Side projects PokeGoMap
Past project · July 2016
PokeGoMap
A worldwide Pokémon GO map built in one hour and sold ten days later.
- Role
- Founder
- Type
- Product experiment
- Duration
- 10 days
01The problem
A street game with no map for everyone
July 2016: millions of people were out catching Pokémon, but the game gave no way to share where they were.
- The maps that existed were local
- Their URLs were impossible to remember
- Anyone could delete their data
02What I did and how
Validate in hours, not months
I did not want to spend weeks on an idea that might not work, so I set myself a rule: no coding and nothing I could not afford to lose. I used tools that already existed and spent my time on what made the difference: the map and the moment to sell.
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A 1.18 EUR domain
I bought pokegomap.online, a short name that was easy to remember. I left the word "Pokémon" out to avoid trademark trouble and chose English to reach players outside Spain too.
- Namecheap
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A Tumblr site in one hour
Tumblr was free, looked good on mobile and could take traffic spikes my own hosting would not have survived. With a simple theme, the site was ready in an hour.
- Tumblr
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A world map built on other maps
Instead of competing with the local maps that already existed, I imported their data every day into one world map. Because it was read-only, nobody could delete it, so it was the most complete and the most stable.
- Google My Maps
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Monetise from day one
I added Amazon affiliate links to Pokémon products and claimed the name on Facebook and Twitter. That way the site could earn money and was worth more when I sold it.
- Amazon Associates
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Sell before the drop
Google Trends showed interest starting to drop after the peak, and similar sites were appearing every day. I auctioned it on Flippa with a 30 USD reserve and sold it before the niche filled up.
- Google Trends
- Flippa
What I learned
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In a trending niche, speed is worth more than the product.
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If others already have the data, combine it instead of competing with it.
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Time your exit with data, not gut feeling.
03Results
From idea to sale in 10 days
I built the site in an hour, invested 1.18 EUR and sold it ten days later. Small money, but a complete test of how to launch, monetise and exit a project using data.
- Launch 1 hour to launch the site and the map
- Launch 10 days from buying the domain to the sale
- Growth 30 USD sale price on Flippa On a 1.18 EUR investment
- Growth +13.32 EUR net profit After domain, listing and commission
04Media coverage
Coverage
PokeGoMap did not make the press: it was a ten-day experiment. The full story is on my blog (in Spanish).
- Blog michieldas.com
Cómo vender páginas web en Flippa y ganar 25€ en una hora
Read article →
05The website
What PokeGoMap looked like
I have restored the website as it was, with the original world map on Google My Maps.
See the 2016 website →I like finding the fastest way to test whether an idea works, without burning budget. If you want a second pair of eyes on yours, drop me a line.
Get in touch →No strings attached · I reply myself