[PROGRESS THREAD] Yula's Fastlane Journey

[Yula]

Quick update!

I have graduated! ))))

Finished my thesis defense today with a 7.5 out of 10, so I'm extremely satisfied. I'm officially a mechanical engineer right now! A lot of stress has been released off my shoulders, and I can't wait for the progression I will make with my full undivided attention!

New weekly task:
- Meal prep each Tuesday morning

Fastlane Journey...
Finished the 3 pages like I said last week and am planning to finish 3 more pages this week. Finishing up the last dots for the website and aiming to launch the first pre-launch ads this or next week.

 

[Yula]

Hey everyone,

After some time I have decided to make an execution/progress thread. I will try my hardest to update this thread at least once every two weeks. I'm also making this thread since I know if I don't keep true to my promise that I'll feel embarassed, which will motivate me to keep on going and prevent that from happening.

As of right now I'm in the end stage of my graduate internship as a mechanical engineer (9 to 5 - 40H per week). I also work as a freelance copywriter/marketeer on the side and make around $2/3K per month which I'm (mostly - still gotta live lol) saving up for my CENTS idea.

I have a couple of recurring weekly goals I want to achieve:

1.) 6x week to the gym (previously 3-5 but not very consistent)

2.) Use the full 40H to work on my internship (getting lazy, so often I end up scrolling through the forum)

3.) Stay on my calorie target and macro goals 3200 cal (not very consistent right now, most of the time underneath the required amount)

4.) When my alarm goes, immediately get out of bed (no more snooze button)

5.) Drink 2.5 - 3L water daily

Probably forgot a couple, but I'll add them later on.

So For my Fastlane Journey...

I have had several CENTS ideas and after my Introduction post which you can find here I've decided to throw a dart and pick one. Thanks @Lyzmin! The idea I chose is a SaaS business (in a hyper niche), I'm not going to dive in to any details for now.

I have almost zero experience in writing code, so for the MVP part I'll try to create one using software like Bubble or Adalo. If any of you have a better alternative let me know!

So for May I plan on starting the creation of my first MVP (I don't know how long this will take as I've never done it before) and a landingpage for opt-ins, for an early beta.

The early sign-ups will be pretty important for this idea, since the whole concept rests on users...

Any tips and tricks in this part is very welcome as well!

I know this journey will be filled with failure and I'm ready to keep on going! I'll also add my 1/5/10 Planasy later on.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Yula]

Update last week:

1.) 6x week to the gym - Smashed it once again!

2.) Use the full 40H to work on my internship - I've massively improved my focus while working on my internship, it's still not at the 100% mark but I'm getting there.

4 weeks left and than it's finished.

3.) Stay on my calorie target and macro goals 3200 cal - Still eating as much as I can, but filling out MyFitnessPal still isn't a habit so I tend to forget about it.

4.) When my alarm goes, immediately get out of bed - Thanks @Lyzmin, it worked perfectly!

5.) Drink 2.5 - 3L water daily - Some days succeeded but not very consistent.

Fastlane Journey...

- Mapped the essential function for the MVP.
- Hired someone to design a UI on Figma, so currently waiting until that's finished.
- Networked to get some more connections
- Landed a new client for my copywriting biz
- Did market research

That was it for last week, this week I strive to have at least 4 of my weekly goals in the green.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Yula]

Update week 31 of the Fastlane Journey...
Copyneers:
First of all, a quick explanation: This is the copywriting agency I run focused on the Tech Industry. So for last week, I got quite a lot done!

- Scheduled a meeting with a startup to do a case study. Was planning on doing the work for free, but they offered I could do the job on commission so that's even better!

- Still waiting on the green light from the CMO of the company I previously mentioned.

- 2 months ago, I was stuck on $1k MRR. The month afterward it grew to $2k and this month I'll be on track to do $6.5k! Unfortunately, it's still a one-off, but it's finally taking shape.

