If I had to sum up last week in one word, it would be DAAAAMN.

Who knew that my app's hosting doesn't like waiting times?

I spent 2 days dissecting the code far and long to see if I could spare that $240/y subscription, but had to give up. And pay.

Bye-bye, little money. 💸

Basically, the main feature clashes with Vercel's free plan limits because it takes more than 10 seconds to run.

90% of the problem is the AI call, but I won't compromise on quality if you ask me.

For the minimum valuable version of this app, my focus has always been on doing one thing and one thing well. Generate great tweets starting from an article.

Why that?

You and I already write long content, yet we sit on it and don't distribute it properly because it's tiring and time-consuming—or because we don't know how.

But there's a lot you can squeeze out of those articles, especially as short-form content.

This feature is essential.

The goal is to mold the app based on people's needs, help them, and get paid customers.

So, you can see how much I wanted to push forward and iterate.

Optimizing costs can wait.

In all this, there has been a minor downside.

Before launching, I've been super stressed about coding, improving things, and overcoming issues. Every time I hit a wall, I had to figure out how to get around it, always with a sharp focus on packing and enrolling the first users.

Then, 12 people got the invite… and I felt lost. Not because I don't have anything to do. There's quite a lot to add: a payment system, a landing page, minor tweaks, and more features.

But I felt lost because it wasn't 100% on me anymore, and the wait was nerve-wracking.

Luckily, it didn't last long until the first feedback came in.

(and an amazing testimonial)

I'll be forever grateful to the people who spend time writing back and helping me improve the product—there should be a hall of fame for them 😄

My plan now is the following:

1. Collect some more feedback from the beta testers.
2. Start reaching out to other fellow newsletter owners who will benefit from using this app.
3. Add a paid plan… and fingers crossed!

Yes, pitching the app. Even before adding a new game-changing feature (it'd take me a few weeks to code it, so better see if it works first).

Sounds scary.

The road to product-market fit and survival is longer than I initially thought, but I love it so far.

Meanwhile, let me share this quote I read the other day.

True, isn't it?!

May the laser focus be with you.

Mattia

PS: I shared my April review and lessons learned if you want to take a look.

I found interesting and you might too:

​9 marketing strategies my friend Luca learned as an indie maker. #8 is brilliant 🤯

​Kevon’s approach to social media should be shown to everyone who opens a new Twitter account.

​I bought this 100 UI/UX Tips book, and it’s really good. Can’t wait to read it all! (not affiliate)

​The Yellow Fade Technique is brilliant!

​