My AI-powered service sent 500 podcast summaries yesterday (up from 0 the day before 😂)
Here are 10 lessons I learned from scaling it up so quickly 👇
[1/20]
Here are 10 lessons I learned from scaling it up so quickly 👇
[1/20]
But first a shoutout to @bentossel for mentioning podmate.co in his newsletter AND to @levelsio, whose bootstrapped approach discussed in makebook.io inspired ALL of this 🙏
[2/20]
[2/20]
1) Log everything! 🪵
I use @googlecloud logging libraries for all the components of this service and it has been *instrumental* in tracking down errors. I actually get a text message anytime something breaks, so it’s really easy to quickly debug + fix.
[3/20]
I use @googlecloud logging libraries for all the components of this service and it has been *instrumental* in tracking down errors. I actually get a text message anytime something breaks, so it’s really easy to quickly debug + fix.
[3/20]
I wouldn't have sent more than 30 emails yesterday if I didn’t have a paper trail of what went wrong initially!
Implement transparent logging first — it's key to understanding how users are using your service 🔎
[4/20]
Implement transparent logging first — it's key to understanding how users are using your service 🔎
[4/20]
2) Test in the wild 🦊
So I did _some_ testing beforehand…but there’re only so many edge cases I could discover on my own. A list of things we only began supporting yesterday:
- Mobile-optimized web pages 🤦🏼♂️
- Long bullet summaries
- Languages other than English 😱
[5/20]
So I did _some_ testing beforehand…but there’re only so many edge cases I could discover on my own. A list of things we only began supporting yesterday:
- Mobile-optimized web pages 🤦🏼♂️
- Long bullet summaries
- Languages other than English 😱
[5/20]
3) Multi-language support multiplies your reach 🌏
It was a 4-line code change to:
a) recognize the podcast language and
b) transcribe in that language (previously everything assumed ‘en’)
But suddenly the tool (mostly) works across most languages!
[6/20]
It was a 4-line code change to:
a) recognize the podcast language and
b) transcribe in that language (previously everything assumed ‘en’)
But suddenly the tool (mostly) works across most languages!
[6/20]
4) Sanitizing input = ⬆️UX and ⬇️stress
Podmate v1 required users to paste an RSS URL…and had no instructions on where to find that 🤷🏼♂️ Oops!
Within an ~hour of my first alert, I built a search results page in @flutterflow so users could use plain text. Conversions:📈
[7/20]
Podmate v1 required users to paste an RSS URL…and had no instructions on where to find that 🤷🏼♂️ Oops!
Within an ~hour of my first alert, I built a search results page in @flutterflow so users could use plain text. Conversions:📈
[7/20]
5) Stress test API limits 📈
I never ran into external throttling issues when I was testing Podmate with 3 podcasts 🙈
When that grew overnight to 50+ podcasts * N podcasts/week * podcast duration * Y GPT-3 models, and emailing to K users…I started to hit some limits!
[8/20]
I never ran into external throttling issues when I was testing Podmate with 3 podcasts 🙈
When that grew overnight to 50+ podcasts * N podcasts/week * podcast duration * Y GPT-3 models, and emailing to K users…I started to hit some limits!
[8/20]
It would have been great to do some basic planning and calculations beforehand! In one case, I just needed to verify my domain name which unlocked my limit.
Always plan for growth, especially across external dependencies.
Which leads to …costs 💰
[9/20]
Always plan for growth, especially across external dependencies.
Which leads to …costs 💰
[9/20]
6) Budget thresholds are your FRIEND 💸
You see something like GPT-3 charging $0.0200/ 1K tokens and it’s kinda like a combo of video game money and tap water prices. Tough to comprehend in non-standard units of measurement and only expensive at scale.
[10/20]
You see something like GPT-3 charging $0.0200/ 1K tokens and it’s kinda like a combo of video game money and tap water prices. Tough to comprehend in non-standard units of measurement and only expensive at scale.
[10/20]
As a former capacity planner, I should have known better! I racked up ~$350 in charges over the course of the day 🙃
Luckily budget thresholds saved me! Each external service I used let me set a $ limit to ensure I was always in control of my spend.
