On Giving Up

I really thought I had something cooking there for a few weeks. I was head down, laser focused, ready to take on the world and, even more important, show the world what I’ve got. But the world has a way of chewing you up and spitting you out. No matter how good of an idea you think you have, or how hard you have worked, success is fleeting… and feels impossible in a world of endless budgets.

Sure, there are sob stories of developers who were there at the right place, with the right product, at exactly the right time. And there are hundreds, if not thousands of people who create something, and it’s moderately successful but doesn’t make them a multi-millionaire. And then there are stories like mine, in which someone works their ass off on something they believe in, only to have the public not give a single shit.

I believe in myself. I believe in my notary business, and I believe in my affiliate blog work, but I would be lying if I said I fully believed in my vibecoding experiment. I believe in my idea and what I was doing. I just don’t have the grit to hang, or the money to market. And it’s clear that when it comes to these apps, marketing is what separates success from failure. And you’ve got to be really lucky to have organic marketing success in an extremely saturated environment. And I sure as hell don’t have the money for paid ads. I don’t even have the money to keep the API calls running.

So I think for now, I’m giving up on dreams of development glory. I’m doubling down on my notary business and on court reporting. I’ve built a blogging calendar so that all of my affiliate blogs are getting consistent updates, once a week. Affiliate marketing blogs are one of those things that really rely on compound interest. It’s about patience and consistency. I make a little money from them for now, but I would love if I could make REAL, real money.

I appreciate that AI has opened the door to so many people who have great ideas. There are some genuinely cool tools being built. Unfortunately, I came along during a time where everyone and their great aunty are vibecoding, and I’ve just been lost in the shuffle. For now, I focus on the things I know are already producing cash flow. Because that’s what I need. And hopefully all of my different streams will be enough to pay all of my bills and live comfortably.