I'm 38.
Until just 5~6 years ago, I was making half of minimum wage
Now, I am known as Top talent in Tech (NA) - C levels in Startups or Exec in Public companies.
Currently I am working as Head of Product & Engineering at Series A Startup
I went though a lot past 10 yrs+ to
After we got funded,
We hired bunch of execs from MS to join our company
In 3 months, we caught them having plans to hijack our company
So much drama in startups 🤦♂️
Truth: Corporate people and Startups don't mix well.
here is what happened 👇
About 20 days ago, I started with 4 followers.
I tried to engage and provide insights, but still at 34 followers.
Obviously I'm doing something wrong...
You know what it is? Hit me!
Does Twitter Blue help?
Should I start a blog? 🤔
My first Tweet was on May 2nd
From 4 followers, just passed 1000 🤯
I had a dream that I thought was not possible
"I wish, but probably can't and won't happen"
Now I am starting to dream again (more 👇).
Thanks for everyone connecting with me
It has been a hell of a ride.
I've been doing some thinking.
I'm gonna try providing a Newsletter (Free).
Twitter is not a good place to share contents that are
• Detail heavy
• Contents worth going back to
• Video/Audio contents
I tried to share on Twitter but often I have to leave out so much
$3,500 is Justifiable to me
I am a 10yr+ founder, in Tech and a workaholic
Due to my long over-due neck pain,
I spent a few 1000s for the set up
Right monitor height, keyboard height, standing desk, etc
I'm full remote and travel alot
I will buy VisionPro
I hate when people call everything a 'startup' mindlessly.
• Starting a business is not a startup.
• Starting a tech SaaS is not a startup.
• Business with big revenue is not a startup.
Trust me, I ran bootstrapped 1M ARR+ company before.
Startup is all about scalability
Define a startup?
Or is every project called a startup.
I see a lot of labeling tossed around but for me there are plenty of differences between a startup vs a project that’s been shipped in a weekend
I was in the McDonald's drive-thru this morning.
The young lady behind me leaned on her horn and started mouthing some ugly things because I was taking too long to place my order.
So, when I got to the first window, I paid for her order along with my own.
The cashier must have
Common misconception about MVP
❌It is NOT about just getting something out quick
No one is going to buy a clunky experience
This is what you should aim for 👇
20 months ago, I unexpectedly landed in Thailand.
Ever since, my life has changed quite a bit and planning to stay here for good.
My past is colored with memories from various cities, ranging from Toronto, SF, NY, Madrid, Melbourne, Tokyo, etc.
Despite this urban tapestry, my
Just saw someone accepted by an incubator
An incubator I would not recommend
Why?
The quality of their program is BS
Is it just that incubator?
No
I've seen enough in incubators & in Tech scene past 10yrs+
Don't naively believe what you see
My personal observations👇
My journey on Twitter from <30 to ~1000 is quite the same as what I did with my companies.
[ Manual ]
Twitter < 100
• Stop shouting in void - interact with others
MVP < 10 customers
• Stop complaining about marketing - coldDM, post on communities
After 👇
[ Validation ]
We applied to YC and got rejected
(I got into YC with my next company 🙂)
But we got into Techstars by creating FOMO.
True story.
Here is how it goes 👇
Since we already made the application for YC, we might just well apply to other 2
Top 3 incubators in the world
• YC
•
When I submitted my resignation letter,
the company asked.
"What will keep you stay?"
My friend gave me an advice.
"What is the number that will make you reconsider?"
"At least double my salary?"
"Ask that"
"No way"
"Why not?"
When I did, it blew up my mind 🤯
When I
I had so much fun coding and building today. Just got sucked in and few hours gone by.
Ability to build (programming, design, etc) is a super-power. However it is also your biggest enemy, if you are trying to build a business. It is too FUN to build!
Don't forget you are trying
I just turned 39 today.
I thought about sharing '10 things I learned'.
No, I won't do that.
I've struggled through my 20s and 30s, constantly asking what I want, how I feel, where I should go.
Sometimes, it felt like I'd achieved my goals, only to start asking again, "Is
We struggled to reach our B2B prospects.
We tried every trick in the book of Sales.
Nothing worked.
Then one of our mentor gave us a hand.
Her tricks were out of this world and got us 12 meetings in 2 weeks.
There was a reason why she is known as a Marketing Ninja. We were
Woke up to this 🤯
From 34 to 400+ followers in <45 days
Want to help entrepreneurs with experience based insights
Let me know
• What struggles you have
• What insights help you the most
Thanks for all your support and encouragement!
