Introduction + Personal Updates

Hello Blog,

It's time for what seems to be effectively a yearly post. Things have been very crazy since my last one. I've gotten into college pursuing Computer Science, and I'm going to be leaving in about a week, which is just surreal. I'm really excited to have my own space and to have more of a schedule again.

This summer, I've been leaning more into my entrepreneurial side and have launched a few side projects. My current side project is called RoIQ, which is the topic of this post. I’m hoping to make this a bit of a series: documenting my journey of validating the idea, finding leads, building a product, and everything that comes with that. I figure it’ll help keep me accountable too. Now there’s at least some perceived social pressure (assuming anybody reads this — reach out if you are!).

Why Roblox Devs Need Analytics

As I’ve continued launching side projects, I’ve been learning the importance of failing fast, tracking engagement, and staying in close communication with your users. Pretty much every successful case study I read about on places like Starter Story leans heavily on analytics to make smarter product decisions. So when one of my new friends from college told me he wanted to build a Roblox game, I immediately thought:

If analytics are so crucial in SaaS, wouldn’t they be just as valuable in a platform like Roblox — which is essentially its own billion-dollar game dev ecosystem? (yes, actually)

It turns out... not really. Or at least, not yet.

Since I’ve begun validating my idea with Roblox developers, it’s become pretty clear that analytics adoption is super low. Which is odd, because Roblox actually offers a built-in event-based analytics tool called AnalyticsService. At first, I saw this as a red flag — like maybe this was proof that no one really wants analytics in this space.

But the more I talked to people, the more I realized it’s not that they don’t want it — it’s that they don’t know what it can do for them. Some devs had no idea what role analytics could play in their game. Others, who did get it, wanted more power and flexibility than Roblox's built-in tools could offer.

So that’s where RoIQ comes in. Even reimplementing AnalyticsService in a more flexible or user-friendly way would already be a big task. But the real challenge is showing developers why it matters in the first place. Right now, my focus is on continuing to talk with potential users, figure out exactly what they need, and — hopefully — offer discounts in exchange for early feedback and adoption.

This feels like a game of education as much as it is marketing. It’s not just about setting myself apart from Roblox’s native analytics. I also have to show younger devs why they should care about this stuff at all.

Finding My First Leads

Having done very little Roblox development myself, I wasn’t sure where to start. Ironically, building the product isn’t the hard part. It’s all the other stuff: finding leads, talking to people, building awareness. Taking this kind of validation-first approach is a little uncomfortable, but I know it’s the only way I’ll actually make progress.

My first instinct was to check out Reddit. I looked through Roblox Studio’s related subreddits, but even the biggest one barely cracked 100K members — which felt surprisingly small and not super active.

So I thought back to where I would go if I were a young dev trying to learn Roblox: YouTube. Sure enough, I found a bunch of creators making tutorials and guides. And in one of their video descriptions, I found a link to a Roblox developer Discord server.

That turned out to be a goldmine.

One interesting thing I noticed about these servers is how ad-focused they are. Many of them offer sponsorship slots — you can literally pay to post your service in a channel. On top of that, they’re full of freelance developers sending unsolicited service offers straight to your DMs. At first, I thought this was kind of annoying... but then I realized it was my target audience reaching out to me. This is where I found most of my initial leads. A lot of them were running or helping with real games and happy to chat. Here's one of those conversations that stood out to me:

Gaining Insight from Developer Interviews

User:

Hey
I came across your profile in a mutual server just trying to reach out if you are in need of a Roblox game developer

Me:

I don't, but do you have experience running your own games?

User:

I have experience running other people's game.
This is my portfolio that shows my expertise:
[redacted]

Me:

Have you ever used Roblox's AnalyticsService?
I'm working on building a product for developers that will help to boost engagement and sales in their games by leveraging advanced perspectives on their user's journeys. It's meant to help you figure out what exactly makes players decide to spend or quit.
If this sounds interesting I'd love any feedback you can give! It's at https://roiq.cc.

User:

Hey mito! That sounds interesting. I haven’t used AnalyticsService much, but I’ll check out the site and share some feedback soon.

Me:

Appreciate you!

User

Hey mito! Just checked out the site ..... cool idea! It’d be great to see a sample dashboard and more info on how it integrates with game engines. Excited to see where this goes!

This kind of feedback has come up a few times. People are curious, but they want to see what RoIQ can do and how it fits into their workflow. So building a clear, simple demo dashboard is now one of my top priorities.

It’s short conversations like these that are really helping the product take shape. They've taught me that growing something meaningful isn’t just about selling — it’s about collaborating with the people you're building for. I want developers to feel like I’m building a solution around their needs, not trying to bend their needs to fit my solution. That’s the difference between selling something and actually solving a real pain point.

Marketing Plans

One big thing I’ve taken away from these early interviews is that most developers just don’t know what tools are available. Roblox’s own AnalyticsService is already capable of quite a bit, but barely anyone uses it. So I’m not just trying to convince people that RoIQ is better — I also need to show them that analytics matter at all.

That’s why I think YouTube is going to be a big channel for growth. These creators are already teaching new developers how to build games. If I can sponsor a video where they implement and explain RoIQ, I think it could make a real impression. I imagine a video where someone shows how you can track a user’s full journey through their game — where they clicked, where they dropped off — and I feel like that kind of “wow” factor is what it’ll take to shift minds.

Additionally, the viewers of these Roblox development channels are exactly the audience I am trying to target. They are likely developers themselves, play the game, and are learning to build their own games. This kind of early adoption in a developer's journey, given they gain value from RoIQ, makes what I presume to be life-long customers. I anticipate the sponsorship of one of these channels would provide me incomparable levels of reach to my target audience, especially relative to competing ad platforms.

Conclusion

Anyways, that’s where things stand right now. I’m continuing to find leads and conduct interviews, and I’m aiming to hit at least 40 signups on a waitlist before starting serious development on an MVP. That way, I can avoid building blind and make more informed decisions.

With college around the corner, I’m not sure how much time I’ll have — but I’m hoping to keep the momentum going and write a Part 2 soon.

If you’re reading this and you're a Roblox dev (or just curious), feel free to reach out! Would love to hear your thoughts or chat about how you’re thinking about analytics in your own work. You can reach me at site@caius.org or sign up for the waitlist on roiq.cc!