Episode 5 | Deutsch Mentor 🤖 Learn German with AI
Building sprint 🔨 — New Social Proof, Expanded Vocabulary Section, Codebase Generalization, and New Pricing Page
Welcome back to the ongoing journey of Deutsch Mentor, my first project as an indie maker!
The goal is clear: build a portfolio of SaaS products that can generate €10,000 in monthly recurring revenue.
In this episode 5 update, we’ll analyze the latest building sprint.
Interested in the other episodes? You can find them here:
episode 1, episode 2, episode 3, episode 4
New social proof
I started this building sprint by adding a “social proof” section.
Now, visiting deutsch-mentor.com, you’ll see pictures of some users (I got their okay to use these pics😊).
You’ll also see how many people are using the platform, and I’ll update this number daily.
With this new section, I aim to get more people to sign up. I believe seeing others enjoy the platform will encourage more to join.
Expanded Vocabulary Section
Ever heard of the Pareto Principle?
It’s also known as the 80/20 rule and it proposes that 80% of outcomes result from just 20% of the causes.
This concept applies well to language learning too.
By concentrating on the 20% of vocabulary that you’re most likely to use (80% of the time) in daily conversations, you can make significant progress.
With this in mind, I’ve included over 200 words in the vocabulary section, spread across 9 categories.
These words are among the most frequently used in German.
By learning them, users will be equipped to handle basic conversations. This approach allows learners to actively expand their vocabulary and practice with flashcards, focusing on practical language use.
New Pricing Page
I updated the pricing page.
Now, it clearly outlines the benefits of the premium version, compares these benefits to the free version, and presents a special offer for the first 20 new customers.
A live counter shows how many spots are left, marked by a bouncing green dot. This adds a sense of urgency and encourages quick action to take advantage of the offer.
Welcome Francesco :)
I am happy to announce that my friend Francesco, a skilled full-stack developer, has joined the project.
Francesco will mainly help me in the backend part, where he is an expert and I don’t have much experience.
As I announced in my very first article, my indie maker journey will be a combination of individual projects and collaborative start-ups.
For some projects, I will be one of multiple founders, working with a small team of two or three people.
I am happy that Fra is now on board so that we can “ship” more consistently and quickly.
Codebase Generalization
With Franci on board, one of the first things we worked on was the generalization of the codebase. In fact, we are planning to create multiple web applications for other languages as well.
The cool thing would be to be able to use a single generalized codebase, and with a simple configuration file, change the type of “language mentor.”
User Growth
As always, at the end of the article, I want to keep you updated about the number of users, although already from the first section of this new post, you can well guess the number 😂
The milestone of more than 100 users has been reached 🥳 and we happily made it to 180 users!
Next goal: 500 users.
Conclusion
Everything is progressing a little slower than I had hoped, but at least I am seeing progress.
Most importantly, I am learning a lot, and I hope that by sharing my experience I can inspire you and that you too can learn something new!
Thanks for the support and stay tuned for more updates following me and The Indie Maker publication.
If you’re on the path to learning German, or know someone who is, explore Deutsch Mentor and be a part of our expanding community.
Until next time! 🚀
