Founder Odyssey

How Eric Djavid Reached 375 Users with a SaaS in 3 Days

Founded By

Eric Djavid

Founders

Profitable

Yes

Year Started

2025

Customer

B2B

Founded By
Eric Djavid: Founders
1

Profitable
Yes: Year Started
2025

Customer
B2B

Who is Eric Djavid?

Eric Djavid, the founder of Founder Odyssey, is a seasoned entrepreneur with a background in building various tech products, and he is on a mission to develop 12 products in 12 months during his "all-in" year in 2025.

What problem does Founder Odyssey solve?

Founder Odyssey helps aspiring founders avoid wasting time and money by validating their startup ideas, ensuring there's a real market demand before investing further.

Founder Odyssey Homepage

How did Eric come up with the idea for Founder Odyssey?

The idea for Founder Odyssey emerged from a series of personal experiences and observations about the struggles faced by entrepreneurs, including the founder's own journey. They noticed that many founders waste time and resources on ideas without proper validation, which often leads to failure. Inspired by this, they decided to create a platform to help others validate their product ideas efficiently.

Before pursuing the idea, the founder recognized that the lack of a structured validation process was a common pain point among budding entrepreneurs. To ensure their solution was effective, they planned to use their new tool to validate their own future product launches, aiming to create a solution that would be genuinely helpful for themselves and others in similar situations.

Feedback and insights from fellow entrepreneurs were crucial in refining the idea. By engaging with the community through platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter, the founder gathered valuable input that helped shape the features of Founder Odyssey. They learned the importance of documenting the journey and building publicly to gain not only visibility but also ongoing feedback and motivation.

How did Eric build the initial version of Founder Odyssey?

Founder Odyssey was developed over a few weeks, during which specific tools and software were utilized to streamline the process. The tech stack included multi-model AI analysis (specifically using GPT-4 and Perplexity) and Reddit API analysis, which played a significant role in validating product ideas and generating valuable insights. As an AI-powered platform, it incorporated advanced tools such as a User Persona Generator and an Interview Generator, providing comprehensive support for founders throughout their product journey. The initial build was challenging, requiring rapid execution over perfection, with some compromises made to move forward and ship the product quickly. Despite the tight development timeline, the challenges of refining and completing a robust SaaS platform were met with strategic use of deadlines to ensure clarity and focused decision-making.

What was the growth strategy for Founder Odyssey and how did they scale?

Build in Public

Founder Odyssey grew its customer base by adopting the "build in public" approach. This means they shared their product development journey openly on platforms like LinkedIn, X, and Bluesky. By doing so, they created transparency and attracted an audience interested in their progress and products.

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Why it worked: Building in public helped them gather feedback and generate interest in their product. As people followed their journey and interacted with the founder, it naturally increased awareness and interest in Founder Odyssey. This real-time engagement can boost motivation and help refine products based on community input.

Product Hunt Launch

The team targeted Product Hunt for their initial launch, positioning themselves as the #15 Product of the Day. The focus on Product Hunt was strategic to test the market and kickstart organic growth by tapping into its community of tech enthusiasts.

Why it worked: Product Hunt is a well-known platform where tech lovers gather to discover new tools. By launching there, Founder Odyssey could instantly reach potential customers who were likely to be interested in innovative SaaS products. This allowed them to quickly gauge interest and get initial users onboard.

Founder Odyssey used platforms like Reddit, LinkedIn, X, and Bluesky to spread the word about their product. A post on X went viral, getting 170k views and around 1000 likes, which significantly boosted their visibility.

Why it worked: Each platform has unique audiences. By leveraging multiple social networks, they maximized their reach and attracted diverse users. The virality of their post on X demonstrates the power of engaging content and timing, which can lead to widespread attention and drive significant traffic to the product.

Unexpected traffic came from a mention in the Superhuman newsletter, which is popular among AI and tech enthusiasts. This listing contributed to about half of their web traffic soon after their launch.

Why it worked: Being featured in a reputable newsletter targets an audience already interested in innovative productivity tools. This exposure can validate a product's credibility and attract users who trust the newsletter's recommendations, leading to an influx of engaged and interested users.

What's the pricing strategy for Founder Odyssey?

Founder Odyssey offers a free starter plan with limited features and a Premium plan for $10/month, providing additional tools and unlimited access.

Pricing

What were the biggest lessons learned from building Founder Odyssey?

Embrace Deadlines: Founder Odyssey teaches us that setting strict deadlines encourages progress and helps avoid getting stuck in over-analysis. Deadlines motivate you to make decisions and move forward.
Build in Public: Sharing your journey openly can serve as a powerful marketing tool and morale booster. It helps build a community that supports and gives feedback, making the whole process more engaging and rewarding.
Focus on Execution Over Perfection: Launching with less-than-perfect preparation can still lead to success. Prioritize getting your product out there rather than waiting for everything to be perfect, as shown by the Product Hunt experience.
Leverage Unexpected Opportunities: Sometimes, success can come from unexpected sources, like serendipitous mentions in popular newsletters. Being open to these can provide unexpected boosts.
Measure and Adapt: Constantly monitor retention and engagement metrics to see if your product is delivering value. Be ready to tweak and refine your product based on these insights for continued growth.

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