- Still been very consistent with my LinkedIn posts and I'm posting 5x per week with high-quality posts. Nothing in return yet, but that doesn't stop me.

VenturePals:
Another quick explanation: This is the App we've been working on! I've never mentioned the name before, but here it is. For VP, I got quite a lot done as well last week.

Quick explanation of the app itself, this is the link to the website. Let me know what you think and I'd love to hear some feedback. (I'm not 100% sure if I'm allowed to share this here as part of my progress, let me know and I'll get rid of it)

- My accountability partner connected Firebase with the app, but there were still some issues since it was running on FlutterFlow. I decided to calculate the time it would take for me to fix it myself and ended up hiring someone to finish the last part as that was cheaper.

- If everything goes to plan (including a buffer), we'll be launching the private beta on the 30th of August!

- Stopped the Facebook Ads, as the returns were so poor, and building a list was too expensive with the Ads I was running.

- Tried out Reddit to grow the private beta list and it worked perfectly! Also received 100 EUR free ad spend, so essentially I'm getting free leads right now. After spending 45 EUR, we've gotten 21 new sign-ups!

That's it for last week, this week will be a lot of progress too!

 

[Yula]

Update week 28 of the Fastlane Journey...
This week has been filled with progression, I went a week to Austria and this new environment really boosted my overall focus.

- Pages of the app are fully finished, I'm currently building the backend in Firebase. A little later than expected but I'm aiming on finishing it towards the end of July.

- Fixed the Pixel and the DNS settings of the website so it's back up and running!

- Launched the first FB ad, but got instantly rejected... Hired someone on Fiverr to take a look at why it was rejected, should be good to go now. We'll see once I repost the ad.

- I've been following @Black_Dragon43 his course for the past few weeks consistently and working all the tips & tricks on to my own agency and LinkedIn.

- Rebranding the copywriting biz is finished, I might be able to land an absolute unit of a case study...

- Upsold one of my clients, so I have even more work on my hands

- Weekly meetings with the accountability buddy are going great and we're motivating each other more and more, and also helping each other out with the projects.

That's it for last week, this week will be a lot of progress as well!

 

[Yula]

Update week 29 of the Fastlane Journey...
This week has been filled with a lot of progress as well, finally got the ball rolling (with some difficulties)!

- Played around in Firebase, but it's a little more difficult than I expected. My accountability partner, who is also creating an app is going to check out where he can help me out.

- The FB ad I posted last week was alright... not good but ok for my first-ever ad. Got some decent clicks but none of them signed up for the private beta list. I analyzed what the problem was and I think it has to do with the ad and the LP as well. It wasn't clear enough in the ad, that you could sign up for the private beta.

- Changed a few things on the landing page so it would be instantly clear what they had to do and wrote some new ads. Instead of just testing one ad, I've created 4 new texts and 2 creatives. I have absolutely zero experience with creatives, but I just use Canva templates.

- Finished the 3rd week of the Agency Ascendancy Program and started to work on my LinkedIn profile.

- Finished a lot of work for my agency clients this week and I have a couple more clients in the pipeline.

- Got in contact with a tech company which is valued at nearly 10-figures, which was the case study I previously talked about.

Let's make that ball roll faster than ever before....

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Yula]

Update week 33 of the Fastlane Journey...
I've been slacking quite a bit last week... My motivation/dedication dropped rock bottom. I tried to experiment with getting up at 6 and to just start running, to see if it would make me more dedicated. I've concluded that it's more important for me to get my 8 hours of sleep than it is to get up early. With enough sleep I'm a lot more productive.

Copyneers:
- Both calls needed to be rescheduled, so I'll end up doing them at the end of this month.

- I did the meeting with the startup I previously talked about and will get 10% commission of every sale that comes through the funnel. Which will be around 40 EUR per month, per client. Once it's all set-up it should generate some passive income.