I come across a lot of new projects in
#buildinpublic
Such a supportive and welcoming community
However, I often want to provide some straight up feedback, play devil's advocate or ask them some challenging questions
(I am huge believer in power of asking good questions)
I
I started way too late.
Building a personal brand is the best investment you can make if you haven't already.
It is like an investment.
Your audience and reach will compound over time.
Earlier you start, better it is.
Start now.
It will supercharge your future
I was broke.
My startup wasn't doing well.
This is how far I was willing to go to sustain my entrepreneur journey.
I used to host 1000+ people club parties to fund my bootstrapped startup.
I was known as the king party maker in my town, no joke 🤣🤣🤣
You know, back in 2016 when we first applied to YC, they asked
"How is this going to be $1B company?"
We got rejected.
With my next company , we applied again in 2018.
We got in.
Except then the question changed to
"How is this going to be $10B company?
🤣🤣🤣
Chiang Mai is my favorite city in Thailand
(I moved to Thailand from Canada, 1.5yrs ago)
If you are a coffee lover and likes chill vibe in a metro, CM is your place!
Here are some of my favorite places that are NOT flooded by tourists 👇
My partner was so excited that her books finally arrived over the weekend.
One of the book titled "48 Laws of Power" caught my eyes.
When I started reading the index, I was shocked 🤦♂️
This is everything I am opposite of.
"Never put too much trust in friends, learn how to use
I started from 30 followers.
I gained 714 followers past 2 months ago.
To grow my account, I've been stealing from others and experimenting a lot.
With my background in Startups, I take Twitter account as it is a SaaS product.
I want to share what I learned and what worked
There are so many talents on X in
#buildinpublic
Building, Design, Marketing, etc
(What is a rare talent here?)
Why don't you team up?
Is it the idea of 'I wanna do all as I want'?
I'm always in the opinion of be part of something than own all that is nothing.
I don't post much on Social
FB, IG, LinkedIn, etc
I’m on Twitter
Posting everyday
I don’t know you in real life
But I feel like I am closer than many on my other social.
Anyone feel the same?
It has been exactly 1 month since I started Twitter (May 2nd, 2023)
It's been incredible to connect with people and share what I can
🙏 *Follow* for actionable tips on how to build a sustainable business - only the real deal based on my real experiences
🫣 Tip over 300 soon?
My life path has changed so many times.
Yet, here I am with no regrets.
🎨 Aspiring Artist
🏫 Computer Engineer
💻 Silicon Vally Developer
🏫 Biomedical Engineer
🎓 Masters
💡 Startup Founder x3
💼 Corporate
👨💼 Startup Employee
⭐
#BuildinPublic
My family and my friends thought
I went through a burnout 3 times in my life
I smell the signs of another burnout from my 9-5
For the first time,
I am going to try being open about it and share with my boss - CEO
I should, right? or....... no? 🤦♂️
Woke up to this 🤯
Just broke 100 followers 🎉
Thanks for following and x10 thanks for the tips in the thread.
Will keep in mind to provide value, engage and be consistent 💪
About 20 days ago, I started with 4 followers.
I tried to engage and provide insights, but still at 34 followers.
Obviously I'm doing something wrong...
You know what it is? Hit me!
Does Twitter Blue help?
Should I start a blog? 🤔
Creating a Waitlist to validate your idea quickly is smart
But then what?
• Waitlist is your potential customers
• Don't want to make them wait too long (~1 month)
• Don't want to rush releasing to disappoint
Maximize your Waitlist release by creating FOMO 👇
Completely burnt out after 2 years with no traction
We were building a selfie social app on blimps
(Back then, drone was hot similar to ChatGPT now)
Decided to follow money and pivot
Fast forward 2 years, we hit 1M ARR completely bootstrapped 💸
The full story 👇
I've been inactive on Twitter this week.
Travelling back home (Toronto) for my sister's wedding.
Sometimes, having a break gives a chance to look back and reflect.
This goes the same with our projects 🙂
Will be back after next weekend with some exciting news to share!
It is shocking how many solopreneurs haven't found out one liner for their product.
Drop me your one-line product pitch.
I'll guess what it is and your target.
Only based on the one-liner.
No links
24hrs only
When I joined my 9-5 (early stage startup), the ask was to fix the leaky bucket.
Past 2 years, I have fixed the sinking ship.
• Reset the company's problem
• Change the mission and strategy
• Fix retention from 35% to 78% (16weeks +)
• Grew <$500K ARR to ~$3M+ ARR
• Seed to
I was so broke.
