Pieter Levels built 12 startups in 12 months | Lex Fridman Podcast Clips

Summary

In this engaging conversation, the speaker recounts their journey of launching 12 startups in 12 months. Starting with basic coding skills from a YouTube channel and a website, they delve into the challenges of rapid prototyping, learning on the go, and the importance of focusing on minimal viable products. The discussion touches on the rise and fall of Flash, the early days of the internet with animated gifs and banners, and the struggle to monetize browser extensions. The speaker shares insights on building a simple yet effective product, like their first startup 'Play My Inbox,' which aggregated YouTube links from emails, gaining thousands of users without a monetization strategy.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker launched a startup every month for a year to learn coding and build things quickly.
• 🎶 They had a YouTube channel called 'Panda Mix Show' featuring electronic music mixes.
• 💿 They sold CDs and used Flash for their album design, which was later discontinued due to Steve Jobs' stance against it.
• 🔧 The speaker learned ActionScript, which was then overshadowed by JavaScript, the 'dynamic thing' for the internet.
• 🚀 The first startup was 'Play My Inbox', an app to organize YouTube links from emails, which gained popularity without monetization.
• 🤔 There's a discussion about the difficulty of monetizing browser extensions and plugins, as they are often perceived as not valuable enough to pay for.
• 🛠️ The importance of building a minimal viable product (MVP) within a limited time frame was emphasized.
• 📬 The speaker mentioned using email protocols like IMAP for the first startup, which raised privacy concerns.
• 🔑 Simplifying login systems with temporary links or hash-based logins was a strategy to save time during development.
• 📊 The speaker discussed the challenge of marketing a new product without being seen as a spammer on platforms like Reddit.
• 💡 The idea of solving a specific problem for a community on Reddit, and offering a free solution initially, was suggested as a marketing strategy.

Q & A

What was the speaker's background in coding before starting the 12 startups in 12 months challenge?

The speaker had some coding experience, having made a website for a YouTube channel called 'panda mix show' and learned basic HTML and ActionScript for Flash, which was used for creating music mixes.

What was the name of the YouTube channel the speaker had, and what was its content about?

The YouTube channel was named 'panda mix show' and featured electronic music mixes such as dubstep, drum and bass, and techno house.

Why did the speaker invest time in learning ActionScript, and what happened to it?

The speaker believed ActionScript was the dynamic language that would take over the internet, but Steve Jobs declared it a closed platform with security issues, leading to its decline and the speaker's realization that Jobs was right.

What was the speaker's first startup project, and how did it work?

The first startup project was called 'Play My Inbox'. It was an app that logged into a user's Gmail, found emails with YouTube links, and created a gallery of songs, essentially functioning like an early version of Spotify.

What were some of the privacy concerns with the 'Play My Inbox' app?

The app had privacy concerns because it accessed all of a user's emails to find YouTube links, which could potentially expose sensitive information.

How did the speaker handle the privacy concerns of the 'Play My Inbox' app?

The speaker ensured that the app did not save any emails and only used them to find YouTube links, addressing the privacy concerns to some extent.

What was the speaker's approach to launching a startup every month for a year?

The speaker was strict about the one-month timeline for each startup, focusing on building a minimum viable product and learning coding skills along the way.

How did the speaker ensure accountability for launching a startup every month?

The speaker published their project as blog posts and shared them on platforms like Hacker News, creating a public commitment to complete the challenge.

What was the speaker's strategy for promoting their startups without being seen as a spammer?

The speaker suggested finding a problem that a subreddit's community was already discussing and offering their solution, positioning it as a potential help rather than a direct promotion.

What were some of the challenges the speaker faced when building startups in a limited time frame?

The main challenge was deciding what not to add or build due to time constraints, focusing on essential features like a landing page, product functionality, and a simple login system.

What was the speaker's opinion on the monetization potential of browser extensions?

The speaker believed that it's difficult to make money from browser extensions because people generally do not value them enough to pay for them, expecting them to be free.

