I’ve started a new software project. And it’s not sexy. But I’m actually really excited about it because it’s different from how I’ve built many of my projects in the past.
In the past, I’d often randomly have an idea relating to an experience I was having and almost immediately start thinking of names and most likely purchase a domain name (if I could find one that I liked). Sometimes that’s as far as the project went. Sometimes multiple domains would get purchased as the idea evolved in my head or my notes app.
No customer interviews. No market research. No verifying that the market actually wants what I had in my head.
For the past two weeks, I’ve been working on a new project that doesn’t have a name. It doesn’t need one. Yet. Not an official one at least. We have an internal “codename” that we use to refer to it, but it’s unlikely that this will stick. And until we get it to the point that actual customers are going to start using it, we don’t need to have one.
And the good news is that we have a very well-defined target market. And an actual customer waiting to pay us. And a direct plan for finding additional customers.
We just don’t need this piece just yet. Not until we actually have something to put on that domain. Not until we actually have something that we want to market and tell the world about.
But for now, we are trying to avoid all the things that aren’t needed just yet and focus on the things that are. What is the next thing that gets us closer to this being valuable to our target audience? They don’t care what it’s called. They just care does it solve their problem(s).
Don’t get me wrong. I’m chomping at the bit to lock this down. But I want to make sure that we’re building something real and this marshmallow-like practice is helpful motivation to keep building until it’s ready to solve problems.
I feel like there is some quiet power to the new project you describe Zack—like a lot of lessons have been learned and you've now found something that could be magic. I feel really grounded just reading about it!
That's so exciting, I can't wait to hear more about this project 👀