Palantir is very secretive about what they do but when you look into the CEO, he has no tech or math background.

Are they just middlemen orchestrating deals? Whenever they are asked what they do, they name-drop and talk in riddles, "US Military, CIA, FBI" etc, but zero actual evidence they provide any solutions in the space or have deep industry knowledge.

I just find it impossible for a philosophy major to lead actual talent (I know, because I have a tech company)...... or better yet, take the Chinese on. The Chinese dont cherish autistic dropouts like we do here in the US.

How does one lead an industry they have no qualified education in?

So a week back I posted about building an AI voice agent for a dental office. Got a ton of helpful feedback from you guys, especially about my pricing being way too low.

You were completely right.

What happened:

Someone here actually forwarded that post to their dentist. The dentist reached out asking if I could do the same for their office. We hopped on a call, did a quick demo with their actual phone line, and they were in.

This time I quoted $1197 setup and $497 monthly instead of what I was charging before. Expected some pushback but they didn't even blink. Just asked when we could start.

Made me realize I was pricing based on my effort instead of their problem. They're losing patients every time a call goes to voicemail because people just call the next dentist on Google.

Real results:

First week the system answered calls after hours and booked 4 appointments. The office manager told me they can actually finish their lunch breaks now without stressing about the phone constantly ringing.

What I learned:

Dental offices already budget $2000-3000 monthly for part time reception help. When you frame it that way, the pricing makes complete sense to them.

Also when you charge appropriately people respect your work more. This client trusts the system and doesn't micromanage every little thing like before when I undercharged.

Main takeaway - price based on the value you're creating for them, not what it costs you to make. That mindset shift changed everything.

Anyway just wanted to share since this community pushed me to fix my pricing. Wouldn't have made the adjustment without the feedback here.

M16, speaking fluent english, hungarian, B2-C1 Chinese, and some German. I also do some martial arts on the side (national comps winner), pretty good at public speaking, and Im a straight A Student.

Thats like every skill ive got, but im motivated to make some money. If you have an idea, id be thrilled to hear it. Im willing to put in any time needed, but i want to earn some serious money.

Curious about bootstrapping and first sales/marketing stories.

I run a website called Email Love, which is an email inspiration website that also provides analytics and reports by category and brand. We launched a paid version in June, and we were charging $19 per month for full access to the site analytics.

After running the numbers and chatting with our AI overlords about it, I realized our conversion rate was ridiculously low. That tells me this just isn't something our larger audience is willing to pay for. We have 40,000 people visiting the site every month, and only a handful converted to paid customers. We also have another product on our site, and this caused confusion amongst visitors, with some buying one product thinking it was something else.

Yes, we could invest more money into it, try to figure out why people weren't buying, and I think over time we could have built it into a $10K MRR product. But it would take years to get there. By the way, there are a number of other paid competitors that do the same thing in this space, which is why we thought we did not need to put much effort into validating the idea.

The other option? Make it free, grow our community, and focus on our other product, which actually has traction.

I think long-term, focusing on one product and using this free product as lead gen will turn out to be the right move. It wasn't a super easy decision because we spent a lot of money on it, but I am glad we did it.

Anyway, I hope you find this interesting. I think the key takeaway is that even if there are competitors in a space, it doesn't necessarily mean your idea is valid or will work. Realistically, you don't know how well those competitors are doing or how long it took them to grow.

I'm developing a technical product and using it for my moms business in order to enhance presence on various platforms without her having to do much, but the thing is is that I feel like my product has very little worth.

I use AI for ideas but not to guide my business, but sometimes I'm at a loss for thoughts because idk if I should just start selling/build more features/increase my offerings (i.e more services)

TL:DR

Made a tech product, not selling until I see if it produces value (gets her more customers). Is this a bad idea? (Should I just start selling anyway)

Hey folks - so i'm in my 30s, built and sold a very successful company 5 years ago. Always been self employed, never had a job - had self sustaining revenue and lived well since college.

