I created the #bootstrap1000 challenge to stair-step my way to a profitable business.

Check the thread for progress updates 🧵
https://drew.tech/posts/bootstrap-1000

#bootstrap1000 update: 

Today I stood up a new repo using this stack. Really enjoining @planetscaledata for local dev. Branches are a primitive that make a ton of sense in SQL-land. 

https://twitter.com/DBredvick/status/1454467153546055695

#bootstrap1000 update 2/1000

✍️"Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That's why it's so hard." 

I wrote the ideas I have for fixing common issues sales engineering teams face. Sharing entirely in public in true #buildinpublic fashion.

https://drew.tech/posts/sales-engineering

#bootstrap1000 update 3/1000

I got @nextauthjs working with Zoom as an OAuth provider &amp; got a working API call to the Zoom API 🎉

Auth can be a huge pain. Next Auth fixes this 🤌 

#bootstrap1000 update 4/1000

I got refresh tokens for Zoom API calls working. I'm covered on auth for the next 15 years I think?

Going to leave that edge case for Future Drew, he'll figure that out if it ends up mattering 😄 

#bootstrap1000 update 5/1000

To build this app, I had to subscribe to a paid Zoom plan at $15/mo due to paid-only API calls💸

After that, I got the "past meeting participants" call working.

Up next, adding the "CRM screen". Thankfully @tailwindui has an amazing example. 

#bootstrap1000 update 6/1000

I got the TailwindUI CRM-view working in a Next.js app. There were a few issues I ran into, but shout out to the @tailwindui Discord &amp; search. Search is a superpower 🦸

Blog post inbound ✍️ 

#bootstrap1000 update 7/1000

I fought the Zoom API and won 💪

Fun fact: the Zoom API has different UUID values for meetings before they happen vs after they happen.

UUIDs are not one-to-one with meeting instances?

Either way, we're in business. Thank goodness for forums 🙏 

#bootstrap1000 update 8/1000

Pulled some of the relevant data out of the Zoom response API, bought a domain, and added the nice little favicon icons on the participant cards 💅

Tomorrow is going to be a cleanup day for the code, it's getting a little messy 😅 

#bootstrap1000 update 9/1000

I added a Twitter to the app in 15 minutes with @nextauthjs. Next up: API calls to:
1) search for users
2) automatically follow them
3) add them to a list  

After this step, I'll be able to get tons of value out of this tool at my day job 🚀 

#bootstrap1000 update 10/1000

1% of the way there 🎉

Today I automated the Twitter search process and started populating my Zoom participants with Twitter profile data automatically. It's really starting to come together. #buildinginpublic 

#bootstrap1000 update 11/1000

Added a screenshot of the email domain from participants in the meeting. Also grabbed the "theme-color" meta property to customize the header 💅

I applied to let external users install the Zoom app so I can start beta testing 🚀 

#bootstrap1000 update 12/1000

I created a (temporary) logo for this project. Why? The Zoom Marketplace requires one to submit the app.

Seriously, Canva is great. Made this logo while getting a pedicure with my wife. Now I've got a logo and soft feet.
https://beesocial.io

#bootstrap1000 update 13/1000

I got started with the security &amp; privacy audit for Zoom applications. 

I need to:
- complete a technical design doc
- document my dev lifecycle
- add static &amp; dynamic security tests
- add e2e / unit tests
- pen test

Quite the list 😅 

#bootstrap1000 update 14/1000

I did a lot of things:
✅ Added Cypress tests using Vercel preview deploys
✅ Added Jest test config
✅ Turned on Github static analysis features

Fun fact, running against Vercel preview deployments is almost twice as fast as against localhost 🏎💨 

#bootstrap1000 update 15/1000

Today I wrote a few Cypress tests, added a waiting list signup to the home page, and added E2E tests for the waitlist submission.

(btw, this is the first side project I've properly tested 😅)

Here's some video output from the Cypress tests: 

#bootstrap1000 update 16/1000

This is the most effort I've invested in dx on a side project before:

› Created dev database branch on @planetscaledata 
› Configured proper dev/prod vars in Vercel
› E2E tests for authentication🔒
› eslint, prettier, and Next Conformance 

#bootstrap1000 update 17/1000

I automated weekly audits with http://hostedscan.com and started fixing some of the issues.

Zoom requires OWASP Top 10 audits for apps in their app marketplace.

There are a lot of false positives, but it's better than nothing (3 found so far).

#bootstrap1000 update 18/1000

I had too much fun configuring Cypress w GitHub Actions and parallelizing them, cutting testing to 1/3rd.

