What We've Learned So Far¶

Building Beet is a journey of constant learning. This page captures the insights, mistakes, and "aha moments" that are shaping how we build and grow.

Our Learning Philosophy¶

We believe in: - Fast feedback loops - Learn quickly, adjust quickly - Shared knowledge - What one person learns, the whole team benefits from - Honest retrospectives - Celebrate wins, own mistakes, extract lessons - Applied learning - Turn insights into better processes and decisions

Key Lessons by Category¶

Product Development¶

Lesson #001: Start Narrow, Go Deep¶

What Happened: Initially planned to build events + movies + restaurants + news simultaneously. What We Learned: Users were confused about our core value. It's better to dominate one area first. How We Changed: Events-first approach with phased expansion. Impact: Clearer positioning, faster development, better user experience.

Lesson #002: Manual First, Automate Second¶

What Happened: Planned to build automated event scraping from day one. What We Learned: Manual curation teaches you what good content looks like. How We Changed: Hand-pick first 100+ events, then build automation based on learned patterns. Impact: Higher quality content, better understanding of user preferences.

User Research¶

Lesson #003: Talk to Users Early and Often¶

What Happened: Made assumptions about what Indian diaspora users wanted. What We Learned: Real user needs were different from our assumptions. How We Changed: Weekly user interviews, feedback collection built into product. Impact: Product-market fit insights, feature prioritization clarity.

Lesson #004: Geography Matters More Than We Thought¶

What Happened: Assumed users would engage with events anywhere in their region. What We Learned: Users primarily care about events within 30-45 minutes of their location. How We Changed: Hyper-local focus within SF Bay Area first. Impact: Higher engagement, better venue partnerships.

Team & Process¶

Lesson #005: Document Decisions in Real-Time¶

What Happened: Had to re-discuss the same decisions multiple times. What We Learned: Writing down "why" prevents re-litigation and helps new team members. How We Changed: This decision log process, immediate documentation. Impact: Faster onboarding, consistent decision-making.

Lesson #006: Weekly Goals Beat Monthly Targets¶

What Happened: Monthly planning led to end-of-month scrambling. What We Learned: Weekly cycles create better momentum and course correction opportunities. How We Changed: Weekly sprint planning with daily standups. Impact: More consistent progress, earlier problem detection.

Market & Business Insights¶

Competition¶

What We've Discovered About Our Space¶

Incumbents are complacent: Ticketmaster, Eventbrite treat our niche as afterthought
Niche players lack execution: Good intent but poor user experience
Content is king: Better curation beats better technology
Trust is everything: Users need to believe we'll have accurate, current information

User Behavior¶

Patterns We're Seeing¶

Discovery happens on mobile: 85%+ of event browsing is on phones
Decision-making is social: Users share events before committing
Timing matters: Peak engagement is Thursday-Sunday for weekend planning
Price sensitivity varies: Free events get high engagement, premium events need clear value

Partnerships¶

What Works in Venue Relationships¶

Lead with value: Show them engaged users before asking for integration
Start small: Begin with listing partnership before booking integration
Local relationships matter: Personal connections trump cold outreach
Mutual success metrics: Align on what success looks like for both sides

Technical Learnings¶

Architecture¶

Lesson #007: Simple Infrastructure First¶

What Happened: Considered microservices architecture from start. What We Learned: Complexity without scale is just complexity. How We Changed: Monolithic architecture with clear module boundaries. Impact: Faster development, easier debugging, lower operational overhead.

Lesson #008: Real Users Break Everything¶

What Happened: Alpha testing revealed edge cases we never considered. What We Learned: No amount of internal testing replaces real user behavior. How We Changed: Earlier alpha release, better error handling and monitoring. Impact: More robust product, faster bug detection.

Data & Analytics¶

What We Track vs What Actually Matters¶

Vanity metrics: Total signups, page views
Reality metrics: Weekly active users, event page to signup conversion
Leading indicators: Content engagement, user return visits
Lagging indicators: Revenue, partnerships, retention

Mistakes & Course Corrections¶

What Didn't Work¶

Mistake #001: Trying to Launch in 3 Cities Simultaneously¶

The Problem: Divided attention, inconsistent content quality, harder to measure success. The Fix: SF Bay Area focus first, then expand city by city. The Lesson: Geographic focus creates network effects and operational efficiency.

Mistake #002: Building Features Before Validating Need¶

The Problem: Built event rating system before users were even discovering events consistently. The Fix: Focus on core user journey first, add bells and whistles later. The Lesson: Solve the main problem completely before adding secondary features.

Mistake #003: Underestimating Content Curation Effort¶

The Problem: Thought we could automate event data collection immediately. The Fix: Manual curation process with gradual automation. The Lesson: Understanding your content deeply is prerequisite to automating it.

Future Learning Priorities¶

What We Need to Figure Out¶

Short-term (Next 3 months): - Optimal event curation workflow - User onboarding conversion optimization - Partnership negotiation best practices - Mobile app vs web engagement patterns

Medium-term (Next 6 months): - Multi-city expansion playbook - Revenue model optimization - Team scaling and culture maintenance - Competitive response strategies

Long-term (Next 12 months): - Super-app feature integration - Enterprise/B2B market approach - International expansion considerations - Platform and ecosystem development

How We Keep Learning¶

Regular Learning Rituals¶

Weekly: - Team retrospectives after each sprint - User feedback review and categorization - Competitive intelligence updates - Metric reviews and trend analysis

Monthly: - Deep-dive lessons learned sessions - Process improvement workshops - Market research and user interview synthesis - Partnership and business development learnings

Quarterly: - Strategic assumption validation - Major decision reviews and outcomes assessment - Team skill development planning - Market positioning and messaging refinement

Learning Artifacts¶

We create: - Decision documentation (this section!) - User research synthesis reports - Competitive analysis updates - Process improvement recommendations - Success and failure case studies

We share: - Weekly team learning highlights - Monthly all-hands lessons learned - Quarterly board/advisor insights - Industry conference presentations

Quick Reference¶

Top 5 Lessons So Far¶

Start narrow, go deep - Better to own one thing than be mediocre at many
Manual first, automate second - Understand the problem before building the solution
Geography matters - Local focus creates stronger network effects
Users break everything - Real usage reveals problems internal testing misses
Document decisions immediately - Prevents re-litigation and helps team alignment

Current Learning Focus¶

User onboarding optimization
Event curation efficiency
Partnership development
Revenue model validation

Archived Learnings¶

Initial market assumptions (mostly wrong!)
Technology stack decisions (mostly right!)
Launch strategy approaches (evolved significantly)

Owner: Entire team contributes, Ranga Reddy synthesizes Update Cycle: Weekly new insights, monthly deep synthesis

Learning faster than the competition is our sustainable advantage.