Do not index
Do not index
December hits different when you're a founder.
While everyone's thinking about holiday plans, we're thinking about what worked, what didn't, and how to make next year 2x better.
Here's exactly how I'm reviewing my 2024 and preparing for 2025 👇
But first…
Why End-of-Year Reviews Matter
Starting a new year without reviewing the last one is like starting a road trip without checking your map.
You might move forward, but are you going in the right direction?
A good review sets the tone for everything that follows.
For all of you building products and hacking on the internet, here is my 4 step framework:
Step 1: The Shipping Review
First, I'm listing everything I shipped this year.
No filters, just raw data:
- nugt.ai → Failed Why? Content quality issues + people prefer personal voices over faceless newsletters
- Outrank → Win Why? Clear value prop solving a real pain point
- Typeframes → Failed Had to shut down the main product after the fork took off
- Revid.ai → Win Still a lot to figure out but I like the direction we’re heading at
- Feather → Win Another big acquisition for me. Hit 20k+ mrr and going well.
- Newsletter → Win Hit 100,000+ subscribers and loved reading all your replies this year!
The goal isn't just to list successes and failures. It's to find patterns.
Step 2: The Content Audit 🔍
Here's a cool trick I'm using to analyze my content:
- Export all your Twitter/LinkedIn data
- Feed it to ChatGPT (o1 please 🙌)
- Ask it to analyze patterns
You'll be surprised what you learn about:
- What resonated with your audience
- What fell flat
- How people perceive you
Great start for content planning in 2025.
👉 Just do more of what works.
Step 3: The Project Deep-Dive
Here's something crucial: Daily user feedback can be misleading.
Let me explain.
You have a product → the product has a value proposition.
Every single piece of feedback is related to THAT value prop. But what if you want to CHANGE the entire value prop?
That’s where it gets tricky…
If I had only listened to Tweet Hunter users, I would've never built Taplio - which ended up making 3x more revenue.
Real example: Right now, Revid.ai is killing it in fan fiction videos.
Users love it. But I'm wondering - is this the right path for monetization?
This audience might be less willing to pay compared to enterprise/corporate use-cases (what do you think - reply to this email)
Sometimes the best opportunities lie outside your current value proposition (and scope of the product).
Step 4: Life Categories Review 🎯
Business isn't everything. Here's how I'm reviewing each life category:
1. Health & Energy
- Physical health
- Mental wellbeing
- Daily routines
2. Relationships
- Family time quality
- Time with kids
- Friend connections
3. Personal Growth
- What I learned
- Skills gained
- Areas for improvement
4. Business & Projects
- Revenue growth
- Team development
- Project outcomes
5. Future Preparation
- AI developments
- Industry changes
- New opportunities
Track everything. And improve 1% daily.
Your Turn: How to Track This
Create a simple system:
- Open your notes app
- Create 5 main categories:
- Business
- Health
- Relationships
- Learning
- Future Goals
- For each category, answer:
- What worked?
- What didn't?
- What surprised you?
- What will you change?
You will be surprised as to how much you learn about yourself and your life.
The Meta Question
I'm spending extra time thinking about AI this year.
Am I prepared enough for where AI is heading?
Do I understand enough about what's coming?
Finding people to discuss these deeper questions with is crucial.
Aligning the business and goals (especially in tech) with the evolving technology is extremely important to stay relevant.
Final Thoughts
Take a day off.
Sit somewhere quiet.
Really think about these questions.
This is important.
Your future self will thank you.
If you want some motivation - tweet your top learnings from this year and tag me @tibo_maker and I’ll repost the best ones!
Keep building 💻
Tibo
PS - No newsletter next Wednesday! Merry Christmas 🎄
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