Ethan marshall

I spent two days on a button. One button. Placement, label, color, hover state, loading state, error state, disabled state.

Two days for something that takes most people twenty minutes.

I spent almost a year preparing. Reading, planning, sketching, learning. I told myself I was building the foundation for what would come next.

The thing I was actually doing was avoiding the start. Every week of preparation was a week I did not have to fail at something real. And preparation looks exactly like work from the outside, so nobody questioned it, and I did not have to either.

Quick poll for founders (and anyone who tests out new SaaS tools): do you ask for a credit card upfront, or let people straight in?

We went with requiring a card for k dlo. The thinking was pretty simple: fewer signups overall, but higher intent people actually kick the tires instead of bouncing after two minutes. Without a card, you get a flood of accounts that log in once and ghost.

But I m genuinely torn here. A card wall definitely kills casual curiosity, especially when you're an unknown product. On the flip side, no-card trials often just give you vanity metrics that don't convert.

Two quick questions: