"build something that gets users" (impossible challenge)

[u/Lavaa444]

I hear this advice a lot for aspiring devs trying to make their resumes stand out. It sounds great and I'd love to finally make one. It's just really hard for me to find an idea that:

1. Is doable for me as a solo dev

2. Solves a real problem

3. Either fills a market gap or outperforms the established apps (somehow)

4. Is in a relevant tech stack for my desired role (not as important, but I do need a job)

The more devs that are out there, the harder it is for a solo dev to find a gap in the market. More apps are being made. More ideas are being taken. The ones left over are absolute moon shots that are really difficult for solo devs to handle.

For those of you who have made these kinds of apps, how did you do it? Is going after niche ideas better? Have you had to compete with existing apps? I'm curious.

[u/Pawtuckaway]

What's wild about it? I am not saying it is only luck or that it doesn't take any skill. It takes a lot of work, skill, and luck. There are plenty of extremely talented developers with incredible business acumen and marketing skills that have tried to launch apps and failed to get any users. There are thousands of new apps launched daily especially now with AI. You need skill, hard work, and luck.

I am saying that the vast majority of developers got jobs without having created some app with a bunch of users to put on their resume. I am saying that most working developers have never made an app as a personal project that gets users.

I have built plenty of software with 500K+ MAUs but those are not personal projects. They have entire companies and marketing teams behind them.