Juggling 2 part-time jobs made it tough to concentrate on my bootstrapped venture.
I started hosting club parties.
It became a hit making over $50,000 from just 3 runs a year.
What made the difference?
I looked club parties as a startup and applied 'Product'
Tell me what you are building
• Your Product
• Target Customer
• Website
I will tell you a better niche customer (if there is)
Only for next 1 hour
🔁Retweets = Will add 'Why'
(I want to see how many I can go through)
Stop saying you need help with Sales, Marketing and Distribution
The only thing that matters is
"Finding the right problem for the right people in the right market"
No Sales, Marketing or Distribution will work, if this isn't nailed down.
Stop building. Start validating.
Sorry but I have to say this.
When you are in a bubble on one side but not the other, you should be careful on making such generalized statement.
Yes there were periods 'Startups' were booming and VCs were throwing money but even then, people didn't get funded with an idea.
Didn’t expect so much fallout from this
Maybe I should have worded it a bit differently 😀
I meant indie hacking has become part of the default blueprint for any founder now, which is completely different from 10 years ago when it was all go raise VC funding, hire a team, rent
I learned this the hard way 🤦♂️
90% chance your first idea is wrong, regardless of how smart you are.
Instead, the focus should be less on validating the idea and more on understanding the problem space.
Here's a truth bomb 💥: Even seasoned entrepreneurs with previous
I am struggling with my designer 🤦♂️
She often sticks to high-level design principles, without applying specific context of the problem.
e.g. "Locking the user out from the rest of UI is bad"
Help me out here.
How do I work with her better?
#buildinpublic
#designinpublic
Don't understimate how difficult it is to open someone's wallet 💰
Just think about yourself
How many cool projects do you see in
#buildinpublic
and how many did you buy?
How many bootstrapped products are you currently paying for?
If you’re starting out bootstrapping, however long you think it’s going to take to get to ramen profitability…
Triple it.
This stuff takes longer than you think!
Cliche words I come across often and makes me cringe and instantly shutoff
• I am a CEO (1 person business)
• Growth Hacker
• Ran X$ business/course (not their revenue, but what they 'influenced')
• Sold 10+ businesses (when 5k exits at the best)
What did I miss?
I've been planning to start an Incubator.
Specific to Bootstrapped Solopreneurs.
It is not ready to launch, but somehow I got involved in starting 2 projects as a beta projects.
Here are the projects and how we are going to do it 👇
[ Projects ]
1. Free giveaway Twitter
I don't talk about 'AI' a lot, but I am quite an expert.
• Started a chatbot company and sold
(BEFORE all these chatGPT jazz)
• I lead Product/Eng at Series A also AI/ML/LLM
Many seems to think AI is a magic.
No.
I even had this talk with our CEO and educate 🤦♂️
At the
Not intentional, but I feel I only share the wins
Here are my big failures in life
• Failed in uni and took 1 yr off
• 300+ No's from VCs
• Execs we hired almost hijacked our company
• My dad used to say "Get a real job"
• Cheated on more than once
• No gym past 2M
I've heard these terms over an over in my 10years startup life.
Especially VCs love these jargons too much 🤣
The truth is, many of these are just noise when you are early stage in your business.
Probably, 'MRR' is probably most distraction.
You should be laser focused at
[ Why I left VC-funded startups to pursue bootstrapped Solopreneur]
In 2013, I started my first company.
Since them, I built 3 companies and existed 1.
Bootstrapping is better for founders in so many ways
Here's what VCs won't tell you 👇
When I started
• Brilliant ideas every other week
• Red-eye weekends building MVPs
• Release in void
Now
• 10% of idea passes 20min analysis
• 1 week to build different business scenarios
• ~2 week to market research and talk to target
• 1% survive
• Rinse repeat
🤷♂️
Any interest in VC backed Startup related tips / insights?
• Pitch (deck)
• Raising first round
• Different stages of funding
• Approach to angel vs VC
• Etc
Curious if any is interested in this as well, as I mostly talk about bootstrap solopreneur related tips
Unpopular approach: I don't plan to do any announcements on Twitter for PH launch when my MVP is ready
I want to test with the most generic traffic with the least noise
I will use the hype once MVP is bit more matured and tested
What is your plan for the launch?
🚀
One of the most unconventional opinion I share often is
"Startups are like research on steroids"
I quit my first job as a programmer after 3 months and went back to school to do research.
