Why nobody uses your product: distribution before features

Short answer: most failed products were not bad. They were unknown. Building is the part engineers control, so it feels like progress, while finding customers feels uncomfortable and gets postponed. Talk to buyers before you build, pick one channel where they already gather, and sell to the first ten customers by hand. Features come after someone is paying or at least using it.

Why does this happen to engineers?

Writing code gives quick feedback: it compiles, the test passes, the page renders. Marketing and sales give slow, ambiguous feedback and sometimes rejection. It is natural to keep polishing the product, because that is where we feel competent. The result is a well-made thing that nobody has asked for.

How do you test demand before building?

• Talk to 10 to 20 people who have the problem. Ask about what they do now, what it costs them, and what they have already tried. Do not pitch. Listen for pain they describe in their own words.
• Check whether they pay for a solution already. A spreadsheet they hate counts. An existing paid tool is even better evidence.
• Offer a manual version. Do the job by hand for a few customers. If they will not accept the manual version, they will not want the automated one.
• Ask for a commitment: a deposit, a signed letter of intent or a pilot with a date. Compliments cost nothing.

How do you find the first ten customers?

• People you know and their contacts. Not glamorous and it works.
• Where your buyers already are: industry associations, WhatsApp and Telegram groups, local markets, forums, trade shows.
• Direct outreach to a defined list, with a specific message about their situation.
• Content that answers their questions. A clear article on a real problem is found for years. This is the reason I publish on this blog.
• Partnerships with people who serve the same customers: accountants, consultants, equipment sellers.

In business software, a lot of distribution is trust. The owner of a pharmacy or a restaurant buys from someone who shows up, explains it plainly and answers the phone. I wrote about that side of the work in what forward deployed engineering is.

How do you design distribution into the product?

• Easy first use: no long setup before the first win.
• Sharing built in: invoices, reports and forms that carry your name or link.
• Integrations that put you where people already work.
• Open formats and exports, which build trust and reduce fear of lock-in.
• Free or open-source cores can give you reach, with paid support or hosting for those who want it.

What numbers should you watch early?

• Conversations per week.
• Share of conversations that become a trial.
• Share of trials that are still active after 30 days.
• Number of paying customers, and why each one bought.

Those four numbers teach more than page views.

A rule to follow

Spend at least as much time on talking to customers and getting the product in front of them as on writing code. When that feels wrong, it is usually because you are avoiding the harder half.