Just Ship It

Focus is overrated until a startup goes viral

View on X

That’s why focus is overrated. Lovable started as a weekend project (like most successful startups). Go viral, then focus. I’ve almost never seen a startup take off when nothing happened for months after launch. Focusing on the wrong project leads to burnout (been there). Make more small bets and let the market decide when it’s time to focus. Massive congrats to Anton and the Lovable team!

  • 19 reposts
  • 584 likes

  1. @marclou · Jul 20, 2025

    Marc Lou@marclou · Jul 20, 2025To my dear builders I might have offended by implying "go viral or go home": I spent 3 years building products in the dark and had a severe burnout because of it. I wish I had removed my ego and convictions from the equation and instead treated each startup as a small bet (as I do now). Only 2 of my 26 projects did well. 5-10% hit rate is a common number for entrepreneurs. And when it hits, you can feel you're onto something. I'm not saying you should quit your idea if it doesn't go viral. Here's what I'd do instead if my idea didn't take off: 1. Launch everywhere (Reddit, Hacker News, X, Product Hunt). Spend a full week to give my idea its best shot. 2. (if nothing took off) Rebrand. Give it a new name, a new headline, a new landing page. Repeat #1 3. (if nothing took off) Try a different market segment. Repeat #1 & #2. 4. (if it's still not taking off) Pause. Build something else and come back when I feel like it. I got hurt by my own convictions. Now I'm rolling the dice more often with 0 expectations, and I feel much happier. I root for you 💪
    • 1 reposts
    • 11 likes

  2. @marclou · Jul 21, 2025

    Not sure why this got community noted but Lovable’s MVP 1st launch went crazy viral. This is what I found listening to many of @antonosika’s podcast. (If it’s me not doing my research properly, I apologize.)

    Marc Lou@marclou · Jul 20, 2025Lovable's first "zero traction" launch: - 35K stars on GitHub - 2.6K likes & 600K impressions tweet
    • 10 likes

Join 50,736 readers

How to find startup ideas, launch fast, and get profitable.

Free. Unsubscribe anytime.

More tweets

All tweets →