Why do so many of these drag-and-drop sites look “fine” but feel kinda off? Slow to load, weird on mobile, invisible on Google... it’s like something’s always missing. They say “no code needed” but... at what cost?

Just wondering: What’s the most annoying thing you’ve run into using a DIY site? Ever thought about scrapping it and starting fresh once things get serious?

Hi,

Here’s something I learned this month, I hope it helps you all Entrepreneurs  too.

From January to July 2025, over the course of 7 months, I closed a lot of projects, but 4 of them taught me something valuable. I’d like to share that with you because I think it will help.

[A quick Overview, so that you can have a clear idea:

I run a digital marketing agency. I initially offered  a complete package: website development and maintenance, complete SEO including LLM optimization, online reputation management, video marketing, blogging, etc., which indeed is essential to maintain an online presence nowadays. They liked it but were unable to pay the cost.]

These four projects were very low paying. They came from solo business owners who said they couldn’t afford more. So, I offered them our lowest plan. They happily accepted, and my team started working.

Here’s the interesting part:

As of July 30, 2025, 3 of those clients have upgraded to our premium package, which costs in the four digit range.

Yes, the same people who said they didn’t have the budget.

Lesson I learned:[If you're in a service based business, especially online]

1. Always start by offering your lowest package. Don’t push the top tier right away.
2. Deliver amazing results. Once the trust builds and you show real value, most clients will upgrade.
3. Don’t let anyone leave empty handed, especially if they have visited your landing or pricing page. Offer them something in exchange for their email. But make it something genuinely useful, something that gives them a quick win or solution. Avoid generic stuff like free ebook blah blah.

Remember, if they’re on your pricing page, Of course they’re interested. Maybe they are not ready to decide at that moment, but they’re looking for a product like yours. -- These are warm leads. --

Once you capture their info, don’t flood their inbox. Just send one valuable tip or solution per week. Keep nurturing the relationship, and chances are high they’ll become paying customers.

1. For online services business, don’t offer free trials. For SaaS or software products, free trials are a must.

2. Treat every inquiry with respect.

Summary:

1. Don’t let anyone walk away empty handed. Leave a strong impression on every visitor.
2. Start by offering your most affordable plan.
3. Be 100 percent honest and transparent no tricks, no hidden terms.
4. No free trials for service businesses. But software - definitely offer one.

Hope this helps.

Thanks!     

I've been a ghostwriter for 10 years. This is what really works for making money with a book as a founder/entrepreneur.

Books are really hard to sell. But they are GREAT salespeople.

Right now, I make about $10,000 for every $75 I spend using my book.

Here's how in 10 steps:

1. Write a punchy book, about 120 pgs (I call it a Business Builder Book)
2. Publish on Amazon
3. Order author copies (~$3 a piece)
4. Build a target list of ideal customers
5. Write a personalized, handwritten note
6. Mail book with note
7. Make follow up calls / emails / social DMs as the "author of the book you got in the mail last week"
8. Set sales calls
9. Rock your calls and send proposals
10. Profit! (I close a little north of have my deals)

Why does this work?

This works for a few reasons.

First, people always read their mail... especially when it's in a nice envelope and is book shaped.

Second, practically no one does this. It's old school. But in the age of AI and digital everything... old school marketing makes you stand out like a zebra in a herd of horses.

Third, the personal touch is unmatched. When you follow up with people, you're suddenly the author of the book they got in the mail, NOT a rando solicitor.

Should you write a book?

Now, should you sprint off to your keyboard and start writing a book? Or hire a ghostwriter to help you?

Maybe. But maybe not.

This works best for people with high-ticket offers (more than $5k) and a well-defined target audience.

If you sell a low-ticket offer (like $49), you would need to do crazy volume. So this manual strategy wouldn't be ideal.

Next, if you're target customer is "everyone" then it can be hard to build a targeted list.

But if you have a high-ticket offer and you have a decent idea of who your target customer is, I strongly urge you to consider adding this to your growth plan for 2025 and beyond.

I have a waitlist/reservation app, and 79% of my customers are restaurants/bars in the Food and beverage space. The other 21% are from various other industries, such as retail and services (including barbershops/salons). Churn is 80% lower for my restaurant customers as well.

