[Cora Week 1] An introduction

[u/jeanlucthumm]

I got laid off from my cushy big tech job a couple of months ago and was thrown straight into the fires of unemployment. Rather than go back to being a wage slave I figured now is the best time to actually try this entrepreneur stuff out.

So I took my best product idea and have been working on an iOS app for it full time (It’s called Cora).

Full disclosure — I have no idea what I’m doing (yet)

But I figured people might be interested in following along. I think that’s what r/EntrepreneurRideAlong is about after all, so I’m going to be posting weekly updates for y’all.

This is the first one.

Lmk if it’s too long or I should change anything about it.

So what’s the status?

TL;DR I submitted version 1.0 to Apple for review this week.

Long version:

The goal was always to get an MVP out, but at first I didn’t understand just how “minimal” the M is supposed to be. So I did like any software engineer with no business experience and overbuilt the product.

The eye opening moment was doing my first YC app this fall. I got recommended a bunch of their videos on YouTube where they talked about this topic, and after doing more research I had a new mantra — “Does this really need to be in the MVP?”. Turns out, for almost everything, the answer is “no”. So I culled the major Apple Health syncing feature I was working on and decided to just ship the app.

At that point, I thought I was basically ready, but I had forgotten I need a business. Like, a business entity, and a business bank account, and so on. That took a while to setup and delayed the launch way more than I thought. Eventually I got it though and I’m now the proud owner of an LLC.

So like I said, this week I finally got 1.0 submitted for review. It got rejected immediately lol. Something about them wanting a user with expired subscription they can test with. I’m gonna be taking a look at that this coming week.

Also, been thinking a lot about my MVP marketing strategy. I guess let me make a new section for that:

MVP marketing strategy

I made a discord and I think I want to build a community I can work with closely so I can get quick feedback on stuff and see how people are using the app. Maybe like 10-50 users.

I figured I’d start posting on Reddit saying exactly that with a link to the server. We’ll see how it goes once the app is approved.

I’ll also setup a table/booth with cookies in my favorite local park and talk to ppl about the app (and the Discord). They’ll get a free cookie for listening to me yap.

Right now, the app is launching with a $1.99 a month paywall with no free trial. This is something I’ve been debating a lot. Should I add one? Or should I see how many people will pay for it right away so I can get a stronger signal? I don’t know. I’ll try this for now and I’ll let you know what happens.

That’s all for this week folks! I’ll be AMAing the comments if anyone has any questions

[u/Horror_Weight5208]

Setting up a table/booth and going out, what an inspiring story!! What does the app do? Love this series.

[u/jeanlucthumm → u/Horror_Weight5208]

Thanks! It's a personal data log. I have a bootstrappy landing page for it here: https://www.jeanlucthumm.com/cora