One thing that stood out for me is how much emphasis you put on having an online presence in a certain community as a driver of your business. I have next to zero information on how you actually spent your time, but it seems much of it was on chasing the social clout, hoping it would give you momentum. Online presence and social clout are not goals, they're side effects of successful directed effort - but of course you can also build a low-agency audience with startup porn.
In the long run, there aren't hacks in this business. You really do have to identify a real demand which meeting is both technically feasible and economically viable given the current interest curve and technological frontier. Making sure your product actually solves a problem and getting paid customers is non-negotiable, not something you can just try and see if it works. You make it sound like you put these requirements in the same relevance bracket as building an audience or getting noted on product hunt.
Anyway, hope you go through this moment in your life with lessons learned and experience you can put to good use wherever you see fit.
In the long run, there aren't hacks in this business. You really do have to identify a real demand which meeting is both technically feasible and economically viable given the current interest curve and technological frontier. Making sure your product actually solves a problem and getting paid customers is non-negotiable, not something you can just try and see if it works. You make it sound like you put these requirements in the same relevance bracket as building an audience or getting noted on product hunt.
Anyway, hope you go through this moment in your life with lessons learned and experience you can put to good use wherever you see fit.