Hi there, welcome to humanfirstapproach, if you’ve come across this blog and are thinking ” What’s this all about?” let me share a little.
I’m Chi-chi Ekweozor and I am a software engineer and female tech founder, my most recent product or platform is still in the build stage but having taken the start-up journey a few times before I wanted to start this blog to share some insight into the highs and lows of being a female tech founder and some of the learnings along the way which have informed the way I develop products and services. I don’t claim to be any kind of guru or expert (is anyone?) but I do believe that sharing journeys warts and all is the best way founders can support one another.
This month I want to talk about building your product.
It’s a wild ride being a tech founder, the exhilaration of embarking on the journey of creating a new tech product and the road to success (or not!) fraught with challenges, uncertainties and sleepless nights – will anybody even use this product?!
Ok, let’s take a breath! If you’ve read this blog before you’ll know I’ve taken the start-up journey before and I’m doing it again! And whilst I don’t claim to be any kind of expert I hope I’ve learnt a little bit along the way!
The idea – where it all starts
Every tech product starts with an idea! A spark of genius and then the questions start, is your idea truly unique? Are there competitors offering similar solutions, is your idea even a solution? (Newsflash: it might be one looking for a problem – been there!) Does it solve a real problem? Does it resonate with your target audience? So many questions come out of this idea stage but don’t be alarmed! And don’t do what I did and ignore them; embrace them and work through them. Take the time to ensure the idea is sound and that it has a place in the market, a reason for being and crucially, that ultimately people will buy it.
Get the right team
Team? Feels a bit early in the conversation to be talking about a team, doesn’t it? But there are a few realities which need addressing. First of all, if you’re not technical (and plenty of tech founders aren’t!) you’ll need someone to build your product and you may also need support in other areas so it’s worth thinking about that early on. It’s also worth considering that you probably won’t need all of these skills all of the time but having the right mix of talent, skills and expertise is essential – and if you are a technical founder it’s my belief you will feel the benefit of this even more as you are so close to your product having people who can look at the product differently and advise you is a huge benefit.
No money got problems
Having a team sounds amazing right? Support, people with you on the journey, etc but expertise costs money, and money or lack of it is a very real issue for tech founders, and it’s part of where the ride gets wild. We’ve chatted about funding options and why you would (or wouldn’t) in this blog but the short take here is you’re very unlikely to have funding straight off the bat so you need a plan as to how you’re going to finance the resources and people you need to make your product a reality. I’m not here to tell you how to do that, everyone’s circumstances are different and so my biggest piece of advice here is ‘ do what is right for you’ and don’t be influenced by what you see around you. In particular, be wary of investing so much time chasing funding that you are not building the product. It’s a tightrope to walk on but it is possible to prioritise getting a minimum viable product out there before embarking on the time-consuming and emotionally draining process of raising funding from seed and angel investors.
When you build it, there will be issues
Tech, it’s great when it works! And when it doesn’t – well it’s quite annoying, putting it politely. Building a tech product is a complex and iterative process. Development challenges will arise and need to be resolved, whether you’re technical or not this can be so frustrating! This is why it’s crucial to have a flexible and adaptable development process which includes allowing the market to test your product. Do not fall into the trap of getting your product all the way to market without anyone but you and your team having seen it in action. Be prepared to pivot and adapt your product based on what your customers want, it’s not just about the build – it’s the right build.
You’re never done
The product is built, you made it. And now the fun really starts! Building an amazing product is only a small part of the journey, getting your product in front of people who will use it (and pay for it!) is a major challenge and one which requires a well-thought-out distribution and marketing plan which is resilient enough for a competitive marketplace.
Like most things worth having, building your product won’t come easy but it will be hugely rewarding. The concerns you have at the beginning will be replaced by new and other burning questions which you’ll need to address head-on with determination, resilience and strategic thinking.
Of course that’s often easier than said and done so my final piece of advice is a simple one it is ‘just keep going’, not blindly of course, but with purpose, after all, the only way to find out if they will come, is to build something worth coming to.
