Subclip.app
AI video editor for captions, dubbing, transcription, and translation
Note: the project link is at the bottom of this page. Keep scrolling to reach it.
The Problem
I was recording a video every day for my YouTube channel, and editing became the part I struggled with most. Adding subtitles took time, yet I could not find a tool that let me generate them without limits. I knew how to build apps by then, so this felt like a problem worth solving. Subclip.app began as my first real attempt at an Electron desktop application.
The Motivation
I wanted to build a desktop product that people could buy once and keep using. A local app also meant creators could keep their videos and edits on their own machines instead of uploading everything to another service.
Mistakes
Subclip.app is my longest-running project, so the list of mistakes is long. I expected too much from it before doing enough market research. I also started without a clear distribution strategy, which left me with a poor conversion rate even after putting a huge amount of work into the product.
The biggest mistake was expecting life-changing money from one project. That expectation made every slow period feel worse and pushed me into too many experiments before I understood which part of the product or marketing actually needed attention.
Learning
This project taught me more about distribution than anything I built before it. I learned what building in public feels like for me, how to post on Reddit without treating every post as promotion, and how SEO and technical SEO work in practice.
I kept pivoting the product instead of limiting it to the first desktop version. Each pivot came with technical and business lessons. There is still a lot I want to document, but the main lesson is that building the product and finding a repeatable way to sell it are two different jobs.
Achievements
Subclip.app became my first full-fledged startup and the longest project I have stayed with. It has made more than $1,100 in total revenue so far. That is a big number for me, even though the business is not profitable yet because I spent a lot on experiments and learning.
The product has also generated recurring revenue. My goal now is to make it self-sustaining and eventually profitable. I do not know whether that will take a few months or another year, but that is what I am working toward.