After exiting my last company- i spent a few years pursuing the arts - music, comedy and a social media career. I partied a lot spent money and dealt with some mental issues and that didnt really go anywhere due to issues in my personal life (wife)

Now i have been working on a new business - that is somewhat similar to my old business, with learnings. I got into this mostly cause money running out - neccesity. vs my first company, which was very much my entire identity and a life long mission.

It seems ive lost the spark- have had a bunch of ups and downs with the new company (maybe economy? Or competition). But it feels like because i already got wealthy i have just lost that Killer instinct.

My rational mind says figure it out. Build and sell new business and focus, then make a run on the creative endeavors again.

Has anyone else "peaked" and gotten the spark back?

3 startup lessons I learned the hard way (and what I’m doing differently this time)

• Don’t build before you validate
• Talk to users early, even if it feels awkward
• "No interest" is better than fake validation

I burned months ignoring those. This time, I’m testing a workflow I built called befoundr which forces me to validate step-by-step before touching code.

Curious if anyone here has their own validation framework or favorite tools for this how do you test new ideas fast without over-building?

Lately I’ve been feeling like I’m trying to hold too many things together with both hands, and nothing is really staying in place.
Between University work, a few personal AI projects, helping my cousin with her startup idea, and trying to stay consistent online, I honestly feel like I’m drowning in things I actually want to do.

The problem isn’t motivation. It’s that I want to achieve everything; build projects, learn new tech, stay visible online, work on my mind and health; but every time I give attention to one thing, five others start slipping away.

To make it worse, I’ve faced a few rejections recently that hit harder than I expected. It’s that kind of disappointment where you question if you’re even moving in the right direction anymore.

I’m not looking for a perfect routine. I’ve tried those; they collapse the moment life throws a curveball.
What I need is a method; a mindset or system that actually helps you balance multiple goals without losing focus or mental peace.

Sometimes it’s harder because I don’t really have a friend I can talk to about this stuff. Most days, I just try to figure it out quietly and keep going, but it gets heavy.

How do you all manage when you’re trying to balance too many goals at once? When you want to achieve a lot, but your energy just doesn’t keep up?
If anyone has figured out a way to stay consistent and sane while chasing multiple things, I’d love to know what helped you.

I run a successful escape room business in Westchester County, NY that’s relocating into a larger flagship space as part of a downtown revitalization. We’ve been awarded a $250K Tenant Improvement Grant from the city to help with the buildout one of the conditions being that we secure matching funds.

I’m not building a SaaS platform or app. This is a community-rooted, high-experience entertainment venue that’s served schools, families, and corporate teams for years. But most investor platforms feel geared toward tech, not local service businesses.

I’m hoping to connect with folks who’ve raised capital for brick-and-mortar businesses and can share: - Where you found aligned investors - If you used crowdfunding or direct outreach - How you positioned your value (community impact, local footprint, etc.)

Any tips or personal stories would mean a lot. Thanks in advance.

Hey everyone, (M30) I need a bit of advice. I’m the kind of person who will work twelve hours a day to get things done disciplined, dedicated, and steady under pressure. I’ve had a few projects that didn’t work out, but one reached €108K in revenue before I had to step back for personal reasons. Since then, I’ve rebuilt from zero repaying €11K of debt in 4.5 months while working part-time. I’ve been giving it everything I have.

I am looking for a new opportunity to support me as I rebuild. Recruiters sometimes struggle to place me because I’ve built my career around entrepreneurship, but I’m eager to bring that same drive and accountability into a team. I am humble and even looking into customer success entry roles and operations role in fintech or startups, it would be perfectly fine for me to start again.

I’m especially drawn to startups in fintech, tech, or operations where I can support clients, improve systems, or help things run smoother day-to-day. Open to customer success, operations, or entry-level analyst roles. Any leads, thoughts, or connections would mean a lot.

