Lessons from things that didn't take off.
Most freelancers hide their failures. Here are mine - including the parts where I didn't see it coming. If you're evaluating whether to work with me, this page should tell you more than the case studies.
BigDave
2023- What it was supposed to be
A community platform with everything: posts, profiles, real-time chat, voting, custom theming. Built solo over four months. Technically a clean little Next.js + Supabase app.
- What actually happened
Nobody came. Not 'few people came' - actually zero traction beyond friends I begged to sign up. The product worked perfectly. It just had no audience because I had no distribution.
✦ Lesson
Distribution is the product. A great codebase with no audience is a portfolio piece, not a business.