Today packed more progress than expected — even with a minor Firebase cave-in.
I kicked things off by redefining the value prop. The early messaging felt bloated with features. It didn't speak "user." So I killed the fluff and boiled it down to one problem, one promise. Feels tighter. Feels more honest.
“People don’t buy features. They buy outcomes.” — kept reminding myself that.
Then dove into Figma. Started roughing out the MVP flow. It’s scrappy but functional. Mapped the key actions and moments where the user either says “hell yes” or bounces. I’m trying to make those moments count. Everything else is noise.
Firebase threw a tantrum — access rules misconfigured. That cost me about 45 minutes (and a chunk of patience). Thank the forums. Fixed it. But it made me lean even harder toward Firebase — flaws and all, it saves setup time with auth and cloud functions baked in.
Outlined the backend's first objects and flows in Notion. It’s not sexy, but lining up schemas early makes everything else less painful. CRUD is my cardio.
Discovery outreach: 80% drafted. Built a couple of versions of the email templates based on real feedback from earlier convos. They actually don’t suck. Will finish and send tomorrow.
Also had a surprise win — a last-minute invite to a virtual founder meetup. Met two builders in adjacent spaces. Unexpectedly valuable. We’re opening cross-feedback channels. Might even team up for usability tests down the line.
Started writing the narrative for an accelerator app too. Not ready to send yet, but this forced me to frame the story. Turns out I’ve got more signal than I thought: interviews, advisor pings, user validation loops forming.
Felt that old tug toward burnout today though. I’m juggling everything right now — and some wires are crossing. But I’ll live.
What I Learned Today – How to Define a Sharper Value Prop
If your pitch sounds like an app store description, you're doing it wrong. Here's what helped me rethink mine:
- List 5 frustrations your user has — not what your product does.
- Pick the one that's most constant and costly to them.
- Describe your product solving just that, in 1 sentence — no metaphors, no jargon.
- Say it out loud. If it sounds like something they'd scream in traffic, you're getting closer.
The best value props read more like venting than pitch decks.
Eyes on tomorrow: send those outreach emails, test the wireframes with real humans, and keep building small things that move the vision forward.
Right now, it’s fragile… but it’s real.
Onward.