VenturePals:
- The dev I hired is still working on it and it and it's a little later than expected. Hope it'll be finished either today or tomorrow.

- The private beta is still to be launched on the 30th of August!

On a side note: I'll be going on a 2-week vacation at the start of September, so I'm finishing up some stuff right now.

 

[Yula]

Update for the last couple of weeks of the Fastlane Journey...
Last weekend I got back from holidays which has done me quite well. I've had a full taste of the lifestyle I'm missing out on if I keep slacking. So this week we're back on the grind!

I finished all the needed work up until this week before my vacation started, so I don't have any work backlogs.

Copyneers:
- 3 new clients in the pipeline, the commission-based project has green lights so that starts next week and I finally have the meeting with the large company I previously talked about!

VenturePals:
- I had quite some setbacks with the app, but it's finally in the end stage. I also have some new marketing angles and tricks to build up a beta tester list.

This week is focused on getting everything back on track and expanding my Copyneers team, setting up a system and making sure others can do the work while I focus on new clients.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Yula]

Update for the last week of the Fastlane Journey...
This week didn't go so much as planned, unfortunately... I worked quite a lot, but I lost oversight of what I had to do and what the mandatory tasks were so whenever I was finished for the day and looked back on what I had actually accomplished - I got quite confused...

Copyneers:

I've set up the website including the lead magnet, the policies, and the pixel, so it's ready for the Ads. I didn't have the time to run the ads last week, so that's what I'll be doing this week.

I've had a mental block that stopped me from actually launching the ads...

When I was sparring with my accountability partner we quickly came to the conclusion that I was scared that I wouldn't know what to do when people actually signed up.

So I just have to kick it off and let the ads run, I'll launch them today!

I'll have the final meeting with the performance-based client on Thursday, so hopefully, we can get started on Friday and get some good results within the first month.

Had the meeting last week but unfortunately, they pulled out last moment because of some private matters.

Nothing I can do about and we'll have to see if we can continue with the project in January.

This week will be focussed on getting in some new leads and I'll be reaching out to unresponsive LinkedIn connections with a message I've set up as a one-last-try remedy!

I'm aiming to schedule at least 2 discovery calls this week!

I did manage to focus on messaging potential leads, but the results were still not as I hoped...

However, @Black_Dragon43 gave a workshop yesterday in which he cleared out some of the problems I was facing (massive thanks to you!) and I have a better feeling about the new approach I have.

Still have some small projects running from existing clients, but not nearly enough to come close to the 5-digit MRR.

I've got some leads in the pipeline, but the sales cycle is extremely slow.

But, setbacks can happen... Let's gooo!

VenturePals:
Got some really valuable feedback from the MVP testers!

Made an overview with the new necessary but foundational features for the first official release and my accountability partner is going to start with the backend this week.

Meanwhile, I'll be doing the new branding guidelines, since we've had some feedback from the testers about the current branding as well!

Also, ever since my problem-solving part is active again I found several use cases where we could repurpose the code. So by creating this app, we can create a couple more without investing much time in technical development!

See you next week!

 

[Yula]

Update for the last week of the Fastlane Journey...

I started bullet journaling after my success partner suggested it and WOW! A total game-changer...

Previously I wrote down everything on single pieces of paper, the number of times I had to rewrite my 1,5,10 Planasy and recalculate my escape number due to this is 1 too many. Right now it's organized and well and I broke down each goal in months and even weeks/days.

For the last week, the focus has been on the App, the development is still on track and we're off to develop the last (but most time-consuming) part of the App.

I was hoping for some valuable feedback on the website I've created but this thread doesn't seem to have some active followers, unfortunately. Maybe it will once some real results are coming in, until then it's me and my computer!

If someone still wants to give some feedback, this is the website: https://www.venture-pals.com/

I've grown the Instagram page from 0 to around 50 followers in a week now, but it's a lot more difficult than I imagined it would be. I'm still uploading 5 days per week with quality carousels, but I'm just not sure how to get my page in front of more people without doing paid shoutouts.

