Personally, for me, the hardest part has been reaching out to others for help. ๐
(But this is more of a personal challenge than a technical one.)
What has been the most difficult part for you when launching a product?
I always feel like my product isn't good enough, and that the switching cost is too high for my target users to leave their existing solutions.
But deep down, I know that no matter how great a product becomes, its beginning is always unremarkable. The future of a product doesn't lie in how it starts, but in the small differences at the beginning and the continuous adjustments made through constant interaction with users.
For me it has been similar to yours.
Reaching out to others for support, for 2 main reasons:
1. It takes a lot of effort to contact a lot of people for support
2. You know that you will send 200 messages to get supported by 10 people.
Also, the fact that nothing feels organically possible anymore. Unless you pay for promo, or you have a massive audience, feels impossible. It is not, but it feels like it.
In my first few launches, I struggled with fear - fear that the product wasn't ready, fear that people would see it and think it's bad (and that I'm a bad founder as a result), fear that people would use it and churn and be angry.
I still feel that, but I've learned it's worth pushing through it.
Quick story from my last startup @Tandem from when we went through YC:
My #1 lesson from YC was from @gustaf, when he pushed us to launch weeks before we felt ready. โYou should launch to Bookface [YC internal forum] immediately and Product Hunt on Thursday.โ He listened to our excuses, then said โYou need to know whether people want this more than you need to know whether you can build it.โ He was right.
Our first launch - internal to YC - wasnโt great. But we learned, refined our positioning, simplified our product, and our Product Hunt launch went viral / led to a outsized seed from a16z.
Launching sooner than we wanted was life-changing advice. Launch on Product Hunt. Launch on HN. Keep launching and iterating.
Donโt stress too much about the ranking. Even if you donโt get #1, the feedback and engagement from launch will teach you a ton.
@tandem@gustaf@rajiv_ayyangar Isn't it a self-impostor syndrome you are talking about right now? (I am on the same page too.) ๐ฅฒ๐
"Keep launching and iterating." should become a daily mantra for everyone who has an inner need to improve. :)
Finding users to get feedback from. Even if you search in all the "right" places, it's hard to get them to go to your site and test the prod or download the app to test it. ๐
@busmark_w_nika Yup. I mean, I have like 2 testers, but I'm searching for more. Lol I'm grateful for the 2 I've secured, was just hoping for more feedback. Especially since I'm on a dev platform promoting it.
@busmark_w_nika Basically all the bureaucracy and legal requirements that exist in different jurisdictions to create a business associated with a new product or project.
Getting the right audience's attention can be tough. Even with a great product, cutting through the noise and tattoo near memaking people notice feels like a constant challenge.
Recap