I almost didn't leave the house yesterday. I usually hate going out on Mondays, but I’m glad I pushed through the hesitation, it quickly had an unexpected turn of events.
I met with 3 friends and exchanged a lot of ideas, we spoke about valid topics around business and the future. I also asked for their insights and feedback on the work I'm doing at DepMi. Honestly, I'm marveled personally by the work I've done and I know there's still a lot to be done.
The Realization: Code is Easy, Culture is Hard
One specific thing that stood out is the difficulty in building in a market such as the one I've found myself. I began to realize a lot sooner that building a useful product is not just writing the code but also changing user culture;
by that I mean how they use and interact with apps and which they use, the User Experience from sign in to log off, how easily they can navigate on their own and the likelihood that they tell their friends.
I realized that some things I built with the intention of "influencing" user activity on my app turned out to be trivial compared to the things they actually need.
I would work so hard on some features and neglect others thinking that I know the heart of the user, all that changed during my 8 week journey to solving a problem with DepMi📍
Plans for the Future: Information as the New Leverage
My friends also didn't disappoint as they spoke to me about their plans for personal growth and development, the work they've done so far and their optimism for the opportunities our there.
One of the greatest things one can do is travelling, venturing into the unknown and figuring your way out. It's really inspiring to see how much they have done for themselves and I feel happy to have such friends around.
The "Normal" Conflict
One more thing that came up in our conversations is the fact that we're all young (basically 19 and 20 yo's) and we're thinking of how to improve our quality of life, the access to information and satisfying a thirst for knowledge and the unknown.
I really respect individuals that love to challenge themselves, and coming from a place where I'm usually doubted or discouraged, I always try my best to inspire the next person to pursue their dreams. That's what I would've wanted for myself in the beginning.
What is DepMi?
While I contemplate on whether to make this a long tweet or an article, let me tell you a little bit about what I built. DepMi is a social marketplace (fancy way of saying niched ecommerce) built to help buyers and sellers connect in a more mutual setting and transact.
Buyers can see what friends are buying or selling and also find stores and sellers in their region without having to physically visit them.
Sellers also get a website-like storefront where they showcase their products or services for anyone to buy from them. With DepMi you can be sure to land your next sale. Check it for yourself @ depmi.com
Yeah this is definitely going to be an article 😂
Back to my story, most of my friends are building business at this age and it makes me feel happy that I'm not alone in this. Sometimes I just wished I was "normal" hanging around, finding the next party.
But I Iove to do the "crazy unthinkable" things most times, that's why I decided to start a COMPANY AT 19! Sharing my experiences with my friends and hearing back from them as well really taught me a lot about what it takes to build something that lasts.
Funding Isn't a Determinant of Success
Something else stood out in our conversations, and that's the fact that staring with huge amounts in funding or capital isn't a determinant of success.
Dell (founded 1984) started with $1k in capital while Compaq (founded 1982) had $2.5M VC and today Dell is worth $135B while Compaq is worth $25B.
Google (founded 1998) started with $100k in finding while Yahoo started with $6.8M. Today Google is worth $4.12T (trillion with a T) while Yahoo is worth $5B (billion with a B).
If you have a vision, push with it minimize cost and focus on iteration and consumer feedback that's what will matter in the long run. Try to solve their problem and focus on improving yourself and not improving to match the competition.
You'll tend to act faster and do better if you were competing with yourself rather than with others. 1% better a day makes you 30X better after 365 days. There's a saying: "You can't beat someone who is having fun".
Final Thoughts: Get Offline
I'm trying my best to compress about 6 hours worth of conversations into a <10 minutes read so you get the meat of everything. I also realized that nothing beats a physical meetup with face to face conversations.
DMs can never replace that, and in a time where most people run their businesses online, it's difficult to entertain discussions like this while attending to orders and customer requests. I'd recommend to take at least 1 or 2 days off the week to met with friends and have these types of conversations. It helps tbh.
Don't forget to sign up on depmi.comand set up your store
I would love to keep typing till I can't move my fingers, but just like everything under the sun, this must also come to and end. If you read to this point, you've just had a free tour around my head, seeing through my lens, I hope I didn't disappoint. Check back next time to hear more of my discourses. Follow me so you see it first. Until next time, I keep building 💪
manuel
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