Starting something from scratch is fun, but also painful.

You start with zero visitors.  Zero users.  And drum roll.... zero customers.

We released our very mvp MVP in early January.  Yes... I just used "minimum viable product" as both an adjective and a verb.

Actually that is not 100% accurate... the product we released was not exactly viable, but you get the point.

We shipped it and starting talking about it publicly to begin getting traffic and early feedback.  The rationale is that we need to start marketing as we build to avoid the builders dilemma: Building things forever but never being bothered enough to find users and talk to them.

To avoid slipping into the trap of we've set a goal of providing monthly updates on our progress to the world.  This is mainly for our own benefit, but I hope it helps you as well if you are interested in seeing how the sausage is made and joining us on the journey of growing Webase from scratch.

So today I am giving our first monthly report.  Our very own "State of Webase Address" after one month of operation.

(reporting period - January 2020)

Unique Visitors: 714

Total Signups: 154

Conversion Rate, Visitor -> User: 21.5%

New features shipped

Expenses

Total: $6,099

Blog Posts: 1 (see Introducing Webase)

One notable "accomplishment" (not sure what to call this.... it is mainly larger things that "got done") worth mentioning.

In late January I hired a design agency to create some actual designs for Webase.  This is a significant skill gap on our team (just look at our product in late January 2020, see image below) so this solves an important problem for us.

Next months post should be more interesting given there will be goals to track and previous month's numbers for comparison.

If you'd like to follow along on the journey just sign up for Webase and you'll be on the list.   

I'd love to hear from you if you have feedback or questions!