…but we’re still incredibly excited and optimistic about the future of crypto.
From back-of-the-napkin drawings in 2016, to production mobile apps in 2017, to seed investments in 2018, to pivoting our way through 2019… building and growing this wonderful community has been one hell of a ride.
I'm sure you can all relate!
In 2017, Cheddur was launched in response to countless cries for help from cryptocurrency novices all around the world who simply needed a better way to get started.
Crypto had broken into the mainstream consciousness for the very first time, and as an industry, it felt like we were finally on the map. And in hindsight, we were… but for all of the wrong reasons.
People were taking out loans to buy bitcoin, dozens of new coins were launching every single day, scammers were everywhere, and pretty much nobody knew what they were doing. It was madness.
And I am proud to say that for tens of thousands of people, Cheddur filled the void in their lives as their very own personal guide to crypto - the expert they could rely on to not only get started with crypto, but to guide them every step of the way on their crypto journey.
Screenshots from the Cheddur iOS app:
Our rapid growth in 2017 and early 2018 landed us a spot in the Desai Startup Accelerator's S2018 cohort, where we worked tirelessly with fellow tech entrepreneurs and business professionals to turn our simple app into a sustainable business (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7).
September 12, 2018—Pitching Cheddur at Demo Day:
Through a series of pivots, what had started as "your personal guide to digital currency" eventually became "the social network of money". But like many other crypto companies over the past 2 years, we were ultimately defeated by our inability to find product/market fit—our inability to grow.
Cheddur will be shutting down on January 31, 2020.
We've learned so much over the past 4 years while building Cheddur, so this section is by no means exhaustive. These are just some of the battle scars we have acquired, learned from, and will be carrying forward with us to our future endeavor(s):
Don't assume that just because you like your idea, that other people will too. Talk to potential customers before writing a single line of code. Set up landing pages to gauge interest. Do market research.
Validate your idea before you decide to fully commit to it and hunker down for the long haul.
I can't stress this enough. You may have come up with a novel solution, but is it solving a true "hair on fire" problem that has a big enough addressable market for you to grow?
Think twice about this, before you potentially spend your time and talent on the wrong idea.
Startups are incredibly hard. You'll only make it 5 times harder (and more stressful, less likely to succeed) if you try to do it alone. Find a co-founder. I wish I had brought Jozsef on sooner.
Is your solution best delivered through a mobile app? A website? A podcast? A blog? Modifying human behavior is really hard. It's much easier to identify where your customers are already living online, and to meet them there.
The way your competitors look today is not the way they will look tomorrow. Just as you will grow, so will they. Anticipate radical changes.
When we started working Cheddur in 2016, Coinbase was just another exchange where you could buy and sell crypto. But today, it's now a full-blown social/financial network with much of the same features and functionality that had originally separated Cheddur from the pack.
Perfection is a myth, especially when it comes to software. Don't be afraid to release your product or feature because you're afraid that it sucks. Because you're right… it probably does suck… but so does the version that's going to take 4 more weeks to be "ready".
Just ship it and get feedback, because chances are, you're building the wrong thing anyway.
Don't take a year (or more) to get your idea into the market. Compress timeframes. Focus on days and weeks, not months. Build → ship → test → and repeat.
The faster you get feedback, the more likely you are to find product/market fit. The slower you are to get feedback, the more likely you are to build a bunch of useless stuff that over-complicates your product and wastes your #1 most precious asset—time.
So get profitable or seek funding early on. Bootstrapping can only take you so far. A small team can only carry so much weight.
From the start, you should have an actionable plan in place to acquire the cash needed to scale your team and grow.
After you've interviewed a new candidate for the first time, deep down in your gut you know whether or not it's going to work out. Ignore short-term needs and fancy resumes. In fact, ignore resumes entirely.
Think long-term and trust your gut, because a bad hire is cancerous to any company.
Once it's clear that a new hire is not working out, it's time to cut bait and run. Delaying the inevitable will only hurt you (emotionally), the company, the culture, and the new hire.
When I knew I needed to do my first fire, I agonized over it for weeks. Just rip the bandaid off—it's better for everyone involved, and it's not nearly as bad as you think it's going to be.
Just Google It.™
When you're working on your passion, it's easy to blur the line between "this is a project" and "this is a business". Always be building a business. A project turns into a labor of love and is generally un-investable. A businesses can actually scale.
As a wise man once said, "A good life is just a series of good days." If you stop having fun, you start losing good days. And when you start losing good days, you start losing the goodness in your life.
Don't give up your hobbies. Don't stop going to the gym. Don't be ashamed to step away from time to time.
Travel. Experience. Live.
Your family and your older (and wiser) self will thank you for it.
For me? I don't know for certain… but I bet it involves crypto. 😎✌
W️here you can find me:
