Shipping fast unlocked
jasonleow • 17 Feb 2024 •
I’ve always been amazed by how folks like tony_dinh, levelsio or dannypostmaa can ship a product over a weekend.
How tf did they do it?
They must be able to code even with eyes closed!
Do I need to be a software engineer for like 10 years before I get that level of skill?
It felt so out of reach. Impossible, for now at least.
I thought I needed to keep coding and shipping for years before I can get there.
But the advice folks like them give is usually: Stick to a tech stack you’re familiar with. Use a boilerplate to ship fast.
The advice is so simple, I didn’t believe it was that simple. The skeptical side of me thought there must be more nuance to it. Perhaps something they left out conveniently, or they were just unaware by now.
I knew that in my head, but I never quite felt how POWERFUL that is until I actually tried. Because in just the past month alone, using Lists Kit, I made 3 new info directories already!
It’s like a superpower! It’s unreal!
So it’s true.
So that’s what I have to do next if I want to launch new SaaS fast:
- Stay with what I know best – Vue.js/Nuxt.js or plain Javascript
- Stick with a boilerplate – Lists Kit boilerplate for info directories, and find a boilerplate for SaaS. Find a good Nuxt boilerplate that fits best to my preferred tech stack. Customize the other parts that don’t. Use it to keep launching new SaaS until I get to a $10k/m hit product, or combined revenue brings $10k/m. Or better yet, find a plain Javascript SaaS boilerplate!
Feeling excited to ‘discover’ this unlock!
Comments
How true! You only need to innovate on the parts that are customer-facing.
I sense some momentum building and your confidence increasing. Looks like 2024 is going to be an exciting year for you.
@phaidenbauer COol! I wish there’s a boilerplate for plain js. Looking forward to seeing what you’ll build with shipfast
@Winkletter Yeah exactly! Just need to focus on the differentiating features of the product, that’s it.
@therealbrandonwilson It’s been quite a rough past 4 years tbh. But I did feel something shift recently. I hope it stays.
Let’s see how fast I can ship 🙈
As if written, I bought this shipfa.st template and I started to heavily customize it for my needs (PostgreSQL instead of MongoDB and postmark instead of mailgun for example) and I can see myself working faster with it already. Sure, I could have made my own SaaS template, but looking at it now, I think I would have overengineered it right from the start and never got to shipping.
So templating can be a superpower, I think. Especially having a template is generic enough to build anything with it. Though, I also think I’ll never be able to crank out stuff over a weekend. My overthinker brain probably won’t let me launch anything that was built in so “few” hours 🙈