Sitting on a rather uncomfortable chair, trying to reflect on the year that’s gone by. Reflection, I’ve realised, is harder than action. Memory is fleeting. This year, working independently taught me not only how to build a product, but also about patience, people, & perspective.

Identifying the problem

Identifying the right problem is deceptively difficult. It feels exciting at the beginning, becomes almost Herculean in the middle, and can easily get lost in the noise if you’re not careful. What helped was discipline:

• Building an MVP
• Sharing it with the first set of users
• Iterating, reiterating, and then sharing it again—both with existing and new users. One moment stands out clearly. A RunStrong user casually shared feedback during a run. It was simple, practical, and deeply insightful. We implemented it & this led to a noticeable shift in user behaviour. That experience reinforced something I now strongly believe: User feedback is golden—especially when it comes unprompted.

Going to market 

I learned that the best way to go to market is not always to find a market, but to build one. Building a community, listening carefully to the needs, & acting on them consistently made all the difference. Growth didn’t come from clever campaigns alone, but from:

• Keeping the user journey simple -Talking directly to users
• Responding to their queries—quickly and honestly
• Creating clear user manuals
• Letting word of mouth do its quiet, powerful work. Conversions, from free to paid, followed trust, not pressure.

Eat your own dog food

Using your own product is not optional; it’s essential.

• Being deeply critical of the experience while using it daily helped simplify the product in ways no external review could. The more intimately you know your product, the more your users will love it.
• Products often don’t fail because they’re bad. They fail because the creators stop using them. Once you’ve truly “eaten the food”:
• Believe in your work
• Price it fairly and confidently

Enjoying the process 

This year was about discovering & reshaping. I learned that:

• Enjoyment does not always come with highs or with people being around.
• Reward is not the same as praise or appreciation. Sometimes, it’s quieter than that.

Even if there is just one user, that user is your audience. And delivering your best work, “your best music,” to that audience matters.