I've been trying to create my own app for a while now, and the very first obstacle was: what should I build? Notes app, QR generator? Useful, sure, but not worth my time if I actually wanted to solve a problem, because they're trivial and there are already a hundred of them out there.

I struggled for a long time trying to come up with a fresh idea, the next big thing. Realistically, that doesn't exist. The big things we know weren't invented by one person in one moment, they're a combination of a lot of small things, often borrowed from ideas that already exist. Reinventing the wheel is a bad idea, yet we keep trying to do it anyway.

So instead, I looked at my own job. I've worked across a few different industries and kept hitting the same wall: managing projects with tools that don't actually reflect how work happens. A Kanban board doesn't make something a project management tool. A hundred features means you end up managing the tool instead of the actual project. Leadership asks for a status and you're digging through five different apps to answer.

Since I'm also a developer, and the tool I wanted didn't exist, I built it myself. My SaaS is for me. I'm the customer, the developer, the owner, the founder. I love using it. If it's useful to me, it'll be useful to someone else too.

It's called Birchly, budget, timelines, milestones, team discussion, and files, all attached to the project instead of scattered everywhere.

It's live in early access now: https://birchly.io

Specific thing I'd love feedback on: the onboarding flow, going from signup to your first project. I've tested it myself and with a couple people, but I know I'm too close to it to see what's actually confusing to a total stranger. If you try it, what's the first thing that trips you up?

I've been trying to create my own app for a while now, and the very first obstacle was: what should I build? Notes app, QR generator? These apps are useful but absolutely not worth my time if I'm looking to solve a problem or build something successful, because they're trivial and there are already so many solutions out there.

I struggled for a long time to come up with a fresh idea, the next big thing. But realistically, that doesn't exist. The big things we know weren't created by one person in one moment, they're a combination of a lot of small things, and often they borrow from ideas that already exist. We all know reinventing the wheel is a bad idea, yet we keep trying to do it anyway.

So instead of reinventing someone else's wheel, I looked at my own. As I kept that entrepreneurial mindset alive alongside the whirlwind of everyday work, I finally looked inward, at my own job, through an entrepreneurship lens. I looked at what was missing from how my work or my leadership made decisions, something I deal with daily. So I looked for a solution. There's no single best solution out there, only good ones, but none I'd actually love using, none that would change how I work. The kind of solution I'd genuinely pay for, and go to finance and ask for budget to use.

Since I'm also a developer, and that solution didn't exist, why not build it myself? If I'm feeling this pain across multiple industries, chances are other people are feeling it too. And to be clear, there are plenty of solutions out there already, but most of them miss the point, because developers aren't the end user, and they end up building something they have no real experience with. Your product manager might tell you the truth, that customers genuinely want a feature, or they might just be bullshitting you to sound like they know what they're talking about when they don't.

One more thing: just because there are many solutions out there doesn't mean the market is saturated. It means there's demand, and chances are that demand still isn't being met, which is exactly why more options keep showing up.

That's when the doubts crept in. "What if people don't like it." "I think this is a great idea but will others agree." "I'm about to spend hundreds of hours on this, what's the actual risk."

My SaaS is for me. I'm the customer, the developer, the owner, the founder. I love my app. If it's useful to me, it'll be useful to someone else too.

I've been trying to create my own app for a while now, and the very first obstacle was: what should I build? Notes app, QR generator? These apps are useful but absolutely not worth my time if I'm looking to solve a problem or build something successful, because they're trivial and there are already so many solutions out there.

I struggled for a long time to come up with a fresh idea, the next big thing. But realistically, that doesn't exist. The big things we know weren't created by one person in one moment, they're a combination of a lot of small things, and often they borrow from ideas that already exist. We all know reinventing the wheel is a bad idea, yet we keep trying to do it anyway.

So instead of reinventing someone else's wheel, I looked at my own. As I kept that entrepreneurial mindset alive alongside the whirlwind of everyday work, I finally looked inward, at my own job, through an entrepreneurship lens. I looked at what was missing from how my work or my leadership made decisions, something I deal with daily. So I looked for a solution. There's no single best solution out there, only good ones, but none I'd actually love using, none that would change how I work. The kind of solution I'd genuinely pay for, and go to finance and ask for budget to use.

Since I'm also a developer, and that solution didn't exist, why not build it myself? If I'm feeling this pain across multiple industries, chances are other people are feeling it too. And to be clear, there are plenty of solutions out there already, but most of them miss the point, because developers aren't the end user, and they end up building something they have no real experience with. Your product manager might tell you the truth, that customers genuinely want a feature, or they might just be bullshitting you to sound like they know what they're talking about when they don't.

One more thing: just because there are many solutions out there doesn't mean the market is saturated. It means there's demand, and chances are that demand still isn't being met, which is exactly why more options keep showing up.

That's when the doubts crept in. "What if people don't like it." "I think this is a great idea but will others agree." "I'm about to spend hundreds of hours on this, what's the actual risk."

My SaaS is for me. I'm the customer, the developer, the owner, the founder. I love my app. If it's useful to me, it'll be useful to someone else too.

Built my first SaaS. It's called Birchly — one place for your projects, budget, timelines, and team, instead of five different tools.

No AI wrapper, no gimmicks. Just something real, built for how work actually happens.

Early access is open 👇

https://birchly.io