Day 53 - Reflecting
Persistence
My laptop didn't miraculously repair itself overnight, so it's still randomly shutting while using it. Working on it feels incredibly frustrating, but with tasks to complete and no easy replacement in sight, I'm pushing through while I still can. On the bright side, I have rarely been so focused on getting work done quickly. Additionally, I managed to reach my dad, who's sending me my old laptop as a replacement as soon as possible. Plus, a fellow developer from the cohort generously offered to lend me his laptop while I wait for it to arrive. I'm fortunate to be part of such a supportive community!
Making Progress
Our website has been live for a while, and now it's accessible through a easy domain: venato.co. Furthermore, I set up email accounts for us, so everything's ready for expanding our waitlist to more users. Today, we also conducted another interview with a potential intern. It went smoothly, and we offered him the position, which he happily accepted. Sometimes, even I'm surprised by the speed at which we're progressing.
Yellow Flag
We received feedback on our pitch from yesterday, and as expected, it resulted in a yellow flag. While aiming for a green flag might have been unrealistic at this stage, receiving one would have undoubtedly boosted our confidence. Here's a summary of the feedback:
- How we are going to penetrate the market
- How are we moating off competitors
- How are the needed integrations working in detail
- Why didn't we show a demo of the tool
- How can we show our USP more clearly
- How are we going to build it without a designated designer
- Can we find a better business model that does not limit our users
Back to the drawing board; there's much to address. Fortunately, we have concrete pointers now, allowing us to tackle each issue systematically and demonstrate our responsiveness to feedback.
Visiting CBS
In the evening, I attended CBS's yearly CBS Tech Day. The university is truly impressive, and I was in awe of the architecture and the students I talked to. I took some flyers with me; perhaps we can collaborate with some student networks to get our message out. It's a strategy that worked well for Facebook, so it's worth a shot.
