I made my first software sale!! | Ep.23

Show notes

• Closing out agency work was surprisingly hard because of the demand for talent.
• Pushing to ship a VS Code extension for Codex to gain early traction from a waitlist
• Basic Job to be Done for Codex
• Fitting into customers current tooling seems important for Codex
• The expectation for real time communication when sharing context at work
• VS Code's liveshare mode
• Fundraising went above expectations but Brandon needs to show at least 1 big customer using Codex in production
• VCs are worried about being able to sell to developer market because devs are skeptical about products
• Adam concerned Brandon will get lots of usage data within his 1 month of runway. Optimistic about getting installs.
• What happens if Brandon runs out of runway? He will still push forward on Codex
• Adam officially made his first sale and now has revenue in his business.
• Successfully launched Here Be Taverns Premium with only 1 generator. 2 remain to be built.
• Review of launch email, pricing, and discount
• Sales tip: give people a chance to make the purchase decision before launch day
• Time spent on clarifying the early-access nature of the premium sale
• Ask for the sale
• Review of sales numbers so far
• The joy of decoupling time from income
• Adam is extremely optimistic because sales keep trickling in even though he has not done a full launch or started real marketing
• Next steps for Here Be Taverns
• Always test in production!! Adam's rule for when to rollback.
• The power of chat ops
• User count on Here Be Taverns far exceeds sales count (97 vs 15). Tons of potential for next group of customers.
• Brandon breaks down Adam's email where he described possible future features for Here Be Taverns
• Brandon says "I told you so" again
• Brandon seems impressed with Adam's numbers
• Comparing Here Be Taverns to other consumer products like videogames
• Shoutout to Ben Barbersmith for helping Adam set a higher launch price
• Trying to understand the value of Here Be Taverns.
• The business model for D&D Beyond.
• Adam's theory about price anchors for Here Be Taverns and how it helps him charge more. Comparison to price anchors for iphone games.
• Leader in generators is donjon
• Quickstart Guide to Game Mastering Launched!!