspace!

we just announced the launch of @the20space in India!

Week 4 strong gangg!!

cc: @_buildspace @_nightsweekends

[yusra ☾ @yusrap02]

@designuar @_buildspace @_nightsweekends 🙏🙏🙏

[Rahul★Agarwalla @designuar]

Hey folks from nights & weekends s5, buildspace

we need your genuine feedback on the20space page

we're not social media experts and feel we lack the knowledge to improve our content

would really appreciate your help 🫶

https://t.co/0B2OggysAU

@_buildspace @_nightsweekends

[Rahul★Agarwalla @designuar]

Hiring a cool aspiring video editor!🎥

(preferably someone who is just starting out and learning)

not paid (yet), but you’ll be our first paycheck

you will:-

-edit reels and 15 min podcasts
-3 vids per week max
-wfh

Comment only if this suits your needs rn

cc- @_buildspace

[yusra ☾ @yusrap02]

@thisthatroarke reverse psychology 💀

[yusra ☾ @yusrap02]

aaaaaaa feeling overwhelmed, i think as a builder, it's all on you to figure things out and i wish i had more feedback and guidance somehow yet just feels like cricket noises all around 😭