Reading List

The most recent articles from a list of feeds I subscribe to.

TinyPilot: Month 3

Highlights

  • TinyPilot generated $3,800 in revenue with zero marketing.
  • I went from zero to a complete, custom manufactured product in 26 days.
  • I’m still struggling to manage my inventory.

Goal grades

At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did against those goals:

Sell 60 TinyPilot kits and power connectors

  • Result: Sold 29 kits and power connectors.
  • Grade: C+

The limiting factor here was manufacturing the power connectors. I wasn’t able to produce enough to keep up with demand. I sold everything I manufactured, but I couldn’t make them quickly enough.

TinyPilot: Month 2

Highlights

  • I paused TinyPilot sales to address a design problem.
  • I’m manufacturing a custom USB power connector for TinyPilot.
  • Revenue across all my projects was among my strongest ever, at $3.6k total.

Goal grades

At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did against those goals:

Sell 30 TinyPilot kits

  • Result: Sold 16 TinyPilot kits
  • Grade: C

I was on track to beat my goal, but then a wrench got caught in the gears, and I had to pause sales.

Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares

This book was thoroughly underwhelming. Dozens of people have recommended it to me in the past couple of years, and I don’t understand the hype. It has some insightful ideas, but they’re buried under questionable advice and poor writing.

How I Collected a Debt from an Unscrupulous Merchant

A few years ago, I learned a handy technique for resolving disputes with uncooperative businesses. It’s simple to understand and easy to implement. You don’t need lawyers or a prominent social media presence. All it requires is for you to behave like an organized professional. This technique recently resolved a problem so effectively that I had to share the story.

The conversation began with a merchant telling me in no uncertain terms that they refused to pay the money they owed me:

TinyPilot: Month 1

Highlights

  • This is my highest revenue month ever, at $9.8k across all of my projects.
  • Tiny Pilot had the biggest first month of anything I’ve ever launched, at 52 sales and $8.7k in revenue.
  • The sudden surge in customers also made it one of my highest-stress months since going full-time to work for myself.

Goal grades

At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did against those goals: