I built Fantasy Congress as a side project - a fantasy sports game but for politics. It went viral and taught me everything about building in public.

The Idea

I loved fantasy football but was also into politics. I wondered: what if you could draft members of Congress and score points based on their legislative activity?

Going Viral

I posted about it on Reddit and Twitter. The concept was so unusual that people loved sharing it. Within a week, I had paying users.

Lessons Learned

The niche was too small for a sustainable business, but the experience was invaluable. I learned to ship fast, market creatively, and not overthink.

• First paying user: 7 days
• Peak viral moment: 50K+ visitors in a week
• Learned more in 1 month than 1 year of planning would teach