Project

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Part Time Startup

January 1

This is it. January 1. A day that carries so much hope for what the next year might entail. And this year, I have big hopes and dreams. I’m building 12 projects in 12 months.

Startups are a numbers game. So, instead of going all in one idea, I’m playing the numbers game in an attempt to figure out what will actually stick.

The first project I’m tackling is a community platform for Part Time Start Up. Admittedly, this project is self serving. I know the only way that I’ll be able to be successful this year is if I build within a community. So, this first month is about building the platform for that community.

There are plenty of ways to build a community online: Slack, Discord, Circle, Mighty Network, Skool, and Discourse, to name a few. — Each requiring varying amounts of financial commitment and each with their own pros and cons.

Like any good developer 🙃 I thought, “I should build my own.” I joke, but I really did consider all my options.

This is a bad idea because a project is never just a project.

Last year, I read Slow Productivity, by Cal Newport (highly recommend). One of the points he makes in the book is that each project has its own “administrative overhead.”

This project isn’t just designing and developing a fancy forum. It’s marketing. It’s scheduling messages. It’s setting up live streams and interviews and hot seats. It’s responding to messages and handling support. It’s maintenance and dev ops. It’s squashing bugs and adding features. In some regards, it’s always easier to use an existing service and delegate some of these tasks to another company.

Maybe against my better judgment (time will tell), I decided to build it instead of using an existing solution. Three reasons:

1. Ownership - I want to own the data. If I use an existing service, as soon as I can cancel my account, I loose everything.
2. Cost - To get all the features I want, using a service becomes very expensive. Especially since I know once I start, I’m locked in indefinitely.
3. Personal Preferences - For all the courses I’ve created (Advent 2021, 2023, and 2024 and Everything Svelte), I’m using Podia. I’m still convinced that its the best option available. But, there are quirks. And, it’s embarrassing when people know I have a background in UI/UX design and email me with feedback. I know the experience is less than ideal and I can’t do anything about it. 😩 If I build it myself, I have complete control over the entire experience.

Once you start building a community on a specific platform, it becomes nearly impossible to migrate. So, I want to make sure I do it right and can guarantee flexibility.

Why I Decided to Start Build Twelve with Part Time Start Up

I have a list of over 100 project ideas 🤯 in Notion. There are plenty of strategies available for evaluating projects and determining which ones will have will the biggest return. But, one of the biggest factors I’m taking into consideration is “Will it benefit me?”

If it’s a problem I have, then I’m intimately aware of the problem and all it’s intricacies. It’s personal. If I can solve the problem for myself, then it’s natural to assume it will solve the problem for someone else. But, even if it doesn’t, it still solves my problem and makes my life better. Not all is lost.

So, I’m starting with building a community platform because (1) I need a platform for building a community and (2) I need the community.

I NEED community. Let me explain a little more:

My Personal Success System

One of my favorite podcast episodes that I listened to last year was Ali Abdaal’s interview with Jodi Cook.

Specifically listen around the 43:19 mark.

The entire episode is gold, but one of the parts that really stuck with me is developing a personal success system.

I think everyone on the planet has a personal success system, they just might not know exactly what it is …. And I realized that I had one too, where if I look back at anything that I’ve like, proud of or anything I’ve achieved I pretty much for follow the exact same system to achieve it.

My personal success system is:

1. Talk about it. A lot. The more I talk about it, the more I’m able to refine the idea.
2. Talk about in public. A lot. I will let myself off the hook. But, I will do everything I can to keep from disappointing other people. As soon as I talk about it in public, I’m committing to it. And the more I talk about it, the more committed I am. On the most recent episode of Compressed.fm, I talked about Build Twelve so that I couldn’t back out.
3. Design the landing page, first. Maybe you’ve heard about README driven development? Or heard the rumors of Jeff Bezos writing the press release first? Tony Fadell (led the teams that created the iPod, iPhone, and Nest) is another proponent of writing the press release first. For me, designing and building the landing page first accomplishes the same purpose. It’s a promise. These are all the features that I’m going to build.
4. Start getting feedback and gauging interest. That’s right. Now, that I have a marketing page, I’m able to get feedback while I’m still working on the product. How much traffic does the page get? How many email signups do I get? What does the conversion rate look like?
5. Send updates to people that have expressed interest. By including other people in the process, they start to feel like they’re invested. Then, by the time I launch, I’m not launching to crickets. I’m launching to a group of people that are very interested in what I’m doing.
6. Design it and Build it. This might be one of my favorite steps of the process, but it’s also one of the hardest to do publicly. What do I mean? This step is usually head’s down. Pedal to the metal. I have my construction hat on. I forget to poke my head up and share what I’m doing. One of my all time favorite tweets is by Thomas Frank, where he succinctly describes this as “Cave Mode” and “Stage Mode.”