I've heard that Instagram Reels are a good way to get some new people in front of your page, but I was hoping to stick with just the carousels.

So if there's someone out there who knows how to get some more eyes on a page, let me know!

This week I'm going to prepare for the Product Hunt launch and gather all the assets needed to fully optimize the page.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Yula]

Update week 21:

1.) 6x week to the gym - Went 5 times this week, but I'm looking to change gyms. The one I'm at is very cheap but the quality of the equipment is going very downhill. Also the whole gym seems more like a mall in the weekend than a place where people work on themselves.

2.) Use the full 40H to work on my internship - Got my feedback yesterday and everything was positive, so I'm excited to almost be done with this part. One and a halve week left!

3.) Stay on my calorie target and macro goals 3200 cal - I finally did it. I made some larger meals for lunch and it helped a lot to reach my macro and calorie goals.

4.) When my alarm goes, immediately get out of bed

5.) Drink 2.5 - 3L water daily - Still very consistent.

Fastlane Journey...
We've achieved a lot last week!

- Landing page has been made with Carrd.

- Created all the socials, but for some unknown reason my Facebook account got deactivated which is one big headache. There's also no way to unlock my account so we'll have to create a new one or use an existing FB, to post the Ads with.

- Busy working on the MVP.

- We finally chose the logo design.

- Working a lot for my copywriting clients to gain more capital.

- Used the marketing angles to create several different Ads, including the creatives. Let's see how they perform.

Again, I strive to have at least 4 of my weekly goals in the green.

 

[Yula]

Hello Yula,

Thanks for sharing your journey.
I'm looking for a feedback about Bubble ? What do you think about it ?

I'm a software engineer, i know how to code softwares but I forget how to develop web Apps, so instead of learning again i'm thinking about using no-code solution like bubble of webFlow.

Have a good day

I personally haven't used Bubble much, I quickly changed to FlutterFlow.

I use FlutterFlow because it gives you the possibility to download the Flutter code. So once the product proves itself it's easier to get off the platform when you can simply download the code, rather than having to rewrite the whole code.

Everyone has their own preferances ofcourse, so take a look around and see what works for you!

Hope this helps

 

[Yula]

Update week 27:
All my daily tasks seem to be constant wins right now. Once I fail some I´ll update to restart the progress, or whenever a new task needs to be started.

Fastlane Journey...
A lot has been done in the past few weeks since graduating.

- Pretty much done with the whole app, in the next few weeks, I'll be focussing on implementing Firebase so I can make it ready for the first deployment on the app store!

- I got everything set up for the pre-launch ads, however, for some unknown reason, my FB pixel doesn't work. I checked the code like 5 times but there isn't much that could go wrong with copy and pasting? I'd hope to fix this in the upcoming week.

- Trying to focus on growing my LinkedIn account, but I still find it difficult to stay consistent.

- Rebranded my copywriting business to fit the new niche, it's pretty much finished and I'm looking to land the right case study.

- Also landed some new clients for the copy business, so it's getting a lot busier right now.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Yula]

Update week 30 of the Fastlane Journey...
This week has been very chaotic. Family of mine visited from Spain, so this week was filled with late nights, little sleep and still a lot of work.

- The Firebase integration barrier is too high for me at the moment and I simply don't have the time to invest and learn the platform. My accountability partner is kind enough to lend me his hand and fix the integration issue.

- Fixed the opt-in landing page and made some new Facebook ads, turns out I had the wrong Ads goal and it just gave me poor quality clicks. The new one is a lot better, but the leads are quite expensive for just an email list.

At this moment I've gotten 5 email opt-ins for the private beta at a cost of around 8 EUR per person. I still have to find my 80/20 platform and am just starting out with doing some blogposts.

LinkedIn might also do the trick, since it's mainly focussed on entrepreneurs who are in the building/startup phase.

