Early-stage traps

At the beginning of a project, everything feels urgent.

The logo. The website. The domain name. The features. Social media. The pitch. And, ideally, a dashboard that makes the company look three times bigger than it is.

Meanwhile, one small question waits quietly in the corner: “Does anybody actually want what we're building?”

It's not as glamorous as the rest. Maybe that's why it's so easy to postpone. 😅

I'm still building my own projects, so I'm not here to hand out grades to other founders. But some early mistakes are common enough to be worth examining.

1. Building before understanding

An idea can sound brilliant in your head and be much less useful in a customer's daily life.

Before coding, ask how people solve the problem today. What's frustrating? What have they tried? What does the problem cost them?

Sometimes your best discovery is that you shouldn't build what you originally planned.

2. Mistaking features for value

A longer menu is not a sign of progress.

It's tempting to add a module simply because you know how to build it. But an unused feature is still something you have to maintain.

The useful question is: what task becomes meaningfully easier for the user?

3. Pricing to feel comfortable

A very low price can feel safer. A high price can sound impressive. Neither is evidence.

Talk to customers, study alternatives and understand what your product saves them in time, money or frustration.

4. Expecting the product to sell itself

A great product nobody hears about remains invisible.

You need to explain it, find the right people, show them the result and listen to objections.

For a lot of developers, that's less comfortable than a code editor.

5. Partnering without clear expectations

A shared enthusiasm is not enough to build a team.

Who decides? Who owns what? How will you handle money, disagreements or someone leaving?

These conversations may feel premature. They rarely are.

6. Letting technical shortcuts pile up

There's nothing wrong with shipping a small first version.

The risk is keeping fragile workarounds, missing tests and undocumented critical logic after real users start depending on the product.

Launching quickly shouldn't become a permanent excuse.

7. Measuring the wrong things

Visits and downloads don't tell the whole story.

Do people return? Do they use the product? Pay for it? Recommend it? What makes them leave?

One small metric that informs a decision can be more useful than a beautifully coloured dashboard.

And one more trap: acting as though you've made it

When you're just starting, it's tempting to speak like a much bigger company.

I get it. You want people to trust you. But being serious doesn't require pretending you've already succeeded.

You can explain what you do, acknowledge what still needs work and improve in front of your customers.

That's the spirit I'm trying to build in. It's why this journal exists: to describe the journey while it's happening.

For a closer look at one of these traps, see the tiny SaaS dream.