David isn't your typical overnight success story.
He's one half of a brother duo who turned their startup failures into their greatest teacher, eventually building Buildpad, a platform that's now helping founders avoid the same mistakes they made.
The Problem: Building Products Nobody Wants
When asked what problem Buildpad solves, David gets straight to the point: "Buildpad solves the problem of founders building failed products."
It's a brutally honest answer that comes from experience.
David and his brother Felix know exactly what it feels like to pour time, energy, and resources into products that ultimately fail. Rather than pretend those failures didn't happen, they turned them into the foundation of their new business.
David and Felix Heikka are two brothers who turned their own startup failures into a learning experience, with backgrounds in software development and a passion for helping entrepreneurs build successful products.
They previously tackled two unsuccessful projects before creating Buildpad.
Two failed projects. Most people would call it quits after the first one, maybe push through the second, but definitely think twice about a third attempt. But David and Felix saw something different in their failures, data points that could help other founders avoid the same pitfalls.
The brothers took their hard-earned lessons and built Buildpad to help founders avoid wasting time on unwanted products by validating ideas with real data, guiding them through building a successful product.
Current Success: $6K MRR and Growing
David's current traction tells a different story than those early failures: "$6k MRR" with 4000+ founders on their platform and customers spanning 40 countries.
And that's not just revenue, that's validation.
When founders from 40 different countries are paying for your product, you've clearly solved something universal. The global reach suggests Buildpad has tapped into a fundamental problem that transcends borders and markets.
When asked about the decision that changed everything, David points to their Product Hunt launch: "There's been many. Launching on Product Hunt is likely one of the most important. That got us our first paying users within 24 hours of the official release and set us up for a great start with good momentum."
Product Hunt launches can be hit or miss, but for Buildpad, it became the catalyst moment. While getting those first paying users within 24 hours is, of course, about revenue, it's also about validation that people will actually pay for what you've built.
After two failed projects, that confirmation probably felt incredible. The momentum from that launch clearly carried forward, helping them reach their current $6K MRR milestone.
Building on Experience
What makes Buildpad compelling isn't just what it does, but who built it. David and Felix are founders who've been in the trenches, made the mistakes, and learned the lessons the expensive way.
Their approach seems to be: "We failed so you don't have to." It's a positioning that only works when you've actually been through the fire yourself.
The platform helps founders validate ideas with real data rather than gut feelings or assumptions. Coming from brothers who built two unsuccessful projects, this focus on data-driven validation makes perfect sense.
They're building the tool they wish they'd had during their first two attempts.
With 4000+ founders already on the platform and $6K monthly recurring revenue, Buildpad has found its footing. The global customer base suggests there's still plenty of room to grow, especially if they can continue helping founders avoid the product-market fit disasters that plague so many startups.
David’s story shows that failing doesn’t mean you’re done. What matters is if you’re up for learning from it and building something stronger next time.
In David and Felix's case, two failed projects became the foundation for helping thousands of other founders build successful ones. Not a bad return on those early "investments" in learning what doesn't work.
Find Buildpad at buildpad.io or follow David's journey at linkedin.com/in/david-heikka/
