journey

The Solo Founder Journey

You don't need to know everything. You need to know what to do next. This skill tells you where you are and what skill to use.

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Where Are You?

Find your current stage. Start there — don't skip ahead.

Stage 1: "I have an idea"

You know a problem exists in your field. You haven't validated whether anyone else cares enough to pay.

Do this:

1. translate — Turn your professional pain into a clear problem statement
2. validate — Test whether other people have this pain and will pay to fix it

Time: 1-2 weeks. Cost: $0-200.

Gate: Do NOT move to Stage 2 until you have signal that real people want this. Signal = email signups, survey responses, or pre-payments. "My friends think it's cool" is not signal.

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Stage 2: "I've validated demand — what do I build?"

You have evidence people want this. Now you need to decide what the minimum product looks like.

Do this:

1. customer-research — Talk to 10 potential users about their workflow
2. prioritize — Decide what to build first (ruthlessly cut scope)
3. plan — Write a spec AI tools can execute

Time: 1-2 weeks.

Gate: You should have a written spec that describes what the user sees and does, not a list of features. If your spec takes more than 2-4 weeks to build, cut more.

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Stage 3: "I'm ready to build"

You have a spec. Time to choose your tool and build the thing.

Do this:

1. brand-identity-generator — Set your visual identity so AI tools don't guess
2. build — Choose your AI tool (Lovable, Claude Code, Replit, Cursor) and build
3. database — Set up your data model and security
4. secure — Security checklist before going live
5. compliance — If you're in healthcare, finance, education, or another regulated industry

Time: 2-4 weeks for an MVP.

Gate: The app works. Happy path is functional. You've tested it yourself. It doesn't need to be perfect — it needs to be usable.

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Stage 4: "It works — how do I get it live?"

The app works locally or in your dev environment. Time to put it on the internet.

Do this:

1. deploy — Get it live on a custom domain
2. payments — Set up Stripe for subscriptions
3. legal — Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, business entity
4. test — Test the full flow as if you're a new user
5. monitor — Set up error tracking and uptime alerts
6. go-live — Run the pre-launch checklist before letting anyone in

Time: 1-2 days for deploy. 1 week for payments + legal.

Gate: Someone can visit your URL, sign up, use the product, and pay you. go-live is your final checkpoint before opening the doors.

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Stage 5: "It's live — how do I get users?"

Your product is live. Nobody knows about it yet.

Do this:

1. landing-page — Build a landing page that converts
2. copywriting — Write copy that speaks your audience's language
3. launch — Plan and execute your launch (not just "post on Twitter")
4. niche-advantage — If you're building for your own industry, use your network
5. sales — Find and reach your first 10-20 customers directly

Time: 2-4 weeks of active launch effort.

Gate: You have paying customers (even 5-10) and you're learning from their usage.

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Stage 6: "I have early customers — how do I grow?"

You have paying customers. Now build the engine.

Do this:

1. analytics — Set up tracking so you know what's working
2. growth — Design activation, retention, and referral mechanics
3. conversion — Optimize your signup and upgrade flows
4. email — Build welcome sequences and lifecycle emails
5. content — Start creating content that attracts your audience
6. seo — Plan content that ranks and drives organic signups
7. feedback — Collect and act on user feedback

Time: Ongoing. This is the work from now on.

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Stage 7: "I'm growing — how do I keep customers?"

You're acquiring users. Now make sure they stick.

Do this:

1. retention — Reduce churn and build stickiness
2. support — Build self-serve documentation
3. community — If you have 100+ active users, consider a community
4. pricing — Revisit pricing as you learn what users value
5. optimize — Speed, code cleanup, database performance

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Stage 8: "I'm established — how do I scale?"

You have product-market fit. Revenue is growing. Now scale.

Do this:

1. ads — Paid acquisition once organic is working
2. hiring — When to hire vs. keep using AI tools
3. ai-features — Add AI-powered features to differentiate
4. accounting — Get your books right as revenue grows
5. finances — Financial modeling and unit economics

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Quick Reference

"I need to..."	Use this skill
Figure out if my idea is worth building	translate, validate
Decide what to build first	prioritize, plan
Choose an AI coding tool	build
Set up my database	database
Make it look professional	brand-identity-generator, beautify
Get it live on the internet	deploy
Check if I'm ready to launch	go-live
Accept payments	payments
Handle legal stuff	legal, compliance
Build a landing page	landing-page
Write marketing copy	copywriting
Plan my launch	launch
Reach my first customers	sales, niche-advantage
Set up analytics	analytics
Grow faster	growth, conversion
Write emails that convert	email
Create content	content, seo
Reduce churn	retention
Handle support	support
Run ads	ads
Hire a developer	hiring
Fix a bug	debug
Something broke in production	debug, monitor
Understand my financials	finances, accounting
Set pricing	pricing
Make my text sound less AI-generated	humanize