What’s your unspoken rule as an indie dev?
Not the ones in blog posts.
The ones you actually follow (or ignore completely).
Mine?
“Ship it when it’s 80% ready. The last 20% takes forever anyway.”
Sometimes it works. Sometimes… it really doesn’t.
What’s your go-to rule—or the one you always break?
Replies
minimalist phone: creating folders
I have heard: Ship fast no matter what.
It makes some sense. In this era when everybody can create everything you need to be the very first one. Even marketing is not enough. Very fast execution and if you are one of those serious devs who benefit from AI, you have such a good position and advantage.
CoLaunchly
@busmark_w_nika
Yeah, that “speed > everything” mindset is real—especially with how fast AI is moving.
Feels like if you're not shipping yesterday, you're already behind 😅
Curious though—have you ever shipped too fast and regretted it later? Or do you think speed always wins in the long run?
Product Hunt
@busmark_w_nika @alex_cloudstar I think this depends on where you are in your journey. I'm not technical but recently built my first chrome extension Product Hunt Favorites using just ChatGPT to solve my own problem (wanted to easily bookmark and tag favorite products on Product Hunt with notes). I ran into the problem, built it in a couple hours and launched it the next day, and surprisingly came in at #6 on the daily leaderboard (I lost top 5 in the last 20 mins of the day 😢). I think if I had tried to spec it out and perfect it, I probably would have procrastinated and it might never have seen the light of day.
I think esp in the beginning, it's important just to get things out quickly, and to build up that exposure effect and not get stuck on perfectionism and get you used to critical feedback, etc otherwise, people don't get their ideas into the world at all.
Though once it gets out into the world, I think there are alot of other factors, e.g. is the market ready for it? your marketing tactics, listening to and iterating on users feedback are what separates the winning products. Most of the successful products out there started in one area and after seeing traction, continued to build and evolved to become what they are today.
CoLaunchly
@busmark_w_nika @ph_leeanntrang
Wow, that’s such a great example. Love how you just went for it and made something to scratch your own itch. Honestly, that’s the kind of energy I’m trying to lean into more lately—ship early, learn fast, and get comfortable with feedback in public.
Congrats on hitting #6 too, that’s huge (and so close to top 5! 😅).
Totally agree that perfectionism can be a trap—especially early on. And yeah, once something’s out, that’s when the real work begins: listening, adjusting, and figuring out where the real value is.
Thanks so much for sharing your story—it’s super encouraging 🙌
minimalist phone: creating folders
This is true. When you try to make something "perfect", you can miss your hit. Because someone else can do it instead of you faster and gather the whole attention.
On the other hand, some technological and cybersecurity solutions need time because if users' data are not protected due to "fast shipping" it can be a huge problem (and companies can be fined by law).
minimalist phone: creating folders
Not my case. I think that I haven't shipped fast in my whole life :D
Hmm, that's true. I know we can't always deliver it in perfect condition, but it feels like we keep delaying the delivery with the belief that it will get better.
CoLaunchly
@kay_arkain
Totally get that. It's such a tricky balance between wanting it to be better and realizing it's probably "good enough" already. I’ve definitely fallen into that loop of polishing forever, hoping it’ll magically feel perfect one day.
Do you have a moment when you usually decide to just ship it anyway, or do you still wrestle with that decision every time?
@alex_cloudstar I’m still unsure about whether to ship my next product. The fact that there are different opinions within the team is making it even harder. Especially between the non-development team and the development team. 😅