Two Pivots That Almost Broke Us

Startups aren't easy. This summer, my two buddies and I went all-in into building mode (with our life savings), but had to hard pivot twice to find some early signs of product-market fit:

🎤 Karaoke Nite: Sing with friends in the living room.
https://karaokenite.co

💩 Welp: Find a restroom near you in NYC.
https://welp.nyc

And finally...

✨ Codédex: Learn to code for Gen Z.
https://codedex.io

It was SO demoralizing each time — debating whether to shut things down or give it another go. But every round, we got exponentially faster at building, decision-making, and social marketing. Karaoke Nite MVP took six weeks to build, Welp MVP took two, and the Codédex MVP was rolled out after a single weekend.

And it's been a whirlwind since.

Four months later (Mon, October 17), Codédex surpassed registered users in 100 different countries and now trying to go from $500 MRR to $10K. We are a team of three full-timers, one contractor, and 2 interns based in my favorite city: Brooklyn, NY. Cockroachin' it, but still have to pinch myself every day. 🥹

Anyway, had to take a breather today and share this story. I guess I'm writing to that summer Sonny, the one that worked through July 4th and missed friends' birthdays, but still can't get that boulder up the hill:

There will be more trenches. But you just have to get over the first.