Ryan Bond

2 Dec 2024

It was my lifelong dream to become my own boss by time I was 40, and I failed. But instead of giving up, I’m pivoting. I'll rebuild, now in public, using - authenticity - transparency - openness - vulnerability I'll show you the ups and downs, the highs and lows. Follow along 👇

30 July

Also worth noting that I am taking a more analytical approach to the marketing this time, with the help of posthog. To that end I'm making some updates to the UI today to test the effect on conversions in my funnel. #buildinpublic

30 July

Continuing to promote reviewful.app (changed the name to avoid problems later). Started doing outreach to dentists in the area. I've contacted like 30 offices, so far no responses. Also embedding myself more in marketing subreddits hoping to connect with potential customers. #buildinpublic

getreviewsnap.comReviewSnapTurn a Google review into a shareable image.

23 July

Today I did cold outreach to six med spas local to me with review images I created using ReviewSnap. 3 IG DMs, 2 emails, and a FB message. I also added a feature based on one of these so users can redact author names. getreviewsnap.com #buildinpublic

22 July

I'm taking a different approach to building this time. Now I start by researching complaints online aggregated by topic (I use Gemini for this). I take one topic and refine it into a lean MVP I can build in 1-2 days, the goal being to have something to validate with quickly. #buildinpublic

I've got a pretty good workflow for this too: Create and refine idea in Gemini, then hand off to Claude Refine technical and implementation details with Claude then create feature specific prompts for Code and Design Implement with Code, then send over Design for visual overhaul

getreviewsnap.comReviewSnapTurn a Google review into a shareable image.

22 July

It's a bit more detailed than that, and I also do a lot of review to make sure stuff is how I want it, but this already feels much more efficient than before. ReviewSnap was mostly done in under a day. I'll probably write something up about the process in the future once I hone it.

I'm trying this currently with www.getreviewsnap.com I've got to button up the conversion modal that shows up when users run out of downloads, but planning on doing outreach today or tomorrow. Also focusing on one niche for validation. For this it's med spas.

21 July

Hello 👋 Haven't posted in a few months, been figuring some stuff out. Tried my hand at a local startup, and failed. 😅 Thought a lot about what I actually want to be doing, and devised a better approach. Will post more later but I'm gonna take another crack at #buildinpublic.

9 Feb

Well it took most of the day but I migrated all my stuff to OpenProject. I already like it much better than what I was able to get by with in GitHub. Now to really put it to work and plan this project! #buildinpublic #openproject #github

9 Feb

I have the opportunity now to migrate my project stuff out of GitHub to @openproject.bsky.social. There doesn't seem to be a built-in way to do this however. Any advice? Otherwise I'll be messing around with Python scripts today. #buildinpublic #openproject #github

6 Feb

Finishing estimating my backlog has resulted in some second-guessing on which features I can include in the December beta for MxTp. I thought I had everything down to must-haves, but time says otherwise. 😅 #buildinpublic #music #webdev

2 Feb

Wasn't able to get the Year 0 doc finalized over the weekend like I wanted. It was my youngest's birthday party Saturday, and her cuz came over for a sleepover. It was chaotic. 😂 Trying to get that wrapped up today before starting dev. #buildinpublic

30 Jan

Actual dev for sprint 1 of the "year 0 relaunch" for MxTp begins Monday. I'm nervous, but also excited. I've spent this whole month preparing, so I've never felt more ready to start coding. #buildinpublic #musicsky

30 Jan

Finished touching up my landing page, plus added an about page, which will link to an interactive form of the roadmap soon. Added a waitlist confirmation email which will contain a link to download the Year 0 doc, which I am formatting today. #buildinpublic #musicsky

29 Jan

Greatly simplified my landing page today. Removed everything except what you see here. The Learn More button doesn't go anywhere yet, but will go to the main info page. The doc I've been working on this month will also live on that page probably. #buildinpublic #musicsky

29 Jan

If you're looking for ideas for building something, just hang around the subreddit for a comparable product, and look for people complaining about things it doesn't do. I'm on the Bandcamp sub frequently these days, just taking notes. #buildinpublic

Ryan Bond reposted

mxtp.gg

@mxtp.gg

28 Jan

I'm curious where they came up with $151,000/file. Does anyone think #spotify paid that much for each of those songs? #doubt #musicsky

27 Jan

I ended last week with a draft of MxTp Vol. 0 that I'm actually pretty proud of. Will keep refining this week but it's really close. Now updating my landing page and figuring out how to present this thing I've been writing. #buildinpublic #webdev #music #musicdelivery

23 Jan

Today I learned what a J-card is, plus its dimensions. I'm hoping to use that format to present MxTp Vol 0 next week. It's fun to flex my creative side, I do it so infrequently, at least in terms of marketing materials. Can't wait to show off what I'm making! #buildinpublic

22 Jan

Currently assigning estimates to my backlog items so I can see how much I can fit in each iteration. Also working on finishing the rough draft of what I am now calling "MxTp Volume 0: The Origin." Technically this is Side A. 😁 Can't wait to share next week! #buildinpublic

20 Jan

Still working on fleshing out the specifics of the MxTp year 0 roadmap. The backlog is getting hefty by now. I'm thinking of doing two big releases this year: one on 6/30, and one on 12/31. The earlier will be accessible to artists, and super early supporters. #buildinpublic

20 Jan

Is it just me, or is the GitHub mobile app terrible? It feels like the way to create new issues is backwards, and I can't create better views for things in my backlog. Am I just using it wrong, or is there a better alternative? #buildinpublic #github

