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Build & Launch
Build & Launch

Build & Launch

A weekly podcast focused on shipping small projects. Every week I'll take you on an adventure of launching a new project. You'll hear the launch stats, hurdles I had to overcome, and how you can learn from my mistakes.

Available Episodes 10

Show notes

Update from 2021: what am I working on these days?

A lot has happened since I recorded these episodes: I launched a podcast hosting company, Transistor.fm, with my friend Jon Buda! If you want to hear what I'm up to now go to transistor.fm/justin. 

I'm planning something brand new for 2016. If it's going to launch, I'm going to need your help. Go here, put your email in the sign-up form, and I'll be in touch.


Show notes

Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm.

Update from 2021: A lot has happened since I recorded these episodes: I launched a podcast hosting company, Transistor.fm, with my friend Jon Buda! If you want to hear what I'm up to now go to transistor.fm/justin. 

Learn how the Marketing for Developers launch went, and his initial sales numbers. You'll also hear the personal audio journals he recorded during the launch process.


On sharing revenue numbers

On the other hand, sharing numbers can sometimes feel a little… icky. It can feel like you’re shoving your success in other people’s faces.And maybe I need to work on my own insecurities, but I know that no matter how successful I am, all it takes is reading another one of these stupid “How I Made $17,000 in 24 Hours” posts to feel like I’m a miserable failure. After all, I didn’t make $17,000 in the last 24 hours. So I must be doing something very wrong!

From Sacha Greif's Discover Meteor case study.


Show notes

Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm

Update from 2021: A lot has happened since I recorded these episodes. I'm glad you're listening to them, but if you want to hear what I'm up to now go to transistor.fm/justin. 

Referencing the "cult of personality:"

People are buying products thinking that if they can get someone's secret sauce, they can re-create that person's success.

Adam Clark said:

In our culture, the independent entrepreneur is like the Marlboro Man. Everyone wants to be that guy.

Show notes

Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm.

Update from 2021: A lot has happened since I recorded these episodes: I launched a podcast hosting company, Transistor.fm, with my friend Jon Buda! If you want to hear what I'm up to now go to transistor.fm/justin. 

What is product validation? If you're building a product, you want validation. You want to know your product has value - that you're on the right track. Even deeper, you want to be validated. You want to feel like you're not wasting your time. You want to feel like your work is valuable.

"YC is like the ultimate validation that you're on to something." - Lauren Kay, Dating Ring

If you're building a business, there's only one way to validate that your product idea is good: are people paying money for it?

The only two people who can give you real feedback about your product are people who just purchased it and people who just canceled. - Jason Fried (as told to Dan Shipper)

Also, Jason Cohen says:

First, find ten people who say they’ll buy.

Current project:

I'm working on a book: Marketing for Developers


Show notes

Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm.

Update from 2021: A lot has happened since I recorded these episodes: I launched a podcast hosting company, Transistor.fm, with my friend Jon Buda! If you want to hear what I'm up to now go to transistor.fm/justin. 

Justin also gives sneak peek of his new book: Marketing for Developers.

The mantra of this show has always been: "Start small and start now."

Two common mistakes product people make

  1. We try to build ideas that are too big
  2. We don't start building right away
All the stuff that leads up to getting started doesn't count. The only thing that matters is the work.

Writing Tip


We often make our writing too flowery and formal. Here's a way to make your writing sound more "human:" read it out loud. When you read your writing out loud, you'll know right away when something doesn't feel right.


Show notes

Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm.

Update from 2021: A lot has happened since I recorded these episodes: I launched a podcast hosting company, Transistor.fm, with my friend Jon Buda! If you want to hear what I'm up to now go to transistor.fm/justin. 

How do you know what people want? After spending 24 hours in the mini-van with 4 kids, Justin is back from the Easter long-weekend and ready to update us on his progress on this week's project: "Marketing for Developers."


Project update

  • You'd think that I would learn my lesson: in order to do these week-long sprints, plus record and edit this podcast, plus do my day job, I really can't have anything else on my plate. But, like an idiot, I scheduled this Season of the podcast while I was going to be away in Alberta on a 4 day road-trip.
  • Not sure if I'm going to make the Thursday deadline, but I'm still hoping to make a serious dent in writing this book: Marketing for Developers.

