Recently I caught up with Constantin one of the founding members of Hacker Cabin to learn how he got his first sales and why he thinks taking action is more important than having the perfect plan.

What is the name of your project?

I'm working on Refined, a service where I take peoples ideas and turn them a fully-functional market-ready MVP in less than a month.

How did you come up with the idea for this project?

While working a 9-5, I was building projects on the side. While one of them was profitable, I noticed I always had an itch to build new projects from scratch.

This is where the idea for Refined was born. A web agency that helps other founders or starting entrepreneurs bring their product to life. \Picture is a metaphor of how I felt at my 9-5.*

What have you learned since starting the project that you didn’t know beforehand?

The deal cycle in an agency takes quite a long time. Taking discovery calls, defining the scope of each project, development, and delivery.

When starting out, the lead flow is not consistent as well. This means that it’s hard to have a predictable revenue each month.

What did you do to get your first sale?

I mentioned that I’m starting a web agency in my network, mostly on Discord. Turns out, a few people were interested in the service I’m offering.

What have been your most successful advertising channels?

Twitter, since I have the largest audience there.

What things did you try that didn’t really work out?

Cold outreach. I want to try it again in the future, but with a better strategy and once the brand is more established.

What resources/tools/websites have been most helpful to you?

Probably the groups I’m in. The advice and support of people from private groups is invaluable.

Advice for other solo founders who want to get started or are just starting out?

Don’t focus too much on the “perfect” plan. You can’t define one in the beginning, as you work with assumptions. Just launch and figure out the details as you go.

Don’t get too caught up in what others are doing. Stick to your goals and don’t get distracted by trends in your social media bubble.

Visit website: https://refined.so/
X: https://twitter.com/constantout

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