Hey everyone! Time for another raw update from sunny Los Angeles. I'm documenting my journey building Dotty.ai AI automation agency toward that magical $25k monthly recurring revenue number.
The Current Reality (January 2025)
Let me be transparent about where I actually am:
Revenue: Still in pre-revenue phase (building agency systems)
- Setting up Dotty.ai AI automation agency
- 3 potential clients in discovery calls
- Goal: First paying client by end of February
Traffic & Audience:
- 200 monthly blog visitors (starting small!)
- Growing Twitter following organically
- Building in public approach is working
What's Working
Learning from Past Mistakes: The Coder Woman Challenge (my 21-day coding program for women) was a spectacular failure that taught me everything about market validation. This time, I'm obsessing over customer conversations before writing a single line of code.
Building in Public: Sharing my journey transparently has connected me with other entrepreneurs and potential customers. The feedback has been incredible.
Technical Skills + Sports Discipline: My volleyball background taught me persistence. Combined with programming skills, I'm able to push through technical challenges that would have stopped me before.
What's Challenging
Market Validation: Making sure I'm building something people actually want to pay for, not just something technically cool.
Marketing Skills: This is my biggest focus right now! The Coder Woman Challenge taught me that amazing services mean nothing without knowing how to reach your audience. I'm diving deep into agency marketing, client acquisition, and content strategy.
Balancing Service Delivery vs. Marketing: As an AI Automation Specialist, I love setting up automations. Learning to spend equal time on marketing, content creation, and client acquisition.
Agency Progress
Service Development: Building repeatable AI automation processes
- Client onboarding system: 60% complete
- Automation templates library: 80% complete
- Project management workflow: 40% complete
Tools & Systems: Using Make, Zapier, OpenAI API, and various no-code platforms. Documenting what works best for clients.
Lessons from the LA Startup Scene
- Start with validation, not code — My biggest lesson from the Coder Woman Challenge
- Share your journey — Building in public creates accountability and connections
- Embrace the beginner's mind — I'm learning business skills alongside technical ones
- Set clear goals — $25k MRR gives me a specific target to work toward
Next Month's Goals
- Complete client onboarding system and sign first client
- Launch marketing campaign targeting small businesses
- Create content showcasing automation case studies
- Network with 10 potential clients through LA events
- Continue sharing authentic agency-building updates
Building an AI automation agency in Los Angeles is intense — the energy here pushes you to think bigger and master marketing faster. I'm nowhere near my $25k MRR goal yet, but every client conversation and marketing experiment brings new insights.
Thanks for following along! Your support and feedback mean everything as I navigate this journey.