Introduction
I got over 200 users to sign up before launch.
I made my first sale within a day.
And within a few months, the entire project failed.
TRYEXCEPT, an educational platform combining a YouTube channel and a companion application specializing in Machine Learning and Interview Preparation, has officially come to an end.
While this marks the conclusion of my first side project, it also provides an opportunity for reflection. This article outlines the full journey, from its initial success to its eventual decline, and highlights key lessons learned along the way. The goal is to offer practical insights so that others pursuing side projects can avoid similar pitfalls and improve their chances of success.
To provide clarity, this post is divided into three sections:
- Early success
- The downturn
- Key lessons and analysis
Early Success
TRYEXCEPT began unintentionally. Initially, I created a series of simple experimental videos for a technology-focused channel. These videos were not particularly polished, comparable in concept to structured tutorials, but more rudimentary in execution.
Unexpectedly, one of these videos performed well. Soon after, another followed. Recognizing this early traction, I decided to build a supporting application to complement the content.
Development of the application coincided with continued video production. Early indicators were promising:
- Over 200 users signed up prior to launch
- The first sale occurred within a day of launch
- Approximately 20 subscribers joined within the first week
These early signals created a strong sense of validation. The combination of pre-launch demand, initial revenue, and early subscriber growth suggested that the project had real potential.
The Downturn
Despite the encouraging start, growth soon plateaued. Subscriber numbers stagnated and eventually declined. A similar trend emerged in video performance.
New content no longer gained traction. Videos that once showed promise began to underperform, receiving minimal reach and engagement. In many cases, they effectively went nowhere, failing to attract new viewers or convert existing viewers into users of the platform.
I made several attempts to counteract this decline:
- Increasing video output
- Experimenting with adjacent content formats, such as technology news
However, these efforts did not reverse the trend. It became increasingly clear that the project was losing momentum. I then committed to seeing out the first six months and made a final, concentrated push. This included publishing four videos and one short-form piece of content. Despite this effort, there was no meaningful improvement for the channel and zero customer acquisition.
Why It Failed
Ultimately, the project did not succeed due to several interconnected factors:
1. Limited Experience with Solo Side Projects
At the outset, I lacked experience in building and managing a complete solo project. This included limited understanding of key performance indicators such as:
- Marketing funnel effectiveness
- Customer churn and retention benchmarks
- Content reach and audience alignment
Without understanding what clearly defined success metrics look like, it was difficult to make informed decisions. Essentially if you don’t know where you’re going wrong, you cannot fix it.
2. Overreliance on YouTube as a Marketing Channel
YouTube served as the primary, and effectively the only, top-of-funnel strategy.
Relying on a single platform introduces significant risk. Platform algorithms are unpredictable, and even well-established creators can experience sudden declines in reach. As a result, YouTube alone is not a reliable or sustainable marketing foundation.
A diversified approach to audience acquisition is essential. Much bigger channels have died due to algorithm changes than mine, if it can hit them, it can hit anyone.
3. Inability to Scale Operations
Many aspects of the project required manual effort, which limited scalability.
In hindsight, more processes should have been automated, such as:
- Social media distribution
- Content promotion workflows
- Basic customer support
However, certain core tasks could not be automated without compromising quality. Writing and validating educational content required direct involvement to ensure accuracy and credibility. In short there was a lot which could have been automated, which I didn’t and I should have. However at the same time a lot of the work involved in a project like this is required to be human validated, otherwise why would users come to such a platform if it’s just written by ChatGPT?
4. Failure to Apply Lean Startup Principles
One of the most critical oversights was the lack of direct engagement with users.
A core principle of the Lean Startup methodology is continuous feedback from the target audience. However, I did not actively seek this feedback. As a result:
Content was not effectively validated
Product decisions were misaligned with user expectations
Without listening to users, it becomes difficult to deliver what they actually want. Even worse, you could fall into the trap of building something users simply do not want. I had built a whole, very technologically advanced feature, which on average was used twice by each user.
5. Mismatch Between Required and Available Skills
The most significant issue was a mismatch between the skills required by the project and those I could provide.
A project of this nature requires a combination of:
Engineering
- Marketing and sales
- Content creation and animation
- Teaching and communication
While I had a strong foundation in engineering, the other skills were developed simultaneously during the project. This led to inefficiencies and limited the overall quality of execution. If I were to start again, I would be in a much stronger position to execute on these areas.
A more mature view of this projects would identify that it has a much higher amount of work involved than other projects. Most SaaS products only need Engineering, Marketing and Sales skills. Content creation and Animation alongside Teaching and Communication greatly increase the number skills needed for the project. With a team of 1 person, this pulled me in too many directions to the point I couldn’t execute on any of it properly.
What Comes Next
Although this project has come to an end, it has shaped my direction moving forward.
I will now focus on documenting the process of building side projects more transparently. This includes sharing both successes and failures, with the aim of helping others navigate similar challenges more effectively.
The story of this project is not simply one of failure, but of learning.
Building a side project, particularly as a solo creator, requires more than technical ability. It demands an understanding of marketing, user behavior, scalability, and continuous feedback.
While this project did not achieve long-term success, it provided valuable insights that will shape future work. For anyone embarking on a similar journey, these lessons may help you make more informed decisions and build more resilient projects.
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