Outlines

00:00

🎵 Music Sharing Startup and Flash's Demise

The speaker reminisces about their first startup, which was inspired by the cumbersome process of sharing music through email. They created an application that logged into Gmail, extracted YouTube links from emails, and displayed them in a gallery format, similar to Spotify. Despite privacy concerns and the use of a simple login system, the app gained popularity, with tens of thousands of users. The speaker reflects on the challenges of building a startup in a month, emphasizing the importance of focusing on essential features and avoiding overcomplication.

05:01

🚀 Rapid Prototyping and Marketing Strategies

The second paragraph delves into the difficulties of rapidly prototyping a startup within a month. The speaker discusses the necessity of prioritizing features and avoiding the temptation to add unnecessary elements. They mention the importance of creating a landing page and a product that users would be willing to pay for, as well as considering the login system's simplicity and security. The speaker also touches on marketing strategies, such as leveraging Reddit to promote the startup without being perceived as a spammer, by offering a solution to a problem that the community already acknowledges.

Keywords

💡startups

Startups refer to new businesses that are typically innovative and designed to grow rapidly. In the video's context, the speaker discusses launching 12 startups within 12 months, which reflects the theme of entrepreneurship and rapid iteration. The speaker's experience with these startups illustrates the challenges and learning opportunities inherent in the startup culture.

💡coding

Coding is the process of writing computer programs or scripts in a particular programming language. The speaker mentions being able to code a little, which was essential for creating the website for their YouTube channel and later for building the startups. Coding is a fundamental skill in the tech industry and is central to the speaker's narrative of building and launching new products.

💡Flash

Flash was a multimedia software platform used for creating animations, games, and applications. In the script, the speaker recalls using Flash for their album and mentions its decline due to Steve Jobs' stance against it. Flash is relevant as it represents a historical technology that was once popular but has since been phased out, reflecting the speaker's early experiences with technology.

💡ActionScript

ActionScript is a programming language used primarily for creating dynamic content in Adobe Flash applications. The speaker mentions investing time in learning ActionScript, which was later deemed obsolete by Steve Jobs. This keyword highlights the speaker's early foray into programming and the challenges of adapting to changing technology trends.

💡HTML

HTML, or HyperText Markup Language, is the standard markup language for creating web pages. The speaker mentions doing 'some basic HTML,' which was necessary for building websites and is a foundational skill for web development. HTML is a key component in the speaker's journey of creating online content and products.

💡Gmail

Gmail is a free email service developed by Google. In the video, the speaker discusses an app they created that logged into Gmail to find YouTube links, which was a solution to the problem of managing large email threads with shared music links. Gmail is used here as an example of leveraging existing platforms to create new, useful applications.

💡Hacker News

Hacker News is a social news website focusing on computer science and entrepreneurship. The speaker mentions publishing their startup projects on Hacker News, which served as a platform for accountability and community feedback. Hacker News represents the community aspect of the tech startup world and the importance of sharing and discussing ideas.

💡Stripe

Stripe is a technology company that provides services to accept payments online. The speaker mentions using Stripe for checkout in their startup, which is a common method for handling online transactions. Stripe is an example of third-party services that are often integrated into startups to facilitate business operations.

💡login system

A login system is a method for identifying users and granting access to a computer system or application. The speaker discusses the need for a login system in their startup but opts for a 'Scrappy' approach due to time constraints. The login system is a critical component of user authentication and security in web applications.

💡Reddit

Reddit is a social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website. The speaker talks about the strategy of promoting their startup on Reddit without being seen as a spammer, which involves engaging with the community and offering a solution to a shared problem. Reddit is portrayed as a platform for marketing and community building in the startup ecosystem.

💡Chrome extensions

Chrome extensions are software components that customize and enhance the functionality of the Google Chrome web browser. The speaker expresses a wish for Chrome extensions to be more viable as a product, reflecting on the challenges of monetizing browser-based tools. Chrome extensions represent the potential for innovation within existing platforms but also the monetization difficulties faced by developers.

