Founders publish their own breakdowns: what they earned or lost, over what period, and what actually worked. We extract four things from such posts — the number, the period, the channel and the takeaway — and keep the link so every number can be re-read at the source. Failure is just as useful here: if three teams shut down for the same reason, that is knowledge normally bought with years.
An AI-powered platform that helps startups find their ideal customer, build a profile, write emails, and book the first meeting.
Startup founders prefer product development over sales, leading to failure even if the product is good.
A product that solved a non-critical problem for clients.
Don't confuse interest in a product with a real need; don't spend money before finding a sustainable business model.
A SaaS product that reached a peak MRR of $18,000 but was shut down due to a small market and slow growth.
The market proved too small and growth too slow, leading to the project's closure despite reaching peak MRR.
A platform for Bol and Amazon sellers that helps manage orders, multi-channel inventory, and pricing.
The product failed due to a lack of marketing and sales, despite continuous feature improvements.
Videoreplicate.com was an AI-powered tool that helped content creators analyze viral videos and plan their own.
You need to validate product demand and willingness to pay before building, and also analyze traffic acquisition channels.
The author tried to create something meaningful for the industry they wanted to work in.
Personal circumstances and lack of funding can lead to a startup's closure, even with a first client.
Launched a lifestyle app on Google Play.
Starting from scratch is very hard; without a distribution plan, there will be no organic growth.
The product helped companies process incoming inquiries, answer questions, follow up with silent leads, and guide interested clients toward a sale or booking.
The author got confused between 'this makes economic sense' and 'people urgently want this'.
Pluribus is an open-source CLI for sharing and auditing context between AI coding tools.
Product distribution didn't generate expected interest, and the product's taxonomy expanded faster than consumers were found.
The author tried to create a product but couldn't find customers.
You need to talk to potential customers before starting product development.
A cloud security platform that unifies all cloud storage in one place and encrypts all data client-side for businesses.
Incorrectly defining the problem and its scope led to the closure of the first product version and a complete rebuild.
Called It is an iOS app where groups of friends make predictions on anything using virtual currency.
Paid user acquisition for a new app is nearly impossible when conversion is 0% and the app page lacks reviews and social proof.
The author launched a startup that became known to large language models like Gemini and ChatGPT.
For quick indexing by large language models, use llms.txt, build backlinks, and have detailed FAQ and blog sections on your website.
Shunbox helps Gmail users make their email experience less annoying.
Lack of consistent promotion, premature spending, development without feedback, and an unprepared Product Hunt launch led to no customers.
This app helps women track chronic illnesses.
Validating a real problem and building a solution for it led to initial growth.
Elementle is a daily puzzle game, similar to Wordle, but with numbers and guessing historical events.
The developer failed to attract users despite creating the product, due to a lack of marketing skills and strategy.
A personal finance app that automatically tracks expenses and helps you plan your budget for future months.
Building the product is the easy part; distribution is the real game.
Where the stories come from: founder communities on Reddit (r/startups, r/SaaS, r/SideProject, r/EntrepreneurRideAlong, r/Entrepreneur, r/indiehackers, r/productfails and others) through the official API, plus crowdfunding campaigns. Numbers are taken from the post text — what the author wrote themselves. We do not decode charts or screenshots, so this section only holds numbers you can re-read at the link; unverified ones are marked separately and never feed into idea scores.