- Didn't get time to finish the 4th week of the AAP, but I managed to get a few training videos in.

- Been consistent with writing valuable LinkedIn posts and am planning on posting 5 days per week to increase authority.

- Currently also in the process of hiring a VA who could do the appointment setting on LinkedIn.

- Speaking with the CMO of the company which I previously mentioned to see in which aspects I can help them excel.

Overall pretty excited about the stuff that's happening right now, but I also got a major realization that the desert of desertion is a real thing.

Next week I'll split the progress in between the two ventures and share the soft launch of the app with you. (if allowed)

 

[Yula]

Update week 32 of the Fastlane Journey...
Copyneers:
- Scheduled my very first discovery call through LinkedIn!

- Scheduled a call with the CMO of the company I previously mentioned, so will see what that brings me this Thursday!

- The previously mentioned $6.5k has grown even further and will end up being around $7.5k!

- The LinkedIn game is still going strong and the impressions are growing every week.

- Posted and connected a blog to increase some organic traffic, where I will slowly build the number of blogs over time.

VenturePals:
- The dev I hired is still working on it and it should be finished by the 19th of August!

- The private beta is still to be launched on the 30th of August!

- Posted and connected a blog to increase some organic traffic, where I will slowly build the number of blogs over time.

 

[Yula]

Update for the last couple of weeks of the Fastlane Journey...
It's still been quite slow the last couple of weeks, but there have been massive improvements. Also I did find out why my dedication dropped like a brick!

I thought that I hadn't gone to the gym for approx. 3 weeks. Turns out it was actually already 6 weeks since I last went to the gym. Just goes to show what a massive impact working out has on your mental health!

I've also decided to upgrade my workspace and make it more professional. I previously worked on my 15 inch laptop and I've recently upgraded to this:



It's been worth the small investment because the work I normally do in 2 hours is now possible in 1.5!

Copyneers:
- The commission-based project is awaiting the contract.
- The 9-fig company is going to discuss with their team if it's green lights.
- I got some new leads on LinkedIn who are interested and are hopping on a discovery call.
- Made my first Loom video for another lead that couldn't hop on a call.
- Hiring a copywriter seems to be harder than I anticipated. The price they ask vs. the quality of work they can deliver is completely off. Currently reviewing 2 copywriters to see if they are fit for the task.

VenturePals:
- Since I built the app in FlutterFlow, uploading the app manually has been a headache. I'll have to get the premium subscription to upload it through the platform, so hopefully, that goes well. I'll let it run for 1 test month, gather some valuable data, and bring the app back in development.

I've also got a little side project which is also interesting for Copyneers. I'll update about it as soon as I can! We're back on the grind...

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Yula]

Update for the last week of the Fastlane Journey...
Last week has been filled with a lot of progress again!

Copyneers:
I managed to get quite a lot done for my agency last week. I've finally made some choices and interviewed all the copywriters and I've now finally hired one...

So from this week on, I'll have more time to focus on growing the agency instead of working for clients.

I've set up the website including the lead magnet, the policies, and the pixel, so it's ready for the Ads. I didn't have the time to run the ads last week, so that's what I'll be doing this week.

All the client copy is finished as well, so I did manage to generate the $4K.

I'll have the final meeting with the performance-based client on Thursday, so hopefully, we can get started on Friday and get some good results within the first month.

This week will be focussed on getting in some new leads and I'll be reaching out to unresponsive LinkedIn connections with a message I've set up as a one-last-try remedy!

I'm aiming to schedule at least 2 discovery calls this week!

VenturePals:
The MVP is live and I currently have some people testing the App on iOS!

I tried to gather some more MVP testers on the forum, but sadly it didn't get much notice.

Google/Android is still giving me a headache as they keep disapproving my verification requests. The problem is that I still live at my parent's house and I need some way to show them a letter from the government with my name and address.

But the ones I've sent to them are too old according to them...