I loved the uncertainty in research, instead of repeated tasks at corporate.
This is the perfect example of how to create intro video for YC/Techstars.
• What the business do
• A few important metrics
• Their role
• Their background and expertise
• Shows character and fun
• Genuine
No Professional video skills or fancy editing needed. It actually
Second attempt, no script, and an improvised finish 😂
We had to introduce ourselves, our startup, and do it all under 1 minute 🤠
So crazy we've been making cringe videos like this for 8 years now 🤠
Learning from experience is the best.
However, time is limited, so borrowing insights from others is a close second.
Reading.
Here are classic 5 startup books that have taught me a lot about building sustainable businesses.
If you only want to read one, try "Hooked".
👇
The most important lesson I learned,
When starting a new business
(3 companies 10+ side projects)
1. Is there a market for this?
2. Can I distribute?
3. Can it be easily tested?
Translated to builders👇
[Is there a market for this?]
Translated = Are enough people paying for
Would anyone be interested in sharing your challenges?
I'll be your temporary co-founder and Product Lead
Tell me what you are working on and your challenges
How I choose who to follow
• Want to learn from them
• Followers who interacts with me regularly and I recognize them
• Accounts I found new, I want to watch a bit and see if worth it
(The moment I smell fake, I unfollow)
Am I missing anything?
🤷♂️
Imagine your Twitter account was a product
• Profile (Name, Bio, Photo, Banner) = Landing Page
• Feed = Value the product provides
We have to ask ourselves
• What value can I provide?
• What is the product message shown on my profile?
• How do I distribute/market?
Sorry folks, but your Product SUCKS
Instead of
"I want to make money and be free"
Start from
"I want to help solving their problem"
• Who are you helping?
• What problem are you helping?
• How are you solving it?
No wonder why can't answer them
You started for yourself
Another fun story.
A CEO of a startup reached out to me
"Hey James, a guy I met at a conference recommended to reach out to you - 'if you are looking for a product person, you have to meet James"
He was trying to hire a product person for the first time and didn't really know
Anyone interested building this with me as a small project? 🤣
I can help guiding as a mentor/advisor
• MVP shaping
• Initial validation
• etc
I can see this has potential if it is tackled right.
Take it as incubation + ongoing advisor.
~20%?
Serious builders only
Anyone building Discord / Slack AI chatbot that can Q&A based on data fed?
How data is fed doesn't really matter, as long as it is easy to add - blog, Discord chat, from dashboard, etc.
If you are building or know anyone, please let me know!
Very interested!
While building an MVP, want to share my lessons from my past 10yr+
#startup
(10M+ raised, 1 exit, YC, Techstars) to
#solopreneurship
Not selling courses or a template.
Just a simple blog
Follow me for updates
#buildinpublic
#indiehackers
(Links in the profile)
I started my Twitter on 05/02/2023.
I was not as active from 07/15~07/28 due to travel.
Ever since I got back, I've been as much active if not more.
The impressions (other metrics too), shows how the algo change has impacted.
It became so much harder for small accounts
How do you explain accounts with 14k+ followers
Tweet posts mostly around 800~1000 views
Some 3k, 5k at the best
with <20 comments
Only one conclusion, I guess? 🤔
While building an MVP, I want to share my experience and insights from my past 10yr+ experience in starting 3 companies (10M+ raised, 1 exit, YC, Techstars)
Twitter is difficult to put all together.
Preparing for a blog!
If interested, follow me
#buildinpublic
#indiehackers
This is one type of freedom solopreneurs dream of.
Being a full-remote gives unfair advantage.
Working from anywhere anytime I want.
🏖️Tides, ☀️Sun,and ⭐Stars
🎶Music, 🧘♂️People and 🤹Laughter
(Mangosteen is my all time favorite and ate 6kg alone)
Anyone building Discord / Slack AI chatbot that can Q&A based on data fed?
How data is fed doesn't really matter, as long as it is easy to add - blog, Discord chat, from dashboard, etc.
If you are building or know anyone, please let me know!
Very interested!
I don't want to go through another burnout in my life.
I hope no one has to go through one
We are in for a marathon, not a sprint.
Take care of yourself and have a good weekend 🙂
Thinking of VC funding?
For us, it was the worst decision we made .
We bootstrapped to $1M ARR.
A year later, we drank VC the kool-aids.
