What I didn’t expect when helping launch an app
A few months ago, I started consulting with an AI platform. Before that, my entire career was in the food industry. Kitchens, shifts, real-world urgency. Not product launches, not SaaS, not AI.
I’m also still working toward my business degree, so a lot of this feels like learning to swim by being tossed into the deep end.
What surprised me most wasn’t the tech. It was the mental load of building something new. The constant second-guessing. The pressure to “say it right.” The endless conversations about positioning, trust, and whether people will actually understand the value you’re trying to create. I hope others feel encouraged to share their experiences, knowing they're not alone in these struggles.
One thing I’ve quickly learned is that users don’t struggle because the tools aren’t powerful enough. They battle because clarity is fragile. Context gets lost. Confidence erodes fast when answers conflict or feel shaky. That realization has shaped how our team thinks about the work we’re doing at CiRQA, but it’s also changed how I approach learning in general. Slower. More questions. Less pretending I already know.
I’m still very early in this journey, and honestly, that’s why I’m posting-to connect with others who understand the challenges of starting fresh.
If you could give one piece of advice to your past self before launching or helping build a product, what lesson would you pass down, and why?
Replies
Welcome to Product Hunt, @cirqa_user
I liked how you framed it. It's very relatable.
Frankly speaking, I haven't launched anything here. But I have been here long enough to see how launches work and what makers do, the good stuff and the bad stuff. And let me tell you, a lot of ranked products who win the upvote battles here might not be good at all in reality.
It's always a well marketed product, the problem your product solves, your conversational engagement with others, peer support, credibility of the hunter, launch day preference, etc. that decides the outcome here. A lot of homework, I must say.
Wishing you the best.
@ashok_nayak Thank you so much for your insight :)
As a full-time university student, I am still well adapted to homework, so I am crossing my fingers that I can at least get the word out to the people who need this product most.