I know how to build products. I've never taken distribution seriously. So I'm learning it the only honest way — in the open, with the experiments, the mistakes and the actual numbers.
The challenge
Not followers. Not views. Not signups. An activated user installs the product and completes at least one successful download. It's the only number that can't be faked, so it's the only one that counts.
Nothing to show yet. That's the point of starting the record at zero.
Status
Updated as the build moves. No roadmap theatre.
The numbers
Most build-in-public accounts start posting once something already works. This record starts at zero, so the failures are part of it.
The plan
Written down in advance so it can be judged against what actually happens.
Identity, landing page, analytics, activation event, first content batch. Nothing gets published until the chain from link to download actually works.
One piece of short-form a day, one tutorial a week, twenty real user conversations. Target: the first clear acquisition signal.
Rank channels by activated users, not views. Move 70% of the effort into the top two and turn what works into a series.
Product Hunt, a coordinated launch week, and a final sprint toward the thousandth activated user.
The rules
Three commitments. If any of them breaks, the whole record is worthless.
Currently building
The first product taken through the whole journey. Others will follow — this one is the test case.
A desktop app that saves your Telegram media into an organised local folder, instead of tapping through hundreds of messages one at a time. Free, and it runs entirely on your machine.
Open the product pageFollow along
Pick whichever platform you actually use. The numbers get published on all of them.
Everything from here is documented — whichever way it goes.
Follow the build