Highlights

The speaker initiated a challenge to create 12 startups in 12 months to rapidly learn and build various projects.

Had basic coding skills from running a YouTube channel and creating a website for electronic music mixes.

Used Flash and ActionScript for the music website, which was later discontinued following Steve Jobs' stance against it.

Flash was once a popular platform for creating animated content and had security issues that led to its decline.

The speaker reminisces about the early days of the internet with animated gifs and homepages centered with banners.

Early internet advertising was dominated by banners and adult content, which was a significant source of revenue.

The first startup was 'Play My Inbox', an app to organize YouTube links sent via email, which gained popularity.

The app used Gmail's IMAP to access emails and find YouTube links, raising privacy concerns.

The speaker discusses the challenges of monetizing browser extensions and plugins due to user expectations of them being free.

The idea of building on top of existing platforms like Google and leveraging their ecosystems is explored.

The importance of focusing on building a minimum viable product within the limited time frame of a month is emphasized.

The speaker talks about the necessity of creating a landing page and a simple login system for the startup.

A discussion on how to market the startup on platforms like Reddit without being perceived as spam.

The strategy of solving a common problem within a subreddit and offering a solution to gain traction.

The speaker reflects on the difficulty of deciding what not to build in order to stay within the one-month timeline.

A mention of the transition from a simple login link to a more secure Google login system over time.

The speaker's experience with building Chrome extensions and the challenges of monetizing them.

The concept of a 12-month startup challenge as a method for rapid learning and iteration in entrepreneurship.

