I Built 30 Projects. They All Failed Except One | Starter Story

Thomas Sanis launched more than 30 products over several years. Every single one failed except the last. That product, a launch platform called Unid, now makes around $10,000 per month. In this conversation with Pat Walls on Starter Story, Sanis walks through the specific reasons his earlier projects died, what finally made Unid work, and how he thinks about ideas, timing, and sustainability as a solo builder.

Why most projects fail

Sanis identifies five recurring patterns behind his failed projects. The first is giving up too early. He sees many builders launch something, see no registrations or sales after a week or two, and abandon it. His view is that a product almost never works overnight — you have to verify the market exists and then iterate repeatedly.

The second reason is unclear purpose. Sanis says he has seen hundreds of landing pages with beautiful animations and detailed design, but if the headline does not immediately tell people what the product offers, nobody scrolls down. The third is loss of momentum. When you build in public and post about your product on social media, you create recognition step by step. If you stop talking about it for a few weeks or a month, you have to start building that recognition from scratch.