Build in Public Logs
Follow the journey as Molly Retter builds the Goblin app in public via Twitter, Flow Club, and this blog.
September 2022 Updates
Request for help 🙏: I'm planning to do a tiny preseed round this year. Rn I'm working on a pitch memo and building relationships with investors. I would love intros to angels that love productivity and want to invest $3-$15k (bonus points if they're weird/funny/cool).
— Molly 🍵 Goblin App (@goblin_tech_) October 1, 2022
Goblin App Changelog
Table of Contents * September 30, 2022 - Community-centric profiles pilot * September 27, 2022 - Simplify registration/onboarding process & fix nickname bug * September 21, 2022 - Reset password and confirm email address emails * September 20, 2022 - Links to view old mission logs & second miss…
Molly Retter
See these blog posts for traction & financial updates
Goblin: turn & face the change (tldr: be brave)
Hi friend! It’s been a minute since I updated everyone. I hope you’re doing great. I’m SO GLAD that the weather is cooling down. I’m so excited about fall--I’m unapologetically doing pumpkin spice face masks and drinking spiced cider teas over here. I tweaked my neck last week and couldn’t
Molly Retter
Goblin: why I fear the Duolingo owl, build in public (honestly), and mad libs
Hi friends! I can’t believe it’s only been 8 days since the MVP went live for Founding Goblins. I’ve felt lots of things since then: panic, joy, appreciation, overwhelm, happiness, and everything in between. There are a handful of people that have been using the app daily since it went
Molly Retter
Goblin: whimsy & progress 🎉
Hi friends! Things have been picking up a lot since my last update. Here’s the nitty gritty for those curious about the numbers. Build In Public Update 8/12/229/2/22Growth in 21 DaysNotes2022 goal$1k/month in monthly recurring revenueTRACTIONPaid waitlist sign ups:1949158% increaseNewsletter sig…
Molly Retter
Goblin app went into public beta with ~50 paid signup Founding Goblins
80 commits & 3 months later... the Goblin MVP is live for founding goblins! 😌 It's going to be in private beta for a bit while I fix bugs & add community-driven features. Coming soon to a cave near you.
— Molly 🍵 Goblin App (@goblin_tech_) September 2, 2022
Marketing website Sept
August 2022
Goals
[X] MVP live for Founding Goblins by 8/31 [was 1 day late on this :]
[ ] Apply to Scale Incubator
[ ] Start a draft of preseed pitch memo
2/4 Send 4 Friday newsletter updates
7/7 Get up to 20 Founding Goblins (7+ more) - surpassed this!
August 12, 2022 Update
July 2022
- Ended the month with 711 Twitter followers, 72 people subscribed to my newsletter, and 13 founding goblins on my paid waitlist.
- I earned my first $65 dollars 😍
- I became a Flow Club host – come cowork with me!
- Launched v2 of my marketing site (a short 7 days after v1 lol): See it here
- I was quoted in the NYT regarding Flow Club: Would You Pay $40 a Month to Have Strangers Watch You Work? & Relevant Twitter Thread
- I ran a small experiment to help hone in my positioning and MVP. You can read lots more about it here.
- I coded an entire MVP but then I went on vacation and had a bunch of lightbulb moments at the airport and on the plane, so I decided to make some tweaks before releasing it. You can read about it here!
Founding Goblins
- I'm sending doodles, poems, and stickers (it's the 3 on the bottom) to my founding goblins! It's $5 to sign up. You'll also get 50% off public pricing for 2 years, 2 months free, and VIP support.
V1 of Marketing Site
June 2022
- My first month as a full-time founder!
- I joined Flow Club. It gave me community, support, and structure. I'm so happy I found it.
- I was focused on building a Jira/Linear replacement at this time, but that's since evolved to an Asana/ClickUp model where you can get personal stuff done and I'm going to add on team communication and alignment in the future.
- I interviewed a lot of potential users, researched, wrote MVP requirements, and started coding a bit in Phoenix and Elixir.
- I joined the first Great Founders Write cohort to help keep me accountable with posting on my blog. I met SO many cool people and got great feedback on my writing.
Blog posts written during the cohort:
- Humans Completing Tasks
- Indiscernible burnout & figuring out your next move
- 😓 -> 😌 anxiety-driven work @ funded startups
- go to market anxiety: from craft beer to SaaS
May 2022
- This was the last month at my full-time job as a backend engineer. I had tried interviewing to work at other startups but I was seeing the same red flags in interviews that had made my previous jobs toxic so I started thinking about doing my own thing.
- I joined Twitter at the end of May! Twitter has been huge for me as a founder--I've met so many incredible founders, coders, friends, investors, and all around awesome people on there. I've received a ton of help and support through Twitter. It gives me hope for the future of tech & future of work/life.
