It’s Fun This Way Too

A year ago I launched Tatsu on Product Hunt. That day was one of the most exciting days I have had in my software career. I spent most of the day watching friends, family, and people whom I didn’t know across the globe up-vote and comment on the hunt. I watched the Google Analytics statistics climb and smiled every time the new Stripe customer notifications come through.

The day ended and I spent the following month working on features that did not make into the launch. Hell, I couldn’t even charge people for the product but I had two weeks to get that implemented. I started thinking maybe there is something to this little application. I was really early in the bot revolution. Perhaps someone out in the Valley would give me enough money to work on my pet project full time.

I stopped working on Tatsu for a bit while I pursued funding. I researched things like TAM and ask around on who would fund this new company I created. Moving to the West Coast was not an option so I had to find local investors. I spent a whole month talking to investors and creating pitch decks. A whole month without writing code for Tatsu. I talked to more than ten investors who all said I was too early. I received soft no-s with an invite to come back and talk when the product was more mature. I applied to Y Combinator 3 times and I was rejected each time. I was disheartened but I realized something. I don’t need the money. I can concentrate on building the product and allow the investors to come to me.

About 4 weeks ago, I got the following Stripe notification on my phone.

Sure, $10k for 11 months of existence isn’t enough to support my family but when you think that I had $53 MRR for the first month, I have come a long way. The MRR keeps growing and that’s exciting. I built a product that people use, like, and pay me actual real dollar bills to use it.

So right now, Tatsu is a “life-style” business. That’s fine with me. It was not in TechCrunch because I never raised a seed round. I can’t buy fancy office equipment or hire growth hackers. I do not have rich friends in the Valley that I have to report to. It’s all ok.

I can however, take a few weeks off of my consulting business to work on Tatsu. I see a future very near where I can work on the product full time. I have the option to use that money to pay for my daughter’s first year of college if I choose to. You see, I don’t owe anyone anything. I built the product cause I could and created a future that has many possibilities with no strings attached. That is a magical power.