Be a product owner, not a builder

“Be a product owner, not a builder.”

I learned this lesson the hard way.

I was deep into configuring my backend, polishing my architecture, adding security layer after security layer, fool-proofing my product.

I spent weeks doing it. Every. Single. Day.

And I was doing it in the wrong order. I built everything before even talking to customers.

Of course, the idea of talking to customers isn’t new to me. In fact, it felt intuitive to throw yourself out there and deal with rejection before writing a single line of code.

But that scared me.

Instead, I did the exact opposite. I kept stacking features. Tweaked configs endlessly. Rewrote my models whenever they didn’t feel “right.” Tested my endpoints obsessively.

And for what?

For myself. I was building a product for myself, not with my customers.

At first, I dismissed the idea of customer interviews — after all, this was born from a personal pain point. I was scratching my own itch. I wanted this product to exist.

But it’s important to ask:

• Are others feeling the same pain?
• Do they really want to scratch that itch?
• Are they willing to pay for it?

Yes, it’s a hard pill to swallow. Especially after all the time, effort, frustration, and late nights spent making things work.

But it’s better to have a half-assed product that people actually use than a professional-grade architecture no one needs.

Product validation > GitHub heatmap

Go talk to your customers.

Rejection hurts, I know. But it’ll feel better after a cold shower.