I built the tool first. Marketing came later. Sue me.

Everyone on Indie Hackers says:
“Validate first!”
“Build an audience!”
“Don’t write a line of code without 5 landing pages and a 2-week email sequence!”

I ignored all of that.

Had the idea.
Thought it was useful.
Built it.

No waitlist. No Twitter hype. No “building in public” thread.
Just me, some late nights, and a tool I actually needed.

We started using it in our agency right away — and that’s where the validation came from. Real use, real feedback, real “oh this is saving us hours.”

Then I posted it on Reddit. A few hundred signups rolled in. Some stuck. Some ghosted. Whatever. The thing works.

Now I’m starting to think about marketing, which feels backwards to most people, but it makes sense to me.

So yeah. Built first. Got the user's second. Now figuring out growth.
Would I do it this way again? Absolutely.

If you'd like to check it out, let me know; I'd be happy to share the link. Just don’t expect a fancy launch video narrated by a British voiceover artist.