Launch diary, Day 1: 54 visitors, 44 listings, 13 members
Why I built UpstartRadar
I launched UpstartRadar quietly on Thursday 5th November 2026: a free community where creators list projects, ask for help, and earn visibility through engagement, never payment. I'm building it solo alongside a day job, and sharing the real numbers as I go.
Prior to launch I spent about 3 weeks building the UpstartRadar directory with a promise to myself that it would remain free for anyone to list their apps, saas, website, products or other online creations.
It's now Saturday the 7th and time to start my Build in Public blog to journal the launch and growth of UpstartRadar.
While I was building my directory I realised I was going to quickly come up against the same hurdle so many other people have recently. With the amazingly fast paced evolution of AI tools it's now possible for just about anyone who can afford a $20 Claude (or other) subscription to actually create and build almost any idea they can think up. And while this is awesome, it doesn't solve the problem of how to get people to see, use and buy the idea you've turned into a viable product with the help of AI.
I'm not really a fan of social media but accepted the fact I was going to need to take it seriously if I wanted to get my UpstartRadar directory out there and seen by potential users. So I had a look at what I already had and realised I had a 5 year old reddit account that I had literally never used to make a single post, I'd purely used it to browse and read and look up information every now and then.
I realised I had an asset in this account that I could use as a basis to get my directory out to the world once I'd finished building but I also realised that reddit was unlikely to allow me to post, especially posts trying to promote my product due to the inactivity of the account. I had zero Karma but I did have a decent CQS score. So to help me learn reddit and build my account credibility I worked with my AI to create a simple but useful app RuleRadar to help me track the various subreddit rules and set in motion a daily action plan and checklist to build the credibility of my reddit account.
Launch night on Reddit
Well, it worked, by launch day on Thursday the 5th I had about 43 Karma and was aware of a small number of subreddits that would allow me to post and promote my new UpstartRadar directory.
So on Thursday night I posted 1 single post r/SideProject letting everyone know that UpstartRadar was open for business and a few details about what it is and how it could help others.
After posting, I checked back in on Friday morning and I could see a jump in visitors to my site from 5 or 6 a day to 22 on the Thursday. I also had to users register and list their project on the directory. Small numbers definitely, but it was real progress.
Then on Friday the 6th I listed 2 new posts on reddit, 1 on r/AppsWebappsFullstack and another on r/ShowMeYourSaaS but this time I did things a little differently. I still talked about UpstartRadar and what it is and the benefits but I also offered to create listings on behalf of anyone who shared their project as a comment to my reddit post and that I would then send them a claim link to claim their listing and the founding member benefits I have offered to the first 100 users of UpstartRadar.
The numbers so far
These posts went well in my view and here are some stats as of the time of writing this post on Saturday the 7th November:
- r/AppsWebappsFullstack: 1.2k views, 84 comments.
- r/ShowMeYourSaaS: 828 views and 22 comments.
Then the stats for UpstartRadar:
- Site Visits (I don't count bots, only humans): 33 on Friday and 21 so far today on Saturday.
- Directory Listings: 44
- Register Members: 13
- Comments on other people's listings: 2
- Newsletter Email Subscribers: 2
Now I'm fully aware these are tiny numbers, especially for a free site but I'm proud of my work and happy with the results so far.
What's next
I'll continue to Build in Public and post a new blog post here every few days to keep you updated on my progress as well as reviewing the things that work well and the things that don't work.
Building something? List it free and I’ll leave you genuine feedback