Transcripts

so 12 startups in 12 months yeah so what

how do you what startup number one what

what was that what like what what were

you feeling what were you sitting behind

the computer like how much do you

actually know about building stuff at

that point I could I could code a little

bit because I did the YouTube channel

and I made a website for I would make

websites for like the YouTube channel it

was called panda mix show and it was

like these electronic music mixes like

dubstep or dral Bas or techno house I

saw one of them had like flash were you

using flash yeah my album my CD album

was using flash yeah yeah I sold my CD

yeah Kid Flash was Flash was software

this is like the the break like Grandpa

you know but flash was cool yeah and

there's what's it called boy I should

remember this action script there's some

kind of programming language scpt yeah

yeah excript in flash back then that was

the JavaScript you know the JavaScript

yeah and I I thought that's going to

that's supposed to be the dynamic thing

that takes over the internet I invested

so many hours in learning that Steve

Jobs killed it Steve Jobs Steve Jobs had

flesh stopped using it I was like okay

that guy was right though right yeah I I

don't know yeah well it was it was a

closed platform I think and Clos but

it's ironic cuz Apple you know they're

not very open right but back then Steve

was like this is closed we should not

use it and it's as security problems I

think which sounded like a copout like I

just wanted to say that to make it look

kind of bad um but flash was cool yeah

yeah it was cool for a time yeah it

listen animated gifts were cool for a

time too yeah they came back in a

different way as a meme though I mean

like I I remember when gifts were

actually cool not ironically cool yeah

like there's like on the internet you

would have like a Dancing Rabbit or

something like this and that was really

exciting no you had like the you know

Lex homepage you the everything was

centered yeah and you had like Peter's

homepage and the on the construction

yeah GIF which was like a guy like with

a helmet and the lights was amazing

banners uh yeah that's how before like

Google AdSense you would have like

banners for advertising was amazing yeah

and a lot of links to porn I think yeah

that was where the merchant accounts

people would use for people would make

money a lot only money made on nint was

like porn or a lot of it yeah it was it

was a dark place it's still a dark place

yeah and but there's Beauty in the

darkness anyway so you were uh you did

some basic HTML yeah yeah but I had to

learn the actual like coding so I uh

this was good it was a good good idea to

like every month launch a startup so I

could uh learn the codes learn basic

stuff and but it was still very Scrappy

because I didn't have time to which was

on purpose I didn't have time to spend a

lot of um I had a month to do something

so I couldn't spend more than a month

and I was pretty strict about that um

and I published it as a blog post so

people I think I put it on Hacker News

and people would check like kind of like

oh did you actually you know I felt like

accountability because I put it public

that I actually had to do it do you

remember the first one you did I think

it was play my inbox cuz back then my

friends we would send we would send like

cool was before Spotify I think we would

send like 2014 we would send music to

each other like YouTube links uh like

this is a cool song this is a cool song

and it was the these giant email trads

on Gmail and they were like unnavigable

so I made an app that would log into

your Gmail get them emails and find

amounts of YouTube links and then make

like kind of like a gallery of your your

songs like essentially Spotify and my

friends loved it was it scraping it like

what was it us poop like pop or IMAP you

know it would actually check your email

so it had like privacy concerns because

it would get all youra emails to find

YouTube links but then I would I

wouldn't save anything um but that was

fun it was like and that that first

project already would get like pressed

like it went on think like um some tech

media and stuff and I was like that's

cool like it didn't make money there was

no payment button but it was uh it was

actually people using it I think tens of

thousands of people used it that's a

great idea I wonder why like why why

don't we have that why don't we have

things that ask us Gmail and extract

some useful aggregate information yeah

you could tell Gmail like don't give me

all emails just give me the ones with

YouTube links you know or something like

that yeah I mean there is a whole

ecosystem of like apps you can build on

top of the Google but people don't never

do this I've seen a few like Boomerang

there's a few apps that are like good

but just I wonder what maybe it's not

easy to make money I think it's hard to

get people to pay for these like

extensions and plugins you know because

it's not like a real app so it's not

like people don't value it people value

oh this a plugin should be free you know

when I want to use a plugin in Google

Sheets or something I'm not going to pay

for it like it should be free which is

but if you go to a website and you

actually okay I need this product I'm

going to pay for this because it's a

real product so even though it's the

same code in the back it's a plug-in you

know yeah I mean you can do it through

like extensions like Chrome extensions

through from the browser side yeah but

who pays for Chrome extensions right

like barely anybody sobody uh that's not

a good place to make money probably yeah

that sucks like chromic should be

extension for your startup you know you

have a product yeah oh we also have a

chromic

you know I wish the Chrome extension

would be the product I wish Chrome would

support that like where you could pay

for it easily cuz like imagine I can

imagine a lot of products that would

just live as extensions like

improvements for social media like gpts

you know gpts yeah like these CH gpts

they they going to charge money for it

now and you get a ref ref share I think

from open AI I made a lot of them also

why we'll we'll talk about it so let's

rewind back it's a pretty cool idea to

do 12 startups in 12 months what what

does it take to build a thing in in in

30 days like at that time how hard was

that um I think it the hard part is like

figuring out what you shouldn't add

right what you shouldn't build because

you don't have time so you need to build

a landing page well you need to make the

you know you need to build the product

actually because it need to be something

they pay for um do you need to build a

login system like maybe no you know like

maybe you can build some Scrappy login

system like for fot you sign up you pay

stripe checkout and you get a login link

and when I started out there was only a

login link with a hash and that's just a

static link so it's very easy to log in

yeah it's not so safe you know what if

you leak the link and now I have real

Google login but that took like a year

so keeping it very Scrappy is very

important to because you don't have time

you know you need to focus on um what

you can build fast uh so money stripe uh

build a product build a landing page um

you need to think about how are people

going to find this so are you going to

put it on Reddit or something how are

you going to put it on Reddit without

being looked at as a spammer right like

um if you say hey this is my new startup

you should use it no nobody's it gets

deleted you know mhm um maybe if you

find a problem that a lot of people on

Reddit already have on a subreddit you

know like and you solve that problem say

what up people I made this thing that

might solve your problem and maybe it's

free for now you know like uh that could

work you know but you need to be very

you know um narrow it down what you're

building time is limited

yeah for