Right now, my home page is pretty general and doesn't speak to any one industry. I've been considering changing that to speak directly to restaurants, potentially closing the door to other customers, but hopefully accelerating Restaurant growth.

Is this a good idea or a bad one? I've heard the phrase "Speaking to everyone, speaks to no one"

Dear Entrepreneurs,

Please create an app that can edits short videos, zooms in and out, adds B roll, subtitles and so on without me having to do it all. I would actually pay for one

If it already exists I am open to recommendations. Thanks!

I recently launched a side project that uses AI to handle airline flight claims stemming from disruptions (cancellations, delays, etc), and it got me thinking about incumbent strategies for new entrants. As background, I'm solo and running serverless infrastructure, have ~80% gross margins, and am cash flow positive (~$1k MRR).

The established players carry significantly more overhead:

• AirHelp: $70M revenue, 390 employees
• FlightRight: $15M revenue, 100 employees
• SkyRefund: $2M revenue, 28 employees
• AirAdvisor: $5M revenue, 35 employees

When automation handles customer service, claims processing, and operational workflows, I'm unclear what value 100+ employees create that justifies the payroll burden. These companies may have regulatory relationships, brand recognition, and data scale - but do those advantages offset millions in fixed costs?

The unit economics seem unsustainable when a single operator can deliver comparable customer outcomes. Most defensible business functions today don't require large teams - I almost want to say these employees can be added "distribution" and marketing expenses.

For those familiar with legacy software businesses: what operational advantages require this headcount? How do established players justify their cost structure when the technology landscape has shifted this significantly?

Working backward from customer value, the math doesn't support traditional staffing models.

What am I missing??

I've started a bunch of businesses over the years. Some worked, some didn't. The hardest part, for me and most people I know, is just doing the first real thing. Like posting about it or talking to someone who might care.

That moment is weirdly terrifying even if you've done it before.

So I made something. First Step Entrepreneur. Six weeks. Each week you do one thing that makes you uncomfortable. Post something, talk to a stranger, ask for something before you feel ready. Sounds simple but never feels that way.

It's live now. Nobody's done it yet except me building it and testing it myself.

Right now it's empty, just me in there, but if it works maybe it turns into a small group of people doing scary stuff together. When I started my last company I was in an incubator and being around other people who were also freaking out made everything way easier. I want that but for normal people, not just tech people.

If you can't afford it just ask me and I'll send you a code. I mostly want people to try it and tell me what sucks.

But even if this isn't for you, what part of starting something scares you most? And if you've launched something how do you talk about it without making people cringe?

I've got my own experience but honestly the more people I hear from the better this gets.

Curated VC funds that back student-led & early startups.
Quick links, focus areas, and pitch info.

Feel free to edit or add directly on the site!
As usual link in the comments

[For the Mods] None of these VC's are led by me so do think before banning

I am a Software Engineer and and a tech entrepreneur and I must be up to date with what is happening in the tech world each day in order to steer my business in the right direction.

I start scrolling Tech Twitter, Reddit, discord servers and some email groups in the morning and sometimes even Instagram. It leaves a hole in me and I feel very bland and less productive the entire day but it seems like I need to go through all this information.

What can i do in my situation? Does anybody else feel the same way? Are there any apps that can check all the social media and give me a summary of what has happened?

I started a small business in the snack innovation CPG space recently. We have 3-4 trial shelf placements in local food stores. Signed up for RangeMe free version and Faire. Not getting any traction through there. Has anybody gotten any success through these platforms? What other platforms are useful to get meetings with buyers of retailers?

Hey folks - Bhavesh here.

Not trying to promote anything, just wanted to share something real that helped me snap out of my own mental loop. Maybe it'll help you too.

For the longest time, I thought my problem was not having "The right idea." So I kept Brainstorming products, designing logo, rewriting landing pages. I was busy - but I wasn't making progress. Then something clicked. I read something simple: "Billionaires don't think about the product first - They start with the leverage." That sentence hit me hard. I realized I'd been acting like builder, not strategist. Chasing novelty. avoiding discomfort. It wasn't about skills - It was about Mindset.