16 Jan

Putting everything I can think of into the MxTp backlog. I'm building the year 1 (or year 0?) roadmap, but also the features beyond the beta launch. It's kinda cool seeing all my thoughts and notes start to become an actual project. #buildinpublic

15 Jan

I'm thinking today about making a switch from Next.js to something else for building MxTp. I'd rather build it right the first time. Right now researching ruby on rails. What is everyone else using to build their long-term ideas? #buildinpublic

14 Jan

I've never put my backlog into Github 🫣 I have been tracking MxTp's in various notebooks and Notion for too long. Today I'm starting to put items in github to help with the roadmap later this month. #buildinpublic #devshame

13 Jan

Doing some research into WebTorrent for the MxTp manifesto today. Thinking about using it to save costs and improve performance for delivering audio files to listeners. Anyone had any experience working with this before? #buildinpublic

13 Jan

Spent time researching trademark yesterday, which I've never done before. I thought about using a service, but seems there's a lot of scams. Doing it yourself doesn't seem too bad though. Anyone done it before? Anything I should be aware of? #buildinpublic

12 Jan

As an outsider, I have very little knowledge of the music business, other than what I've gained anecdotally over the years. I've no idea of the quality of this book, but I have to imagine it will at least be enlightening? #music #musicbusiness #musicsky #buildinpublic

12 Jan

Still writing on the MxTp manifesto. There's gotta be a better name for that. Undecided on the timeline. Thinking it will be done by the end of the month. Today I'm looking into filing the trademark. Anything I should look out for? #buildinpublic

8 Jan

Delayed getting home, so I did some writing on my phone after all. Not ideal, but better than nothing. I started by saying what I wanted to say about the current music service landscape and went from there. Funny how it just starts coming out once I get going! #buildinpublic

8 Jan

The main problem I see with the current landscape of music platforms is a lack of innovation Some of them are pushing in the wrong direction, and others aren't pushing far enough. The current method isn't doing enough for artists. We need to innovate to change this.

8 Jan

I've been trying to write my "MxTp manifesto" for a few days. I did some updated research just so I'd have more to cite. But my surface keyboard won't connect anymore 😭 I hate typing on a touchpad, so I'm waiting until I'm home later today. #buildinpublic

7 Jan

I first started researching for MxTp 2 years ago. Picking it up again now, the stories are just as bad as before, and worse in several instances. Turns out tech bros are greedy and don't actually care about artists. Who knew!

The "why" for MxTp has always been easy for me. Artists have been getting screwed out of money by the "industry" for decades. Spotify continues this trend. And Bandcamp is owned by the biggest music licensing biz in the world. Music needs new representation. #buildinpublic

Last year I tried to build a series of apps to diversify my income across different products. The result was that I wound up working on stuff I didn't care about. I felt detached from my work, like it lacked purpose or meaning, and conflicted on if I wanted to continue this way. #buildinpublic

There will be more info at the end of the month, but artists will be free to join the platform during this alpha phase (and forever actually). Listeners will have to pay some kind of fee to access the alpha, but this will grant them some perks for being early supporters.

mxtp.ggMxTpSell your music however you want. No corporate greed, no executives, just your music and the fans.

The updated landing page will have all this info, as well as a draft version of the manifesto document as I work on it. There is a wait list sign up available now if you want to receive emails going forward. mxtp.gg

I will also be spending the month of January filing the trademark registration, and refining the backlog, so that I have a concrete idea of what needs to be done for the beta, and how long it will take. I will also be updating the landing page, and starting to market to artists.

I will need a lineup of artists to be the alpha testers for the platform as it is being built throughout the year leading up to the beta. I will be doing some outreach here, and other social media apps. Might also reach out to some labels.

Meanwhile I had the idea for MxTp bursting from the seams in my brain, dying to get out. I knew I wouldn't be able to balance it with trying to build the other apps, but I also knew I couldn't let another year go by without building this thing for real. So, 2026 is the year of MxTp!

To start, I am building a "why" document for MxTp, a manifesto of sorts. I am writing it over the next couple of weeks. It will include the roadmap leading up to the beta, as well as the vision and plans for the future. It will serve as the intro to the idea.

I managed to make it through the end of the year with no more work! I spent that time planning for this year, thinking over some decisions I needed to make, and setting my goal for 2026. I'll post more about that later today but I'm very excited about this year. #buildinpublic

24 Dec 2025

Officially not working on anything else through the end of the year. Gonna spend that time planning and setting intentions for next year instead. Hope you all have wonderful holidays, and an amazing rest of year. See you next one! #buildinpublic

Another quiet week from me here. Tbh I'm in a bit of a rut, and unsure of what to do next. As a result I've been very depressed these past two weeks, and I haven't done much other than interact on reddit. I'm feeling torn about which direction to go in. #buildinpublic

We only had one video call in the entire 30 days, and it was just me and one other person. It was good though! I was happy to connect. The experience was not as scary as I thought, and it was nice networking and getting more updates on what people were working on.

I liked doing the co-op, and this was a good learning experience. I will def do something similar again in the near future. Maybe after the start of the year! If you're interested in joining a mini builders co-op in a few weeks, send me a message! #buildinpublic

So, I'm a bit lost atm. I'll figure things out, I'm just going to take it easy until then. Do a bit of searching inside for the answers. In the meantime, I thought it was a good time to give an update on the 30-day marketing co-op! #buildinpublic

By the end of the 30 days, participation had dwindled to just a couple people. Even I was failing to provide daily updates, and I was the one posting the daily threads. 😅 The updates themselves became less about marketing, and more general in nature.

On one hand, if I continue building products like I've been, I know I want to focus more on validation and identifying pains before building. But I don't know if that's what I want. I feel compelled to work on something more meaningful, like MxTp.