After building almost 100 apps and webs as a developer here's what I learned

Tom Agrimbau
9 replies
I founded a software factory 8 years ago and have been coding for more than 15 (yup, dev freak). After some highs and many lows, I learned that it is a big mistake to rush into code. We are taught in this industry to "fail fast", but let's not mistake the scale of that failure, cause let's face it, development ain't cheap. This is my recommendation to start failing fast, without losing all your money 1 - Define what is the problem that you want solve. 2 - Identify which group of people have this problem and need a solution for it. 3 - Map the ways in which they solve for that problem today (products/services). 4 - Talk to those people. Friends and family are great, but you will learn so much more by interviewing at least 10 of those target users. Trust me, totally worth it. 5 - Make a prototype (with a no-code tool) to test your core assumptions and improve. [Pause] - Here you will realize if your solution is actually solving the problem or not. In case yes, you can move forward in order to understand how you can make a business out of this. 6 - Define your business plan (include costs, revenue, market size, etc) 7 - Design a sleek UI for your project. (Let's not go overboard here though, let's keep things MVP) Now, finally, and with the right information to do it... 8 - Put your hands into the code and develop the product. Or hire a team to do it. Let me know your thoughts, I'm happy to help

Replies

Alice Rodgers
Thanks for sharing your experience! Appreciate it)
bendru
That was insightful information
Gleb Braverman
Thanks for sharing!!
Mike
Good input. The one thing I'd have liked to read about was how you initially promoted/marketed which seems to be the biggest hurdle of all new ideas.
Tom Agrimbau
Hi Mark! In most of these projects I was the technical leader or main developer. The promotion was mainly on the side of the client. I saw lots of different kind of strategies for this, but I couldn't say which is the most effective. I guess it dependes on your audience and the product, but its a nice discussion to have. Best