In this post I discuss what I would have done differently.

RapidRecast Launch

My project is finally out in the public, and I couldn’t be more thankful to all my friends who have supported me in this journey.

What is the offering

RapidRecast is my effort to commoditise programming that every company is undertaking, but putting full-time staff into the effort. There are 2 cases why I think this is useful:

1. Companies that are aware they need streaming RIGHT NOW. Some of these companies already have streaming in place and are maintaining it. Others are in the process of designing their solutions and will encounter the most common issues.
2. Companies that do not need streaming yet but would benefit from the technology if it were within reach.

Both these clients can gain from using my software, even if purely by saving maintenance costs or reducing opportunity costs.

Video

I decided to make my first ever video and published it to LinkedIn ONLY. Why just LinkedIn? I don’t want to add too much complexity as I iterate, and LinkedIn will have a good enough reach for what I need to do.

To gain momentum, I need to put out effort into my marketing consistently. Product-market fit aside, people buy products they have heard of and are familiar with.

If I asked you to get a doorbell, you would probably think of Ring, as they seem to have the widest recognition. So, the way you would go about buying the product is to evaluate competitors against Ring. Or, perhaps, you wouldn’t even put too much thought into it and just buy the product without much comparison.

That is the power of a brand and why marketing is so essential.

You can learn more about branding and why it is so important from Justyna Ciecierska-Göçeryan - give her a follow to get incredible advice for free.

Reception

Nearly 24 hours after posting, my post has received a friendly reception from people I know.

Breaking the visible engagements down, they fall roughly into two categories.

The interactions are more significant than I would have anticipated:

• I am not super outgoing, so my friends keep their numbers to low digits. If I had wanted more day-1 engagement, I should have broadened my network and maintained closer relationships with people.
• I am incredibly fortunate to have been surrounded by amiable people who continue to be friendly and caring. Only some of my friends who have congratulated me or seen the video have interacted with the post. This is absolutely fine, and I really appreciate you all reaching out to me privately. Thank you! While I could encourage them to engage with the posts, I do not want to become someone who nags at the cost of the quality of my relationship with these people.

Feedback

The feedback has been interesting to see.

I am aware the video was low quality. Nevertheless, I do want to know what particularly stands out. I might be suspecting the wrong execution flaws.

“You look unkempt”

The quote was slightly different, but I modified it to be more palettable.

Thank you. I will pay more attention to these rough edges next time.

“You look less tense than the other recordings, but still not your usual self.”

Putting out content can make someone quite self-conscious. Even the day before, I spent a lot of time trying to get this video right. It shows that even something as simple as a quick update takes effort.

I had a script that I intended to read or memorise. This proved not to be the right approach since it comes across as very staged, even if you are naturally using the same phrases you would normally use.

Going from the heart with bullet points, but rehearsing the bullet points is the way to go.

I did not stick to the bullet points I had written down since they contained too much detail. My next effort will involve bullet points and no script, barring a few phrases I want.

“Doing a stream-of-consciousness stream about streaming, love it”

It’s true—after trying to get this right for much longer than I had wanted, I just decided to yolo it. Bias to action is sometimes more important than getting things perfect.

I wonder if improving the quality of the video would have made much of a difference to my engagement numbers. I will need to try harder to find out.

“The lighting is much better in this one”

You can get cheap USB lights from Amazon.

“Slouching”

This is actually really good feedback, as it is something I need to keep in mind constantly.

I am making a checklist of things to improve for the following videos.

After each take, I will review the checklist to confirm whether I am doing what I want.

The list includes

• slouching
• filler words
• script rehearsal for individual points, practised in isolation
• overall appearance, camera view edges, background

What is next

I want to put out standup notes that show my focus for the week. The website is taking up much more time than I thought, even though it is straightforward. Admin is also taking up more time than I would like.

The above can be helpful for anyone wanting to follow this path.