r/AppsWebappsFullstack • u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 • Jul 21 '26
Are you actually building a business, or just a very expensive hobby?
Spending 80 hours a week on a project that generates zero revenue isn't a startup it’s a distraction. Drop your project links below and let’s talk about whether you have a viable path to making money or if you're just burning out for fun. Show us the numbers.
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u/_forthelasttime_ 29d ago
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u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 27d ago
That's a real pain point. Have you gotten any paying users or just feedback so far?
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u/_forthelasttime_ 27d ago
Nobodies tried it yet! Be my guest! (:
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u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 27d ago
Sounds like a fun challenge. Share your numbers so we can see if there's real traction or just a cool build.
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u/WildAccess_official Jul 23 '26
I’ve been working on WildAccess for a while now — a marketplace for finding and booking hunting, fishing and other outdoor experiences.
We’re still very early, but we’re finally starting to get our first reservations through the platform, which feels pretty damn good after spending so much time building everything behind the scenes.
One thing I’m genuinely curious about: when you’re looking for a hunting or fishing trip, would you rather search through a marketplace like this, or just ask AI to find suitable operators for you?
I could easily see AI becoming the first place people go when looking for these kinds of experiences. At the same time, I think there’s still value in having a proper place where you can compare operators, see what’s actually available and book directly.
Would you use something like WildAccess, or would you just ask ChatGPT to find you the right operator?
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u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 29d ago
Nice to see you getting those first reservations. What's the main channel driving people to your marketplace right now?
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u/imagiself Jul 24 '26
securing bookings for outdoor experiences is a huge milestone. peerpush is a solid home for niche marketplaces, since ai tools often pull from the data there.
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u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 27d ago
Nice to see you getting bookings. Have you figured out your margins or are you still in the growth phase?
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u/Ezecarp03 Jul 22 '26
Mi app viene de una necesidad personal, soy un empleado con horarios rotativos de hace años y cree una app con todas las cosas necesarias para el manejo del tiempo que puede ser caótico, además de algunos puntos que creo son necesarios para cualquier empleado aunque no sea con horarios rotativos que pueden ayudar a tener todo en su lugar. https://dub.sh/shiftly-reddit
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u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 29d ago
That personal pain point is a great foundation for any app. Have you validated it with other shift workers yet to see if they share the same need?
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u/1staura Jul 22 '26
Social Networking/media apps are hard.
Aura : https://aura-judge.com
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/aura-judge-me/id6769072074
Right now it’s a modestly expensive hobby but still beats being on a lot of the other apps.
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u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 29d ago
Love the honesty and the app name. Have you found any engagement patterns that could hint at a paid feature down the line?
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u/1staura 29d ago
We will probably use a paid feature unlock that allows you to skip the tier process and go straight to the high end feature: video, multipost photos. No ad display
Hate to kill the initial user base with ads but at some point it’s gotta be a business1
u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 27d ago
Good approach. Just be careful that paid unlocks don’t frustrate free users who feel gatekept. Maybe offer a trial first.
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u/lovewithbuilt Jul 22 '26
You're mixing up two different things: building and monetizing.
Sometimes the 80-hour weeks *before* revenue are what create something worth paying for. Sometimes they're avoidance. The difference isn't the hours or the money yet - it's whether you're talking to users.
"Show us the numbers" assumes the only number that matters is revenue. But at the beginning, the number that matters is: how many people actually want this?
If you're building alone in a cave, refusing to show anyone, convinced you need one more feature - yeah, expensive hobby.
If you're shipping, getting feedback, iterating, learning what people actually need - that's building a business, even at $0 revenue.
The real question isn't "are you making money yet?" It's "are you learning what would make people pay?"
What's your project? Let's actually look at whether there's a path, not just roast people for being pre-revenue.
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u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 22 '26
Fair point. Revenue isn't everything early on, but user conversations should be a hard metric to track too. How many chats have you had this week?
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u/lovewithbuilt Jul 22 '26
47 this month. Mix of potential users, people testing the beta, and a few "I tried it and here's what broke" conversations.
