What doesn’t it take to be a software founder would be a better way to address this. It takes so many things that I never imagined to do what I do now, but there is a concise list of things that will kill this dream if it’s a dream you have.
Thin Skin
In the beginning of your journey toward creating a product, people will tell you you’re crazy. Toward the upward swing of your success, people will try to tear you back down to their level. Toward the top, you will be judged for everything you do and say because everyone will be watching. At any point in that journey, losing your cool will cost you your business. Don’t let your ego distract you, and keep your eyes on the north star of the problem you’re trying to solve with your product.
In the beginning of my journey to become a software founder, I was belittled by many who said the conversations CloseBot was having were obviously not a human. They would send many messages back to back, confusing my early system and breaking it. They had watched me try and fail at creating many other software products in the past and this was just another failure in their eyes. “Don’t waste your time”, they’d say.
Currently in the upward swing of success, there are other companies who have resorted to targeting CloseBot’s image in an attempt to bring us down and gain more customers themselves. They are able to gain a cult-like following of people who feed off negativity and join their cause to fight against this evil that they have chosen to pinpoint us as.
Nearing the popularity phase, I’ve had times where I comment or post something that isn’t 100% politically correct. People call me out on it and try to make me out to be a bad guy.
At any point in these examples, I could have gotten distracted. What if I cowered away from starting in the beginning? If I got caught up so much in the politics of arguing with my competitors, that I lost focus on creating a solution to a problem? Or if I spent more time fighting trolls online than on the business itself? I have moments where I let myself get distracted, but I always pull myself back into focus.
Bad Perfectionism
I am a perfectionist by nature. Being a perfectionist isn’t always bad, but it must be harnessed. With software, it’s important to get to your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) as soon as possible. This is important for the following reasons:
- Get justification from users whether or not you are solving their problem with your product
- Get feedback so you know what to work on next
- Get people hooked so they can light the fire under your butt to make it better
It may come as a shocker to some of you who haven’t known me long, but I’ve started 3 software companies, 1 clothing line, 1 real estate company over the past 5 years that have all failed. I have learned to take immediate, imperfect action and get products out there as quickly as possible.
Here’s where perfectionism comes in handy. When users give you feedback, you must take extreme ownership of the product as a solution and think of the best way to implement a feature or fix that addresses their issue. What’s important to your users should be important to you. If you think something is “good enough”, but most of your users don’t agree, you are wrong.
A Solution without a Problem
You would think this one would be a no-brainer, but I’ve made this mistake before and so to many who hope to become a software founder. If you’re like me, you probably enjoy learning. You get excited about new topics and ideas. It may be tempting to start building products as you learn, without thinking about what problem they solve. Don’t fall into this trap.
As you’re fumbling around in the dark, learning different tools and strategies, also remember to take time to brainstorm problems. Fumbling around in the dark, building your skills and failing forward is part of the process, but always re-align yourself by brainstorming problems to solve.
The first large software product I built was a CRM. It was really cool. I learned a ton while making it. But making this CRM is likely what led to the failure of my real estate ventures as it distracted from what made that business actual money and it didn’t solve a problem that people had… I just liked building it.
An Unhealthy Relationship with Failure
I’m not certain whether or not I was raised to embrace failure or if it was a learned behavior. However, a healthy relationship with failure is imperative to your success as you become a software founder. You learn more from failures than from successes. Plus, if you’re constantly failing, you know you’re operating at the edge of your capabilities… and this is where growth happens.
At CloseBot, I fail most days. I miss mistakes in code and fail to find them before they hit production. I send email campaigns without being set up properly and land our domain in email spam jail. I’ve wasted tons of money on failed marketing efforts and wasted time going down rabbit holes of things that end up not working. Every time I fail, I learn and I improve.
Become a Software Founder
None of us know what we are doing, but some of us do it anyways. Be someone who takes action. Someone who has an unhealthy obsession with learning and failing. Listen to people’s problems. Don’t get distracted by the negativity coming your way as you climb that mountain to success as a software founder 💪
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