Manifestation Works, But Strategy Sustains Success

In This Week’s Edition of Build by Sefunmi Osinaike:

1. How I manifested my book success, then failed to use it.

2. From side hustle to $100,000 a month: A Ramen Affair

3. A real AI office?

Let’s get into it. 👇🏼

Why Manifesting Is Not Enough

In the weeks leading up to my book launch, I became one of those people. You know the type. The person who turns their morning coffee into a ritual of whispered affirmations. Who stares into the bathroom mirror, eyes locked in steely determination, and says, "I’m going to be number one on Product Hunt."

I said it in the shower. In the car. While waiting for my food to heat up.

And then, as all great manifesters do, I worked my ass off to make it happen.

I didn’t just hope for success, I reverse-engineered it. I studied every Product Hunt playbook, combing through best practices like a video game nerd. I tracked down top users, slid into their DMs, asked for feedback, and built relationships. I embedded myself in product communities across the internet, subtly planting the seeds of my upcoming launch like I was executing a long con.

Launch day arrived, and I was glued to my screen. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh.

And in the final hours—I did it. Number one. Shiny badge. Bragging rights. 7,000 downloads in 24 hours.

I had manifested success.

But in my blind pursuit of the top spot, I had also walked straight into a disaster. I had spent weeks preparing for launch day but zero time preparing for what came next.

• I didn’t install Google Analytics, so I had no idea how many people visited my site.

• I didn’t track where my traffic came from, so I had no clue what worked.

• I didn’t validate emails, so I lost the opportunity to contact some people.

• I didn’t think about lead generation, so once the hype died down, I had…nothing.

Had I been thinking beyond that one day—beyond the leaderboard, beyond the vanity metrics, I could have turned that momentum into something lasting. A newsletter. A community. A pipeline of future customers.

Instead, I got a badge. And a lesson.

Manifestation is real. But strategy is more important.

Founder’s Spotlight

Once in a while, we share a short, inspiring story of a thriving founder. This week, we’re spotlighting Manville Chan, the Chief Experience Officer (heh) of San Francisco-based culinary experience business, The Story of Ramen.

Growing up in Hong Kong, Manville Chan learned to cook from his mother, finding joy in sharing meals with loved ones. While building a career as a product manager, he discovered eatwith.com, a platform for hosting dining experiences. Intrigued, he began inviting strangers into his home for cooking classes.

What started as a side gig eventually evolved. He pivoted to teaching ramen-making and, after losing his tech job, decided to go all in. He officially launched The Story of Ramen in 2018, and has welcomed tens of thousands of students ever since. His workshops generate $60,000–$100,000 monthly, teaching people how to make restaurant-quality ramen.

Despite challenges like city regulations and COVID-19, he has found more fulfillment running his business than working in tech. For Manville, ramen is about connection.

“The Story of Ramen is all about fostering connection and building relationships through the power of food. Since I work directly with our customers, I can see how much interacting with others can really impact your day-to-day life. So I think it’s important to always check in with people to ask them how they’re doing and really listen to what they have to say. Those small connections and interactions can make a huge difference in someone’s day, week, or even month.”

Helpful AI 🤖✨

Each week(ish), we spotlight a digital tool, AI resource, or business hack that can help you build a business with more effectiveness and less costs.

This Week’s Pick: Marblism 🤖✨

Marblism lets you build AI-powered assistants that can take on tasks, work together, and improve over time—an ever-learning workforce.

With Marblism, you can: 🚀 Set up AI employees to handle repetitive tasks for you. 🔗 Easily connect them to your favourite tools and APIs. 🤝 Build AI teams that collaborate like real coworkers (minus the office drama). 📈 Watch them get smarter with every interaction.

If you’ve ever thought, "I wish I had an assistant for this," Marblism might just be your new best friend.

Stay tuned for next week’s Helpful AI spotlight! 🚀

Content For This Week

If you’d like to watch a video of the story shared in this week’s newsletter, I’m currently posting a video series on LinkedIn breaking down the highs and lows of my entrepreneurial journey.

By the way, if you're enjoying this newsletter, I'd love to hear from you! Let me know what you've liked so far and what you'd love to see more of.

Thanks for reading, and have an amazing weekend! 🚀

Sefunmi Osinaike