Hey, I've been developing and launching products both for myself and others. Skip those rules at your own risks...
golden rule #1: Please, please, please. Validate!!!
If you’re serious about getting your idea out there, nothing matters more than validation. Before you build, see if people care enough to join your waitlist or pay for a solution.
There are no shortcuts here. Launch a landing page on Framer (my personal go to to set up a quick landing page in a few days) and put it in front of real users. Reddit is great, and so is simply messaging people directly. See where your audience hangs out and your goal should be to book as many meetings as possible to truly understand how your audience thinks. The goal isn’t perfection, it’s feedback and real interest.
Eric Ries puts it in The Lean Startup: “The only way to win is to learn faster than anyone else.” Validate your idea by getting it in front of people and learning from their reactions.
golden rule #2: Dream big but work harder.
Once you’ve found interest, the next step is actually making your idea real. Your options are simple: learn the basics yourself, find a technical co-founder, hire a freelancer, or partner with an agency. There’s always “vibe-coding” your idea, but I’d be careful with that route. Whatever you choose, stay involved.
Marty Cagan. writes, “The best solutions come from deep collaboration and relentless customer focus.” No matter who writes the code, your vision will only come to life if you put in the work.
golden rule #3: Hands off success doesn’t exist. and clicking on this
We see that the founders who get the best results are always the ones who stay close to the work, even if they aren’t technical.
You don’t need to write code, but you do need to understand the steps, challenges, and tradeoffs as you go.
One idea I come back to from The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman: “Design is really an act of communication, which means having a deep understanding of the person with whom the designer is communicating.” Building a product is no different. You’ll go further by staying engaged, communicating with your team, and never assuming something is “too technical” to ask about.
Credentials: been building products with Converge Labs