I also fixed styling issues that were blocking iOS users from scrolling to the email input on the hp.

Up next: docs, docs, docs ✍️ 

#bootstrap1000 update 19/1000

Got a good start on docs while flying home for the holidays.

@balsamiq ftw with architecture diagrams 

#bootstrap1000 20/1000

Added a proper local dev database and started to address the first round of Zoom revisions. 

Refactored some code to make adding new pages easier. Settings page coming tomorrow.

#bootstrap1000 update 21/1000

Started the settings page, not quite finished. Thank goodness for @tailwindui 🙏

Spent some time migrating from Revue to ConvertKit as well https://twitter.com/DBredvick/status/1475597442305474565

#bootstrap1000 update 22/1000

Added a feature I hope is barely used 

#bootstrap1000 update 23/1000

Adding a 14-day trial is somewhat more complicated than I anticipated. Very thankful for great docs from Stripe 🙏 

#bootstrap1000 update 24/1000

Made a ton of progress today. Finished @BeeSocial_io MVP, just waiting on Zoom now. 

#bootstrap1000 update 25/1000

Finished @BeeSocial_io's home page v1 today 🚀 

#bootstrap1000 update 26/1000

And let there be docs (http://docs.beesocial.io)

http://nextra.vercel.app makes creating docs very simple. 

#bootstrap1000 update 27/1000

🤖 the future: low code + serverless

A working contact page glued together with:
• Zapier
• Google Sheets
• Next.js API route
• @tailwindui 

#bootstrap1000 update 28/1000

✅ Submitted

and now we wait 🙏 

#bootstrap1000 update 29/1000

Finally added a pricing page 

oh and my app is getting reviewed right now I think? https://twitter.com/DBredvick/status/1478868290218958858 

#bootstrap1000 update 30/1000

Got the feedback from Zoom, addressed the application changes. 

They caught some pretty tricky bugs.

Need to update docs tomorrow and we should be good to go 🎉

#bootstrap1000 update 31/1000

Lots of updates for this one:
- plan selector
- shipped a pricing page
- addressed some Twitter-related bugs
- addressed feedback from the Zoom team
- mocked up more realistic screenshots

Resubmitted the app, fingers crossed 🙏 

#bootstrap1000 update 32/1000

annndd I pushed a bug right before I submitted that last review 🤦‍♂️

Thankful for the Zoom reviewers for being thorough and bringing bad UX &amp; bugs to my attention.

Since the UI is solidifying, I need to spend some more time writing Cypress tests.

#bootstrap update 33/1000

bad news: you have to call me to cancel a subscription to my SaaS...

Just kidding, got Stripe cancelation to automatically happen when a user deletes their account. 

#bootstrap1000 update 34/1000

Gave users the ability to delete their account even if they haven't completed onboarding.

It's been very clear through this app review process that the Zoom team cares about user privacy &amp; security. As a Zoom user, I'm quite relieved 😌 

#bootstrap1000 update 35/1000

Addressed some more billing-related issues. Going to put some time into thinking about automated email flows later tonight.

I've got a solid core experience, now it's just about creating the marketing/sales funnel around the product.

#bootstrap1000 update 36/1000

I've addressed all Zoom feedback, just waiting on the security audit.

Going to get the @BeeSocial_io blog started today: https://twitter.com/DBredvick/status/1482436600994873349

#bootstrap1000 update 37/1000

Waiting on Zoom review, so gave myself permission to tinker. A question I've had forever:

How would I scale a cron job SaaS?

The answer:
- lambda rate(1 min) scheduler
- dynamo table
- SQS delay queues

Boom, somewhat infinite cron scheduler 🚀

#bootstrap1000 update 38/1000

Stress-tested a cron running every second for a while, I think we're in the clear.

I would love to provide a free tier cron service, margins are looking like it's possible. 

Using the Platforms starter on this new project  
https://twitter.com/vercel/status/1484237805941403655 

#bootstrap1000 update 39/1000 

There was quite a break in these posts. I'm still waiting for Zoom approval on @BeeSocial_io, but I think we're getting close🤞

TailwindUI came out with a calendar component, a sign to continue down the cron path? 👀https://twitter.com/DBredvick/status/1489803216317464584

#bootstrap1000 update 40/1000

Animated an SVG with some JS, messed around with absolute position CSS, and got v1 deployed. 

#bootstrap1000 update 41/1000

Added the domain to my Vercel deployment and we’re good to go. 

