--- title: 'I''m building a tiny product' date: 2022-05-22 excerpt: 'Let''s call it an experiment. I''m building a tiny product to see if I can make something people will buy.' tags: [entrepreneurship, startup, stripe] canonical: https://mikebifulco.com/posts/building-tiny-products --- # I'm building a tiny product ## Right then, that settles it. I'm building a tiny little business. I've been itching to build something from start to finish that I can complete relatively quickly, and so that's what I'm doing. I'm sitting at my computer right now, browsing the web for inspiration for itty-bitty businesses; ideally, something I can put together in under a month (even better if I can keep it to a couple weeks). So, it's time for me to build something. Hopefully someone will be happy with whatever I come up with, and fork over some money. ## Why am I qualified to do this? Let's talk about that. ### I've built a SaaS company in the past Although I was not alone, I built it with two amazing friends [@helloseann](https://twitter.com/helloseann) and [@garrettTichy](https://twitter.com/GarrettTichy). We built [smpl.io](https://smpl.io) (sold in 2020), a subscription-based SaaS which helped independent-scale coworking spaces run smoothly. It was a fairly complicated, SaaS company built on a complex subscription model with lots of options, and bells and whistles, and an endless list of exciting features to build. It was also a complicated marketplace to build for, which was an awesome experience, but really was all-consuming. ### I work as a Developer Advocate at Stripe Building smpl is a big part of the reason that I'm working at Stripe today as a Developer Advocate - making that business tick meant that we were wading in the depths of some of the more intricate parts of building with Stripe: subscriptions, Connect, and international taxes. It gave me a massive appreciation for the monetization-side of building a business. ### I can work in the open I'm going be live streaming as much of this process as I can on my [Twitch](https://twitch.tv/irreverentmike) and [YouTube Channel](https://www.youtube.com/c/MikeBifulco). I would love it if you subscribe so that you can catch some stream sessions - this is where I'll brainstorm and iterate on ideas, build the damn thing, and put it out into the world. ## What am I going to use to build this? Well, I've got lots of things I want to try. I've been tapping into the power of lots of no-code tools lately, and writing about [**CRMs**](https://mikebifulco.com/posts/how-do-you-choose-the-right-crm-for-your-product), so it's likely we'll see some of those come into play. I've been enjoying web things with [**Remix**](https://remix.run) and [**Next.js**](https://next.js.org), and I'll use [**Stripe**](https://stripe.com) for taking payments when we're ready for that. There may be an interation of this thing that is completely no-code, too. I know that there are quite a few APIs available for making physical things appear in the world which I might take advantage of. There are **mailing APIs**, like [**Lob.com**](https://lob.com) (who are a sponsor of [APIs You Won't Hate](https://apisyouwonthate.com), by the way). There are also services which can be used for **printing physical goods** like stickers or posters or shirts or mugs which I may use, too. ## What do I want to get out of this? I'm following a path that may be familiar if you spend time on [Indie Hackers](https://indiehackers.com), or if you've read about [David Vassallo's Portfolio of Small Bets](https://dvassallo.gumroad.com/l/small-bets), or the book [Company of One, by Paul Jarvis](https://www.amazon.com/Company-One-Staying-Small-Business/dp/1328972356). I want to learn from the experience of starting a business today as a creator, pursuing my small ideas to see what gets traction and what doesn't. I'm going to live stream as much of this process as possible, and take notes along the way - ultimately, I'd like for you, the reader, to be able to benefit from my experimentation as well. As I'm building, I'll do my best to take feedback and iterate quickly. I want to get a sense of how long it takes for one person to build something, and just what it takes to support a product in the wild. So, let's do this thing! Head over to [my YouTube Channel](https://www.youtube.com/c/MikeBifulco) and [my Twitch](https://twitch.tv/irreverentmike), hit subscribe, and you'll get a notification when I'm streaming. ## More from mikebifulco.com - [How do you choose the right CRM for your product?](https://mikebifulco.com/posts/how-do-you-choose-the-right-crm-for-your-product) - [Cognitive Debt and the Cost of Staying Wrong](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/cognitive-debt-and-the-cost-of-staying-wrong) - [My 2026 Developer Tech Stack](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/developer-product-engineer-tech-stack-2026) --- Written by Mike Bifulco. Originally published at https://mikebifulco.com/posts/building-tiny-products