7 lessons I learned building a product from scratch

1. Speed is everything. Don’t spend weeks debating features. Ship the minimum that delivers value and get it into users’ hands fast.

2. One active user is worth more than ten inactive ones. Real feedback beats vanity metrics every single time.

3. Don’t be afraid to fail. At this stage, mistakes are cheap. Test, iterate, adjust.

4. Build in public (when you can). Sharing your journey attracts feedback, connections, and often your first users.

5. Solve a real problem, not a “nice” one. If there’s no pain, there’s no reason to pay.

6. Keep it simple. Every line of code, every decision, every feature, the simpler it is, the faster you validate.

7. Feedback > opinions. Friends and investors have opinions, but only active users give insights that shape your roadmap.