Vitamins → Painkillers
jasonleow • 23 Nov 2024 •
It’s ok to build a “vitamin product”, get engagements and free users, then pivot to “painkillers product” later. – @tdinh_me
Sometimes, building nice-to-have, free products can be a viable route to a profitability.
At least that’s how Tony got there, from what I observe.
Black Magic started free as a Twitter tool, then became freemium.
His AI web app TypingMind too I believe.
I might be leaning more towards straightforward, boring B2B (small-medium businesses) sort of paid SaaS/products, but I’m not closed to the idea that maybe I don’t need to get there in one straightforward leap. Straightforward value doesn’t have to mean straightforward journey getting there. It can start free, get some users, help me explore different opportunities, and then upon hitting on a feature that’s valuable enough for people to pay for, pivot to freemium or premium.
Even though my priority is to get to profitability, it can be done in a slightly roundabout way. Don’t need to get dogmatic about things, or worse, brush off and miss out on potentially good ideas right under your nose just because “oh it’s a vitamin”.
That’s why I never shut down my vitamin apps, like Profile Picture app. Because who knows…
Sometimes the faster way to Rome is circling through the Arctic.
Comments
Oh yeah! I love Wordle’s counterintuitive success story. Simple game. Free. Static site. On some dude’s personal domain. Yet can be sold 7 figs. Goes against every advice we hear so often. Everything truly is possible.
There many, many ways to succeed. It’s insanely difficult to predict what might work. Think of Wordle: an online game that may not even qualify to be called a vitamin. 🤣 But it got acquired by The New York Times.
Going for something people are willing to pay for (or, better yet, already paying for) is easier to plan than hoping that a vitamin project will lead to a paid product. But then again, everything is possible. It depends what you enjoy, want to work on, are willing to work on, and can see through.