This resonates deeply. I'm actually doing exactly this—though solo rather than with a team. Left corporate to build a scheduling tool (think Calendly alternative) that's launching on Product Hunt soon.
A few observations from this journey:
1. The hardest part isn't building—it's finding the discipline to ship something "good enough" rather than perfect. Corporate trained me to over-polish.
2. Distribution is BRUTAL. You can build something genuinely useful, but without an audience or marketing chops, you're shouting into the void. I'm learning this the hard way.
3. The skillset mismatch is real. Big tech teaches you to work within massive systems with established users. Indie building is the opposite—you're creating systems AND finding users simultaneously.
For those considering this: Start building in public NOW. The audience you build while employed becomes your launchpad when you go solo.
Curious—for those who've done Product Hunt launches: what actually worked for you? I'm seeing so much conflicting advice about timing, pre-launch strategies, etc.
The most brutal part of distribution I've seen is finding people who care about trying things out.
Maybe something like https://smallbets.com is better than Product Hunt in finding that group of people. PH doesn't allow signups with only a username/email and password.
I'm starting to believe a different community is needed for building in public that isn't HN or PH though it might be smallbets, I didn't try it.
It worked for me to be highly uncompromising on what I want to have while at the same time highly accommodating to what people want. Also to indulge in things I like that others don't.
Another thing that worked in the past is to have a mobile app because it gets you users simply because the app store puts it in front of people.
What didn't work is emailing people asking for feedback. People mostly don't care.
I want a showhn.com where builders commit to try each other's stuff.
A few observations from this journey:
1. The hardest part isn't building—it's finding the discipline to ship something "good enough" rather than perfect. Corporate trained me to over-polish.
2. Distribution is BRUTAL. You can build something genuinely useful, but without an audience or marketing chops, you're shouting into the void. I'm learning this the hard way.
3. The skillset mismatch is real. Big tech teaches you to work within massive systems with established users. Indie building is the opposite—you're creating systems AND finding users simultaneously.
For those considering this: Start building in public NOW. The audience you build while employed becomes your launchpad when you go solo.
Curious—for those who've done Product Hunt launches: what actually worked for you? I'm seeing so much conflicting advice about timing, pre-launch strategies, etc.