RepoStache - Codebase market place
A concept for a marketplace connecting developers with unfinished code projects. Proposed features included buying and selling abandoned repositories, GitHub integration, and developer-to-developer communication for project transfers. Archived after initial interest validation
The Marketplace That Never Was
RepoStache was going to be a marketplace for unfinished code projects. The idea was simple: developers abandon projects all the time. Side projects that never get finished, startup MVPs that run out of funding, experiments that lose momentum. What if there was a place to buy and sell those unfinished codebases instead of letting them rot in private GitHub repos?
The pitch was compelling. Around 66% of software projects fail or get abandoned. That's billions in lost innovation and development work just sitting unused. Meanwhile, other developers are starting from scratch on similar ideas, wasting time rebuilding things that already exist somewhere.
So I conceived RepoStache: a marketplace where burned-out developers could monetise their abandoned work, and time-strapped founders could buy a head start on their next project instead of building from zero.
It sounded great on paper. The statistics were real. The problem existed. But here's the thing: I never actually built it.
What Actually Happened
I registered the domain, built a landing page, and added an early access signup form. That was it. The landing page went live for about six months with zero marketing, zero promotion, and unsurprisingly, zero signups.
In my defense, I was working a full-time job and genuinely didn't have the time. But if I'm being honest, that's an excuse. The real reason was simpler: my heart wasn't in it. The more I thought about RepoStache, the more I realised how massive an undertaking it would be.
This wasn't Joblet or ResignAI where I could spin up an AI-powered tool in a week. This was a full marketplace platform with:
- GitHub OAuth integration
- Repository browsing and selection
- Project listing management with rich metadata
- Search and filtering by tech stack, completion percentage, budget
- Built-in messaging system for technical discussions
- Payment processing and escrow
- Code transfer workflows
- Dispute resolution
- Trust and safety systems
- Seller reputation management
As a solo developer with a full-time job, that was at least 6 months of development. Probably more. And that's just the MVP.
Why It Never Happened
1. Scope Was Too Large
This wasn't a weekend project or even a month-long sprint. Building a marketplace is complex. You're not just building for sellers or buyers, you're building for both simultaneously and creating a platform that facilitates transactions between them.
The GitHub integration alone would have been substantial work. Authenticating, pulling repo lists, analysing codebases, extracting tech stacks, estimating completion percentage. That's before you even get to the marketplace features.
2. Chicken and Egg Problem
Marketplaces have a classic cold start problem. Sellers won't list if there are no buyers. Buyers won't browse if there are no listings. You need both sides simultaneously, which means significant investment in marketing and user acquisition on both ends.
I didn't have the time or budget to solve that problem. Even if I built the platform, getting to critical mass would require either venture funding or years of slow growth while I balanced a full-time job.
3. Trust and Safety Are Hard
Selling code is tricky. How do you verify that:
- The seller actually owns the code?
- The codebase doesn't contain malware or backdoors?
- The project is actually in the state advertised?
- There are no licensing issues or third-party dependencies?
- The buyer gets what they paid for?
All of these require sophisticated verification systems, escrow mechanics, and dispute resolution processes. That's a lot of infrastructure before you even have your first transaction.
4. My Heart Wasn't In It
This is the real reason. I convinced myself the problem was worth solving because the statistics looked impressive. But I didn't feel passionate about it. I didn't wake up excited to work on RepoStache. I never used a tool like RepoStache myself and genuinely wished it existed.
It was an idea that sounded good intellectually but didn't resonate emotionally. And building a massive platform like this requires sustained passion, not just surface-level interest.
5. Full-Time Job Reality
Working full-time meant evenings and weekends only. After a day of coding professionally, spending more hours coding on nights and weekends for a project I wasn't passionate about felt exhausting.
The time constraint was real, but it was also convenient cover for the deeper issue: I didn't want to build this badly enough to make the time.
