My Crazy Timeline
- The Day They Kicked Me Out
- YouTube Star (Not Really)
- Udemy: Why Not Try?
- Old Project Comeback: Vendeu Tudo
- DocHelp.ai: Making Lemonade
- CARAQUECODA: My Surprise Software Company
The Day They Kicked Me Out
Picture this: It's December 2023. I'm at work, doing my thing. Then BAM! They fire me. Some Christmas gift, huh? But wait - they gave me a big goodbye check. Enough money to live for almost a year. I had no idea this was the start of something big.
Big Changes (and Getting Married)
With all this free time (and money), I thought, "Let's do something crazy!" So I did two big things:
- I got married! Yep, even had a honeymoon. Super romantic, but goodbye savings.
- I said bye-bye to office life. No more boring meetings and rushed code for me!
YouTube Star (Not Really)
First stop on my "what am I doing with my life" tour: YouTube! I made tech videos for new coders. Spoiler: They're gone now. Why? That's a story for another time (or maybe later, who knows?).
You can check my YouTube channel here.
Also check the Instagram profile here.
Udemy: Why Not Try?
After my short YouTube career, I thought, "If they won't watch for free, maybe they'll pay!" Smart, right? So I made this huge 9-hour HTML course on Udemy. Learned a lot about teaching online and how Udemy takes a big chunk of your money. Fun stuff!
At the time of writing this, my course has around 5 students and I made around $5 USD. Not bad, but not great either.
You can check my Udemy course here.
Old Project Comeback: Vendeu Tudo
Remember my old project from 2022? I decided to try it again. Vendeu Tudo (that means "Sold Everything" in English) was supposed to be this big e-commerce thing. But a friend said, "Keep it simple!" So I made it a cool tool for Instagram stores. Learned a lot about Facebook's API (it's hard!) and started thinking like a real startup guy.
You can check Vendeu Tudo website here.
I also did a Instagram profile here.
DocHelp.ai: Making Lemonade
May 2024 comes, and guess who calls? My old freelance client! They had this crazy idea about ChatGPT for doctors. I made a demo in TWO DAYS (yeah, I'm that good), and they loved it.
I still want to write a post about this MVP and the decisions I made, but I'm not sure if I will.
We did an Instagram thing, got 300 people interested, and gave out free trials. Everyone loved it! Five stars, people saying "This is great!" But... no one bought it. Talk about a wake-up call.
Checkout the Instagram profile here.
Why didn't it sell? My guesses:
- It was too simple (I mean, 2 days of work, come on)
- We charged as much as ChatGPT for something not as good
- We looked kinda sketchy
But hey, failing is just part of getting to success, right?
CARAQUECODA: My Surprise Software Company
So, I'm trying to make DocHelp.ai better, doing some freelance work too, when BAM! One of my DocHelp friends tells a client about me. They liked my work so much, they gave me this huge project.
Suddenly, I'm not just coding alone anymore. I'm hiring another coder, managing projects, and running my own software company - CARAQUECODA LTDA (https://www.caraquecoda.com.br). How's that for a surprise twist?
What I'm Doing Now
These days, I'm doing two big things:
- Being the boss at CARAQUECODA (still feels weird to say that)
- Trying to make DocHelp.ai (https://dochelp.ai) actually sell
What I've Learned (Besides How to Eat Cheap)
- "The Lean Startup" book is super helpful
- MVPs are for proving ideas, not selling your dreams
- Doing many projects at once is like juggling fire (exciting, but dangerous)
The Big Picture
This whole journey from employee to business owner? It's been crazy. But you know what? I'm making more money than at my old job, and I actually like what I'm doing. Crazy, right?
I've stopped YouTube and Instagram for now (sorry, fans... all three of you), but who knows? Maybe I'll write about how I made that MVP in 48 hours. Stay tuned!
Thanks for reading all this! If you're thinking of contacting me... don't. I'm super busy over here. But hey, if my crazy story makes you want to start your own crazy business adventure, go for it!