#13: Lessons from building, Spotlighting Maka and Weekly Digest.
reflections and product spotlight ✨
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Lessons I’ve learnt from building a product.
You'll often hear founders say that building is difficult, and as an operator, I thought I understood what they meant. It was when I experienced it for myself that I realized how far I was from understanding it.
What made technology so alluring to me in 2016 was the fact that you could think up something and create it. Before switching to tech, I was an extremely committed economist. I dreamed of being the next Okonjo Iweala with the mission to shake the Nigerian economy and restore it to its former glory. I held this dream for five years and followed the strategy I devised to ensure its fruition religiously.
But something about my experience with the tech space in 2016 made me throw that dream away and lay my five years of hard work aside to chase new dreams. Fast forward to 2022, and I felt I was ready. I devoted six years to gaining relevant experience, knowledge and skills. I had kept up with the product space, interacted with some early-stage founders and even advised some startups. And most importantly, I consumed a lot of startup content.
I was ready to take on the startup space and create my own thing. The world would be astonished at my idea's brilliance and execution's excellence. I would build an empire and become a force to be reckoned with. People wouldn't know what hit them. LMAO, boy, was I not ready for the stress and disappointments to come.
The first disappointment came when I had to cancel the launch of a food-tech startup I was building because I couldn't find a reliable partner. But I picked myself up and decided to go again. Second time, the charm right? It turns out the saying is true. I started again in May, and it's been way better than the first flop. But with the second trial, a lot has happened, and I've learnt a lot of interesting things. It's been a journey for sure. I have decided to share some of the things I learnt with you. So, let's get to it.
Humility goes a long way.
Many times, founders have an idea and think their idea is the next best thing after Jollof rice. And maybe it is, but it takes more than a great idea for you to succeed. And there is no such thing as the perfect idea.
It takes humility to accept that your idea is not perfect. It takes humility to ask for feedback from people, especially your users, and actually use it. It takes humility to acknowledge that there's a lot you don't know. It takes humility to admit there might be a better way and to pivot when you discover it.
Every day and with every decision, I find myself having to exercise humility and patience. Accepting that it takes more than a good idea to succeed and acknowledging that there’s a lot I don’t know has helped me stay grounded and focused on the right things.
People will not care initially, and you need to be okay with that.
When I launched vizible, I thought the world would turn because I was building something I felt was important and needed. So imagine my surprise when it didn't.
Don't get me wrong, vizible got great reception. We have good engagement, and I am grateful to everyone who has subscribed, but I somehow expected it to be more. I mean, my idea was great, right?
And I know that all I have now is a meagre newsletter, but we're building more. So I couldn't understand why more people weren't flocking to vizible.
I later realized that I had fallen prey to the overnight success ideology. It's the school of thought that for exceptional people, success happens quickly—what a lie.
Success is never overnight. People won't come because you built something you think is fantastic and solves their problem; it takes time. Some people like to take their time, while others need more convincing.
So please don't make the mistake I made of thinking that people will flock to your product because you think it solves their problems. Humans are extremely complex creatures, and it takes more than that to win them over.
Always be iterating.
I first heard the "innovate or die" saying in Labour Economics class with Professor Stephen Oluwatobi. I don't think I will ever forget that man for years. He spoke about the importance of innovation in succeeding in our generation. I took him extremely seriously. I've learnt over the years that innovation is critical to success.
This is especially true for startups & products. Most products are [or claim to be] innovating in a particular space. But, something that needs to be emphasized more is the approach. An iterative process to innovation can help you as you're building. It's something that has helped me in my career and my building journey.
I see iteration as a process for refining an idea because no idea is perfect. In building anything, there are certain things you may have yet to consider and huge unknowns lurking. An iterative approach has helped me test my assumptions quickly and continuously refine my idea. Iteration has been a gem to me in my building process.
Don't be in a rush to do anything.
The people who know me know that momentum is very important to me. Things need to be moving. I don't do well staying in one place or doing the same thing. The downside is that in a bid to keep things moving, I sometimes rush into things.
But I have learnt the hard way that the fastest runner doesn't always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn't always win the battle [Ecclesiastes 9:11 NLT]. Sometimes, slow, consistent movement is what you need to succeed and maintain your success.
I think we sometimes conflate "moving fast" and "rushing." I made that mistake too. There is a level of chaos that comes with rushing. Rushing lacks finesse and thoughtfulness, which is why we tend to make mistakes or forget things when we're in a rush.
