This article discusses the author's experience building an open-source project, Apollo Client, a GraphQL client for JavaScript. The author shares lessons learned from their journey, including the importance of getting off the ground, getting the word out, making it easy to understand, and empowering contributors. They highlight the challenges of building an open-source project, such as finding the first user and contributor, but also emphasize the rewards of success in terms of community engagement and contributions. The author shares specific strategies for overcoming these challenges, including writing blog posts, creating demo code, and responding to issues and pull requests promptly. Ultimately, the article concludes by encouraging readers to join the open-source community and contribute to projects that align with their interests.