So that throws a spanner in the works...

I did however speak with my accountability partner who is an excellent developer in Flutter and proposed to do the project together with him. We're yet to discuss the full details on compensation but it will likely be equity share, which I'm more than fine with.

So once we've gathered all the feedback and feature requests, we're gonna start building the first official version!

If all goes as planned (including a buffer), we should be able to release a full working version somewhere at the end of January!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Yula]

Update last week:

I made this thread on Friday but I had started on Monday already, so I'll write an update about last week.

Starting out, it was still quite difficult to adapt to certain things...

1.) 6x week to the gym - Absolutely smashed this goal and I feel great about it.

2.) Use the full 40H to work on my internship - I work partly from home so I still find it difficult to fully focus on finishing the 8 hours of work. For this week I will try to get all disctractions out of my view to really focus on my internship...

I also got to remind myself that I have a little less than 5 weeks left and than it's finished.

3.) Stay on my calorie target and macro goals 3200 cal - I just tried to eat a lot, but I didn't track my calorie/macro intake. I use MyFitnessPal but it's rather time consuming and annoying to fill in all the details of every meal. (Problem to solve for any of you? )

4.) When my alarm goes, immediately get out of bed - Still kept hitting the snooze button, eventhough I've had 8 hours of sleep... Do any of you have tricks for this?

5.) Drink 2.5 - 3L water daily - Some days succeeded but not very consistent.

Fastlane Journey...

- I checked out FlutterFlow as this was recommended and I think it's a better platform than the previous once I talked about.
- I created a plan of action and a braindump for any idea that pops up in my head...
- I wrote an avatar (ideal customer) and went to the drawing board to sketch some simple UI's.
- Watched some tutorials on FlutterFlow and did some tutorials.
- Currently mapping which essential functions needs to be in the MVP.

That was it for last week, this week I will have at least 2 of my weekly goals in the green and no reds.

 

[Lyzmin]

4.) When my alarm goes, immediately get out of bed - Still kept hitting the snooze button, eventhough I've had 8 hours of sleep... Do any of you have tricks for this?

Keep your phone out of your room, recharge is in another room. Buy a normal alarm. Place it on the other side of the room so you have to get out of bed. When you get out of bed and turn off your alarm, go pee directly.

Out of bed accomplished !

Hope this helps. It works for me the last 9 years.

 

[Panos Daras]

For number 3, simply drizzle more olive oil over the food! No need to increase the portion size! I might even know someone who could lend a hand.

 

[Yula]

Update week 22:

1.) 6x week to the gym - Went 4 times this week, finishing up the last thing for my thesis, so I spent most of the time working on it.

2.) Use the full 40H to work on my internship

3.) Stay on my calorie target and macro goals 3200 cal - Still being consistent!

4.) When my alarm goes, immediately get out of bed

5.) Drink 2.5 - 3L water daily

Fastlane Journey...
This week was kind of slow. I did meet a couple of new people to expand my network, but this week I've been grinding out the last parts of my thesis. As for week 23 which we're in right now, the same thing applies. Upcoming monday I'll have to deliver my final version!

Again, I strive to have at least 4 of my weekly goals in the green.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[FreakyThomas]

Hi, really like the Venture Pals idea and website. Very nice copy (obviously!)
Good luck on your beta launching!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Yula]

Update for the last week of the Fastlane Journey...
Getting more and more traction again! Bought a new gym membership for a year so I´ll be going to the gym 4-5 times per week from this week onwards.

Also trying to get rid of all the bad habits, since I tend to get distracted on YouTube sometimes I'll make sure to watch something useful when I do.

Copyneers:
- Currently creating 2 lead magnets to see if this is a better approach to get some more leads.
- The Loom video turned out great and they are interested in working together. The only unfortunate truth is that they don't have the budget as of right now, so I'll be spending time to make it a good connection.
- Should hear back from one lead this week to schedule a meeting.
- In the process of getting liability insurance since I'll be dealing with larger companies than previously.
- Interviewing 3 copywriters to see which one fits the most, still waiting on 2 out of 3 test articles.