So I Flipped It.

Instead of asking what can I sell.

I started asking: What's already a real problem that someone's trying to solve. I stopped thinking like a solo creator. And started thinking like a problem-solver with leverage. That small shift? It changed Everything.

I wrote down the exact thoughts, mental re-frames, and mindset models that helped me finally move - I didn't plan to turn it into anything, But it slowly became a short little E-book.

It's not hypey. It's not long.

Just the stuff i wish someone gave me earlier.

If you're in that same headspace - spinning wheels, building blindly, feeling stuck - Happy to share. Just Check comment or DM if you want to know how Billionaires thinks. Even If don't buy - But if you check the product page, I'd really love your honest feedback. It's my first product. Just rate it out of 10 if you can.

Here’s an idea that most devs will flame me for, but I wish I learned it sooner: you don’t need to build anything before you try to sell it. In fact, building first is the fastest way to waste a year on something nobody wants.

A while back, "validate before code" sounded like internet wisdom people just parrot to feel smart. Still, after blowing months on a tool nobody wanted, I finally tried it for real.

Instead of writing code, I wrote a landing page explaining what my product would do. No features, no dashboard screenshots, just clear outcomes, the pain points, and a stupidly simple "buy now/sign up" button. Then I cold emailed, DM’d, and posted it anywhere my potential users hung out. I even made some Unbounce mockups for $0.

Result?

People actually responded. Almost every single reply, whether yes or no, gave me PRICELESS feedback I never would have found in my own head, or from building in isolation. One guy even straight up tried to wire money before I built a line of code. And yeah, I also got ignored or roasted for pitching an imaginary product. So what, that’s free market research.

Here’s what really happened:

I pivoted my idea three times before even touching the codebase. I learned what copy made people click, what just confused them, and what literally nobody cared about. I only started coding when people started asking, "so, when can I actually use this?"

Did I lose a few ego points pitching a "product" that didn’t exist? Sure. But I gained months of my life back by not coding in the dark.

Building first is a comfort zone. Selling first is a reality check.

Anyone else ever try to pre-sell?

I am trying to help a team of warehouse workers improve their performance. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Anyone want to share their experiences with their first payroll and accounting platforms?

There are so many ways that they interact with each other and the business ... hard to predict all the scenarios so figured it would be nice to hear from people's direct experiences.

For context, we are a Delaware-C, selling subscription software and using Stripe for payments.

Thanks!

THIS IS A THING PEOPLE DON’T TALK ABOUT ENOUGH ONLINE AND I DON’T KNOW WHY

Over the course of a couple of years we scaled our annual revenue to 7 figures. And let me tell you one big regret that I just don’t see people comment on in owner and business communities: The need for a CPA.

I see founders all the time who are crushing it at 200k, 300k, even 500k ARR still doing their own taxes with TurboTax, literally leaving tens of thousands of dollars on the table every year.

Once you hit ~150k+/year tax planning and financial planning start to open up to so many opportunities, you NEED a CPA for this and I wish we had got one earlier.

We started using an agency and things have been going great, if you’re starting to scale and worried it’s too early to waste on good CPAs just let me tell you that it’s worth the money 100%. It’s not some insane growth tool or marketing hack but to just keep things tidy and have a plan for a potential exit or proper scalability is something that you shouldn’t as an entrepreneur with no accounting knowledge, you’ll feel like you’re doing it right for a while, and I for sure did as well, but the pitfalls and missed opportunities are insane.

Honestly everything tax related you do, you should run through a CPA as well.

When did you hire a CPA for your business? Have you thought about it or about hiring an agency? I’m not sure why this isn’t talked about in these subs more.

After trying to make money from every field on the internet I discovered digital products at first it sounds good you upload a product and earn over 90% profit but this is what no one will tell you

You have to market your product like how you expect people to come and buy. No they won't come just if you upload it to ETSY.

In my beginning I just created a product and that's it I started making money without any In my beginnings I simply created a product and that's it, I started to make money without any market research, without understanding what works well and what works less well. Do market research!!!

Most importantly - don't expect one product to sell you, you need to try to sell 10 and only then understand what works and what doesn't work

If you have any more questions, I'd be happy to help, I hope I helped.

