I've launched 37 products in 5 years and not doing that again

r/SideProjectu/Alex-grow·July 21, 2025

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The Post

After launching 37 different products over the last few years, I've had one go viral and almost all the others struggle to get any traction at all. Like many indie makers, I used to think the best strategy was to just keep launching, make more bets, and hope one finally catches fire. But here's what I've learned: Virality is rare and nearly impossible to predict. Most of my launches that failed didn't actually fail, they just grew much slower than I expected. My current project, Refgrow, took over 6 months to get the first paying customer, but now it's growing slowly and steadily with almost no marketing budget. Sticking with one project and improving it, even when growth is painfully slow, seems to produce more consistent results than chasing the next hit. Did you find success by focusing on one project and giving it time, or by making lots of new bets?

Why this launch worked

This launch was successful because it addressed a core pain point for indie makers: the difficulty of achieving consistent growth through frequent launches. The author's relatable narrative, combined with direct questions and a willingness to share lessons learned, fostered significant community engagement and discussion.

What Worked

Relatability of the maker's journey: The post taps into a common struggle of indie makers (launching many products with limited success).

Honest reflection and vulnerability: The author shares personal learnings from a large number of launches, admitting to chasing virality.

Thought-provoking questions: The post encourages community participation by posing direct questions about strategy and experience.

Community Response

301

I do all my projects on Node.js, PostgreSQL, EJS, Bootstrap 5. I used to use VS code, now Cursor. I have never used any ready-made templates. I just took my previous product and used it as a template for a new product.

Alex-grow

104

First of all, that is an impressive list! To answer your question: I don't think there are easy, black and white answers. Sometimes it makes sense to keep building things, launch, see whether it gets any action and if not, move on and try something else. Until something sticks and makes sense to invest more into. But also, sometimes it makes sense to keep building a single product and invest into it until it succeeds (or you run out of time and money). There are examples of both strategies working. Perhaps it's more of a personality issue. If you have problems in focusing to a single product and you always want to build something new and exciting, then perhaps that is a better strategy for you. But if you prefer to sit down and really polish your product and work on it, maybe that kind of "slow growth" is for you. I have been building products and releasing them since 1999 and I have done both styles of development. As with everything, they both have their fair share of pros and cons. And just like you said, it's basically impossible to guess which products go viral. One thing that people who build products rarely mention is luck. I think there is a fair amount of luck involved in every product that one builds. For example, you might get lucky and some person with influence might share your thing and even recommend it. Such things can really help you out. But another thing that I have also noticed is that the harder one works, the more good luck one tends to have. Hard work doesn't guarantee success by any means. But laziness and low quality almost always guarantee failure.

JouniFlemming

What a surprise, consistent effort beats chasing trends…

CtrlShiftRo

I don't understand why people call websites or apps a product. Wouldn't that be a service? Okay, I know banks, insurance companies also call their stuff product, but maybe I don't even agree with that either :D It just feels weird.

TheBlacktom

Because after you finish building the website or app, it does things almost automatically. Services should be served actively. Products are passive. The website or app gives the service not us. For us it's passive.

the_professor000