I want to reflect a little bit on the first few years of n-gen, specifically to document a few spots where things went wrong and what I learned.
I want to share this reflection publicly for three reasons —
This might help someone — even one person — on their entrepreneurial journey
Sharing this publicly will help me hold myself accountable, and maybe even a few others may hold me accountable too
It’s cathartic — hoping to exorcise a few demons here 😅
The list is meant to be short compared to how long and detailed it could be. Instead of harping on specific decisions, I want to highlight general themes and some learnings to take moving forward.
Now, without further ado.
Mistake #1: Not Sharing My Work and Journey Enough
This is the biggest mistake I’ve made since launching n-gen almost two years ago.
At the beginning, I asked one of my best friends, Gabe, how to grow an audience and a business online. He said:
Post every day, ideally multiple times per day while your account is small.
Interact with other accounts in the same space (indiehackers, entrepreneurship, fitness) every day; comment on their posts 5-10x per day, thoughtful stuff
Optimize your profile to show people exactly why they should follow you; tell them what you talk about, what you do, etc.
Stay consistent; a day or few days off can hurt, while consistent posting can give you hockey stick growth
That’s the only way you’ll really grow. Find the people interested in what you’re talking about and engage with them. Otherwise, you’re talking into the void.
Since then, I’ve shared a whopping:
3 LinkedIn posts
13 Instagram posts
455 tweets (mostly replies to people’s outputs)
6 TikToks
That is atrocious.
At the time of writing, n-gen has had 9,411,237 users.
I’ve done it all with $0 spent on marketing.
I’ve even had fun.
And yet, I always find a reason not to share my work or talk about the highs and lows of the ride.
Hell, I planned on waiting to write this piece until I hit 10,000,000 users!
The default excuses are always that:
I should continue to make improvements before sharing
No one cares
I’ll sound like an asshole if I keep posting
Not once in the last two years has someone said that I’m talking about n-gen too much. Sure, some people may be biting their tongue, but entrepreneurs are supposed to be insufferable self-promoters — it’s how you get the word out and grow your business.
Instead, it’s always exactly the opposite. The reactions to the things I do share often reconnect me with old friends and colleagues or to new opportunities. Everyone encourages me to share more.
Learning #1 — Talk that talk. No one else is going to do it for you.
Mistake #2 — Not Setting Deadlines
A few months back, I wrote about how I often work without hard deadlines, aiming for perfection rather than completion.
Without clear deadlines, projects linger indefinitely. Instead of sharing my work, I spend time thinking about all the things I can improve before I share it, and eventually put it off again and again.
Without setting deadlines, I:
Delay getting feedback on my work, positive or negative
Hinder traction and momentum
Procrastinate on delivering anything of value to my business
Of the pieces I've released, I'd deem 10 or 11 of the 20 successful. The logical next step with a >50% success rate would be to share more work, right?
I need to set concrete deadlines for my work to ensure it gets done and shared. This applies to everything—art, an Instagram Reel, a LinkedIn post, a cold email, etc.
Learning #2 — Set clear deadlines and stick to them. Progress beats perfection every time.
Mistake #3 — Treading Water
When I started n-gen, the plan was:
Build a product for people to turn their data into art
Onboard a ton of users
Raise some money
Build a physical data art product
Integrate the art product with different companies’ data
From what I understood about most venture-backed consumer start-ups, once you get users and funding, you can punt a lot of decisions about your business model down the line.
So I got to step 3 pretty quickly, and posted the first of my three n-gen related LinkedIn updates.
I got a great response and, from there, met with about 20 different VC firms in the next month.
Their feedback fell into three different categories of responses:
Pivot the Business Model: Interesting product, but can you pivot to something like selling your users' data? That’s a money maker
Not Venture Scalable: Good idea, but it's not going to scale well. Consider building a sustainable small business around your existing product
Dismissive: Data and art? You're nuts. Good luck
I decided to pivot away from raising money and focus on building a sustainable business (option #2).
Without funding, I needed to monetize ASAP. So I started by running ads, which made for great income in the short-term with high traffic, but came at the expense of the user experience.
After a few months, I thought a better approach would be to work directly with companies to turn their data into art. So, I rolled back the ads, repositioned n-gen as a data art studio, and reached out to companies while continuing to create art for the site’s users.
I talked over the plan with another one of my best friends, Niel. His experience as a founder emboldened him to drill down and ask me the tough questions about my plan, the end goal, and what I’d do every single day to reach that goal.
I struggled to answer some of his questions, and in that conversation I realized I didn’t want to commit to doing a ton of business development at the expense of building the n-gen product.
My plan was more about surviving than achieving any one objective. The mistake wasn't trying new things to stay afloat but failing to align my short-term actions with my long-term personal and business growth goals.
Learning #3 — Define a clear goal and execute a plan to achieve it. That goal should be more than just survival.
So…what's next?
The path ahead is a bit clearer now:
Taking on New Projects — I'll be collaborating with companies interested in transforming their data into captivating art. This aligns with my passion and leverages the connections I've made. Luckily, I’ve already had the opportunity to start working with a few awesome companies.
Developing the Next Iteration of n-gen — I'm developing the next iteration of n-gen, focusing on a new way to engage with your data. This time, I’m planning to learn from industry experts and integrate monetization strategies early on to ensure sustainability without compromising user experience.
Applying what I've learned, I'm setting concrete deadlines and will share updates regularly. It might not be perfect, but progress beats perfection every damn time.
If you've made it this far, thank you. Your support means a lot. Feel free to reach out, whether it's to share your own experiences, hold me accountable, or ask questions—I'm all ears :P
i really liked this one