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8 Comments

Afraid of launching

I had a business idea and directly started coding it. Even though the Idea was not original at all, I thought it could work.

Since I was very serious about it and I didn’t want this project to finish like many other side-projects I have started - as an abandoned Git repo -, I decided not only to invest my time on it, but some money founding a company and paying others to do what I am not good at: the UI.

This is the same strategy I use for doing fitness: I got a 2-year subscription to a gym because knowing that I am paying for something makes me want to use it. Nothing motivates me more than that.

As every developer, my estimations skills are superb: at first, I was thinking - no, I was sure - if I invest 2-3 hours a day and some more hours on the weekend, I could easily go online in three months. Sixteen months later, I still think the product is, at maximum, 90% ready. I know software is never finished, so 90% should be enough to go online.

I have had many people test the platform and they gave me a very long to-do list, but at least it seems like the “core” features are working well, so it looks like I have an MVP. Most of that to-do list items are only nice-to-have functions, small improvements, or new features that are only worth investing time and money after validating this MVP on the market.

But now I have a problem: I am quite afraid of going live. After so many months just working on the code, testing and playing around with the product, I have the continuous feeling that it is not ready yet. And no matter how many functions I add or how many improvements I code, this feeling is not going away.

Furthermore, even thought I have spent many hours thinking on the best way to reach my target audience (developers and companies searching for developers), I haven't got to any conclusion yet. I don’t even know if first I should target only the devs, or first the companies, or both..

Any tips on how I should proceed?

UPDATE 28 March. 2021:

Thank you all for your comments! I have just launched on Indie Hackers: https://www.indiehackers.com/product/found-dev

I have decided to start by not publishing all features and by letting in only a few hand-picked developers and companies.

If anyone is interested in, please write at me and let me know that you come from Indie Hackers! Members from Indie Hackers have those advantages:

  • If you are a developer, you can assure your URL (found.dev/me/your-name) for your developer profile.
  • If you are a company looking for developers, you won't have to pay a single cent during the first year.
What should I do
  1. Launch now and start promoting it.
  2. First create an audience, then launch.
Vote
  1. 3

    I think you should launch your project. When you will start getting clients you will see what these clients want. Maybe now you are spending time and developing featured which will not be used by clients. Maybe clients will like a project at this stage because it will be easy to use and your project will not have a lot of crazy things, which make sometimes users scared. Don't afraid to talk about your project. Good luck!

  2. 2

    The launch is not a binary thing - it's a process and you can launch as many times as you want.

    Launch for friends, launch for target ads, launch for Twitter, launch for hackernews, launch for producthunt, and so on. Here is a great talk about it from YC

  3. 2

    Man, just try to drive a few well targeted users into the tool. Offer it free if you will, and see if they stick and gather feedback.

    I’m happy to jump on a call if you need feedback.

  4. 2

    You are an architect and builder and a typical coder! But looks like you're not a growth/marketing person at all - you haven't even used the post to slide in a quick mention of what the actual product is! ;-)

    This is familiar territory I see with very early-stage founders that I mentor. Afraid of that final leap of faith. Trust me, your product will still be far from 100% complete in 2 years time but that is no reason to not JFDI.

    In fact how many massive products are still crap and missing features when they're worth billions! Clubhouse can't even be arsed to do an android version of the app - do you think they care that 50% of potential users are unhappy.

    Perhaps you need to focus on finding a cofounder. Or at least put down the coding gloves and start working on a growth plan - that will get you excited for selling it.

    1. 2

      Thanks for your comment and the idea of finding a cofounder. I think that is exactly what I need.

      1. 1

        no worries, happy to help

  5. 1

    Thank you all for your comments! I have just launched on Indie Hackers: https://www.indiehackers.com/product/found-dev

    I have decided to start by not publishing all features and by letting in only a few hand-picked developers and companies.

    If anyone is interested in, please write at me and let me know that you come from Indie Hackers! Members from Indie Hackers have those advantages:

    • If you are a developer, you can assure your URL (found.dev/me/your-name) for your developer profile.
    • If you are a company looking for developers, you won't have to pay a single cent during the first year.
  6. 3

    This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

    1. 2

      Yes, I didn't mention the product on purpose. I wanted to focus on the feeling / situation and not the product itself.

      And you are right, I am definitely not good at creating audiences. I will have to start being more active on twitter and other platforms...

      Thanks for your comment!

      1. 1

        This comment was deleted 3 years ago.

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