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Abadesi

What's the hardest part about launching a product?

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Hustle Crew Academy
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For me it's always a combination of the following: (1) not feeling ready (2) not feeling like I have spent enough time building an audience/followers around it (3) worried launch will not go as expected. What do you find the hardest?
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Jonathan Sun
Usually what happens is a lot of minor bugs start appearing last minute at launch... and then there's the pressure of trying to fix those bugs on time before our self-determined launch. Being a non-technical founder, it feels crazy at times because it's not something I can control. Then after that is knowing when to launch on the market or when to delay (the rule I generally use is if it's sufficiently valuable to the user, launch).
Abadesi
@jonathan_sun1 i feel you! That's where you need to lean into the team and trust in the process
Conrad Ehinger
Everything you listed plus doing it for the first time on Product Hunt! Any tips specific to being successful on this site? We are only a few weeks out!
Abadesi
@conrad_ehing spend each day building your community outside PH so you have as many folks as possible chiming into your launch sharing reviews and comments.
Blessing Museki
For me it's 3 - worried the launch wll not go as expected.
Sarah Loertscher
@abadesi I'd say #2 - finding the right audience. I know that I'll never feel really ready, and I know the launch will not go as expected because, life, but the marketing and audience gathering always feels elusive. Like the perfect answer/audience/follower/hashtag/ad/etc could be right around the corner and it's tough to say, okay, that's enough, what you've done is enough, let's just get it out the door!
Abadesi
@sarahloertscher that's why I think makers should spend time building their personal brands, you get a great mix of folks who are interested in what you do and share similar interests and values. Thus a captive audience to convert into product users when the time comes.
Sarah Loertscher
@abadesi I think that's such a smart way to approach it, although my personal struggle with that is how much time I want to spend on social media (not very much at all). I stopped using social media almost two years ago and am a much happier, balanced person. But that does "cost" me things too, mostly in my work life, and one of those things is an audience, for lack of a better word. I guess it's the common struggle of work/life balance in yet another place. I'm curious on your perspective - have you found way to strike a balance?
Kevin Natanzon
Well, we've just launched today and our app is crashing so...I guess everything!
Abadesi
@kevinnatanzon oh no! hope you get it back up and running ASAP
Sisi Liu
Definitely #2 for me. Product development takes up so much time before the launch that there is not enough time spent to do marketing/community building!
Abadesi
@sisi_l the key is to do both at the same time. It requires an embrace of imperfection and writing about ideas which may not be fully formed.
Lindsey Winder
I did my first launch today and whoo eee! What a ride! I've been a lurker on Product Hunt for a while so had an idea of what good launches looked like - never realized how much energy must go in behind the scenes! Super fun and a lot of notes for the next one!
Eleonora Sergijevic
@lindsey_winder Congrats Lindsey :) So, how did it went?
Sonya Eldarova
Even when you think you estimated all the risks, the market will show that you didn't.
Akshay Vernekar
its definitely marketing for me , being a developer it was relatively easier to create the product even though we have a good organic growth rate now it helps if the word is spreads much faster. Any advice welcomed !
Krzesimir
So, you had your worries - but how did the product launch work out in the end? :) @abadesi
Abadesi
@ostrowele I was pleased with the results! You can check it out here https://www.producthunt.com/post... after the launch I have predominately focused on Twitter as an acquisition channel which has worked well. We were able to 2x our growth in 4 months.
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