Thomas Frank

@TomFrankly

How to Succeed as a Creator

There are two modes you need to spend time in:

1.) Cave mode 2) Stage mode

When you’re in Cave mode, you focus all your energy on making something amazing.

Then you switch to Stage mode. This is your chance to get attention for what you’ve built.

12:29 PM • 2023-04-13 • 137.9K Views

7. Talk about it. When I’m done building, I love talking about it. Some of my most successful pieces of content have come from talking about the things I’ve built and the problems I’ve solved. This has also helped with conference talk content and gotten me on podcasts and live streams.

So… I’m doing this. I’m building Part Time Startup.

My Goals for the Week

Goals for this Week

Part Time Startup is a little different. It’s been sitting in my graveyard of unfinished projects. It’s something that I wanted to build last year. I started, but never finished. I’ve already finished a bulk of the product design work, but still need to refine some of the flows.

UI Flow Diagram

So, this week, I’m going to build the UI Flow Diagram. If I were building this product for a client, I would have started here.

The purpose of a UI Flow diagram is to show all the flows that the end user goes through when using an application. It shows how the data flows through the application and serves as a checklist for all the different states within an app.

Site Map

I’m also going to build a Site Map. It shows all the pages within the application and how they’re linked together.

When I worked at ZEAL, we used a variation of this format that also showed progress. We color coded pages based on whether stories had been written, design approved, and development work completed. I updated this asset each week and would send it to the stakeholders so that there was a visual representation of the progress that we made each week.

Marketing Page Design

I’m a huge proponent of writing your press release first (Jeff Bezos and Tony Fadel) or README driven development (Tom Preston-Werner).

Years ago, I listened to an interview with Taylor Otwell. Someone mentioned how readable and intuitive the Laravel API is. Taylor admitted to writing the API first. He wrote everything out as he would want to read it and use it, and then he wrote the code to make it happen.

This is nothing new. Postman, has an article on their website called Guide to API-first. Same concept.

What are the things that people to talk about when they talk about your product? What are the key features? The differentiators? If you don’t define these at the very beginning, someone else will define them for you.

When I design the marketing page first, I’m making a promise. These are the things that I promise to deliver. This is my checklist, my definition of done.

There’s an additional benefit though. By prioritizing the marketing page, I have something to point people to. When I talk about the Part Time Startup, I have URL to send people to. And, I also have a metric for gauging interest and determining success. How much traffic am I getting? How many e-mail addresses am I able to collect? What’s my conversion rate?

Then, when I launch, I’m not launching to crickets. I already have a mailing list of people that have told me they’re interested in what I’m building.

Product Design

This project is a little different. I started designing the app last year, but never finished.

The bulk of the app is finished (macro design), but there are certain workflows (micro design) that still need to be defined and polished. I’ve done the easy part, the broad brush strokes. It’s the detail work that requires more thought and attention.

But, I know if I can power through these pieces, then the development will go 10x faster, next week.

This is a lot of work, especially for a half week. But, I want to front load the month. I’d rather put a little more hustle in now and give myself more breathing room at the end of the month.

Here’s to week 1! 🥂

App Map

UI Flow Diagram

Marketing Copy

A few weeks ago, I released a Compressed.fm episode with Ray Deck. Unfortunately, I had a conflict and wasn’t able to participate in the recording, but I loved editing that episode.

Ray founded a community that works on solving the hardest 5% of problems in no code/low code projects.