🔥 hot take: small Twitter OG images look better than the big ones 

https://scriptcron.com/

#bootstrap1000 update 42/1000

Added a work log, so I can expand last a single tweet of info: 

https://drew.tech/logs/2022-02-09-hello-world

#bootstrap1000 update 43/1000

Created a list of what's left to work on &amp; updated the in-app layout.

https://drew.tech/logs/2022-02-10-more-ui-work 

#bootstrap1000 update 44/1000

Made the TailwindUI layout reusable, claimed @ScriptCron Twitter handle, and started some API changes to expose CRUD task endpoints.
https://drew.tech/logs/2022-02-21-components-and-tailwind

#bootstrap1000 update 45,46,47,48/1000

While I haven't been tweeting as much, I've made a ton of progress. 

- finished API for my serverless/dynamodb scheduler
- updated the brand
- configured Graphql endpoints
- all "read" sections of UI are done

https://twitter.com/DBredvick/status/1505936382358966275

#bootstrap1000 update:

I've been rewriting @TrySlater  prior to doing a big launch

The changes:
› fully TypeScript
› E2E tested
› NextAuth instead of Passport.js
› trpc instead of GraphQL
› One pscale db (was a mix of pscale &amp; Dynamo)
› Shared Prisma via Turborepo

Bootstrap 1000 🧵

💰money tip💰
Dual funnel SaaS: a product that has two different sales funnels, usually split in to low-touch & high-touch.

The low-touch funnel will often help drive in customers to the high-touch plan.

💰money tip💰
Consumer surplus: the difference in value the customer gets compared to your price.

If I build a SaaS that saves you 10 hours a week and your time is worth $100/hr, I created $1000 of value.

It would be reasonable for me to charge 400/mo for this (10%).

A down market is a great opportunity to use your tech skills to help the biz more:

• get involved with sales cycles
• help marketing ship a landing page
• write a script that helps SDRs land more calls

Simple tasks can go a long way 💰

Q3 personal goal — avoid meta work. 

Examples of meta work:

• listening to podcasts about building a biz instead of building a biz
• creating your own SaaS starter instead of coding features
• reading books about customer interviews instead of talking to customers
 
Ship 🚢

How I learned to talk to customers:

Joined the GTM (go-to-market) team at Vercel.

More devs that want to start a company should join a GTM team. Why?

You’ll need to lead sales as the founder at your company. Why not get some experience?

There are plenty of technical roles in GTM teams where your skills are very useful:
• sales engineer 
• solutions architect 
• customer success engineer 
• a bunch I’m missing 

Do this at a startup, not a BigCo. 

The sales playbook will be less defined, giving you room to iterate and learn sales, not just repeat a process. 

Pick a company in a market where you love the customers — for me that was JS devs. 

I spend all day trying to help devs enjoy work more & ship faster. 

Bonus points if you later want to serve the same customer at your own company. 

Do you NEED to do this? No. You could start your company and jump into the deep end. 

Joining a GTM team will show you if you like the other parts of the biz before incorporating. 

Learn to talk to customers

The standard pace is for chumps. If you’re more driven than most people, you can do way more than anyone expects.

https://sive.rs/kimo

My browsing time on Twitter averages around 45 mins a day. 

Trying an experiment for one month:

- deleting the Twitter app
- sending tweets via @typefullyapp 
- replying to DMs via @TextsHQ 

I’ll batch respond to tweets once a day on my desktop.

It’s been great building a SaaS for the Zoom marketplace. 

There’s a lot built into the process. 

• a finish line
• third-party QA
• security audit
• documentation 
• marketing 

In a world with unlimited possibilities, constraints are freeing.

Finally listening to @robwalling’s advice to stair step up in difficulty.

Why marketplaces?

In 2022, expect more mid-to-senior dev content from me.

There are tons of courses, blog posts, and tweets with advice on building web apps. 

They mostly focus on beginners, which is great. The world needs more people who can code.

But the gap between junior and senior is very large.

And there’s not enough content focused on this gap.

We’ll call this “the mid-level dip”

Where are the 300 and 400 level classes?

People doing great work that inspires me:
• @mjwhansen & @leenyburger 
• @swyx 
• Vercel DevRel team
• @JoshWComeau 
• entire @tailwindlabs team

I hesitate to make 300+ level content because I have a hard time calling myself an “expert.”

But I’m encouraged by this tweet: 
https://twitter.com/jamesclear/status/1474049252800315396?s=21

There needs to be 10x more content like this. I’m going to help create it. 

Follow along for deep dives on:
• Next.js
• Serverless SaaS
• Web perf & Core Web Vitals