Whereas with moving fast, there is room for finesse & thoughtfulness. It's possible to move fast without chaos or mistakes. That's what the goal should be. I thought I was "moving fast" when I made some decisions, but I realize now that I was rushing. These days, I try to take a step back before making certain decisions. I recently added some friction to my decision-making process, which has helped me pause to evaluate if I am rushing. It has made all the difference and stopped me from releasing half-baked ideas.
Don't expect people to build your ideas for free.
I'd go as far as to say avoid collecting free work when you're building. Except people outrightly offer to help you for free, pay them for their work. It's either you're giving equity or cash. It's expensive, but I think it'll save you a lot of trouble in the future. This is just my personal opinion.
Expecting people to work for free to build your dream is wrong. That's just the truth. I find that people are even more efficient and serious with your work when you pay them. No matter how small, drop something because exposure can't pay their bills :)
People will disappoint you.
Omo, people will disappoint you oh. Just prepare for that. I’ve learnt that, at the end of the day, your vision is your vision. There'll be times when it feels like it's only you that sees the vision and is fighting for it.
Building will feel lonely and stressful. It will get crazy because you'll be the one doing almost everything. And if you're like me with a 9-5, you might struggle to keep your head above the water. But a little grit can go a long way. I believe it will pay off in the long run, so I keep things moving.
Sometimes people will promise to help and end up ghosting you, or they might get overwhelmed and deprioritize your work. You should expect that. It would help if you didn't take these things personally because, most times, it's not personal. Life happens.
Most people are not wicked. Many times their reasons are valid. You need to be understanding, manage the situation and push past it. That's how life is sometimes, and that's okay. The ability to be empathetic and restrategize after disappointments is what matters.
So that's it from me. I know I just started my building journey, but this is what I've seen and learnt so far. There are other things I've learnt, but I will keep them for a separate post.
I know more awaits me, and I'm excited to see what the future holds. I am glad I got to share this with you, and I hope you found this insightful. You can let me know what you think in the comments.
If you've tried to build a product or are currently building a product, I would love to hear some of the things you've learnt in the process. You can drop them in the comment section below!
Product Spotlight
This week’s product feature is an interesting one. It’s a social media meets fashion meets eCommerce type of product. It’s one that is not common in the African ecosystem. I’m super excited about this feature. Let’s get to it.
Profile
Name: Maka
Website: https://makalive.com/
Countries Served: Nigeria
Product Space: Fashion-Tech [Social Commerce]
Price: Free [purchases can be made in app]
Founders: Diana Owusu-Kyereko, Onome Uwhuba
Funding Stage: Pre-Seed
Year Founded: 2021
Open Roles: Mobile Engineer, Head of Engineering
In their own words:
MAKA is a community of fashion and beauty lovers and creators where everyone gets to discover their style community, feel represented and express their individuality.
Maka makes shopping easy, fun and accessible by allowing you to:
Discover brands and creators: Maka allows you to discover and engage with brands and creators in a personal and fun way.
Shop for products: Maka allows you to discover and shop for great products from various brands. With Maka, you can easily curate products that fit your style.
Go live and share your style with the community: Maka allows you to go live, share your style with the community, and get paid for it.
Vibe Check:
People who love consuming fashion and lifestyle content would love this platform. It’s really great. The content felt a little more personal than your typical pre-recorded content on TikTok or Instagram. It felt like I was on a FaceTime call with my friend, and she was showing me some of the outfits she loves. Some content creators made the live videos more personable by adding information about where they planned to wear the clothes and asking watchers to help them pick an outfit live. It was pretty engaging.
The outfits people showcased are only sold on Maka, and I wonder if it might be worth opening things up a little. I wonder if allowing people to showcase outfits they bought from stores outside the platform would make it more useful. I love that you can easily purchase the products people in the community use, showcase, and review.
My only issue with the app was that it was a little buggy. It got a little annoying. When I tried watching some videos and engaging with some content, it kept hanging and displaying confusing error screens. This made for a sub-optimal experience, but I understand that the product is in beta and its earlier stages. So, things like these are bound to happen.
Maka is definitely an interesting product. I’m excited to see where they go from here!
What do you think about Maka?
On an unrelated note:
Here are three of my favourite reads this week:
Bowing out:
That’s it for this week, folks! I hope you found it enlightening.
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I hope the rest of your week goes great! See you next week!
Yours in Product Discovery,
Dumss.