Overcoming my fear of failure while building newbloom.shop
On building ToxicFashionDetector.com - The Amazon for non-toxic clothes
New Bloom is at the stage where it’s actually helping people, like for real - over 530 active users are finding healthy products in seconds.
But getting here meant launching a product that was 10% ready (to my eyes) and facing the uncomfortable sensation that imperfection gives me.
As one of LinkedIn’s founders said “If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” 100% true. We always have something way bigger in mind. Our vision can only be as big as our ambition, and for many people this means getting stuck.
I used to be stuck in the idea of developing something so perfect and striking that I simply never launched it. But “perfection is the enemy of progress”, so one day I just posted the first link to toxicfashiondetector.com on my Instagram.
It felt so careless, and irresponsible –the UI was horrendous, there was no clear customer journey yet, but what mattered is that it worked, and the Scoring Method I developed after years of research around toxic materials in apparel was functional. I had to go with it. I needed to test it, validate the concept.
In less than a month I had my first 100 sign-ups, fully organically. And the need for new features arose fully based on the users. In the end, I am building for them. I know what problems the Fashion Industry is facing, and have a rough idea on how to fix them, but none of this would work if I don’t understand the global consumer first.
Today, New Bloom keeps taking shape as the Amazon for non-toxic fashion with a toxic materials detector integrated. However, while I vouch for launching early and imperfect, the line I’d never cross is inaccuracy - data retrieval of materials and a careful research behind each material score is at the core of what we support.
With that said, here are…
This Week’s Updates
We are introducing a new domain: www.newbloom.shop as we migrated from toxicfashiondetector.com with the intention to centralize our branding, even though both links still work.
Our Brands page is taking shape based on what people asked:
Products under $50 section
Find brands by category (Kids, Activewear, Luxury, etc.)
(Soon) A selection of healthy dresses - which you can currently find here
We are testing a Home Goods page, since many users were testing cleaning products and furniture.
I started a Building in Public series on Twitter
You’ve shaped this product more than you know. Keep the feedback coming -in the comments, in my DMs, or by texting me at romina@newbloom.world
Let’s make the world healthier,
Romina Roman