One stage at a time, from idea to first revenue.
22 in-depth guides so far, with more on the way. Each one uses real 2026 prices and worked numbers.
Find the problemTen calls before ten lines of code
How to find out whether a problem is worth building for: who to call, what to send them, how to run a fifteen-minute call, the one question that matters, and how to tell real pain from polite interest.
Find the problemA one-page test that costs $0
Before you build, put a single page in front of the people you interviewed and their peers. Write it in their words, build it for free, share it in two places, and read the numbers honestly.
Get paidPricing your first product
A practical way to land on a first price: start from what customers already pay, check your floor against real costs, choose a simple plan shape, and set it up so you can change it later without drama.
BuildFree plans, mapped
Hosting, database, email, logins and payments: the free limits that matter once real customers arrive, how each one stops you, and what the first paid step costs.
BuildNetlify vs Vercel vs Cloudflare Pages
Three popular places to host a small web product, compared on what matters once you charge money: terms, how usage is counted, what happens at the limit, team pricing and the monthly bill.
BuildDomains, DNS and HTTPS
Apex or www, which records to add, why email keeps working, how long changes take, and how to get free HTTPS. Everything between buying a domain and seeing your product on it.
BuildFunctions or a server?
Most small products never need a server they manage. This guide covers what serverless functions handle well, where their limits bite, how background and scheduled jobs fit in, and the signs you've outgrown them.
BuildForms without a backend
The forms every small product needs before it has a server: a waitlist, a contact form, a feedback box. How to collect them on a static site, handle spam, get notified and keep the data useful.
BuildBuilding with an AI assistant safely
AI assistants can write most of a small product's first draft. This guide covers what you still need to understand yourself, how to review what they write, and the habits that keep secrets, customer data and bills safe.
LaunchFree tiers that break on launch day
A normal day and a launch day are different products. How to count what your launch actually sends, deploys and stores, which limit breaks first, and when to upgrade so customers never notice.
LaunchLaunch week, day by day
From seven days out to two days after: what to check, what to upgrade, what to write and who to tell, so launch day is about customers instead of firefighting. With a sample launch email and the numbers to watch.
LaunchPreviews, branches and rollbacks
How to stop shipping fixes straight to paying customers: preview links for every change, a simple branch habit, a rollback you've practised, and how this interacts with usage-based hosting.
LaunchWhy your emails land in spam
Sending from your own domain, the three DNS records that prove an email is really yours, the rules Gmail and Yahoo now enforce, and how to check your setup in five minutes.
LaunchMonitoring, alerts and backups
How to find out something broke before your customers tell you, what to back up and how to know the backup works, and the small weekly routine that keeps a solo product healthy.
Get paidWhat card fees really cost a $20 subscription
The fixed part, the percentage, the subscription fee, refunds and disputes, and why payment costs overtake hosting so quickly. Worked out at $10, $20 and $50.
Get paidFree trial, freemium or neither
Card-upfront trials, no-card trials, free plans and paid pilots, compared on what they cost you, who they attract and how they end. With a way to pick one for your first launch.
Get paidSelling abroad: who handles the tax?
Sales tax, VAT and digital services explained, the three ways small products handle them, what each costs on a $20 subscription, and the records to keep from your first sale.
GrowMonthly vs yearly pricing
What a yearly plan does to your cash, your card fees and your cancellations, with the math worked out for a $20 product, the break-even month, refund policies and how to show it on your pricing page.
GrowEarly cancellations
The first three months decide whether a customer stays. The common reasons small products lose people early, how to find out which one is yours, and the fixes that cost an evening rather than a rebuild.
GrowCosts at 0, 100 and 1,000 customers
A line-by-line monthly bill for a $20 subscription product at three stages, using published 2026 prices. Which costs jump in steps, which grow with every customer, and what changes if your price or product is different.
GrowFour products, four different bills
A reminder tool, a photo gallery, a booking page and an internal dashboard all look similar on day one. At 200 customers, their biggest costs are completely different, and so is the right way to price them.
ReferenceGlossary: 42 terms
MRR, churn, egress, cold starts, DKIM, merchant of record and more. The words you'll meet while building and selling a small product, each explained with an example and a link to where it matters.