What do you struggle with the most when launching a product?

I always ask myself, 'Do people really need this? Is it different enough to beat the existing services?' 😂😂

I always feel like my product isn't good enough, and that the switching cost is too high for my target users to leave their existing solutions. But deep down, I know that no matter how great a product becomes, its beginning is always unremarkable. The future of a product doesn't lie in how it starts, but in the small differences at the beginning and the continuous adjustments made through constant interaction with users.

In my first few launches, I struggled with fear - fear that the product wasn't ready, fear that people would see it and think it's bad (and that I'm a bad founder as a result), fear that people would use it and churn and be angry. I still feel that, but I've learned it's worth pushing through it. Quick story from my last startup @Tandem from when we went through YC: My #1 lesson from YC was from @gustaf, when he pushed us to launch weeks before we felt ready. “You should launch to Bookface [YC internal forum] immediately and Product Hunt on Thursday.” He listened to our excuses, then said “You need to know whether people want this more than you need to know whether you can build it.” He was right. Our first launch - internal to YC - wasn’t great. But we learned, refined our positioning, simplified our product, and our Product Hunt launch went viral / led to a outsized seed from a16z. Launching sooner than we wanted was life-changing advice. Launch on Product Hunt. Launch on HN. Keep launching and iterating. Don’t stress too much about the ranking. Even if you don’t get #1, the feedback and engagement from launch will teach you a ton.

For me it has been similar to yours. Reaching out to others for support, for 2 main reasons: 1. It takes a lot of effort to contact a lot of people for support 2. You know that you will send 200 messages to get supported by 10 people. Also, the fact that nothing feels organically possible anymore. Unless you pay for promo, or you have a massive audience, feels impossible. It is not, but it feels like it.

Getting enough organic upvotes

Struggle can be when an established company launches on the day you launch 🥲😅

I start my day with 2-3 key tasks in my mind. By 7 PM I realize I spent the day doing everything else.. 😭

I can totally relate to this - it’s one of my biggest challenges too, and I'm actively working on getting stronger at it. My co-founder recently shared a tactic that’s been a game-CHANGER for me - It can either go 1) really poorly (which, honestly, is great because any negative feedback is valuable), or 2) really well (which is awesome validation). 'No's' only make you stronger as long as 1) you take action on them and 2) you only allow yourself a 5-second funeral before moving on. Try it out and report back ◡̈

As an indie developer, I don't have the budget to run content in other countries, and the cost of running a social media account is also high, so I recently reached out to some media to gain exposure.