flarion

define build. product? side/night project? consultancy? there will be still a lot of (SRE) work building out hybrid cross-cloud that goes deep into cost and performance optimization - that AI cannot solve (e.g. have direct access to engineering in mid/big tech). if product building is your thing - focus on problems in your domain. make a list. ask others how painful it is vs how much money it can be worth etc. make it fun. my2cts good luck!

don't work (too much) from home. find your crowd at a coworking space imho.

connect w scouts - invite them for a coffee closeby their office - those are (younger) roles that build pipeline for the partners

dark-reader-for-safari works well. mobile add-on

Hey! Team up w a PM or find a (paid) sales/BD mentor. Listen, Copy and Adapt. Talk 24/7 with customers and work on positioning/messaging.

no repo link?

> It's going to be really hard to differentiate.

True but that’s from a tech angle, right?

I mean - it all depends how big you want to build (what if you do a single feature very good) + you tailor your operation for a niche group of customers based on your first wave of initial POCs/pilots. You can run a great solo business with 10-20 customers.

Walk down the street and knock on local businesses doors. Ask for tech problems. Each one has a few. Ask if they would pay for it. Define for yourself if that income would justify your time/ambition/purpose. AI is hyper-hype but none of BigTech knows how to sell it and purely focus on large enterprises w a mix of fomo/experimentation.

> and no one knows where they will find applications with an ROI

This. Whoever doesn’t respond to OP’s outreach - the problem defined is not big enough or not known yet.

Ads/SEO in B2B are after PMF unless your core audience are devs and its needs bottom-up adoption/awareness - or if its O/S (i.e. Elastic).

> How to gain traction without talking to enough users

You either code or talk to customers (interview/define problem/pitch/close) in early stage. If you do outbound mails 70% of your message should be about them/their problem. Go to meetups, go to industry events etc.

Setup an advisory board w/o giving away equity. Folks w industry expertise and the network.

my2cts. have fun. learn. fail.

repeat.

hilarious. +1 any blog where you explain the process?

doesn't work w/o traction.

I know at least 3 of them freelancing full-time (West EU). I have seen fractional communities (CRO/CMO), but that seems more of a US/UK thing.

like any other startup. time, energy and passion. define problem/pain. talk loads w potential customers. ask them if they would pay for it. excel in customer success. find ways to scale and be found :)

What episodes do you recommend from Hidden Brain?

I know a few folks that use their learning allowance to work with fractional CTOs that offer paid mentorship i.e. grow from an engineering manager towards CTO. LMK if you need an introduction.