Three ways to validate your product idea


1. Email 15 people in your niche and ask them if they'd pay for your product.

This is the approach that Rob Walling used when he validated his idea for Drip:

I emailed 17 SaaS owners that I know, and I said "I'm thinking about building this product: would you use this? Would you pay me for this?" And out of those 17, I got 11 people who said yes.

2. Use a landing page with an email sign-up form

People giving you their email address is one proxy for gauging interest. This is what Nathan Barry did with his first book:

There's intention there. When you say "Sign-up to hear more about this book." The assumption there is that you're signing up because you want to buy it.

3. Do a webinar

A third way to validate your idea comes from Brennan Dunn. He thinks that doing a live webinar is a great first step. It's way easier to do a webinar (and see if anyone's interested) than write a book, or create software.


Show notes

Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm.

Update from 2021: A lot has happened since I recorded these episodes: I launched a podcast hosting company, Transistor.fm, with my friend Jon Buda! If you want to hear what I'm up to now go to transistor.fm/justin. 

The theme for this episode is "facing your fears." Was Justin able to re-launch Product People Club? He talks to more of his existing customers to discover what jobs they're hiring the Club for.

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

This week's project: Product People Club. You can see it it here: megamaker.co


Next week's project: Marketing for Developers


I started writing this book in January, 2014, but never finished it. The idea had lots of traction (over 2,200 people signed up for the waiting list). I still gets messages every week from people who want the book.

It's one of those projects that continually hangs over my head. This week, I'm going to finish it.


Show notes

Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm.

Update from 2021: A lot has happened since I recorded these episodes: I launched a podcast hosting company, Transistor.fm, with my friend Jon Buda! If you want to hear what I'm up to now go to transistor.fm/justin. 

This is the mid-week check-up: I had to do some hard stuff and actually call my customers, and hear what they thought of my product.


This week's project: Product People Club


Product People Club is a membership site for solopreneurs: people making their own stuff, by themselves.

Here’s the story: 2 years ago, I was fed up. I wanted to launch and validate something really quickly. So I put up a landing page  for a chat room for entrepreneurs. I capped it at 10 members, and decided I’d charge $10 a month.

When I posted about it in Hacker News, it sold out in 30 minutes. The next thing I knew I had a waiting list of 200-300 people wanting to get in.


By the 5th month, I was making about $1,100 a month with the community.


Even better, early members started launching things and becoming successful:

But I always felt like ProductPeople.club wasn’t a “big enough” idea. But, I was talking with Adam Clark about this today. And I realized, that a big reason I haven't promoted it more, is that I'm scared.


So, I decided to call one of my customers, Josh Doody, and ask him why he joined. He gave me a complete timeline of when he joined, and what his initial impression was.


My job this week is to talk to as many customers as I can, and figure out what job they're hiring Product People Club to do.


Show notes

Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm.

Update from 2021: A lot has happened since I recorded these episodes: I launched a podcast hosting company, Transistor.fm, with my friend Jon Buda! If you want to hear what I'm up to now go to transistor.fm/justin. 

It's not about you achieving the American Dream. It's about you getting 1% better ever day.

"Every time you put yourself on the line, you are creating your own luck, and increasing your chances of having some success"

What are you going to do this week to improve your situation?

The only way you get better, is by getting started.

Quote from This American Life, Three Miles

But nothing has happened for her for 10 years. I think it's some special brand of American pathological optimism, that so many of us believe the story of Melanie has to turn out to be happy, and that if it doesn't, something unusual has happened, and not just this is what happens all the time, that the supermarket might be full of Melanies.

Quote from James Altucher on the Tim Ferris podcast:

“I try to get this mindset I want to improve one percent a week. It seems like a small amount but if you do that, it results in enormous improvements over the course of the year."

This week's project: Product People Club


This week's project is an improvement on something I already have. The most successful thing I've ever launched is something called Product People Club: megamaker.co

I want to make it better. This week I'll be calling existing customers, asking them why they signed up, and also figuring out how I can improve it. By the end of the week, I'll re-launch it so new members can sign-up.


Show notes

Podcast hosting provided by Transistor.fm.

Update from 2021: A lot has happened since I recorded these episodes: I launched a podcast hosting company, Transistor.fm, with my friend Jon Buda! If you want to hear what I'm up to now go to transistor.fm/justin.