Launch of Day by Data
Celebration Time
This week, Day by Data finally went live on the App Store! It’s free—go check it out, and let me know what you think.
I’m incredibly proud of this milestone. Launching the app has been a lot of work—it’s out in the world, things are breaking (inevitably), and ideas for what’s to come next are flowing.
In this post, I want to touch on three things:
Building things, breaking things
Celebrating milestones
What’s ahead
Move Fast and Break Things
Within minutes of launch, a few bugs surfaced (of course):
Text formatting issues: Some pieces had overlapping text on certain devices, creating a sloppy appearance.
Authentication glitches: Even after users successfully logged in, some pieces incorrectly showed as disconnected.
Feedback from a buddy about some of the early bugs. Day one breaking ✅
I quickly pushed updates, though I’ve learned the hard way that pushing an app update takes longer than updating a website.
And yet, this is a good thing.
Before launch, I had a long list of features and improvements I wanted to tackle, thanks to phenomenal feedback from friends who tested the app.
But every new idea came with a tradeoff: perfect it, or get it out the door?
A mentor and friend, Adam, always preaches sharing your work publicly to get feedback and move it forward.
In this case, sharing my work meant getting it in front of users by releasing it on the App Store.
By releasing version 1.0.0, I’ve set the stage for what’s next. Now, I can focus on fixing bugs in 1.0.1 and eventually rolling out exciting new social features and widgets in 2.0.0. Launching something is never the finish line—it’s just another starting point.
Getting things out in the wild and watching them succeed (or fail) is the only way to make them grow.
The alternative? Never launch at all.
This Calls for a Celebration
This weekend wasn’t just about launching the app. I was also celebrating two big life events: my girlfriend’s 30th birthday and my good friends’ wedding.
These milestones reminded me of the importance of celebrating the journey. Milestones, whether personal or professional, are worth pausing for.
Take a wedding, for example. It’s a celebration of years of work and commitment, but it also marks the beginning of a new chapter in the same relationship. There’s plenty of work ahead for any married couple, but the celebration matters—it acknowledges the effort so far and ushers in what’s next.
The same logic applies to smaller wins too. No, an app release is not nearly as significant as a wedding or a milestone birthday, but it’s still worth acknowledging and celebrating.
Another mentor and friend, Nicolle, always emphasized that you should document these wins, no matter how big or small. It’s important to have them for the days of the journey that are more difficult.
Even something as small as a beer with some friends or a night off can mark the moment. The work continues, but the release is a win—and it deserves a little break and recognition in this week’s newsletter.
Breaks Over — Back to Work Buddy
Now that I’ve acknowledged the app is out the door and had a beer, there’s more work to do.
The first is getting it in front of potential users.
Beyond this initial post, here’s how I’m planning to share Day by Data with the world:
Targeting Different Reddit Communities
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Posting on Reddit is the best growth hack.
Why? Because you’re able to easily access and share your ideas with different groups in your target niche, and their feedback (and lack thereof) is a really powerful signal if your product is meeting your target demographics expectations and needs.
Reddit will give you brutally honest but infinitely valuable feedback.
The different data sources on Day by Data aren’t meant to resonate with everyone. Spotify visualizations may appeal to one audience, while Health data connects with a completely different group.
Therefore, I’ll leverage different sub-Reddits to gather feedback from potential users within specific niches. For example, r/TrueSpotify might help me reach thousands users who want an in-depth look at their genre data.
Or r/QuantifiedSelf might help me reach thousands of users who want to visualize their total steps on the year.
The best part? It’s free and easy to post.
A true growth hack. It’s worked before and hopefully it’ll work again.
Storytelling and Trendsetting on Instagram & TikTok
Short-form video content can go viral overnight, reaching entirely new audiences. Even if it feels unnatural, I’d be an idiot remiss not to experiment with it.
Past work from n-gen went viral after users who found me on Reddit sparked a trend where they shared their outputs in a slide-show style with a picture.
I want to use these platforms to spark similar trends moving forward.
For example, I can use the piece High Score, which highlights your top-ten days by step-count, to put together a short-reel of what I did each day. Each person’s story would be unique and telling about their year.
Additionally, this type of content gives me a place to provide an in-depth view building the app. Specifically, I want to dive into the curiosity that drives these different pieces and the process of actually building it.
This helps me demonstrate my personality and storytelling alongside the work itself.
Short-form video content is time intensive and has been really hard for me to do in the past, but I am slowly shaking the fear and capitalizing on the power this type of media has to offer.
Short-form Tweets and Notes
I’ve neglected low-hanging fruit like tweeting day-to-day progress, but even a single post can provide instant feedback or go viral.
Sharing your work-in-progress forces you to get your work out there in the world, no matter how good or bad you think it is. It allows others to see it, respond, and the work to move forward.
I’ve struggled to stay consistent with posting works-in-progress regularly, but I’m looking forward to trying again and again until it’s a habit.
Closing Thoughts — Download Now!
If you’ve tried the app, I’d love to hear your feedback—drop me a note! If not, download it today and let me know what you think. It’s free :P
I’m excited to hear your thoughts and see how Day by Data evolves with your input :D
congrats, pete!!!!