Glimpses into UX freelancing, solopreneurship, and beyond
For all UX professionals, freelance designers, and first time solopreneurs who are tired of generic and over polished business advice! Get real, behind-the-scenes insights into building a design practice, landing better clients, and the messy reality of growing from freelancer to founder. No million dollar advice, just honest trial and error, stories and maybe some things that actually work.
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17.12.2025
LEAP Newsletter
Glimpses into UX freelancing, solopreneurship, and beyond
The Launch, The Learnings, The Year
Hey there,
Almost two months since my last update. Not great for consistency, but sometimes you're too deep in building to write about building.
So here's what happened while I was radio silent:
My project finally has a face
After months of wireframes and development conversations, the teaser website is finally live.
It's not the full product yet - that launches in early 2026 - but seeing the website live and the waitlist form actually collecting real email addresses hit different.
12 people signed up in the first few weeks.
Not viral numbers. But 12 humans who saw what I'm building and said "yeah, I want to know more." For me this feels great.
The website design (design and development by my friend Marian) is now being transferred into the app itself. My developer Matthias is styling the actual interface, and we're aiming to finish by mid of January. Getting close.
We also reworked how the app tracks different activities - cardio, strength, mindfulness - to make it consistent and m. ore frictionless.
LinkedIn Finally Clicked (And Here's What I Learned)
Remember when I said I was going to "get more serious about LinkedIn"? I've said that approximately 47 times over the past year.
But about 4 weeks ago, something shifted. I committed to a structured posting rhythm and started actually paying attention to what works versus what doesn't.
Result: Almost 7,000 impressions in 4 weeks.
What Actually Works:
Build in Public Content About 25Percent Writing about the website launch, design decisions, product development struggles - this consistently got the most engagement. People want to see the behind-the-scenes of building something.
No External Links in Posts This was a big revelation: putting a link in your post kills your reach. LinkedIn's algorithm suppresses it immediately. Now I put links in comments or just in my profile. The difference in impressions is dramatic.
Visual Content I tried Googles nanobanana for creating images - the results were quite good. Way better than generic stock photos.
Tested some Tools:
Say What: for drafting posts and analyzing content performance - quite nice but way too expensive at the moment.
nanobanana: for images - unique visuals in a defined style. Didn't know that prompting in a JSON format is the way for pictures.
JSON prompt first refined with Claude and then pasted into nanobanana
What Doesn't Work:
Promoting my newsletter directly (algorithm hates it)
Long paragraphs without line breaks (people won't read them)
The breakthrough wasn't fancy - it was treating LinkedIn like actual content creation instead of just status updates. Build something, document it honestly, share what you're learning.
Most of my content right now is about 25percent and longevity.
Side Quest: Building with AI Tools
I've been experimenting with Vercel's V0 app - building small prototypes and testing ideas quickly. Planning to do more of this. The ability to go from idea to working prototype in hours instead of days is changing how I think about product development and the design process. After a talk with a friend of mine I also want to test Cursor for prototyping or building little tools. Already talked with friends about a small finance tool.
Freelance Year One: Almost There
My first full year as a freelancer is wrapping up.
Not perfectly - there were rough months, moments where I wasn't sure how to proceed. But I'm about to hit the revenue goal I set back in January, so the math is working out. And the split between freelancing and working on my project works “ok”.
My client engagement continues (can't share details publicly, but we're reworking their core concept in some exciting ways). Having stable client work while building 25Percent has been the strategic foundation that makes everything else possible.
Still I am planning to acquire an additional client to don't be too dependent on one startup.
What's Ahead
January 2026: the25percent app launch - even when it is just in a closed test. Before then: More LinkedIn experiments, documenting the final app development, planning 2026.
The gap between "building a thing" and "launching a thing" is shorter than it's ever been. Nervous and excited in equal measure.
So what about you? Plans?
Marian sent me this clip at the end of 2024 and I think I will follow the style of planning again.
When looking back on 2025 I almost checked all boxes and even despite the uncertainties of freelancing there was some time for micro-adventures:
Starting to freelance and founding my first company was my big “life changing” goal ✅
Visiting a techno festival ✅
Spending a weekend with friends at a tiny house (that turned into a not-so-tiny-house because of a double booking) ✅
Outdoor cooking trip, by bike, in the rain, cooking sloppyJoes over open fire ✅
Stuff I stumbled across
Exploring how User Experience will evolve with the growth of Artificial Intelligence. https://www.shapeof.ai/
Thanks for sticking around even when I disappear for some weeks. Feel free to drop me a line, always happy to hear about your thoughts.
P.S. - If the25percent concept interests you at all, join the waitlist at the25percent.app You'll be the first to know when we launch in January.
Greetings
Alessandro Kraschewski
About this newsletter
This is my latest installment in a series chronicling my journey from corporate UX designer to freelance product designer and, lately, entrepreneur. Stay tuned as I unravel the mysteries of founding a business and navigate the unpredictable waters of freelance life.
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Glimpses into UX freelancing, solopreneurship, and beyond
For all UX professionals, freelance designers, and first time solopreneurs who are tired of generic and over polished business advice! Get real, behind-the-scenes insights into building a design practice, landing better clients, and the messy reality of growing from freelancer to founder. No million dollar advice, just honest trial and error, stories and maybe some things that actually work.
