Treat each product as practice reps to build better subsequent products
Don't expect first product to be the winner. Build multiple products in your niche treating each as iteration that teaches you to build better next time. Launch fast as practice, compound learnings. Second product benefits from first's mistakes. This 'reps' mindset removes pressure from any single product and accelerates skill development.
When to use
When starting product development journey or entering new niche without knowing which specific product will win
Don't do this
Betting everything on making first product perfect, taking years without shipping while skills don't improve
7 Founders Who Did This
Treated each app as different repetition. SunSeek was 'crafted better than Go Polar on day one' from learnings. 'There aren't any shortcuts, you have to put in the reps'
Built 4-5 products over several years, each stagnating at ~$1K/month. Used each as practice for building better subsequent products rather than viewing them as wasted time.
First product took a year with zero users. Products 2-15 progressively taught marketing, launching, and audience building. By product 16 (ShipFast), could ship in a week and launch to an engaged audience
Built Grid at 15, Wordle at 18, then Puff Count during college - each app served as practice reps building skills in outsourcing, marketing, and app monetization
Built 11 startups in 12 months, treating each as practice. 7 failed, 3 sold for $30K total on Acquire.com
Applied same pattern matching framework across multiple products: Influence Grid (Instagram tools for TikTok) and Data Fetcher (Google Sheets API tool for Airtable)
Sold Necklow when feeling stuck at $380K, then applied learned ad scaling and landing page skills to new venture TheraPetMD