All Decisions
February 2020 accepted

Prioritise Distribution and Adoption, Not Just Product Capability

product-market-fitdistributionstartup-lessonscommercial-awareness
Context

A major lesson from ILOVEGREENER was that a product can be technically capable and still struggle if distribution, adoption, and repeat usage are not designed as seriously as the software itself. As a technical founder, I initially placed more emphasis on building than on the full go-to-market loop.

Options Considered

Product-Led Build First

Focus on building features and assume adoption will follow once the product is good enough

Pros
  • Strong product depth
  • Clear technical progress
  • More control over quality
Cons
  • Weak adoption signal
  • Delayed market feedback
  • Risk of building in isolation

Marketing-Led Growth First

Prioritise audience building, partnerships, and acquisition before deep product investment

Pros
  • Early market signal
  • Improves visibility
  • Validates demand faster
Cons
  • Product may not be ready
  • Can create shallow traction
  • Risk of overpromising

Build and Distribution Together

Treat product development, user acquisition, retention, and feedback loops as one operating system

Pros
  • Better validation
  • Faster learning
  • Connects roadmap to adoption
Cons
  • Requires broader focus
  • Can feel less technically pure
  • Needs commercial discipline
Decision

The lesson I carried forward was that CTOs cannot think only in terms of systems, code, and architecture. They also need to understand adoption, user behaviour, commercial priorities, and whether the product is creating repeatable value.

Consequences
May 2020

Product development moved faster than adoption learning, which created weak signals around what users truly valued

negative
Oct 2020

The product had capability, but not enough repeatable distribution or retention to become commercially strong

negative
May 2021

The project became a practical lesson in product-market fit, not just product engineering

positive
Jun 2023

In later CTO work, I became more commercially aware when prioritising engineering effort

positive