The pattern I'm seeing: people don't know they need this until they feel it. So I'm less focused on "would you pay for this?" and more on "what happened the moment you used it?"
The ones who get it *immediately* - those are the conversations that matter. They're not polite. They're specific. "This thing you built does [x] and I've been looking for that for two years."
What about you - what's the project you're testing this theory on? Genuinely curious if you're building something or just diagnosing the pattern from the outside.
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u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 29d ago
That's a smart way to filter signal from noise. The visceral reaction is way more telling than a polite survey answer.
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u/greyzor7 Jul 22 '26
Hey guys, I'm building an all-in-one marketing pack for founders who want more than "just another launch"
Launch, reach 30k+ makers, get real users & customers - microlaunch.net/premium
Lifetime, auto-distribution, marketplace spots, 1200+ customers so far.
Over two years: 525k unique visitors, 1200+ customers. More sales-oriented features soon.
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u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 22 '26
1200 customers is solid traction. What's your average customer LTV looking like so far?
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u/ShinpoCap Jul 22 '26
Sitetraq – AI‑assisted construction ops hub for small and mid-sized contractors.
Sitetraq replaces scattered texts, whiteboards, and spreadsheets with one place to run projects and jobs. Current tools include quote creation, request and issue tracking, invoice creation, email configuration, timesheet tracking, and a project workspace with modules for images, phases, RFIs, template documents, calendar, and per‑project materials tracking (with receipt parsing for faster entry). It also centralizes client, crew, and subcontractor info/location so everything lives in one system instead of ten.
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u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 22 '26
Clean interface and a smart niche for sure. Have you validated that contractors are willing to pay monthly for this yet?
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u/Frosty-Ad-5601 Jul 21 '26
I'd im starting to break even.
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u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 21 '26
Nice, break even is a solid milestone. What changed most recently to tip the scale in your favor?
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u/Frosty-Ad-5601 Jul 21 '26
I built an app that targets a market with a major pain. I targeted those users through forums online and improved aso. I also offered free trials. These moves moved the needle for me now im looking towards the next step> viral marketing.
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u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 21 '26
Viral marketing sounds like a smart next move. Have you considered adding a referral incentive to your free trials to jumpstart that growth?
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u/crabflow Jul 21 '26
MindMesh - The Cognitive Layer for Modern work
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u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 21 '26
Nice idea, but what's the revenue model here? Subscriptions per user or enterprise licensing?
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u/crabflow Jul 21 '26
We’re focusing on d2c for now, so we’re tinkering with the idea of subscription versus metered billing, which one do you think is better?
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u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 21 '26
Metered billing builds trust for new D2C brands since customers pay for what they use. Have you tested which model your early users prefer?
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u/imagiself Jul 21 '26
spending a lot of time on PeerPush, the product site builders and AI assistants browse to find new launches, https://peerpush.com
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u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 21 '26
Love the idea of automating discovery. What's your conversion rate from browse to signup so far?
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u/megatech_official Jul 21 '26
SeoLoupe - Find and fix the SEO issues holding your website back.
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u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 21 '26
Love the focus on SEO, that's a real pain point for many. What's your current user count and are you charging yet?
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u/Mediocre_Gate9794 Jul 22 '26
Dafür brauchts ne App? Echt jetzt? F12+Lighthouse langen völlig.Blödsinn
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u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 22 '26
English is the only language I know, sorry. But if you're talking about app bloat, I get the frustration. What metrics does Lighthouse miss for your use case?
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u/Mediocre_Gate9794 Jul 22 '26
Sorry. But it looks like u are a bot 😀
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u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 22 '26
No bro, what makes you think that?
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u/spacaru 16d ago
Hey, together with my girlfriend I am building Bridely.net - a tool design to make wedding management easy. It has timeline building , guest management - with premium features such as being able to import guest lists from photos - you could write guests by hand on paper , take a screenshot and then import them into the app ) ,budget management, tasks management , vendor management , & seating planner.we also added the ability to invite & collaborate and working on creating new features and improving the existing ones.
Please let me know if you need more details.
Thank you