VenturePals:
- I kept procrastinating on getting the membership... Once I talked with my accountability partner we quickly came to the conclusion that it was just a massive mental roadblock since uploading it would mean receiving feedback if the idea is good or not. So I just upgraded the membership and am currently uploading the App to the AppStore and Play Store.
- Added some new blog posts to the website to see if I can generate some more organic traffic.

Side note: I've done the research for the side project and I'm currently waiting for some renders of the product to create a small proof of concept. Still can't say what the product is about, but I'll keep you up to date!

 

[Yula]

Update for the last week of the Fastlane Journey...
The ball is rolling again! A lot of headaches last week, but I'm getting a lot of sh%$ done.

Copyneers:
- I finished the lead magnets and ordered a privacy policy and cookie policy, so I can start running paid traffic to my lead magnets this week.
- One of the leads gave a red light at the last moment, but we're still communicating and I might do the work for free as this case study would be very valuable and give me access to a lot of companies in my niche.
- The performance-based project will be starting this week as well.
- Liability insurance has been bought!
- Invited a new round of copywriters, with a slightly higher hourly but I think I've found the right match.
- I've reached my LinkedIn limit for this month... I might get premium, but I'll first have to see how the lead magnets perform.
- This month has been slower revenue-wise as I've generated around $4K.

VenturePals:
- I bought the membership and uploaded the app to the AppStore and later found out that one of the core functions wasn't working lol... (One of the headache reasons)
- As I'm writing this the problem has been resolved, but now a new problem occurred with the messaging function. Hopefully, this will be fixed by this evening or tomorrow and then I can finally launch the private beta!

 

[Yula]

I've had a mental block that stopped me from actually launching the ads...

When I was sparring with my accountability partner we quickly came to the conclusion that I was scared that I wouldn't know what to do when people actually signed up.

So I just have to kick it off and let the ads run, I'll launch them today!

Update: I've just launched them and they are approved and ready to go!

 

[Yula]

Update:

This month has been quite hectic! I thought I had finished all the legal stuff for VenturePals, but Apple decided to throw a curveball and the deadlines were missed.

To get the App in the Appstore you need a legal entity, and setting up legal entities in the Netherlands is a bit weird and complex if you have no knowledge (like me) about it. So long story short, couldn't release the App on the ideal launch date.

Not too big of a problem since we didn't exactly announce a specific date yet.

The legal entity is currently being set up and should be up and running in the middle of March! If that's done at least all the legal requirements are covered. In the meantime, we have build a small community and have released a beta version for them to test as of today.

Most bugs are covered and we're super excited about the first result, now it's a matter of others being just excited as we are!

So what have I done in the last month?

VenturePals:
- Make website GDPR compliant (really excited to have finished this, GDPR is complex)
- Set up ad pixels
- Product Hunt teaser page finished (currently at 150 signups)
- Product Hunt VSL done!
- Getting a name in the Product Hunt community
- 45 email signups through organic Reddit posts
- Run first paid Ads
- AppSumo page (in progress)
- Fastlane Marketplace post (in progress)

Copyneers:
- Client work
- Started 2 new projects!

I'm really starting to figure out why people don't try to grow 2 business at once! Copyneers has been steady, as well as the income. The time VenturePals has needed, left me to postpone the goals I had for Copyneers this month.

March will be big for both VenturePals as well as Copyneers, so I need to start scheduling my time correctly.

Keeping up the grind...

See you soon!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Yula]

Quick Update!
Legal entity has been setup after many headaches! Currently waiting on the DUNS number to finalize the Apple and Google enrollment and then we're ready to launch VenturePals

I'm also in the qualification for the Founders Live Pitch Challenge global competition! If you're reading this and would like to support, you can go to the link below and watch my 99 second pitch and vote for us. Would be highly appreciated!

