Week 2 building OriCards — still zero users, but shipping anyway
Hey IH,
Week 2 update on OriCards (oricards.com) — the AI trading card generator.
Still zero users. But I've been shipping.
Most of this week's changes came directly from feedback on my last post here and from Reddit comments. Turns out sharing publicly and actually listening is a faster feedback loop than I expected.
What shipped this week:
- Light theme — turns out not everyone wants to stare at a dark screen
- Explore page improvements — share buttons, deep links, social preview cards
- Better email templates — making sure emails don't end up in spam or promotions folder
- Google Analytics and Search Console set up — finally tracking real traffic and search performance
- A bunch of small UI polish across the website and navigation
None of this directly gets me users. But it makes the product feel more like something worth sharing when I do get them.
Still working on distribution. The Reddit and Discord no-AI-rule problem hasn't gone away. TikTok content is live but traction is slow. Journalist pitches sent to a few gaming publications, waiting to hear back.
One interesting thing — sourcing a local printer to make physical printed cards. Planning to use them for content once they arrive.
Current numbers:
- Users: 0
- DR: 0 (working on it)
- Videos posted: growing
- Morale: surprisingly intact
Week 3 goal: first real user who isn't me.
Would love to hear from anyone who's broken through the zero-to-first-user wall, what finally worked?
The 5 things you shipped this week (light theme, analytics, email templates, UI polish) are downstream of having users. None get users. Polishing without distribution is the solo founder trap.
The Reddit/Discord "no-AI-rule" isn't an obstacle — it's telling you the real story. When your target community actively bans your category, the wedge is wrong. AI trading card generators is saturated — TBPN, Media.io, Noonah, Pixelcut, Pincel all live here, most free.
But there's a real wedge buried in your post: physical printed cards. Almost no AI card tools do physical fulfillment. Physical cards have $2-5+ willingness to pay vs free digital and real buyer communities (events, gifts, collectibles).
"AI-generated printed trading cards shipped to your door" beats "AI trading card generator." Physical fulfillment is the moat digital tools can't copy.
This is genuinely the most useful comment I've gotten. The physical fulfillment angle is something I've been sitting on but you just made it click and that's the real differentiator, not the AI part. Already ordered test prints. Thanks for the push.
Glad it clicked — and "not the AI part" is the actual breakthrough. The moment you stop leading with AI, the whole thing reframes.
One thing to sit with now that you've ordered test prints: physical fulfillment changes the whole business model, not just positioning. You're not building an AI tool anymore — you're building a custom printed gift business that happens to use AI for the art. That changes everything downstream:
Buyer shifts from "people who want AI tools" to gift shoppers — Etsy crowd, sports team parents, D&D groups, party favors, "make a custom card of your dog." They pay $15-30 for a printed novelty without blinking.
Content shifts from generator screenshots to the physical object in hand — unboxing, the card on a desk, someone's reaction. Physical sells by showing physical.
The AI is the production method. The gift is the product. Lead with the gift everywhere.