how many times have i failed so far
23 projects · 9 failures · 5 success · ~22% hit rate
this is every project i have worked on (that i can remember) since 2019 when i started trying to make money on the internet. the main lesson: keep going.
the timeline (23)
2025
jackfriks.comNot for profit
personal site to track things i think are important about me and my work
keep going merch clubNot for profit
keep going merch to keep going for funzies
doof (mobile app)Failed
made some money but again: stopped marketing and fizzled to nothing. 2000 downloads only.
BuyCAD (mobile app)Failed
made for my aunt to check canadian product from barcode (it barely worked, crashed a ton) abandoned it quickly.
yearpix (web app)Okay
made for me and my fiancee to make yearly photo collages - made some money even with almost no marketing! maybe mobile app one day
lovelee (mobile app)Success
made for me and my fiancee to use as doodle sender to home screen, went viral and got 100k+ downloads in first 6 weeks + $40,000 (still $2K MRR with no marketing 7 months later)
famlee (lovelee couples family clone)Failed
i didnt market it so made about $20 and got 200 downloads. haha
2024
Consumption Control BOOKFailed
sold like 20 copies. made originally thinking i was genius solving world hunger, some of my best writing i think.
deep work depot (web app)Not for profit
deep work timer i wanted for myself
post bridge (web app)Success
made to help me promote my mobile app and post vids at scale, turns out many other people liked my idea and execution so turned into SaaS (now 50k MRR CAD)
2023
YT Channel #4Not for profit
1,000+ videos - made to keep myself accountable and maybe market apps - took awhile to recover from bad crypto cult fallout and fumble
@jackfriks on twitterSuccess
made to post about my newsletter writings, turned into posting more thoughts and my app dev journey. abandoned CTwitter account with 25k+ followers to start fresh
Frikit pilisophy NewsletterFailed
thought this was the next big way to make money on the internet seeing others do it, also used articles to turn into a book
Create Cool shit BOOKFailed
less than 100 sales, 80% being family - my first ever book.
Curiosity Quench (web + mobile)Success
1 year or trying everything until hitting $10k/month - made good money overall but stopped marketing so fizzles out. 100k+ downloads
2021
YT Channel #3Success
880 videos - made many of thousands of dollars a month and drove money into other projects
Crypto node hostOkay
Cardano stake pool, at peak was making $1000 per week. (never sold into cash so basically lost it all)
NFT projectOkay
Made stupid amount of money on launch, 50% to dev, kept rest as crypto and lost almost all to tax fumble
2020
tshirt designs (POD)Failed
made a few thousand dollars but worked on it for 1.5 years every day for 4+ hours, so pretty bad.
YT Channel #1Okay
250 videos - made a thousand dollars a month for about a year, first youtube money
YT Channel #2Failed
30 videos - Gave up after 30 videos
2019
Affiliate marketing blogsFailed
spent months to get 4 affiliate clicks making slop articles