Founders Live Prime Time Global Competition - Vote for the best startup pitches in various regions of the world

 

[Yula]

Quick Update:

I was about to make a post about how real the desert of desertion is... and apparently, I missed that we got our first active monthly subscription!

The feeling I got when I saw this in the dashboard is something I've never felt before... It's so hard to explain.

After 8 days of launching, we finally did it!

Over the past few weeks, I've been calling several large communities to get them to onboard their audience on our platform, which is finally coming along together as well!

We got our first accelerator to run a pilot with us and see how their community feels about it.

Much more to come will keep you posted!

 

[Yula]

Update week 19:

1.) 6x week to the gym - Went 4 times this week due to an injury I got this week, so I couldn't train legs unfortunately. Hope it'll heal quickly so currently not putting any stress on it.

2.) Use the full 40H to work on my internship - Finally managed to fully focus on my internship during the work hours. This week I'll have to deliver 90% of my thesis.

3 weeks left and until it's finished.

3.) Stay on my calorie target and macro goals 3200 cal - Still tend to forget about the app and afterwards it's hard to fill in what I've eaten throughout the day.

4.) When my alarm goes, immediately get out of bed - I've been extremely tired this week, so it has been quite hard to fight the urge to not get back in to bed. Failed 2 days.

5.) Drink 2.5 - 3L water daily - Finally been very consistent with my water intake.

Fastlane Journey...

- Still waiting for the Figma design to be finished, it should be done by the 19th so after we receive it we'll immediately start working on a low-code MVP.

- Sketched out different marketing angles.

- Created the name and branding concept, immediatly bought the domainname as well.

- Got messaged on LinkedIn by some website agency that proposed to make a "free" website, but was an affiliate of Bluehost. Waiting to see if they're willing to work throught the host we're comfortable working with.

- Noticed that we could potentially work together with one of my copywriting clients to get customers for the new biz, so currently in the process of seeing what we can do for eachother.

- If the "free" web agency is off the table we'll start making a quick landingpage through Shopify to gather pre-launch leads.

Again, I strive to have at least 4 of my weekly goals in the green.

 

[charlemagne]

Update week 19:

1.) 6x week to the gym - Went 4 times this week due to an injury I got this week, so I couldn't train legs unfortunately. Hope it'll heal quickly so currently not putting any stress on it.

2.) Use the full 40H to work on my internship - Finally managed to fully focus on my internship during the work hours. This week I'll have to deliver 90% of my thesis.

3 weeks left and until it's finished.

3.) Stay on my calorie target and macro goals 3200 cal - Still tend to forget about the app and afterwards it's hard to fill in what I've eaten throughout the day.

4.) When my alarm goes, immediately get out of bed - I've been extremely tired this week, so it has been quite hard to fight the urge to not get back in to bed. Failed 2 days.

5.) Drink 2.5 - 3L water daily - Finally been very consistent with my water intake.

Fastlane Journey...

- Still waiting for the Figma design to be finished, it should be done by the 19th so after we receive it we'll immediately start working on a low-code MVP.

- Sketched out different marketing angles.

- Created the name and branding concept, immediatly bought the domainname as well.

- Got messaged on LinkedIn by some website agency that proposed to make a "free" website, but was an affiliate of Bluehost. Waiting to see if they're willing to work throught the host we're comfortable working with.

- Noticed that we could potentially work together with one of my copywriting clients to get customers for the new biz, so currently in the process of seeing what we can do for eachother.

- If the "free" web agency is off the table we'll start making a quick landingpage through Shopify to gather pre-launch leads.

Again, I strive to have at least 4 of my weekly goals in the green.

Great process Yula. The goals are hard to all follow. I struggle with keeping up with all my goals as my priorities seem to take precedent (usually the easiest/most enjoyable things).

Anyways great work and I am excited for your progress!