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Markus Kellermann
Markus Kellermann

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What I Learned Building Two AI Products as a Solo Founder

What I Learned Building Two AI Products as a Solo Founder

I studied economics, worked in VC and consulting, then realized I'd rather ship things than analyze them.

So I quit and started building.

Two AI products later — MyPicNow (AI headshots, 2,500 users) and Convo (real-time meeting AI, 500 users) — here's what actually worked

1. Ship embarrassingly fast

My first version of MyPicNow was ugly. Like, really ugly. But it worked, and that's all that mattered.

I shipped in 4 weeks. If I'd waited for "perfect," I'd still be tweaking buttons.

The feedback from real users taught me more in a week than months of planning ever could.

2. Talk to users constantly

Every feature in Convo exists because a user asked for it — or complained about something.

I don't build what I think is cool. I build what users tell me they need. Then I watch how they actually use it.

The gap between what people say and what they do is where the real insights live.

3. Organic beats paid every time

I've spent exactly $0 on ads for both products.

What worked instead:

  • SEO pages targeting high-search and low competition keywords
  • Build strong backlins
  • Building in public (like this post)

Paid acquisition is a treadmill. Organic compounds.

What's next

Still building. Still learning. Currently scaling Convo and writing about the journey.

If you're building something too, I'd love to hear what's working for you. Drop a comment or find me on Twitter/X or LinkedIn.

Based in Barcelona. Always happy to chat about product, growth, or building from zero.

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