I am planting a seed for my future startup, and so can you
Originally published at my personal blog https://diego-os.com on January 22, 2021.
When talking about in the startup world, most people (except people in companies that make food for birds) refer to getting seed money. That is, an initial investment to pursue a business idea.
Today, I am planting a seed for my future startup, but I am using the word with a different meaning. I am planting a seed for this blog. I hope the blog will grow to be a tree that bears fruit a few years down the line.
But first, why should you read on? what can you gain? and what do I mean by trees and fruits?
Who am I and why should you read?
When finding content online, the first thing you should do is to find out who the author is, and whether the information provided is reliable/trustworthy.
I am Diego, the co-founder of https://nutriadmin.com — a successful, profitable SaaS app that has been running for 5+ years and has allowed me to live comfortably and semi-retire at age 27.
For context, NutriAdmin provides nutritionist software, as well as personal trainer software and software for nutrition and fitness coaches.
I’m 29 now, but for the last two years my lifestyle has been as follows:
- I live where I want
- I work from home
- I am my own boss. I only have to answer to my customers
- I technically only have to work for less than an hour a day on average
- I make good money to live comfortably
- I am free to work only on projects I enjoy
I’m not telling you this to brag, but to tell you who I am and what you can hope to learn from someone like me. If you ever wanted to start your own software company, you may find my content useful.
What can you gain from this blog?
Practical, current, actionable, even step-by-step advice on how to start a profitable, self-funded software company. The kind of details that are hard to find in books.
I plan to talk about SEO, which software stack I use, where I host my apps and why, how I conduct market research, how I send cold emails to prospects, where I advertise, how I prioritize customer requests, and more.
The ideal reader would be someone that is in a similar journey to mine, but a few steps behind. I have mostly learnt from those that have gone before me. I hope I can help those coming after me.
Do any of the following resonate with you?
- You are a software developer, or want to be one
- You want to partner up with software developers
- You want to start a profitable business one day
- You work for a startup/small software company/SaaS app
- You have already started a business but are stuck
- You have failed at your business and wonder what went wrong
- You already have a business and want to cover gaps in your knowledge
- You find entrepreneurship books are too generic
This last one is a very important. Have you ever read books by famous entrepreneurs, like Steve Jobs? Or perhaps you have watched The Social Network, which tells the story of Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook.
I have enjoyed reading from the titans of the software world, certainly their stories can be inspiring. That being said, it can be hard to gleam practical, actionable advice from someone that is many, many steps ahead.
Famous book authors often want to target broad audiences, hence their books tend to be more general and focus more in the story-telling (e.g. to make it engaging) rather than on specific details (as a manual would do).
I have co-created one profitable software business and succeeded in a modest scale so far. If you are just starting, you may learn the kind of details here that can help you succeed in your own project.
I also may squeeze some bad jokes here and there in my articles, so feel free to treat those as the cherry on top 🙂
Why am I doing this?
My goal with this blog is to provide valuable content to other software entrepreneurs from my own experience. If I succeed in providing value to my readers, then I will hope to grow an audience over time.
Why would I want to grow an audience, and what is my motivation behind this blog? I value honesty, so you will find no bullshit here. Here are my reasons for writing, in plain language.
- I like writing.
- I want to improve my writing skills via practice.
- Ego. It feels nice when others read your work and find it useful.
- Self-documentation, I may review my own material in the future.
- I can teach anything of value I know. Teaching is rewarding.
- I can learn from my readers via thoughtful discussions.
- I can — hopefully — grow a mailing list. You should do this too.
A mailing list?
Starting a blog is like planting a seed. Most seeds don’t bloom and grow into trees. Most blogs don’t grow either.
Despite the odds, if a seed does manage to grow into a tree, then it may produce fruit for people to enjoy for generations. The reward exceeds the investment immensely.
Similarly, if a blog and its readership grows over time, then the author and the readers also accrue benefits over time. From an author’s perspective, a key benefit is growing a mailing list. The readers get better quality content over time.
Now, what do I mean by a mailing list? Well, imagine the following two scenarios:
- Apple launches a new iPhone and emails all of their customers
- A new company you never heard of launches a new smartphone, and sends millions of emails to strangers over the internet
In the first scenario, Apple makes a lot of sales. In the second one, emails land in the spam folder of their recipients and few, if any, sales are made.
Why is this? Well, obviously because Apple has a really strong brand, an existing relationship with its customers, and reputation. A newcomer to the industry starts from zero and has to build these three from scratch.
Sending emails over the internet is much more effective and enjoyable (for both sender and recipient) when there is trust and an existing connection.
My goal is to earn your trust and respect over time by providing valuable content. Then, a few years from now, if I launch a new software product targeted at developers/entrepreneurs, I can tell my own list.
It sounds pretty selfish lol, but at least it means I’m not trying to sell you a seminar, and I won’t be putting ads on my blog. Everyone writing a blog has some ulterior motive — mine is here in plain sight.
If you are serious about software entrepreneurship, or have anything to say about your work/interests, then I encourage you to also start a blog and grow your own audience. I’m doing this following the example of other entrepreneurs that I follow and respect (and have bought products from).
Please only sign up for my newsletter/list if you find my content valuable. I wouldn’t want to spam your inbox if what I have to say is of no interest to you.
Thank you for reading, and hope you find my modest experience on self-funded software interesting. I will be publishing more articles soon!
Originally published at https://diego-os.com on January 22, 2021.
