R to @JustinFerriman: Thanks for sharing this, Justin! I have been enjoying watching your GapScout journey unfold, but can completely understand your decision. I hope it results in you being able to do more of the things you enjoy, as you said. Smart move! Best of luck! 👍

R to @JustinFerriman: Thanks for letting us know. I was just wondering the other day how it was going.

R to @JustinFerriman: Good luck with the coaching and doing what is most fulfilling to you. I had been watching your journey with interest, while also wondering how you had the energy to do it all again.

R to @jamesckemp: Thanks James!

R to @JustinFerriman: Sorry to hear the struggles of GapScout - it's a great idea! Best of luck with coaching

R to @JustinFerriman: Hi Justin, I've been following your journey as a long time LearnDash and fellow #buildinpublic fan. This really resonated with me. A while back I was asked for a newsletter to share my personal insights in building a business. I said: "Dedicate yourself to a (business) goal, passion, or interest without sacrificing the relationships and well-being of those you love most. That should include yourself too." If what you're doing does not make you happy, stop. You worded it perfectly. I'd be very interested your help/services. DM coming your way :-)

R to @adityaarsharma: Thanks bud!

R to @JustinFerriman: Was following Gapscout from it early days. Sad to hear you're not continuing. Hope you will be back with something amazing soon. Best wishes Justin!

R to @cmljnelson: Beautiful discovery. 💪🏻 would love to have you as an adviser. I'll reach out.

R to @JustinFerriman: Bummer but I get it

R to @JustinFerriman: So sorry to hear it.

R to @cmljnelson: Appreciated Michael, thanks! I don't have any rules about part-time/full-time -- I'd def make sure it was worth your time though. Plus, I'm not coaching for the money. It's very reasonably priced for what you get. DM me if you want the deets. I say we connect for a 60min strategy session, free of charge and absolutely no sales pitch. 👍

R to @JustinFerriman: Argh, sorry the legal/licensing stuff sorta killed it for you. I’d love for your coaching but I’m really only part-time entrepreneuring, which I don’t think merits your time. I hope you’re able to find some great founders to coach!

R to @PeakZebra: Dang! Just double-checked the settings and it should work. I sent you a DM though!

R to @JustinFerriman: Apparently I can’t dm you, but would love to know more. I’m Robert address-sign my twitter handle dot com

An update for those of you who have been following me and my @GapScoutApp #BuildInPublic journey... Summary: My heart is not into it, and after reflection, I have decided to exit the business. Currently working with some folks on a buyout and/or licensing. Now I'm coaching a select few founders. If you want to know the details... here they are 👇 Software is fun, but it sucks, too. What I find most fun about it is building a brand, competing, and marketing. And since August 2022, I've been doing my thing from that standpoint, and it was working! Through content marketing alone, it has gained a lot of traction! Thousands of visitors to the site each month, and 10-20 daily sign-ups for the email list. People want what GapScout has to offer! But the other side of the coin: software is emotionally draining. At least for me. I encountered many hurdles over the past year. We overcame them, but each time it made me question... "why am I even doing this?" I would lament these issues with my wife @LorenaFerriman as I began to seriously question why I was choosing to have this stress in my life (she was incredibly patient with me). Because that's the thing... it was a choice. I didn't need to be building a software company. The final straw came when G2 sent me a letter saying I couldn't analyze their very public reviews without a licensing agreement. At first, I was like, "Okay, no biggie, there's got to be a solution". I spoke with lawyers and with their legal team. Here's the thing: G2 (and similar sites) have been rewriting their T&Cs to limit AI analysis of ANY kind to protect their investors. It's insane. Like, they can technically sue you even if you manually review the content on their site and document any themes or insights on a pad of paper. Like... what? Nonetheless, we found the solution, and that was to pay G2 (and similar sites) a licensing fee. They were cool with that, as you would expect. So, I was at a crossroads... Option 1: continue forward with the project, paying yearly fees to these sites. Option 2: back out now, and sell. I took a few weeks to discuss with my Lorena, and I landed on exiting the business. I'm fortunate to have some options from that standpoint. One is to license the tech, another is to purchase the tech, and the third is to purchase the tech & brand. I'm confident that the end of GapScout will sort itself out in some capacity. I'm done stressing about it. The project had it's fun parts (i.e. marketing and growing the brand), but I'm done stressing over it now. I'll let things play out. But okay, what's next for me? Something this journey taught me is to choose to spend my time doing whatever makes me happy. And one thing I've always been energized by helping other founders overcome challenges. I did this informally for years. It's fun helping others travel the path that I've already been down. I like to celebrate their wins, and help them get unstuck when encountering a roadblock. When it comes to remote businesses, there are very few things that I haven't seen. I recently completed a coaching certification program to get some ideas on how to structure my coaching so that it can yield positive results in as quickly as possible. I've only just started to let people know that I am taking on clients. I have two founders (product company and digital agency) officially signed-up, and several others have phone calls with me this week. I just need a few more, and I'm closing the doors. Why? I'm the one doing the coaching, and I'm not trying to have a 40hr/week "job". I want to show up with energy and enthusiasm so that I'm helping the folks I work with. If you'd be interested in me helping your business grow, then shoot me a DM and I'll send you a doc outlining everything. Trust me, it's not your typical coaching process. So that's the story and where I am at today. I feel like a weight is off my shoulders, which is how I know this is the right choice for me. If I can be so bold to offer a bit of advice... Always check-in with yourself. In life, in your job, in general. If you are powering through that "ball in the stomach" feeling, then take a minute to understand what is causing that feeling in the first place. Your current path might not be the best for you, and you have it in your power to make a change. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

R to @JustinFerriman: Thanks for sharing this, neat and effective technique!

Segments and personas have a lot in common. It’s easy to wonder: Segmentation vs personas—what’s the difference between the two? #Marketing https://gapscout.com/blog/segmentation-vs-personas-whats-the-difference/

R to @MeetKevon: Check out @JustinFerriman / @GapScoutApp !

R to @colemank83: A few of these notifications are quite important - conflicts with versions coming soon. A few are to leave a review - which I highly recommend plugins do. Repeatedly. Because it helps your .org ranking and gives you qualitative data about your product (hello @GapScoutApp).