[11/20]
Luckily budget thresholds saved me! Each external service I used let me set a $ limit to ensure I was always in control of my spend.
[11/20]
7) Solopreneurship is not quite accurate 👩❤️👨
At least for me, it was *instrumental* to have a partner offering advice/emotional support. It's stressful when it feels like everything is breaking and ppl might be unhappy! Thanks @magzthomz for always sticking by my side ❤️
[12/20]
At least for me, it was *instrumental* to have a partner offering advice/emotional support. It's stressful when it feels like everything is breaking and ppl might be unhappy! Thanks @magzthomz for always sticking by my side ❤️
[12/20]
8) Always see what the user sees 🧐
It can be really easy as a creator to slip into “admin” mode and get tunnel vision.
Early on, I ensured every email sent to a user was *always* sent to me too. Debugging sometimes became as easy as searching my Gmail inbox! 📨
[13/20]
It can be really easy as a creator to slip into “admin” mode and get tunnel vision.
Early on, I ensured every email sent to a user was *always* sent to me too. Debugging sometimes became as easy as searching my Gmail inbox! 📨
[13/20]
9) Choose frameworks that deploy fast 🏃💨
Podmate was built in a ~week using a combination of tools — @flutterflow, @Firebase, @googlecloud, @OpenAI, @SendGrid
All of them have one thing in common ➡️ they enable ⚡️fast deployments.
[14/20]
Podmate was built in a ~week using a combination of tools — @flutterflow, @Firebase, @googlecloud, @OpenAI, @SendGrid
All of them have one thing in common ➡️ they enable ⚡️fast deployments.
[14/20]
- Patch a UI change in <5 mins? @flutterflow
- Modify an email template in 2 mins? @SendGrid
- Manually change a config in seconds? @Firebase
- Deploy new logic in 4 mins? @googlecloud
- Test a new prompt format in 1 minute? @OpenAI
[15/20]
- Modify an email template in 2 mins? @SendGrid
- Manually change a config in seconds? @Firebase
- Deploy new logic in 4 mins? @googlecloud
- Test a new prompt format in 1 minute? @OpenAI
[15/20]
10) Just SHIP it 📦
Disclaimer: up until ~yesterday I NEVER followed this advice. I’m a perfectionist!
But shipped today is better than 6 months too late.
[16/20]
Disclaimer: up until ~yesterday I NEVER followed this advice. I’m a perfectionist!
But shipped today is better than 6 months too late.
[16/20]
Embracing the messiness of fast, real-world, iterative development is transformational. It means I get instant feedback on what works and can generally keep users happy even when things break*
*It helps that this is a free service in beta 🤠
[17/20]
*It helps that this is a free service in beta 🤠
[17/20]
To recap:
1) Log everything
2) Test in the wild
3) Multi-language FTW
4) Sanitize input
5) Stress test APIs
6) Set budgets
7) Solopreneurship isn't quite accurate
8) Become your user
9) Deploy with fast frameworks
10) Just SHIP it
[18/20]
1) Log everything
2) Test in the wild
3) Multi-language FTW
4) Sanitize input
5) Stress test APIs
6) Set budgets
7) Solopreneurship isn't quite accurate
8) Become your user
9) Deploy with fast frameworks
10) Just SHIP it
[18/20]
If you found these learnings helpful, follow me @michaelmcroskey for more insights on building cloud services as an indie coder 👨🏼💻
And reach out if you have any comments or questions about Podmate! podmate.co
[19/20]
And reach out if you have any comments or questions about Podmate! podmate.co
[19/20]
And special thanks to @awilkinson for his perfect timing + the straw that broke the camel's back, encouraging me to go live with Podmate!
#gpt3 #solopreneur
[20/20]
#gpt3 #solopreneur
[20/20]
Oops I mean @bentossell! 😆 Super thanks for featuring Podmate in Ben's Bites — we emailed 500+ AI-powered podcast summaries yesterday 🙀
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