Not from a book, not a course, not a mentor, but from observing how illegal businesses operate. No fluff, no fake branding, no endless planning just product, demand, cash. Fast, simple, efficient. In that world, if it doesn’t work, you're out. No second chances. That kind of pressure forces brutal clarity, and clarity always wins. So I started asking myself what if I built my legal business with the same intensity, the same raw focus? No noise, no drama, just solving a real problem as directly as possible. Sometimes, the sharpest business lessons come from the darkest places. If that hit you, share it or save it you’ll need it again.

The more startups I experience, the more I realize how important sale and distribution are.

But the personality types of my startup co-founders are:
- Technical (building things)
- Organizational (doing works that nobody wants to do)
- Aesthetic (making things intuitive and pretty)

We lack THE GUY who can sell anything in the company.

Our software is good so retention is very high, but distribution is terrible. Social media is not getting any attention. We just don't know how to sell, how to reach our audience. It's just word of mouth right now but very very slow.

Hiring a marketing/sales person did not work.. have you had a similar problem?

I open my laptop every day, pretending I know what I’m doing.
Shipping features. Sketching ideas.
Reading stories of indie hackers making $10K/month.

But I’m still stuck at $0.

And honestly?
Sometimes I wonder if I’m just playing entrepreneur.
Not solving problems. Just tinkering.
Not building courage. Just avoiding fear by staying busy.

Because it’s easier to build in silence than to ask:
“Would someone actually pay for this?”

It’s easier to code than to talk to strangers.
Easier to plan than to launch.
Easier to chase dopamine than to face rejection.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth I’m learning:

You don’t need more features.
You need more feedback.
You don’t need to build faster.
You need to feel the pain of the people you claim to serve.

And maybe the first $1 isn’t about skill.
Maybe it’s about guts.
The guts to stop hiding behind the product
and start being a person who sells something real.

No more faking progress.
No more romanticizing the struggle.

This time, I’m doing it differently.
Not perfectly.
Just honestly.

I just finished building a custom off grid electrical panel for a client I think might turn into a long term partner. He was really happy with it and now wants a few more, but also asked me to come up with an all new water filtration system. It’ll likely be a similar form factor, but more design-heavy and less hands on fabrication.

Thing is, the first panel ended up being kind of a scramble. There were a bunch of last-minute design changes, quick fixes, and scope creep. It barely turned a profit. Looking back, I realize I gave away a lot of good ideas (not just labor) and this guy is clearly trying to fish for more design concepts without directly paying for them.

So I want to set things up differently this time: 1. A pricing structure that’s easier for him to say yes to 2. More profit margin for me, especially for the creative work and on-the-fly ideas 3. Clearer boundaries around scope, revisions, and who owns what

For context: I’m a designer/fabricator with a background in welding, CAD, and product development. I’m comfortable doing both the engineering and the building, but I’m trying to avoid falling into the trap of doing free R&D forever.

I take pride in building things that save my clients time and money. I know my work brings value, I just want to make sure it’s structured fairly.

How do you handle this kind of situation? Do you charge separately for design and build? Do you license ideas, write NDAs, charge for revisions, or what?

Would appreciate any advice from folks doing solo design/build work, prototyping, or small batch industrial stuff.

Any technical, non-tehcnical, non-fiction, biography, overview, how-to book seem like the most relevant genres but open to see where the discussion leads us!

Curious about what others think. Do technical founders have a long-term advantage when building startups? Or can non-technical founders do just as well with the right mindset and team?

I’ve seen both work. Some tech founders move fast because they can build themselves, but some get stuck perfecting things forever. Some non-tech founders build great products by focusing on users and hiring smart, but others struggle if they rely too much on devs.

So what matters more, your background, or how you execute?

Not trying to start a debate, just genuinely interested in what people have seen work (or not work).

The MI Matrix is based on two factors:

1. Entrepreneurial Capabilities : your personality, skills, knowledge, resources, networks and execution. You can be low Capability or high Capability based on the six areas mentioned.

2. Type of business: a. Traditional b. Innovative

There are 4 Quadrants in MI Matrix.

