In 2021, AI and crypto were on fire. Everywhere I looked, people were talking about decentralized technology, AI-powered insights, and the future of finance.
I thought I saw an opportunity.
What if I built an AI-powered Reddit sentiment analysis tool that filtered out the noise, analyzed sentiment in real time, and provided actionable insights on crypto projects? A tool that helped traders see the truth beneath the hype?
Crypto Clamor was born.
I went all in:
✅ Hired a designer to create a cool logo and polished UI.
✅ Spent months refining and building a slick UI.
✅ Developed a real-time AI-powered sentiment analysis using BERT, thinking it would be the key differentiator.
✅ Integrated multiple data sources, believing that “more data = better product.”
I was convinced: If I built it, they'd come.
The Brutal Reality: No One Cared
After 2 years and thousands of dollars spent on design and advertising, here's what happened:
❌ No one signed up after launch.
❌ Cold outreach fell flat.
❌ Even visitors to the site didn't stick around.
The hardest realization? I built something I thought was valuable, not something people actually needed.
Where I Went Wrong
💡 Mistake #1: “If I Build It, They'll Come”
- I assumed a great product was enough to attract users.
- I didn't test demand before writing a single line of code.
💡 Mistake #2: “AI Will Sell Itself”
- AI is exciting, but people don't pay for technology—they pay for solutions.
- I focused on cool AI features instead of solving a painful, urgent problem.
💡 Mistake #3: “A Great UI = Instant Customers”
- I spent months refining the interface, thinking that would drive conversions.
- But beautiful UIs don't matter if the core product isn't solving a real problem.
The Hard Lesson: Build for a Real Problem, Not the Hype
🔥 The market doesn't care how long you've worked on something.
🔥 AI alone isn't a product—it's a tool.
🔥 The best way to validate an idea is to get paying customers before you build.
Had I spent even 1 month pre-selling Crypto Clamor, I would have realized:
🚫 The problem wasn't as painful as I assumed.
🚫 No one was willing to pay for AI-driven sentiment analysis.
🚫 I was building a solution in search of a problem.
How to Avoid My Mistakes (For Free)
Before you spend months (or years) building, validate your AI idea first.
✅ I put together a free AI Business Idea Validation Checklist to help you avoid these mistakes.
It's the exact process I wish I had used before Crypto Clamor.
🚀 Building software with AI? Get expert insights on AI-driven development, validation, and growth by joining my free newsletter!
🔗 Join free → https://stephencollinstech.substack.com/subscribe
Don't waste years and thousands of dollars like I did. Test your idea first.
Final Thought
I failed hard. But that failure is now saving me (and hopefully you) from making the same mistakes again.
Top comments (7)
Did you actually fail? or is this a drama you created to sell your Book? If you really failed, then thank you for sharing your experience. You have learned the biggest lessons from your failure and that is a good thing.
From your advices, I like the one which says "Build for a Real Problem, Not the Hype".
Appreciate the honesty! No drama here—just hard-earned lessons. Failure isn’t the goal, but if you’re going to fail, fail fast and learn faster.
The real trap? Spending months (or years) building something no one actually needs. That’s why ‘Build for a Real Problem, Not the Hype’ is one of the biggest lessons I emphasize. Too many AI founders chase trends instead of solving real pain points.
Glad that one resonated with you!
Good arricle Bro, I learned a lot from your experience. I wish those AI Hype chasers read your article.
I think every entrepreneur has to go through this at some point haha
Appreciate you sharing your experience and sharing what worked/didn't work
The journey certainly isn't easy, but validating the idea or pre-selling it is definitely incredibly useful for knowing whether to work on a product or not. Something we all learn the hard way haha! Been there, done that! 😅
Once we learn and pick ourselves up, that's where the progress is. Onwards and upwards!
Good points.
Hi there. I have spent one year full-time, and a year part time building a crypto analytics platform - Crypto Statto.
Great article, and sadly - brutal. My gut feel is that orienting a product that is AI is glossing over the reality that AI is just another way of getting information. Putting the "cart before the horse". My platform is currently BI driven and I am putting AI analytics in at the moment, it will mention AI but I wouldn't call my platform AI Crypto (maybe I should :) ).
I read your checklist and the one issue we have is that we don't know that if you had done these simple things in the first place it would have proven that you shouldn't have wasted your time (wasted is unfair as am sure you learned a lot). Think Schrodinger's Cat.
I should probably put an article together on this. The hardest thing is that "nobody cares" - for example, I know a handful of people that actually buys and sells cryptocurrency with any degree of knowledge. So asking friends, colleagues and family is largely pointless. I have worked a lot in finance, and again - almost all my colleagues know nothing about cryptocurrency (many are incredibly smart people but it is outside their Overton Window). The only time people will care is when you are successful.
I have been involved in a lot of startup events, collaborated with cofounders, tried and failed at a startup too. The one thing I do not believe is that MVPs work. The "Fail fast, fail early" basically means - build terrible infrastructure that needs rewriting in the hope that an investor will let you build it properly with their money, change the business model completely. Few startups survive this. One friend secured £2m in funding, way back, for a retail space venture and - it failed.
I don't know precisely what you attempted - feel free to share, but after having got a core platform that works - remember, 2 years is nothing in terms of tech projects. Normally I consult on sites that may have projects hiring tens of developers, project managers, business analysts, product owners, business managers, infrastructure to name but a few. So there could be 50 people involved in a mid-sized project and they may have tens to hundreds of projects running. You tried doing this on a tiny scale.
My takeaway is that there should be enough of a core product that can pivot where needed. For example, I am now building automated publication of data to Telegram as another funnel. Another thing that is partially there is the idea for developers to be able to host applications on my platform. These are all potential funnels that lead in.
Of course, everything may fail but you don't know if you don't try.
In a way, it is the beginning, yet it feels like the end.
Reach out to me if you still have any energy to collaborate.
Thanks,
Zak
Hey Zak,
Appreciate the thoughtful response. You’re absolutely right—AI is just a tool, not the product itself, and a lot of people get caught up in the hype. Sounds like you’re taking a pragmatic approach by integrating AI where it adds real value rather than leading with it.
I hear you on the challenge of finding the right audience. Friends and colleagues aren’t always the best gauge, and crypto, in particular, has a niche but highly engaged user base. Getting in front of the right people is half the battle.
On MVPs, I think it depends on how they’re executed. Some treat them as throwaway prototypes, while others use them as iterative stepping stones. Either way, having a solid core that can pivot makes sense, and it sounds like you’re already doing that by exploring Telegram and developer-hosted applications as funnels.
Two years is definitely nothing in the grand scheme of building tech products. I’ve learned a ton through this process—some hard lessons, but valuable nonetheless. Always open to discussing ideas and potential collaborations. Let’s connect and see if there’s alignment.
Thanks again for reaching out!
Stephen