Eventually, we raised a few million $$$ 💵
6 months after VC funds, everything started to go south ☠️
Before the VC infusion, we were
From 4 Followers to 1000 in 70 days
(First Tweet on May 2nd)
I went back and found key events
• Date (Followers at each stage)
• What I did and thoughts
• Previous posts references
Many asks how much time I spend on Twitter 🤔
For anyone interested 👇
Just my bias on landing page red flags🚩
🔹If product messaging and features are not clearly articulated, I am out
〉 Just shows that it is built by an amateur
Once I get what it is for and if I am interested, I immediately look for pricing
🔹If pricing is not shown, I am out
I went through 3 burnouts in my life.
It is terrible experience and hard to recover.
I hope no one has to go through one.
What is terrible about burnout is it is almost impossible for one to recognize until it is too late.
Someone just reached out for help via DM and this is
Okay. Sharing one of my secrets on Competitor Analysis 🔐
Dig into WebArchive for your competitor and see their product messaging from their start to how it evolved. Often, it really hints a lot about your market and leaves you with critical questions you should consider for
Just my 2 cents on Competitor Analysis 🙏
🚫 Wrong - When someone does competitor analysis, often people only look for your differentiation or why their product sucks.
Bashing on others and looking for negativity, you won't learn much.
✅ Better Approach - For each competitor
I found this newly placed at my condo.
This is a perfect example as the best kind of business.
Water Vending Machine
• Clear problem + Simple solution
• Big enough market + Clear Business Model
In South East Asia, everyone buys water as water quality is not good. People
This is what I call 20min analysis when I review my ideas
Target Customer
• Who has this problem the most
Problem Painfulness
• Is the problem painful enough to pay?
• If so, how much?
Competitor
• What is the current alternative?
Validation
• What is the quickest way to
If I had to choose one skill to excel at as an entrepreneur, it would be:
The ability to analyze (and discard) ideas as quickly as possible.
What's yours?
#buildinpublic
Finally, I got Twitter Blue!
No more trimming words to fit the character limit.
Excited to explore all the features!
Now waiting for the review process...
Anyone know how long it usually takes?
Since I joined Twitter,
My only focus has been to help builders
So you can avoid the common mistakes I've made in my 10yr entrepreneur journey
For the first time, I need you help 🆘
Lately, I've been getting a lot of DMs asking for help to the point I can't keep up with them
Whether I 'Waitlist' or 'Pre-sale',
I maintain the email list.
It is not get once and blast once at the launch.
I nurture the relationship for success beyond launch.
This is how I engage the email list before the launch.
In the process, I iterate on my immature MVP and
WoM (Word of Mouth) is the best marketing and distribution channel, whether you are a solopreneur or a startup founder.
This is why PLG (Product Led Growth) is the holy grail of the business.
How?
Connect with customers as human,
beyond your landing page.
My account from 400 to 505 in last 48 hours 🤯
Power of Network Effect
This is how it went
• Scribbled a post and 🚀
• Got tagged, Became a Youtube video
• Gave 3 shout-outs to small accounts I like
• Many started give me shout-outs
For more details of each 👇
Rohan is an impressive entrepreneur and only 15 years old!
Yesterday I gave a shoutout on my feed, he gained 120 followers < 24hours.
My followers are awesome.
It is all about helping each other and growing together?
You all are amazing 🙏
I spent half a day trying to fix my phone today.
For the first time in a while,
Considering to switch to Apple
Anyone who's been a Android fan for a long time switched to Apple?
Postivies and Negatives?
(Last time I used Apple was Iphone 6)
Scared to death to switch 🤦♂️
My workout buddy asked
'How do you know someone is a good person?'
'People who do the right things when no one is watching or there is no instant return value.
Watch.
It is the difference between who unloads the weight and wipe down the benches after and not'
"1 more feature, 1 more design tweak"
Too many fail to scope down and the projects get bloated
💔 MVP is not to get you to the moon
It is a first step to get you to the next step
This is what you need 👇
If you just built a new product, the only thing you should focus is getting first 10 customers.
If you've achieved it, the next is 10 super fan customers.
Don't get distracted. Getting out of the cold problem is should be the only focus.
They will lead you the next steps.
Just had a site visit to shadow our users.
At the end of the day, we gained so much clarity and realization we were slightly off the core problem.
And we are multi million dollar ARR company.
Nothing beats watching and learning directly from users.
GO TALK TO THEM 🙏
I connect with awesome people around the world on Twitter.
It is fascinating to look at time vs engagements.
(Share the time you're reading it and say Hi 👋
I'll guess where you are 😛)
A few things interesting about this
• It peaks at 19, 21 and 0, 1, 3
-- Timezone