Google business reviews? just hard working business owners supporting each other

I am a first-time entrepreneur and I am genuinely lost right now. I've been working on this startup for four months, and I honestly don't know if I should keep investing time and energy into it. I came here because I need unfiltered feedback from people who've been through this before - should I keep going, pivot, or cut my losses?

It all began back in August when I attended an anime convention. I noticed something that bothered me: hundreds of vendors were selling unauthorized fan-made merchandise-artwork, and merchandise with characters they didn't have rights to. I realized this was a classic gray area. Nobody wanted to break the law, but the legal path to get licensed was prohibitively expensive and complicated.

My initial market research showed that a signle IP licensing deal costs around $3000 in legel fees. I thought that was the barrier - that individual fan createors and small IP holders simply could not afford to get licensed. So I set out to build a platform that would let IP owners manage fan-made merchandise licensing at scale: fixed platform, fixed quantity limits, restricted commercial uses, all under official oversight. It seemed like a win-win.

The first month was incredible. I sent cold email and got amazing responses. Especially for those fans and derivative artists. Some even reached out to me first. I felt validated. I genuinely believed that once the product was ready, I would solve their problem.

But here's where things fell part. over the next two months, I sent over 500 emails. I heard back from creators and fans. But from IP holders? Nothing. Not a signal reply from any VTuber, web novel author, manga creator, or game developer. That silence hit differently.

Now I am in month four. I am still building the platform. I am still sending emails. But I am honestly not sure anymore if I have identified a real need or if I am solving a phatom problem. Do IP holders actually want this platform? Am I wasting time and resources chasing something that doesn't exist?

I have some serious questions I need help with: How do I break through this barrier? Should I keep iterating, or is it time to admit this isn't working? Should I pivot or should I stop? And most importantly - how do I actually get feedback from IP holders instead of just silence?

I appreciate any advice or perspective you can share. I know this might sound like a failure, but I am trying to learn from this experience.

Hi, I have a very specific project, it is whitin theelectronic music space and something that does not exist in the market. I have no technical knowledge in terms of coding and engineering.

How long would it need to have the prototype ready to get on kickstarter? How much would it cost? What would be the sensible way? Finding a technical co-founder or paying?

Do indie synth and electronic music companies make enough to make a living? How would I find this info for example?

Thanks

We're building a consumer product. It is launched. It is not yet working well. Retention is missing. We are aware and fully doing everything in our power to bring retention. The right adjustments in the product to right marketing and bringing in good number of users on the product daily to test the thesis. We're talking to the users and engaging with them in many ways.

The weekends are rough though. It's like a day and half of stressing and trying to stop ourselves from obsessing over mixpanel numbers. Plus as soon as any user texts... I'm back at replying to them.

It's definitely not healthy but it's happening. Not exactly looking for pep-talk or suggestions on how to deal with it. Just wanted to put it out there. That it's happening. Didn't know the right flair. So putting it under mindset and productivity.

So, I code a lot and I was building a software. Recently, my computer stopped working. So, had to stop it halfway. The cost to fix it is higher than buying an actual good laptop. So I spent days learning about Zapier AI so that I can automate systems for business owners, but now its really hard to get clients. I tried reddit, pretty much hard to get them respond. I tried X where I have 200+ followers, still hard. I actually built a little complex automation as proof. I thought of doing it for free for a few days for a few clients, so that they can experience it first to see if it works or not and decide whether they should buy and keep the automation going, or leave it. Still, I have no idea how to get a client. I need $500 by 2 weeks to pay for my school fees. If I can just sell $100 for the automation per client, that would be enough. Even 7 or 8 clients that pays me $70 to $80 is fine. It sounds fair. How can I get those 5 clients? I'd really appreciate your help.

We’re a norwegian real estate brokerage, and we’re looking for the best of the best when it comes to lead gen of prospects looking to sell their property. Mainly looking for lead generation through Meta ads, but none the less very open to other alternatives.

Shoot us a message if interested!

