From Nobody Bought It
25 products, and what killed them
There's a folder on my laptop called graveyard. Each file in it was written the week a product died, while I could still remember the embarrassing parts. These are the cards from the end of each chapter, grouped by what actually killed the product.
The seven filters
- 1Is it a problem you have today?
- 2Can it be live in 7 days?
- 3Will someone pay before it is finished?
- 4Do you already have the audience?
- 5Can one person run it for 5 years?
- 6Is the technology boring?
- 7Have you written down the number at which you will kill it?
Judged afterwards. None of these products was built with them: the filters came out of these deaths.
Nobody knew it existed9
Chapter 1: The Thursday Night
A booking tool for people who teach music lessons from home.
For music teachers working from home; the idea came from a friend who taught piano and mentioned it once. Built in 6 weeks, lived 4 months.
1234567Launch to the people who have the problem, never to the people who follow you.
Chapter 2: A Shelf, Not a Shop Assistant
A browser extension that saved recipes from any cooking site and tagged them.
For home cooks, which meant me. Built in 3 weeks, lived 5 months.
1234567A store is a shelf, not a shop assistant. Nobody walks you to the customer.
Chapter 3: Six Places in One Morning
A weekly broken-link checker that emailed website owners a report.
For 'website owners', a category I could not have pointed at. Built in 2 weeks, lived 6 months.
1234567If you cannot say who will hear about it on day 2, you have a post, not a launch.
Chapter 4: The Blue Version
A tool for tracking which client had signed off which version of a design.
For agencies, whose problem I had 18 months earlier and no longer spoke to. Built in 1.3 weeks, lived 2 months.
1234567A problem you had at a job you have left is a memory, and memory sands off the hard parts. Check it with somebody who has it today.
Chapter 5: Three Years After I Knew
Booking reminders for independent driving instructors.
For driving instructors, a trade I had never been inside. Built in 2 weeks, lived 39 months.
1234567Write the kill date while you are hopeful. The person on day 60 cannot be trusted with it.
Chapter 6: Somebody Else's Terms
A tool that posted a small shop's new stock to a social platform automatically.
For a friend's shop, and then shops like it. Built in 2 weeks, lived 10 months.
1234567If one company's terms are your whole product, you rent it. Budget for the day the rent goes up.
Chapter 7: Biggest First
A tool that turned a database schema into readable documentation.
For developers, in a forum where I was genuinely known. Built in a week, lived 5 months.
1234567Warm to cold. The people who know you go first, while the thing is new.
Chapter 8: Waiting for It to Spread
A calendar that merged several suppliers' delivery schedules for a small cafe owner.
For owners of 2 or 3 cafes; pre-sold to 4 of them. Built in 2 weeks, lived 7 months.
1234567Spreading on its own is something to catch, never something to wait for.
Chapter 9: In the Room, Not Known in It
A tool that turned long supplier price lists into one comparison table, for an online group of people who buy supplies for small workshops.
For a workshop buyers' group I had belonged to for a year, joined when I fitted out a shed for restoring bicycles; I read it nightly and had posted a handful of times. Built in a week, lived 5 months.
1234567Being in the room is not the same as being known in it. Count the people who would notice if you stopped posting.
Nobody wanted it enough to pay9
Chapter 10: 14 Months Free
A shared shopping list for households.
For households, which in hindsight nobody has ever paid for. Built in 2 weeks, lived 17 months.
1234567Free users prove that people like free things. Charge from the first customer.
Chapter 11: The Busiest June
A seating-plan tool that turned a spreadsheet of wedding guests into table plans.
For couples planning a wedding; first built for a friend's. Built in 3 weeks, lived 11 months.
1234567Decide what you will charge before you build, or you never will.
Chapter 12: A Room With No Money
A fixtures and results tool for people running amateur sports leagues.
For volunteer organisers of amateur leagues; I helped run the fixtures for the 5-a-side league I played in. Built in a week, lived 6 months.
1234567Ask early whether anybody in the room has ever paid for a piece of software.
Chapter 13: Charities Won't Pay
Volunteer shift sign-ups for community groups.
For community groups like the food bank I volunteered at. Built in 2 weeks, lived 9 months.
1234567Free for good causes is still a product with a support queue. Decide who pays for that queue.
Chapter 14: One Yes
A tool that did one bookkeeper's weekly export.
For one bookkeeper, which turned out to be the whole market. Built in 1.6 weeks, lived 5 months.
1234567One yes is one person's problem. A product needs the same problem in 3 people who do not know each other.
Chapter 15: Nobody Decided
A membership-renewal tool for small clubs.
For club secretaries, in a category that already had 4 decent tools. Built in a week, lived 5 months.
1234567If you cannot defend a decision to a customer, you did not make it.
Chapter 16: The Keenest Customer
First-draft replies to reviews and enquiries for people who let holiday cottages.
For owners of 1 to 3 holiday lets. Built in a week, lived 11 months.
1234567Price for the heaviest sensible customer, because that is who arrives when it works.
Chapter 17: Twice a Year
A planner for the stock-take a small shop does twice a year.
For independent shopkeepers. Built in a week, lived 6 months.
1234567Match the shape of the payment to the shape of the value.
Chapter 18: The Platform's Tuesday
A small tool sold to developers that plugged into one large platform.
For developers on that platform. Built in a week, lived 14 months.
1234567Never sell a feature that the platform you plug into could ship on a Tuesday.
Nobody I could name3
Chapter 19: Building for a Word
A timesheet-to-invoice tool 'for freelancers'.
For freelancers, a word I could not act on. Built in 2 weeks, lived 5 months.
1234567Name 10 people before you build. If you cannot, you are building for a word.
Chapter 20: For People Trying to Change
A habit tracker 'for people trying to change'.
For a feeling, not a group. Built in 5 weeks, lived 4 months.
1234567A feeling is not a market. Find the people who share a task, not a mood.
Chapter 21: Week 7
A scheduling tool for 'small teams'.
For small teams, a category with no address. Built in 2 weeks, lived 4 months.
1234567In month 2, talk to the people who paid before you change anything.
It needed a crowd2
Chapter 22: Jobs With Nobody to Take Them
A marketplace for short jobs between people in one trade.
For electricians swapping weekend call-outs. Built in 4 weeks, lived 7 months.
1234567If it is empty until it is crowded, it is not a product for one person.
Chapter 23: Most of the Builds Were Mine
A site where people who restore old bicycles post their builds.
For bicycle restorers, a hobby I loved. Built in 3 weeks, lived 8 months.
1234567A social product is a crowd you have to bring with you. If you cannot bring it, do not build it.
The ones I killed2
Chapter 24: My Boredom, Their Bill
A fees tracker for people who run small language schools.
For small language schools. Built in a week, lived 5 months.
1234567If you stop caring about a working product, sell it to somebody who does. Closing it is your boredom on their bill.
Chapter 25: The Peer Excuse
A tool that turned tradespeople's voice notes into written quotes.
For builders and decorators, a trade I told myself I was inside. Built in a week, lived 4 months.
1234567The peer excuse lets you build on 2 yeses. Check you are actually a peer.
Questions
- Why do small software products die?
- In this graveyard, 23 of the 25 died because nobody knew they existed or because the people who found them did not want them enough to pay. The other 2 were working when I switched them off.
- What are the seven filters?
- Seven questions I now ask before building anything, from whether it is a problem I have today to whether I have written down the number at which I will kill it. They are listed on this page, and every product shows the ones it failed.
- Where is the full story of each product?
- Each one is a chapter of Nobody Bought It, told as it happened and ending with the same autopsy card. This page is the card, shortened.
The whole story of each one is in Nobody Bought It.