That episode really challenged the way that I think about AI. Instead of using AI (or no code / low code) to do the parts that you find easy, leverage AI to do the hard parts. Once the hardest 5% of the project is solved, the project becomes infinitely easier.

Whenever, I’ve tried to use AI to suggest logos or design marketing pages or handle the product design, I usually walk away frustrated. I already have an idea of what I want and it can be difficult trying to get AI to deliver exactly what I’m looking for. But, for me, design is the part that I love. It’s the “easy” part. It’s not my 5%.

Writing, on the other hand, is hard. It has never come naturally to me. I’m sure I could get better with practice. I’m usually proud of the final result, but have never gotten to the point where I enjoy the process.

I’m better at editing, than I am writing. Writing is my 5%. But, this is also where I’ve found the most gains with AI and where AI has let me play to my strengths.

Tips I’ve Found when Working with AI

• Anthropic and OpenAI both have prompt guides. They’re worth reading.
• Lately, I’ve been getting better results with Claude. The responses I was getting from ChatGPT were noticeably AI.
• Break down large tasks into smaller tasks.
• For repetitive tasks, create custom GPTs within ChatGPT. It’s surprisingly easy. The editor is a normal chat window where you describe all the things that you want ChatGPT to do. There’s also a test panel, where you can test the results. This makes it easy to refine your request and provide ChatGPT with feedback.
• When you’re writing prompts, ask the question last. This feels counter intuitive. As humans, we like to ask the question first so that we can listen for the answer as you provide context. But, with AI, the last thing is the most important thing.
• AI is only as good as its context. The more information you provide, the more accurate and relevant the results will be.
• The first answer is rarely the best answer. If you don’t like the response it gives you, tell it, and tell it why you don’t like that answer.
• When it comes to writing, I usually ask for several options. This allows me to pick out the best option or Frankenstein something together.
• I learn so much by reading other people’s prompts. I suggest collecting prompts inside a database, like Notion, for easy reference.

Prompt Database Template within Notion: Prompt Database

How this Applies to Part Time Startup

Claude has a projects featuring. This allows you to upload assets and group chats together into a single project.

I have a projects featuring specifically for Part Time Startup.

I gave it some initial context:

I’m trying to build a community of Indie Hackers that can support and encourage each other as we try to build our side projects to a full time project, creating SaaS companies.

Then, within the chat, I said:

This is a good starting point. As I work through the page, I’ll probably add a few sections, like pricing, but this is enough to get me started.

I took everything that Claude provided and dumped it into Notion. It’s easier to have a cohesive document that I’m working from than trying to scroll up and down through various chats.

I also try and keep track of alternative headings, subheadings, and calls to action. I might revisit these if the copy I launch with doesn’t resonate.

Then, I work through each section of the outline that Claude created to create copy for each section.

Here’s my final document, within Notion.

One thing to consider with Claude is there‘s a usage limit. To work around this, you can ask Claude to summarize your conversation into a single document that can be exported and used as an asset within your project.

Now, with a solid draft, I have what I need to start the landing page design.

Starting Design

I know a lot of people struggle with the idea of a blank canvas. The possibilities are endless.

I think people like the idea of freedom, but in reality, limitations are healthy. There’s something freeing about having a direction. And sometimes creativity can take on new meanings when you have parameters to work within.

So, the first thing I’ll do is determine a direction. If it’s a client project, I’ll start with a mood board. Are there preexisting assets? Logo? Color palette? Typography? I’ll add all these things to my “blank” canvas.

These are different mood boards that I’ve put together for various projects. But, at a glance, you can get a feel for the project and the brand.

I regularly take screenshots of websites, color palettes, and illustrations. Or, if I’m out and about, I’ll take pictures with my phone (it doesn’t have to be a website to be inspiring).

I dump everything into Notion.

This way, I’m never starting from a blank canvas. I always have a repository of ideas to reference.

I get a lot of inspiration from Creative Market. Particularly, their “Trending” and “Staff Pics” pages.

Art is a culmination of our influences and the things that we surround ourselves with.

Years ago, I went to a HOW Design conference. I was amazed by the number of designers there, that talked about their collections.

This isn’t a new idea.

“Good artists copy, great artists steal.”

