89 nos and not a single line of code

In a three-year journey, the author learned the hard way that building software isn't as simple as creating an idea, building it, and shipping it. They had eight projects, none of which were completed, and zero users. Initially, they thought their research involved studying LLMs, reading forums, and validating their idea in documents. However, they soon realized that the ideal customer they had in mind did not exist in any document or digital format; they were out in the real world.

The turning point came when they decided to go out and find the ideal customer. At first, they were nervous and felt nauseous just thinking about knocking on doors. They struggled to form words and ask questions, but after a few weeks, they became more comfortable and efficient. They spent around 50 veterinary clinics, not to sell anything but to understand their pain points and how they were solving them.

To their surprise, most of them already had their own solutions, and the author showed up with a solution that they didn't need.

One of the biggest lessons they learned was that failing for a few months was expensive. Instead of switching ideas, they focused on finding out quickly if their idea would work. They built a spreadsheet with criteria to pick the next niche, and after two weeks, they had a machine that worked: pick a niche with criteria, go out, ask, measure, and kill it fast when it doesn't work.

In their experience, they visited 50 businesses in person, made over 40 calls, and talked to more than 80 people about their problems. They asked for a price 10 times, and sadly, got 89 nos. Despite these rejections, they built a machine that actually works, and it has helped them identify the right niche to focus on.