“The reason my other apps didn't make any money was just because I didn't market them. For this app I just decided to learn marketing right after I finished it and ship this one out as fast as possible so that I can iterate on what users actually wanted.”

Treat Distribution As The Real Product And Learn Marketing The Moment Your MVP Is Done

Ethan dropped out of computer engineering, built several apps in early 2025, and shipped none — that was the lesson. The mindset shift wasn't technical (Cursor handles that); it was forcing himself to learn sales and marketing the moment the MVP was done, treating distribution as the actual product.