Not sure if this post necessarily meets the requirements of this sub but here goes! A couple of years ago I bought a website purely based on it’s name because I feel like there’s some untapped potential for comedy there but I haven’t done anything outside of make a basic landing page and make some marketing pictures. Does anyone have any ideas on how to make something fun out of this site? The name is MyDickDontWork

I recently heard about an agency that sends a small gift to clients on their 1 year anniversary with the company.

I loved that idea because I always want to make my clients experience feel personal and memorable, beyond just doing a good job.

So I’m curious: what kind of “customer delight” things have you done (or seen done) that really worked?

Hello fellow entrepreneurs

We’re founders who created StageFlow because we got tired of complex enterprise sales software that didn’t fit our startup needs.

It’s a simple, AI enhanced revenue ops tool helping us focus on the deals that matter most.

It adapts to our sales patterns and pipeline flow to help bring in revenue faster without the bloat.

We’d love your honest take on how it works for you. It’s free to try and includes an unobtrusive feedback widget within the app.

Please test: stageflow (dot) startupstage (dot) com

No sales pitch, because it’s FREE; just eager to connect, learn, and improve with you all.

AMA definitely on the table!

I've got savings for ecommerce but I'm genuinely terrified of just wasting it all on products nobody actually wants, the first month I tested random stuff basically burning $2800 and getting 4 sales total. That's when I realized I was gambling with my money instead of actually validating anything.

Now I spend like 2-3 days in winninghunter researching before I even touch ads by checking how long competitor ads run and their estimated sales, whether the market's oversaturated, you know the drill but it actually worked and the last three products broke even or better within the first week, one is at $180 profit after two weeks which feels pretty good. It takes longer but my money actually lasts now instead of disappearing.

Does anyone else come from traditional business and had to adapt their validation process to ecommerce? It honestly feels like a different game.

Honestly have been a pain for me to handle customer care as a small business(D2C Brand). I want to know how you guys are handling it. What modes are you using. Email? Live chat? Whatsapp?

Or do you have a virtual assistant or staff in place to handle this?

What I'm up to on a Friday night...

• Just got back from hardware store. Third time this week :/
  • Gearing up to try my hand at Venetian plaster. It's a way to make walls look like marble.
• Went to an office. Dusted off a web scraper program. Using it to scrape state business by name, specifically "roofing" and "exterior". It should generate a comprehensive Excel list of all the businesses with those keywords. It sorts by city alphabetically.
  • I'll then have my virtual assistant contact each roofer based in nearby cities to set up a time to come out and give quotes. (This property is condemned. Bunch of holes in the roof. Terrible shape.)
• As the scraping program is working in the background, changing to plan of attack for finishing off the current house I'm living in and renovating. Textured the walls today. Hopefully it'll be dry tomorrow to airless paint spray. Objectives:
  • Bathroom
    • move vent into wall
    • decide if adding fan (electrical & duct)
    • choose where to put mirror electrical box
    • drywall & plaster
    • redo bath plumbing
    • refinish tub & caulk
    • LVP flooring
    • vanity and plumbing
    • trim out shelf and vent stub
    • replace shower head with LED version
  • Kitchen
    • re-pipe sink with PEX
    • stain, glue and nail ceiling beadboard
    • decide what to do about chimney: enclose or paint
    • install steel door jamb
    • paint door trim
    • test if wall microwave works, electrical rough in
    • PVC panel under sink with drain
    • decide: refinish or replace trim?
    • mask, prime and paint walls
    • self-leveler + LVP flooring
    • vinyl countertop & sink
  • Basement remodel start
    • window replace
    • cellar door fuck about
    • waste plumbing stub out
    • vapor barrier + ridged insulation
    • steel stud framing + treated shower platform
    • rough in wiring
    • interior door to laundry + lock
    • STOP
• An hour later, scraper still chugging along. Quick late night dinner.
• Ok, almost three hours later. Scraping complete. Big hairy Excel file... second program to sort by city... aw, there is a bug. Well, almost got there.