StudioTalker.com Blog

One of the first really important lessons we’ve learned while developing StudioTalker is that focus is what makes for a successful startup business. We’ve spent hundreds of hours re-inventing the wheel, trying to create our own top-to-bottom infrastructure in-house, and it’s been killing us.

When I first had the idea for StudioTalker, I thought it would be simple. A month (maybe six weeks) of coding by myself and it would all be easy. I’d have a sparkling, all-singing all-dancing, and most importantly fully functioning product that I could start doing real world tests on.

Eleven weeks in and we’re only just starting to make real progress. I realise now, that not only were my estimates and expectations totally nonsensical, but that my approach was too.

StudioTalker’s value as a product doesn’t lie in the low-level mundane infrastructure that I wasted (as in pointless, will never get it back) approximately a month trying to construct. Given another month, maybe two, I’d probably get that down; but that’s time that I just don’t have.

As a tech startup, the number one priority at all times must be to ship. It’s a race; only in this one, the tortoise doesn’t stand much of a chance. The best way to win Formula 1 is to reduce weight, improve handling and streamline the car. All of these things apply directly in business.

It’s a shame that it required the loss of a month of productivity to realise that, but it’s a learning curve. I never claimed to know everything before I started (even if my self-expectation required that), nor to have a crystal ball.

My approach is, unashamedly, to make it up as I go along. In doing so, I’ve learned a very important lesson the hard way. Hopefully in sharing this, you may avoid the same mistake and reserve more time for making others, for that is the nature of evolution.