“The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources,” 

“It would take a day to list everyone I borrowed ideas from, and it was no new thing for me to learn from everyone I could, living or dead. I learn as much from painters about how to write as I do from writers.”

One of my favorite quotes by Steve Jobs summarizes this well:

“Creativity is just connecting things.”

With Part Time Startup, I want the look and feel to be retro / futuristic. I want to visually communicate the idea that we’re using our influences of the past to build something for the future.

I like looking for assets on Creative Market and Adobe Stock.

When it comes to typography, I try to find something on Google Fonts. It just makes licensing easier.

For this project, I’m not going to create a formal moodboard, but I’ll still drop everything into Figma, which has similar benefits.

Then, I start adding all the things that I know or that I want to be on the screen.

I like to think about design like a puzzle. This first step is all about getting the pieces on screen. Then, I can start rearranging them and making them fit together.

Each puzzle is different. Sometimes the hero will fall into place and I can work from top to bottom. But, I don’t try to force it.

If I’m struggling, I might start with the footer. Footers are pretty standard: links to legal pages, a copyright statement, and social media icons. If I want a big footer, I’ll add links to other pages on the site and the logo.

Design is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.

As I make decisions about the typography — font family, font weight, size, color — it becomes easier to make decisions about other sections. Consistency is king. It provides a cohesive look and feel, but it also makes the site easier (and cleaner) to code.

I believe that one of the things the separates a junior from a senior is a that a senior has a defined process. They have a method that works for them and they know how to get “unstuck” when they encounter a difficult problem.

Retro

When I worked at ZEAL, every project that i worked on had a weekly retro. This provided a natural point of reflection and the perfect opportunity to celebrate a project’s wins and work through any frustrations.

“Feedback is the compass for greatness; it tells you what to avoid, what to learn, and where to excel.”

We experimented with several different formats, but my favorite framework utilizes three categories:

1. “I Liked” - What went well
2. “I Wish” - What could be improved
3. “I Wonder” - Questions or ideas for the future

If “feedback” feels like “confrontation” and “hard conversations,” this framework puts a positive spin on it, focusing on the solutions.

I thought it would be helpful to maintain this Agile practice, carrying it over to Build Twelve.

I Liked

• How “easy” the first week was.
• The positive feedback and interest that I’ve gotten on this project series.
• That Build Twelve is pushing to move on some of stale projects. This energy and momentum has trickled over to other projects.
• AI. I’ve been so blown away by AI and the difference it’s made in my productivity. I love that I can write faster, whether that’s landing page copy or code. AI really has become the “calculator” in my workflow.

I Wish

• I could maintain the same intensity week after week.
• I would have shared more updates. I didn’t make a lot of progress, so I didn’t share. But, I think it still would have been helpful to write the things that I’m thinking about. Or, maybe if I had forced myself to write, then it would have also forced me to make progress.
• I could do a better job of compartmentalizing my work. When I run into a problem, I tend to obsess over it.

I Wonder

• I wonder if there’s an easier way to balance Cave Mode vs Stage Mode? I mentioned this on ______________. Cave mode is head’s down, flow state, hands on keyboard, pushing pixels, knocking out code. Stage mode, is show and tell. Some days, it feels too hard to switch hats. I want to find a better balance between the two.
• Originally, I had planned on publishing smaller, more frequent updates, each day. — Whether that’s a Loom video that I record at the end of the day or a screenshot of a design change I made. I want to experiment with this. I wonder what this workflow would look like. I have a hunch it would make updates easier.
• I wonder if there are more things that I can systematize? Last weekend, I released my first npm package, Lemon Lime SVGs or compiling all the SVGs in a given folder into a sprite. I want to bundle other files that I’ve been manually copying and pasting from project to project. This could also be as small as standardizing my workflow or as big as releasing a component library or my own starter pack.
• I wonder if it would be beneficial to block off sections of my day for specific tasks. Cal Newport calls this an “autopilot schedule.”

These regular tasks are so numerous that I don’t trust myself to schedule them, week by week, in a reasonably efficient and spread out manner. … So here’s what I do instead: I assign every regularly occurring task to a specific day in the week. (Sometimes I even assign the task to a specific time.)

Action Items

Loom Update