How I Went From Failed Projects to $10K/Month

The uncomfortable truth about why your digital product is still “almost ready” after 6 months

Back in 2014, I launched Newxweb.

It doesn’t exist anymore.

Neither do half a dozen other “brilliant” ideas I had between 2013 and 2017.

You know what all those failed projects had in common?

I built them in secret. I perfected them in isolation. I waited for the “right moment” to launch.

Then in 2017, something shifted.

I started H-educate (now learnwithhasan.com) and a YouTube channel.

My first Udemy course made $12. My first videos got ~ 100 views.

Today?

From Udemy

985K YouTube subscribers.

5+ projects generating over $10K/month.

Seven active products including PromoterKit.com, SimplerLLM, and TubeDigest.

The difference wasn’t talent or luck.

It was replacing my “perfectionist builder” habits with “consistent creator” habits.

Here’s the system that changed everything!

You Don’t Have a Product Problem. You Have a Shipping Problem.

Every developer I meet has the same story:

“I’m working on this amazing SaaS…”

“The MVP is almost ready…”

“Just need to add one more feature…”

Six months later?

Still “almost ready.” !!!

I get it. I was you. My hard drive was a graveyard of 90%-complete projects.

The brutal reality: Your unshipped product is worth exactly $0. My crappy $12 Udemy course? Worth infinitely more than your perfect, unreleased SaaS.

Why?

Because shipped products compound. Hidden products don’t.

The Identity Shift That Changes Everything

Most builders think backwards:

• Outcome-based: “I want to make $10K/month”
• Process-based: “I need to build a product”

But here’s what actually works:

• Identity-based: “I’m someone who ships something every week”

When I stopped calling myself a “developer working on projects” and started saying “I create and share content consistently,” everything changed.

Not “I want to build a YouTube channel” → “I’m a YouTuber who publishes weekly”

Not “I want to sell courses” → “I’m an educator who helps people daily”

Not “I want to build tools” → “I’m someone who solves problems in public”

Once you shift your identity from builder to shipper, the habits follow naturally.

The 4-Law System I Use for Every Digital Product

Law 1: Make Creation Obvious (Your Environment = Your Output)

Your workspace should scream “SHIP SOMETHING” the moment you open your laptop.

Here’s my setup:

Notion is my second brain. Everything lives there:

• Content calendar (what ships this week)
• Video scripts and blog drafts
• Product ideas with priority scores
• User feedback and feature requests

But here’s the key: Notion is always open. First tab. Every browser window.

I Even built a Chrome extension called “My Assets” because I was tired of hunting for stuff.

My repo folder structure is boring but bulletproof:

/projects
  /active (only 3-4 at a time)
  /shipped (done and live)
  /graveyard (killed projects - I keep them as reminders)

VS Code + Claude Code is my shipping machine.

They’re not just installed — they’re configured with:

• All my projects pre-loaded
• Templates for common tasks
• Deploy scripts that take 1 command

When I sit down, everything whispers: “What are we shipping today?”

No searching. No setup. No “I’ll organize first.” Just open and ship.

The magic isn’t in the tools. It’s that the tools remove every micro-friction between idea and execution.

Law 2: Make Shipping Attractive

Here’s a mindset hack: tie your dopamine to publishing, not perfecting.

I trained myself to get high on the ship, not the build:

• Every YouTube video published = win (not “every perfect video”)
• Every SimplerLLM update pushed = win (not “every bug-free release”)
• Every blog post written = win (not “every viral post”)

I even gamified it. I keep a simple spreadsheet:

• Week 1: ✅ Video, ✅ Blog, ✅ Product update
• Week 2: ✅ Video, ✅ Blog, ✅ Product update

Those checkmarks become addictive. Miss a week? The streak breaks.

The pain of breaking a streak is stronger than the fear of shipping something imperfect.

Law 3: Make It Easy

The Two-Minute Rule saved my content career.

Instead of “Create a comprehensive YouTube tutorial,” I started with “Record myself solving one tiny problem.”

Instead of “Build a complete SaaS,” I began with “Write 50 lines of code and push to GitHub.”

My first SimplerLLM version? Literally 5 functions. That’s it.

But it was online, and people could install it.

Here’s my daily “easy mode” checklist:

• Can I explain one thing in 5 minutes? → Record it
• Can I solve one user complaint? → Code it
• Can I answer one question? → Write it

Notice how none of these require perfection? Just action.

Law 4: Make Progress Satisfying

We’re wired for instant gratification. Use it.

Every time someone comments on my YouTube video (even if it’s criticism), that’s feedback. That’s proof someone saw my work.

The $12 Udemy sale was celebrated like it was $12,000.

Why? Because $12 means someone valued what I created. That feeling is addictive.

Track the small wins:

• First 100 views
• First customer
• First GitHub star
• First email subscriber

TubeDigest didn’t start as a “YouTube summarizer that would revolutionize education.” It started as “Can I get 10 people to use this?”

Ten became 100. 100 became 1,000.

But without shipping version 0.1, there’s no version 1.0.

The Compound Effect Nobody Talks About

Here’s what 8 years of consistent shipping looks like:

• 2016: Multiple failed project after another
• 2017: $12 from Udemy
• 2018: 10K YouTube subscribers
• 2021: First $1K month
• 2022: 500K subscribers
• 2023: Multiple products
• 2025: 985K subscribers, $10K+/month, 7 active projects

Each shipped product taught me something:

• Failed products → learned what doesn’t work
• $12 course → learned people will pay for value
• Early videos → learned how to communicate
• SimplerLLM → learned open source distribution
• PromoterKit → learned how to build tool ecosystems

But here’s the key: I could only learn by shipping, not by planning.

Your Perfect Product Is Killing Your Progress

That feature you think you need? You don’t.

That design that’s “not quite right”? Ship it.

That bug that happens 1% of the time? Document it and move on.

You know what’s worse than shipping something imperfect? Shipping nothing.

My YouTube channel’s first videos are terrible. Horrible audio. Bad lighting. Boring delivery.

But video #100 is good because video #1 existed.

The System That Actually Works

Stop setting goals. Start building systems.

Not: “I’ll launch my SaaS this year” But: “I ship code every Tuesday and Thursday”

Not: “I’ll grow my audience” But: “I publish content every Monday, Wednesday, Friday”

Not: “I’ll make $10K/month” But: “I solve one problem for one person every day”

My weekly system:

• Monday: Ship product update (even if tiny)
• Wednesday: Publish educational content
• Friday: Engage with community feedback
• Weekend: Plan next week’s ships

No exceptions. Sick? Ship something small.

Traveling? Schedule it ahead.

No inspiration? Document what you’re learning.

Start Tomorrow, Not “Someday”

Here’s your homework (yes, actual homework):

1. Pick ONE thing you’ve been “working on”
2. Find the smallest shippable version (I mean TINY)
3. Ship it tomorrow. Not next week. Tomorrow.
4. Come back here and drop a comment with the link

I don’t care if it’s:

• A landing page with an email form
• A GitHub repo with 100 lines of code
• A blog post explaining your idea
• A YouTube video showing your prototype

Just ship something.

Because in 6 months, you’ll either have 26 shipped iterations that taught you everything, or you’ll still be “almost ready to launch.”

I know which person makes $10K/month.

The question is: which person will you be?

If you shipped something after reading this? Share the link. The community loves supporting builders who actually build.