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"Tibo, if you lost everything tomorrow and had to start from zero, what would you do?"
Here's the truth:
I'd do it completely differently than I did in 2020.
Because the game changed in 5 years.
Here's the exact playbook I'd follow TODAY, day by day 👇
WEEK 1: The Validation
Most founders start by building.
I'd start by not building.
Day 1-3: Broadcast the idea
- Post the concept on Twitter/LinkedIn
- No landing page. No waitlist. Just the raw idea.
- "I'm thinking of building X for Y people”
Day 4-7: Watch what sticks
- Which post got engagement?
- Who commented "I need this"?
- Who DM'd asking when it launches?
Those people are your validation signal.
The rule: If 10+ people don't reach out unprompted, the idea probably doesn't work. Kill it. Try another.
I've killed 5+ ideas in this phase. Saved myself months.
MONTH 1-2: Build the Skeleton
Now you build. But not the full product.
The absolute minimum version that proves the core promise.
Week 1-2: Core feature only
- One workflow. One problem solved.
- No dashboard. No settings. No polish.
- Ugly is fine. Broken is not.
Week 3-4: Get 5-10 people using it
- DM everyone who showed interest in Week 1
- Give it to them free
- "Try this. Break it. Tell me what's missing."
Week 5-8: Loop and iterate
- Fix what's broken
- Add what's critical
- Ignore feature requests that don't solve the core problem
The rule: If those 5-10 people don't use it twice, you don't have a product yet. Keep iterating.
I should ideally have 5-20 people using and paying for my products, and more people paying if it goes really well.
MONTH 3-4: The Broadcast Phase
You have validation. 50 people are using it. Maybe 10-20 are paying.
Now you go loud.
Socials (Primary channel)
- Post daily about what you're building
- Share revenue numbers (even if it's $47)
- Behind-the-scenes updates, not polished marketing
Why this works: People don't follow products. They follow journeys.
Outreach (Secondary channel)
- 10 personalized DMs per day
- Not cold pitches. No mass emailing. Warm personalized context.
- Be ready to do the work, setup the product yourself, for free.
Here's the exact template I'd use:
Template 1 - Problem-based: "Hey [Name], saw your post about [specific problem]. Built [product] for exactly this - [one sentence on what it does]. Worth 10 mins to show you?"
Template 2 - Audience-based: "Hey [Name], building [product] for [their exact audience type]. Noticed you work with them too. Would love your take on whether this solves a real problem for them. 10 min call?"
Template 3 - Competitor mention: "Hey [Name], saw you're using [competitor]. Building something similar but [key difference]. Would you be open to trying it? Happy to give you free access in exchange for feedback."
The pattern:
Personalized observation → one-line pitch → low-pressure ask.
Goal for Month 3-4: $1,000 MRR
This takes time. Don't panic if you're at $200-300 by Month 4.
Keep building in public.
MONTH 5-8: The Amplification Phase
You're at $1k-5k MRR. Product works. People are paying consistently.
Now you test the 3 growth channels:
SEO
- Write 2-3 blog posts per week
- Target long-tail keywords your customers actually search
- Build backlinks through guest posts and directories
Ads
- Start with a $300-500/month budget
- Facebook/Google/Twitter depending on audience
- Track CAC religiously. If CAC > LTV, kill it.
Affiliates
- Give 30% commission to anyone who promotes
- Reach out to creators in your niche
- Make it stupid easy to promote (templates, graphics, tracking links)
The rule:
Run all three for 60 days.
Then pick the ONE that performs best and kill the other two.
Why? Because focus beats diversification at this stage.
For me:
- Revid.ai: SEO crushed it (50% of revenue)
- Outrank.so: Affiliates crushed it (50% of traffic)
- SuperX.so: Socials crushed it (X audience = natural fit)
MONTH 9-12: The Scaling Phase
You're at $10k-30k MRR. One acquisition channel is working.
Now you double down.
If SEO is working:
- Hire a writer
- Publish daily
- Build an SEO moat before competitors catch up
- Or just use outrank.so to win automatically 😉
If affiliates are working:
- Increase commission to 40%
- Create tiered rewards
- Turn top affiliates into partners
If socials are working:
- Post 2x per day
- Run a creator equity program (0.1% for goodwill)
- Build an audience that's bigger than your product
The rule: You can only scale what's already working. Don't add new channels until one is maxed out.
What I'd Do Differently
In 2020, I:
- Launched one product per week until something stuck (that's how Tweet Hunter was born)
- Tried every acquisition channel at once
- Optimized for features instead of distribution
In 2026, I'd do the same launch speed, but:
- Test one acquisition channel at a time
- Optimize for distribution from Day 1
- Kill faster if validation doesn't happen in Week 1
The Mindset Shift
Old way: "Build it and they will come"
New way: "Build distribution, then build the product"
Your competitive advantage isn't your product. It's your ability to get attention.
AI made building easy. Distribution is the hard part now.
Your Turn
Where are you right now?
Week 1 (validating)?
Month 3-4 (broadcasting)?
Month 9-12 (scaling)?
Reply and tell me 👇🏼
I read every email and often give specific advice based on where you're stuck.
Tweet of the week
Claude just launched remote access.
Things are about to get interesting!
How are you planning to use this?
That's it for this week.
Until next week,
Keep building
Tibo 💻
P.S. The biggest mistake I see: people skip Week 1 validation and jump straight to building. Don't. Two weeks of validation saves you six months of building the wrong thing.