What I got wrong launching an indie product
独立产品上线，我做错的几件事- Launching my first indie product, most of my mistakes came from assuming: assuming my needs were everyone’s needs, that launch was the finish line, and that promotion could wait until “after it’s built.”
- Building it doesn’t prove the need; whether it has users is the answer. If I did it again, I’d narrow the audience earlier: a small group that will clearly pay beats a broad public that might.
- AI is a great motor, but I’m the one steering. Ask the wrong question or give an imprecise instruction, and it just helps me make mistakes faster. Harder to guard against is “I don’t know what I don’t know,” like the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy I left out.
1️⃣ Assuming one person’s need is a group’s need
Building from your own point of view has the advantage of speed, and the drawback of being “too fast.” Without outside critique, the product ends up full of “judging others by yourself” and “taking things for granted.” Whether I need something and whether others do are two different things.
2️⃣ Assuming launch is the finish line
When really it’s just hello, world
Built ≠ need proven
After actually launching, only whether it has users — loyal users — truly answers whether the market accepts the product. My 2.0 changed a lot of structural things: the audience, the core flow and so on. Even though, even though the first product had its learning value, I really did only then realize some questions should have been considered much earlier.
3️⃣ Early on I never thought about promotion or marketing, assuming it was a linear “build it first, then see”
They aren’t the next step you move into linearly once the product is done. They’re questions to think about a little while the product is being defined. The better you know your target users and their pain points, the more precise the product is likely to be.
If I did it again, I’d narrow the audience earlier: a small group that will clearly pay beats a broad public that might (that’s how I feel for now, though there’s no standard answer here; what “paying” means depends on the product, it might be sign-ups
4️⃣ Assuming AI can keep me from making mistakes
It’s a great motor, but in the end the sailor steers
AI can help me analyze user feedback, find patterns, critique the product, write prompts and debug.
But if I ask the wrong question or give an instruction that isn’t precise enough, it just helps me finish making the mistake faster.
5️⃣ I don’t know what I don’t know
The first launch actually left out quite a lot. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy were among them. For a product with user sign-ups and real data being collected, these basics should be in place. But… I genuinely didn’t know I was missing them.
From now on, before launching, I should do a proper pre-check in more, and more varied, ways.
Looking at lots of different indie builders’ products helps a lot. Perspective, perspective, perspective…
The full write-up is on Substack: Notes from the In-Between
Written in Chinese and translated into English with the help of AI. Read the original