At Tappable, we spend our time figuring out exactly what software to make before we start building it. We recently sat down with Hugo Ostyn, the Head of Product at Amicable, for our latest episode of Capital & Craft. We spent the session talking about how to build a software product that actually grows without breaking everything along the way.
Here are the main things we learned from the discussion.
Do not build all your ideas at once
Founders always have a hundred different ideas for new features to add to their app. But trying to build them all at the same time is a mistake. It is much better to make a tiny version of your idea and test it on a small group of users first. Hugo shared how they tested a new paywall by only showing it to 5% of their users. Testing things on a small group stops you from wasting lots of money building things that nobody cares about.
Why free trials usually fail
A lot of apps let people try their software for free without putting in a credit card. Hugo found out that this does not work well for most businesses. When people are on your website, you have their full attention. If they leave without giving you their details, it is twice as hard to get them to come back later. It is much better to get their details upfront when they are already excited about your app.
How to explain messy code to the boss
Every app has messy code under the hood from the very first day you start building it. Coders call this technical debt. It does not hurt you when you are small, but it becomes a big problem when lots of people start using your app. Hugo says the best way to handle this is to explain the problem in plain business language. Instead of saying the code looks ugly, tell your boss that the whole app will crash if you send an email to 500,000 people. That makes it easy for everyone to understand why it needs to be fixed.
Building prototypes with AI
New AI tools make it easy for anyone to build a working prototype in just a few days. Hugo uses tools like Lovable to show his engineering team exactly how an idea should work. This is much faster than writing long text documents. But AI still makes a lot of silly logic and safety mistakes under the hood. You still need an expert coder to look over the work and make sure it is safe before real people use it.
The simple test for product market fit
We finished our chat by talking about product market fit. People use a lot of complicated words to explain what this means, but Hugo kept it very simple.
You know you have it when people actually want what you are making, and they are completely happy to pay the price you are asking for it.
If you are just paying for lots of ads to get free users who do not stick around, you do not have a real business yet. Real growth comes from building a product that people love enough to open their wallets for.
How Tappable can help you
We help businesses figure out the right software to build before any code gets written. We make sure your product is something your users will love, and we make sure it can grow as big as you need it to without breaking. If your current systems are starting to get stuck, or you have a brand new product idea that you need help shaping, get in touch with us today. Let us chat about what you are building.