Hi there, welcome to humanfirstapproach, if you’ve come across this blog and are thinking ” What’s this all about?” let me share a little.
I’m Chi-chi Ekweozor and I am a software engineer and female tech founder, my most recent product or platform is still in the build stage but having taken the start-up journey a few times before I wanted to start this blog to share some insight into the highs and lows of being a female tech founder and some of the learnings along the way which have informed the way I develop products and services. I don’t claim to be any kind of guru or expert (is anyone?) but I do believe that sharing journeys warts and all is the best way founders can support one another.
This month I want to talk about building your product.
It’s a wild ride being a tech founder, the exhilaration of embarking on the journey of creating a new tech product and the road to success (or not!) fraught with challenges, uncertainties and sleepless nights – will anybody even use this product?!
Ok, let’s take a breath! If you’ve read this blog before you’ll know I’ve taken the start-up journey before and I’m doing it again! And whilst I don’t claim to be any kind of expert I hope I’ve learnt a little bit along the way!
The idea – where it all starts
Every tech product starts with an idea! A spark of genius and then the questions start, is your idea truly unique? Are there competitors offering similar solutions, is your idea even a solution? (Newsflash: it might be one looking for a problem – been there!) Does it solve a real problem? Does it resonate with your target audience? So many questions come out of this idea stage but don’t be alarmed! And don’t do what I did and ignore them; embrace them and work through them. Take the time to ensure the idea is sound and that it has a place in the market, a reason for being and crucially, that ultimately people will buy it.
Get the right team
Team? Feels a bit early in the conversation to be talking about a team, doesn’t it? But there are a few realities which need addressing. First of all, if you’re not actually technical (and plenty of tech founders aren’t!) you’ll need someone to build your product and you may also need support in other areas so it’s worth thinking about that really early on. It’s also worth considering that you probably won’t need all of these skills all of the time but having the right mix of talent, skills and expertise is essential – and if you are a technical founder it’s my belief you will feel the benefit of this even more as you are so close to your product having people who are able to look at the product differently and advise you is a huge benefit.
No money got problems
Having a team sounds amazing right? Support, people with you on the journey, etc but expertise costs money, and money or lack of it is a very real issue for tech founders, and it’s definitely part of where the ride gets wild. We’ve chatted about funding options and why you would (or wouldn’t) in this blog but the short take here is you’re very unlikely to have funding straight off the bat so you need a plan as to how you’re going to finance the resources and people you need to make your product a reality. I’m not here to tell you how to do that, everyone’s circumstances are different and so my biggest piece of advice here is ‘ do what is right for you’ and don’t be influenced by what you see around you. In particular, be wary of investing so much time chasing funding that you are not building the product. It’s a tightrope to walk on but it is possible to prioritise getting a minimum viable product out there before embarking on the time consuming and emotionally draining process of raising funding from seed and angel investors.
When you build it, there will be issues
Tech, it’s great when it works! And when it doesn’t – well it’s quite annoying, putting it politely. Building a tech product is a complex and iterative process. Development challenges will arise and need to be resolved, whether you’re technical or not this can be so frustrating! Which is why it’s crucial to have a flexible and adaptable development process which includes allowing the market test your product. Do not fall into the trap of getting your product all the way to market without anyone but you and your team having seen it in action. Be prepared to pivot and adapt your product based on what your customers want, it’s not just about the build – it’s the right build.
You’re never done
The product is built, you made it. And now the fun really starts! Building an amazing product is really only a small part of the journey, getting your product in front of people who will use it (and pay for it!) is a major challenge and one which requires a well-thought-out distribution and marketing plan which is resilient enough for a competitive marketplace.
Like most things worth having, building your product won’t come easy but it will be hugely rewarding. The concerns you have at the beginning will be replaced by new and other burning questions which you’ll need to address head-on with determination, resilience and strategic thinking.
Of course that’s often easier than said and done so my final piece of advice is a simple one it is ‘just keep going’, not blindly of course, but with purpose, after all, the only way to find out if they will come, is to build something worth coming to.