This section is for products that were shut down, launches that went nowhere, partnerships that ended and money that was lost. Posting here takes some nerve, and it is among the most useful things you can give other founders.
A structure that works:
- What it was. The product, the customer, the price.
- The timeline. When you started, launched and stopped.
- The numbers. Time spent, money spent, revenue, users. Rough figures are fine.
- What you believed at the start that turned out to be wrong.
- The moment you knew, and how long it took to act on it.
- What you would do differently, in concrete terms.
- What you kept. Code, audience, skills, a customer list.
Guidelines:
- Write about decisions. "The market was not ready" teaches nobody anything. "I built for four months before showing it to a single buyer" does.
- Do not blame customers or co-founders by name. Describe what happened and your own part in it.
- Replies should be kind and curious. Ask questions. Nobody here needs to be told what they should have done.
You can post about something years old. Distance usually makes the lesson clearer.