It's been one week since I opened the waitlist for my SaaS, and I already feel like I've had a crash course in decision-making.
My number one priority has been building something that people desperately need.
I can make hypotheses about what will be useful, but I won't know if I'm solving a problem until I get feedback from real users.
All that matters is I ship an MVP that solves one problem for a business.
I've spent hours perfecting the UI and debugging features that I shouldn't have bothered building in the first place.
With limited time and resources, the decision of what to build is a vital one.
Nobody cares about what the product could be; they care what it can do for them today.
Having something to show people who are interested is the single most important thing.
The way I'm thinking about what features to focus on is:
The former is the most important component.
Having nice animations or keyboard shortcuts is nice to have, but it doesn't solve a problem.
Comparing my UI to one of a startup with hundreds of employees and millions in funding isn't productive.
My goal is to build a product where the ideal avatar instantly knows they want it the moment they hear about it.
The only way I get there is by building things that solve a real problem.
The market is the only thing that can tell me whether my hypotheses are correct.
To get there, I have to decide as fast as possible what I'm going to create that most people will notice and understand the value of.
I have to make decisions knowing full well I could (and almost certainly will) be wrong, but by not making one, I guarantee failure.
An idea that's been helpful is figuring out whether something is reversible.
Very few decisions at this stage are actually irreversible.
Just because I sell to one customer at the start does not mean I have to continue to sell to them.
If I can change my mind when presented with new information, and the only way to get that information is by making a decision, then being wrong is irrelevant.
I hope this was valuable, have a great week.
Cole
P.S. What's your biggest challenge creating content for your business right now? Reply to this email — I read every reply.
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