[Journey] From 3 Failed Startups to My Next Validated Business

[KiddKeo]

I failed in three startups.
Zero wins. A lot of money burned. Since 2023, I’ve spent months and months coding alone as a solo entrepreneur, believing that if the product was good, people would come.


They didn’t.


I slept little, worked too much, and it still didn’t work. But I’m not giving up, because those failures gave me something far more valuable: real learning.


These are the lessons I will never ignore again:

First: don’t code without validation.
Code is worthless if nobody wants it. Before writing a single line, you need marketing, traffic, real conversations with users, and proof of demand. A simple email on a landing page can save you months of work.


Second: don’t build something completely original.
The odds of failure are massive. It’s far smarter to replicate what already works, improve something proven, and compete there. Extreme innovation is romantic, but the market doesn’t pay for romance.

Mindset is everything.
If you’re not mentally strong, this journey will break you. You must protect your focus and not let anything pull you down.


I failed three times, yes.
But this time I’m starting differently: with traffic, with validation, with real demand.
I’m going for the next one. And the next one will work.


I won’t stop until I become a millionaire.


I’ll keep building and sharing my entire process here in this thread, with regular updates.

 

[Fourthlevel]

Now that's something worth following. All the best

 

[Filogery]

It's a great and honest journey. I wish you good luck. Learn as much as possible.

 

[zobicoin]

Very precise business knowledge, I learned something.

 

[UndercoverBrother]

Keep going mate, when it all clicks, you will recover all you have lost - very quickly.

I am not a programmer but my main long-term goal is to become a techprenuer.

What I think will give any app an advantage is research.

Using a combination of surveys and mathematical models to identify needs that most miss.

Why do the normal apps miss some needs, because most of these apps are built on 'aha' moments. No research, nothing, just a hunch.

Look to add an element of research combined with predictive analytics to discover that one sweet angle that shall take your app to the next level.

 

[KiddKeo]

Keep going mate, when it all clicks, you will recover all you have lost - very quickly.

I am not a programmer but my main long-term goal is to become a techprenuer.

What I think will give any app an advantage is research.

Using a combination of surveys and mathematical models to identify needs that most miss.

Why do the normal apps miss some needs, because most of these apps are built on 'aha' moments. No research, nothing, just a hunch.

Look to add an element of research combined with predictive analytics to discover that one sweet angle that shall take your app to the next level.

Exactly, that's what led me to fail a few times. Really appreciate the advice!

 

[Elon Snup]

Validation before code is the hardest lesson to learn - most devs (myself included) want to build first. Your point about replicating what works is underrated too. Way easier to improve on something proven than invent from scratch.

What space are you looking at for the next attempt?

 

[Zoididan]

Keep your mindset strong and continue pushing forward. Best of luck.

 

[KiddKeo]

Validation before code is the hardest lesson to learn - most devs (myself included) want to build first. Your point about replicating what works is underrated too. Way easier to improve on something proven than invent from scratch.

What space are you looking at for the next attempt?

I’m looking at the AI agents space for my next attempt. There’s real demand, and I think it’s much easier to build on what’s already working and improve it rather than start from scratch.

 

[Proxy Cake]

I've never understood the validation before building thing. Unless your product is completely brand new never seen before then yes you have to do a lot more research to see if there is a market for it.

But if your product has been done before but you're just adding a couple new features to it then there is already validation if other companies have been successful.

Also just because someone says they're interested doesn't mean anything.

The easiest is to find a successful product in a niche that you're genuinely interested in, build an MVP and try and get customers then go from there

 

[KiddKeo]

I've never understood the validation before building thing. Unless your product is completely brand new never seen before then yes you have to do a lot more research to see if there is a market for it.

But if your product has been done before but you're just adding a couple new features to it then there is already validation if other companies have been successful.

Also just because someone says they're interested doesn't mean anything.

The easiest is to find a successful product in a niche that you're genuinely interested in, build an MVP and try and get customers then go from there

Yeah, exactly. If others are already making money, that’s validation. But global niches with a lot of money are brutal to compete in unless you’ve got deep pockets, so I’d rather focus on a micro-niche.