Immediately before ShipFast, Marc built two AI products, MakeLanding (an AI landing page generator) and WorkbookPDF, chasing the 2023 AI hype cycle rather than solving a problem of his own.

“At that time, AI FOMO was at its peak. I took the plunge and built MakeLanding and WorkbookPDF.”

MakeLanding generated real revenue, at one point 60% of his roughly $3,000/month, but he had no personal use for it and didn't understand its buyers, which showed up as low conversion, angry customers and a high refund rate.

“Both made money. MakeLanding generated $12,000 in a few months. But something was off… Low conversion, angry customers, high refund rate.”

Habits Garden, a gamified habit tracker that was his main focus through 2022, was extended into native iOS and Android apps after users asked for a mobile version, even though Marc had no mobile development experience.

“Users requested a mobile app. I had no idea how to code them, but I tried.”

The mobile build absorbed months of effort for a product that only reached modest revenue, which he later described as attachment to the wrong product rather than a good use of his time.

“It was making $700/month. Not bad, but not worth 6 months of my life. I fell in love with the wrong product.”