One-Line Summary
A1 German level complete, Beta 1.1 launch of TheStoryOf, some customer development on Clubflow.
Highlights
- I asked for some feedback from strangers on TheStoryOf
- I completed the second basic German language course A1.2 over 4 weeks and moved onto the A2 level.
- Had 3 more interested clubs who were looking to use Clubflow
Goal Grades
At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did against those goals:
Get TheStoryOf beta launched
- Result: Got the project fleshed out, added several new features, updated the landing page etc. Asked for feedback on IndieHackers also.
- The features that I wanted to be done in the last month’s review were:
- book viewing & buying – works but not launched
- hooking into an external API provider who can then print the books on demand – got this working but the book provider I went with wanted monthly minimums of 100 orders before allowing me to use their API integration.
- subscribing to a yearly reminder email – DONE
- a proper home page to describe the product – DONE
- Grade: B
Still a few more features to be completed next month – notably:
- Comments from friends & family on images & story sections.
- Make the book viewer as close to perfect as possible so that people are incentivized to purchase.
- More privacy options.
Learn German
- Result: Completed the next A1.2 level
- Grade: A
The A1.2 level got a good bit harder. I started to struggle a bit this month and could see others in my class struggling with the pace and amount of information we were required to take in also. I ended up hiring a tutor to give me one-on-one lessons, mostly to improve my speaking skills which really helped. Tried out 4 different tutors and narrowed it down to one guy who really knows his stuff. Also found a great tool called Anki to help with learning vocab which I now do also for a few minutes every day. I’ve now completed 8/23 weeks I’d originally planned to learn for.
Extra – Onboard more clubs onto ClubFlow
- Result: Several clubs got in touch but did not complete the onboarding, mostly due to corona – I didn’t follow up to ensure it was completed.
- Grade: C
- Thoughts: I need to follow up with these clubs and get them using the platform and help them get value from the platform. Rolled out some more payment related features to help these new clubs get more value out of the product.
Wrap up
What got done?
- Got TheStoryOf beta launched
- Learned some more German
Lessons learned
- Learning a new language is challenging – 100% harder than I expected
- Getting specialized help pays for itself when you see the improvements you can make
Goals for next month
- Get TheStoryOf next features launched & respond to the user feedback
- Complete the A2.1 German course
- Onboard 3 more clubs