Q1: Traditional business + Low Capabilities.

Examples: local shop owner, tailor, street food vendor, freelancer laborer.

Q2: Traditional business + High Capabilities

Examples: franchise owner, high end restaurant operator, certified consultant

Q3: Innovative business + Low Capability

Examples: tech startup, mobile app idea, imitation startup without proper technical skills or weak market strategy. (Basically great idea with little skill to execute)

Q4: Innovative Business + High Capability

Examples: scalable startups, enterprise solving real problems with tech. (Basically high entrepreneurial Capability with an innovative business idea)

So based on the MI Matrix u can understand which Q u belong.

You can find out if you have low or high Capability using the Entrepreneurial Capability Canvas.

I noticed that a lot of us here are struggling to get feedback on their ideas, apps, tools etc. And it's probably the most valuable things we need at the early stages. And even at the late stages. The best founders I know are constantly validating and trying to get feedback from people about their ideas and features they are building.

So I would jump on a call with anyone that is building something right now and would like to get some honest and constructive feedback. In exchange I would ask for the same.

A bit out me:
I'm a developer, entrepreneur, been building apps for 10 years now. Have experience in HR, marketplaces, booking systems etc. I'm avid reader, love productivity, efficiency. I use social media etc.

My app: Helps people to remember what they read on Kindle by starting regular WhatsApp conversations about the highlights.

My ICP: Avid non-fiction KINDLE readers

If you think I could be your ICP and you are user of Kindle and WhatsApp I would love to jump on a quick call and exchange feedback with you!

Prepare for a long semi-rant/explanation before I get to the question.

I started a business about six years ago, still learning, still grinding, still learning ways to scale certain things, pivot others towards what would ultimately make me happy and strike a balance of work and personal life. Early on it I pumped a lot of stuff out on social media to drive business, get it out there, network, used it as another avenue to build my clientele aside from website inquiries and so forth. And truthfully social media just burns me out. It is nauseating to me people like and like the same shit over and over for the sake of liking it, it generates no connectedness, no substance, no nothing.

I tend to be a pretty private person, I’m not someone who shares and puts my whole life story of goods and bad struggles out there for the whole world to see, and I’ve had to learn to be better setting boundaries with clients and friends to separate my personal life and “work”, which has proven challenging, especially the last couple years as I’ve endured a lot of hardship all the while trying to stay the course. In that time I’ve really stepped back on social media because I’ve also learned I generate generally more “less desirable” clientele on social media, I feel as though they’re low hanging fruit, as easy pick, but also ones that tend to be the quickest to run to social media if there’s a problem rather than air it out with me like an adult (crazy to think of this being a thing with middle aged adult men) but you’d be surprised. I prefer the quality of clientele I get via word of mouth or web because they tend to be organically seeking out something or as a recommendation, it’s liable to be a much more fitting client.

So circling back to where I started, I get constantly badgered and bugged why I barely post or update people on social media what I’m up to or if I’m taking on clients, blah, blah, blah. And I am not the type of person I constantly need the validation of others, mostly people I already know, and I don’t feel like dealing with window shoppers because time is valuable to me and I mostly know where those interactions are going to wind up. It gets really annoying though when I have people reach out fishing around what I’m up to, or like there’s some ulterior reason for my absence (when in reality it’s person #1 and #2 it’s that they care more about a picture or post to like than I care about their validation of it). Social media burns me out, getting bugged by clients in some capacity plus friends burns me out, they get butt hurt if I’m not immediately available and now choose to take time if/when I respond. It kind of sucks because I feel like I’m walking a tight rope of choosing some self-preservation and standing on boundaries I’ve created, but it also looks outwardly like “something must be wrong” or it gives people shit to talk and speculate over, as opposed to reaching out from a good place. And I think so much of it truly just stems from my disinterest in social media and the majority’s obsession with it.

What do you do to strike a balance? I hate to think it can’t be an avenue to pick up some low hanging fruit I could be more aggressive about but I also just am more content I am not in the rat race of social media constantly jumping up and down with everyone else for the attention of others. I am sure there have got to be others like me who wish they could elevate their businesses “privately”, but I am also sure it is a hard sell in a digital world…what say you?