Build the product

Ship an MVP, work with builders, and iterate toward something people use.

What founders use for build the product, ranked by how many answers lean on it.

  1. A talk (with writeup) on serving a genuinely different, lighter experience to low end devices and slow networks, drawing on how... web.dev (Chrome Dev Summit talk writeup) Video · 25 min talk Adaptive loading: improving web performance on slow devices Nate Schloss and Addy Osmani
  2. Video · ~50 min 7 Rules for Creating Gorgeous UI (talk) Erik Kennedy
  3. A short, credible video from the usability research group explaining whitespace in plain terms. It reinforces that empty space... Nielsen Norman Group Video · ~3 min What is Whitespace? Nielsen Norman Group
  4. The useful counterpoint: shipping a stripped MVP can leave a disjointed experience that erodes trust, especially outside... Nielsen Norman Group Video · 5 min Why MVP Is the Antithesis of Good UX Kara Pernice
  5. Video · ~30 min How Words Can Make Your Product Stand Out (Google I/O '17) Maggie Stanphill, Google
  6. A short, credible video on choosing visualization styles that work with how people actually scan a dashboard. It is a fast way... Nielsen Norman Group Video · 4 min Data Visualizations for Dashboards Page Laubheimer, Nielsen Norman Group
  7. Video · 58 min Storytelling with Data | Talks at Google Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
  8. Video · 20 min video When to Launch Your Startup and When to Wait Harj Taggar, Michael Seibel, Brad Flora
  9. Video · ~90 min A better way to plan, build, and ship products (Ryan Singer) Ryan Singer, Lenny Rachitsky
  10. Video · ~40 min Applying Shape Up in the Real World (Rails World 2023) Ryan Singer
  11. Before you can run short cycles you have to decide what goes in them, and this is a founder grade framework for that from the... Y Combinator Startup Library Video · ~30 min How to Prioritize Features Emmett Shear
  12. Video · 2 min Focusing is about saying no (WWDC 1997) Steve Jobs
  13. Video How to Set KPIs and Goals Adora Cheung
  14. Video Ship a feature every week, embrace technical debt, ruthlessly cut scope Gaurav Misra
  15. Premature abstraction is a sneaky form of debt that fast moving teams create while trying to be clean. Abramov tells the story... Deconstruct 2019 Video The Wet Codebase Dan Abramov
  16. The talk version of the same idea, covering product scope, feature creep, and how products lose relevance when they try to do... Business of Software Video · 45 min Product Strategy (BoS talk) Des Traynor
  17. Video · 10 min Build product. Talk to users. Michael Seibel
  18. Video · 50 min watch Building for the Enterprise Aaron Levie
  19. Video · 35 min How GitHub Uses GitHub to Build GitHub Zach Holman

The questions

Building your MVP 18

Build the smallest thing that tests the biggest risk.

What actually counts as an MVP, and what's the smallest one I can get away with? 20 → How do I decide which features to cut from v1? 18 → How long should building an MVP take? 19 → Should I build an MVP at all, or can I validate without one? 20 → How do I get my first users for the MVP? 17 → All 18 questions in Building your MVP →
No-code & low-code building 18

Ship a product without writing code.

Which no-code tool should I use to build my first product? 20 → Can I really build a serious business on no-code, or will I hit a wall? 18 → Should I use an AI app builder like Lovable or Replit instead of traditional no-code? 20 → How do I connect payments and handle data if I'm building no-code in India? 20 → What can I build with just a spreadsheet as the backend? 20 → All 18 questions in No-code & low-code building →
Finding & working with developers 18

Get it built when you can't build it yourself.

I'm non-technical, do I actually need a technical co-founder? 18 → How do I actually find a technical co-founder? 19 → Should I hire an agency or a freelancer to build my MVP? 17 → How do I hire good engineers in India when everyone's competing for the same talent? 18 → How do I evaluate a developer's skill if I can't code? 19 → All 18 questions in Finding & working with developers →
Product design & UX basics 18

Make it obvious, not clever.

I'm not a designer, how do I make my product not look terrible? 18 → What are the core UX principles every founder should know? 20 → How do I know if my product is confusing to users? 17 → Should I learn Figma, and how much design do I really need? 19 → Why does good design actually matter for an early-stage startup? 19 → All 18 questions in Product design & UX basics →
Shipping, iterating & roadmap 18

Ship weekly, learn constantly, prioritise ruthlessly.

How do I decide what to build next? 19 → How often should an early-stage startup ship? 19 → How do I build a roadmap without over-planning? 19 → How do I keep talking to users while I'm heads-down building? 18 → How do product teams keep a consistent shipping rhythm as they grow? 18 → All 18 questions in Shipping, iterating & roadmap →
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →