How did you know it was finally time to launch?
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It's been a while since I started to realize the difference between developing the product and launching the product.
While developing, each day is productive as you add features and fix bugs.
But as launch day comes nearer, a new question starts to occupy my mind:
"How do people find the product?"
Less coding and more thinking about how to get discovered by the target audience.
To all those founders who have already done their launches:
What did you focus on before launch to get your first users?
Was it building in public, networking, social media, Product Hunt, or something completely different?
Looking back, what would you do differently if you had to launch again?
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honest answer: i got this order wrong, so take it as a warning rather than advice.
i built first and thought about distribution after. by the time i shipped, my x account was empty and i was introducing myself to strangers on launch day instead of delivering to people already waiting. that's the single thing i'd change: start talking about the problem publicly while you're still building, not once you're done.
what did work: going where the people already are instead of broadcasting. one reddit community where my actual users hang out beat anything i posted to my own empty audience. and pitching press early, because a week-old app gets a reply and a six-month-old one doesn't.
the "less coding, more thinking about discovery" shift you're describing is real, and it doesn't reverse. that's the job now.
I am facing a similar issue! Building the product is only half the battle, marketing it and distribution is a whole different beast.