What I Learned
1. Validate Demand Before Building Anything
The landing page got zero signups in six months. That should have told me everything I needed to know. Either the problem wasn't compelling enough, my positioning was wrong, or I needed to do actual marketing to find the audience.
But even without marketing, zero organic signups was a red flag. If the problem was truly painful, at least a few people would have stumbled upon it and signed up.
2. Passion Matters More Than Statistics
You can have all the impressive statistics in the world. 66% of projects fail! Billions in lost innovation! But if you don't genuinely care about solving the problem, you won't sustain the effort required to build something complex.
RepoStache looked good on paper but didn't excite me in practice. That misalignment was fatal.
3. Marketplace Platforms Are Not Solo Dev Projects
Some projects are appropriate for solo developers. Some aren't. Marketplaces fall squarely in the "aren't" category unless you have:
- Significant prior marketplace experience
- A clear path to solving the cold start problem
- Time and budget for extended development
- Passion that sustains you through the grind
I had none of those things.
4. Sometimes Not Building Is The Right Decision
This is actually a success story, just not the kind people usually tell. I recognised early that this was the wrong project at the wrong time with the wrong level of commitment. So I didn't waste months building something I'd eventually abandon.
The landing page experiment cost me a weekend and a domain registration. That's a cheap way to test an idea and realise it's not worth pursuing.
5. Know Your Constraints
As a solo dev with a full-time job, I have constraints. Limited time, limited budget, limited bandwidth. Some projects fit those constraints (like Joblet or ResignAI). Others don't (like RepoStache).
Recognising which is which before you invest significant time is a valuable skill.
The Landing Page Strategy
Despite never building the actual platform, creating the landing page wasn't completely useless. It forced me to:
- Articulate the value proposition clearly
- Research market statistics and competition
- Think through user personas and use cases
- Design the core feature set
- Consider pricing and monetisation
All of that thinking was valuable even though I never executed on it. The landing page became a way to explore the idea seriously without committing to the build.
And importantly, the zero signups gave me permission to walk away without guilt. I tried. The market didn't respond. Moving on.
What I'd Do Differently
If I were to revisit this concept (which I won't, but hypothetically):
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Start with a community, not a marketplace. Build a place where developers share their abandoned projects freely first. Add monetisation later once you have critical mass.
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Focus on a niche first. Don't try to be the marketplace for all abandoned code. Target one specific ecosystem, maybe just Laravel projects or just React apps. Get traction there first.
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Partner, don't solo. Find a co-founder who's passionate about this problem. Solo-building a marketplace while working full-time is masochistic.
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Validate demand with manual transactions. Before building any tech, manually broker a few transactions. If you can't find buyers and sellers willing to use a Spreadsheet and PayPal, the platform won't solve the problem either.
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Don't build it at all. Honestly, this is probably the best advice. The market has shown limited interest, the problem is complex, and the execution required is massive. There are better problems to solve.
The Reality Check
Here's the uncomfortable truth: I built a landing page because it was easier than admitting I didn't want to build the actual product. The landing page let me feel productive while avoiding the real work.
Zero signups in six months gave me the data I needed to let go of the idea without feeling like I quit prematurely. In retrospect, I could have saved six months by just... not putting up the landing page at all.
But that's hindsight. At the time, I genuinely wanted to test the idea. And the test told me exactly what I needed to know: this wasn't the project for me.
Conclusion
RepoStache is the project I didn't build, and that's probably for the best. Sometimes recognising you're not the right person to solve a problem is more valuable than forcing yourself to build something you're not passionate about.
The landing page exists as a monument to ideas explored and wisely abandoned. That's not failure. That's smart resource allocation.
And hey, if someone else wants to build a marketplace for abandoned code projects, feel free. I've got the domain name and landing page copy all ready for you. Just... don't expect me to be your first customer.
Would I Recommend Building This?
Absolutely not. But I would recommend the landing page validation approach for testing ideas before committing to full builds. Just make sure you actually do some marketing to get meaningful data.