I'm building YC Companies map, as part of FoundersAround white label idea
So, last week I had an idea a quickly create a new map, of YC companies, powered by FoundersAround. The majority of the time I spent gathering tthe YC data, as they are public available on their website but not so easy to get all companies. After that, I launched on HN and to my surprise, it hit #5 on the frontpage for a few hours. This drove 3k+ users to the website and a sponsorship deal. It...
My hypotheses for FoundersAround failed. What would you do next?
Hey PH 👋 I spent last month testing some assumptions like: founders want to meet others in-person. These assumptions failed as it's not as simple as that. There are some intricacies. Well, I think will come back to the original asusmption that sort of worked. People liked being on the map, sharing their profile, and getting discovered. But growth has slowed, as I was expectingl. I’m now asking...
I was testing a hypothesis, but not sure it worked. I think it didn't
Well, the hypothesis is: founders want to meet others in person To test and validate this hypothesis, I created a notifications button, changed the website copy to focus on in person meetings and started emailing founders who were near each other. I then joined some whatsapp groups and also launched on TravelMassive. I have not got many new founders join because of this feature. Now, I need to...
Added "Open for coffee" notification
So, quick update here: basically the idea is, founders set open for coffee = on if they want to meet others in person. Then, when a founder joins or is travelling in their city, both will receive an email and/or X post and DM. I added this feature as I saw some founders using FoundersAround to meet each other. Especially digital nomads, solo founders. We feel isolated and want to connect.
Just launched FoundersAround v1.2 - added who's it for / who's it not for / how it works...
So, following many good feedback, I decided to focus and tell who this product is for and who this product isn't for. That means the product now has a purpose and a main use case. FoundersAround is for founders who want to meet other founders in person. This is more true for newcomers, as they normally feel lost. Below is the new homepage, with a logo and tagline and also a brand new right column.
Just launched FoundersAround v1.1. Now, with sign in with X, edit your profile and travel plans
Sign in with X Claim your spot. Be a verified founder. No fake accounts. just real people building in public. Edit your profile Update your name, website, X handle, and more Add your travel plans and see who else will be there "Going to Paris in December?" Now you can share where you’re headed. and see which other founders will be there. What other features you'd like to see in the platform?
Thank you for your support and next steps
First of all, thank you so much for your support. It means the world to me! Seriously, I launched this product with no expectations at all. It went way beyond my imagination. So, I'd love to build this product with founders contributing and giving suggestions. I got some suggestions from people saying: You could add social login, so, you have "verified" founders Add temporary locations (for...
Where are the founders based?
Well, when I moved to another country (UK) I felt super lost. Who were the founders living here? What do they do? I ended up going to a Google coworking space over there and met some really cool people. Now, I'm back to my home country, after 8 years abroad, and again, I don't know how are the founders living close to me that I could potentially meet. That's why I decided to build...
Hey, I'm Leo
Hi, I've built over 20 products. Almost all of them failed miserably. Although, I keep trying. Now, with vibecoding, it's even easier to fail. We can deliver more. Fail more. Learn more.....until you reach the point of not failing anymore.
