Jera Value logoJera Value

Software engineer and investor. I write about markets and businesses.

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I write about finance and ideas.

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Posts about business.

Posts about building businesses: products, marketing, sales and what my own projects taught me.

140 posts

Jera Value@Jera_ValueWhat I learned from my first SaaS ·

💰 My first SaaS was an intensive masterclass… in how NOT to do things.

The worst part: at the beginning, I had no idea what steps to take. It took me time, money, and patience to figure it out.

Here are 13 lessons that could save you months (and a lot of €) 🧵

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    1. Build something the market wants and is willing to pay for. Don’t try to create the need from scratch.

    2. Product + marketing = 90% of success. Code and design matter less than you think.

    3. One feature, but make it flawless. Everything else is noise.

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    💡 These lessons cost me time, money, and patience...

    If you’re building your SaaS, I hope they’re cheaper for you.

    👉 What lesson would you add for someone just starting out?

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Jera Value@Jera_ValueHow I’ll monetize Find My Moat, my free project ·

Everyone wants a side project that makes MONEY while you sleep. well, I launched one: Find My Moat (link in my profile).

it’s a collection of 150+ investment tools, organized and filtered.

and yeah… it’s completely free.

but here’s the interesting part:

👉 how do you monetize something like this?

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    spoiler: I don’t expect to make a dime at first. this is a long-term game.

    the key: bring in recurring traffic from investors. if I pull that off → this project is worth a lot more than it looks.

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    💰 option 1: direct monetization

    the usual stuff for free websites:

    • affiliates • ads • sponsorships

    the good: CPMs in investing are insane. the bad: if I annoy users, the project dies.

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    🚀 option 2: indirect monetization

    this is where it gets really interesting:

    • drive traffic to my X account • grow my Substack • spot empty categories → build my own tools • add premium features

    each piece feeds into the others. a distribution + product flywheel.

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    is it easy? hell no. will it work? I don’t know either.

    but if it works, it could be the perfect side project for my profile: SWE + investing.

    and if it doesn’t… at least I’ve built the tool I wanted.

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    try it here and let me know what you think: findmymoat.com

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Jera Value@Jera_ValueHow do you escape the 9-to-5 when you earn €1,000? ·

🤔 How do you escape the 9-to-5 when you earn €1,000?

If people knew how close they are to making more money without changing jobs, there’d be fewer complaints and more people building things.

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    Since you were a kid, they’ve always sat you in the same place: the stands.

    ❋ Study, get a stable job, get paid at the end of the month ❋ Spend that money on stuff: clothes, trips, treats, gadgets ❋ “Risk” is bad, comfort is good

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    From the stands, your brain only thinks about:

    ❋ Do I like it or not ❋ Can I afford it or not ❋ Do I deserve it or not

    That’s it. Money goes out and disappears. You don’t ask who’s on the field or why they’re the ones keeping score.

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    When you step onto the field, the questions change:

    ❋ Who makes money on this play ❋ Why are they paying that person and not someone else ❋ What problem is this product solving ❋ What role could I play in this same game

    Same world, same stadium, but you’re no longer watching from the cheap seats. You’re in the game.

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    Silly example, but real:

    Stands: “The gym is so expensive, €60 a month, what a rip-off.”

    Field: ❋ How many members do they have ❋ How much rent are they paying ❋ Why is there always a line at 7 p.m. ❋ What premium service could they offer but don’t ❋ How could I capture a piece of that stream of people

    Same scene, different role.

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    Just so you know, this isn’t just about “starting businesses.”

    It’s about stopping being the person who always pays without understanding the rules and starting to put yourself, even a little, on the side that gets paid.

    You can do it as a: ❋ Freelancer ❋ Side project ❋ Info product ❋ Sponsored newsletter ❋ Niche tool, template, script, whatever

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    How do you go from the stands to the field if you’ve never played?

    It’s not a gift, it’s training. Like going to the gym.

    Getting a little better, step by step.

    Try. Fail. Learn. Try. Fail. Learn. Try. Fail. Learn. Try. Fail. Learn. Try. Succeed.

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    When you start seeing the world this way, you’ll get a little pissed off.

    You’ll realize you spent years in the stands, cheering and paying for tickets, while other people played and took home the prize.

    That’s called cognitive dissonance. And it hurts.

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Jera Value@Jera_ValueMonths of work, a new investing tool is ready ·

📈 Months of work, a new investing tool is ready!

🍾 Novus Value alpha launch! 🍾 🌟 100% free! 🔗 Link in my profile

Enjoy the summer! 🌞

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    As you know, this version is preliminary, launched just before my vacation.

    I reduced the number of years and companies so I could get the database loaded in time.

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    I know there may be some errors or weird behavior in the reports. I’ve been tweaking the data extraction engine and didn’t have time for my usual tests.

    I’ll fix it as soon as I’m back.

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    It’s VERY IMPORTANT to me that you give me feedback and tell me how the platform feels! What can we add? What can we improve?

    What matters isn’t what it’s like now, but what it’ll be like in 6 months.

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    I won’t ramble on. When I get back, we’ll keep making improvements, and I’ll have more free time to polish the tool.

    Better and more, step by step.

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Jera Value@Jera_ValueI’ve changed how I process Novus reports ·

🚀 Novus update

The FREE public Alpha is just around the corner!

I’ve put a lot of effort into improving the user experience. As I mentioned in a recent post, my goal is to deliver top quality on the fundamentals.

🧵

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    I used to use SMLs (small LLMs) to unify reports into a universal format and then give them the style I wanted.

    Although this approach delivers the best results, it has several problems:

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    1) Long wait times for users ⏳

    This is probably the biggest problem for me. I want a smooth, uninterrupted experience. Having users wait for AI to generate reports has been the main reason to look for a change.

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    2) Inconsistencies in AI-generated reports, making year-over-year comparisons difficult

    Novus lets you compare annual reports and highlight differences, but the old model created inconsistencies and made it hard to make a coherent comparison

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    3) Sky-high costs 💸

    AI drives costs way up. Even though they’ve come down a lot, generating hundreds of thousands of reports is still a burden I can’t ignore.

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    What’s my current solution? 🔍

    A new processing method: I “normalize” and integrate the reports into their original style.

    That way, we reduce formatting issues, save costs and, best of all, it’s MUCH FASTER! 🚀

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    Abandoning the other approach? Yes and no.

    The limitations of the other approach will be solved over the coming months, so I’ll probably pick it back up when the technology meets my quality requirements for a better user experience. 😉🔜

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