Why you need to use your own product
Would you use your own product?
I constantly see this question on my feed and I think it’s a great one. It’s a question every founder should ask themselves. Why?
It's a simple test of your product's viability. Personally, I've fallen into the trap of building something I didn't really need, and because of that, I couldn't effectively spot problems or provide useful features. Those were months of "wasted" time.
However, now I approach it differently. I recently became part of a project I initially joined as just another user.
And through this process, I’ve learnt just how important using your own product is.
How I found my latest venture
Last month, we brought another startup, House of Pitch, under the Evernomic network. Unlike my usual investments, which often come from direct outreach or manual discovery, this one was unique.
I originally joined House of Pitch because it helped me discover other projects to invest in. But shortly after signing up, the founders reached out for a product feedback call. I agreed, seeing an opportunity to share insights from a similar idea I once had. I had no intention of investing or getting involved at that point; I just wanted to help improve a product I was already benefiting from.
During our call, it quickly became clear that we were a good fit. The founders proposed the idea of me joining as an advisor, and I was keen. We sorted out the terms, signed the contract, and I'm now officially part of the House of Pitch team!
Why you need to use your own product
Even though I’m now focused on growing House of Pitch, I’m still just another user at heart. I have a call with someone who pitched me on the platform later today actually.
While my situation is unique, all founders should try adopt a similar viewpoint. You need to build something you yourself would use, even if you had no affiliation with it. Here’s why:
Knowing what to add
With House of Pitch, my new position gives me the opportunity to implement features that I want to see as a user.
For instance, as an investor on the platform, I received pitches which I liked, but the ticket sizes were beyond my individual reach. So, we introduced a feature where users like me can pitch other investors to pool resources and form a syndicate, allowing us to invest in projects collaboratively.
This insider perspective is incredibly valuable. As a user, you can directly address pain points because you experience them firsthand. You know what improvements are needed because you see the gaps in the product yourself.
Solving your own problems
Alongside House of Pitch, I manage several other media projects. These ventures all need traction to thrive, but creating this attention for new media brands was always a problem I had to solve.
House of Pitch allows users to pitch journalists and secure press releases, giving startups essential exposure. As a user, I leveraged the platform to gain media coverage for my additional projects, helping them gain the traction they need.
This not only benefits those projects but also strengthens my understanding and appreciation of the platform. I can attest for what the platform can do, because I’ve done it for myself. I’m not just guessing the product can solve a problem for my users, I know it does because it solved the problem for me!
Genuinely having a use for your own product builds a level of authenticity and trust with your user base. Not only do you understand the problems your users face in much more detail, but you can speak to how the product helped you solve a problem you previously had.
And if your product didn’t solve your problem? Then you can see where you need to improve it.
So, ask yourself: would I use my own product?
Does it have features that you want to see as a user? And does it solve a problem that you yourself have dealt with?
If the answer is yes, you're on the right track.
I hope you found this article insightful. If you have any suggestions or thoughts on our approach, I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter (@arianadeliii)
Google Whisk - Generate images using images as prompts, not text prompts
After 19,314 lines of code, i'm shutting down my project
Need feedback for my product.
40 open-source gems to replace your SaaS subscriptions 🔥 🚀
We are live on Product Hunt
"Eat your own dog food" I am all for it!
Although by dogfooding you can become aware of your products impacts on your use case, this varies a lot from user to user. Do you think there is a strategy to follow and balance the weight of dogfooding feedbacks and user feedbacks? Does it change depending on the userbase size?
I would say you should build the concept around a solution enough people would find useful. The specific feedback from then on shouldn't be an either-or situation. You could implement both features you'd like to see yourself and your users. It is important to listen to users however. If it is indeed an either-or situation, I'd go with the one most people agree with. Users should have priority.
The question is, will others be able to use your product the way you and your team are using it? I've been playing around with dogfooding myself and decided to open source a piece of my stack that enables me to write integrations (https://github.com/integrandio/integrand).
My intent trying to attract other customers with similar workflows but it's unclear at the moment if they want a more complete, less dev intensive solution.
That's definitely important. Sometimes scratching your own itch doesn't attract a viable demand.
I completely agree with your insights! Our product is designed based on identified needs, exactly what we ourselves need. So now, I'm also a user of my own product. 😊
Awesome, as it should be!
This is especially true if you're flying solo.
So many things were grabbing for my attention when I was building a tool to help me find good domains (design, new feature, new software library etc), it was hard to stay focused.
But "Would you use your own product?" really grounded me and made it easier to prioritize.
So true, it's so much more relevant as a solo founder. To this day I want a piece of any idea I like hahah.
I think it's important to also say, though, that knowing how other people use your product is just as important in the long run! When it comes down to it, you're your only surefire customer; what people will actually pay for might be very different from your personal preferences for your product!
Oh of course!
I mean, this is the bare minimum. Many products I have used sometimes come with trivial mistakes that any sensible person can figure out while using the product. I find it shocking that even some well-funded products are not tested properly. However, as I mentioned, this is the bare minimum. An improvement upon testing the product yourself is learning how actual users interact with the product. How you use something can be vastly different from how someone else uses it, and both are valid factors to consider. Your end goal should be developing something that is good for your user, not just for you. A hobbyist might say, "I hate spicy food, so anything I cook will be mild," while a professional would say, "I hate spicy food, but if it adds flavour to this dish, I'll cook it as spicy as needed for my diners."
Agreed!
Understanding User Experience: By using your own product, you gain firsthand experience of what it's like to be a user. This helps you identify pain points, user interface issues, or any other aspects that could be improved.
Identifying Bugs and Issues: You are more likely to encounter bugs or glitches when using the product yourself. This allows you to troubleshoot and fix issues promptly, improving overall product stability and reliability.
Demonstrating Confidence: When you use your own product, it demonstrates confidence in what you've created. It shows that you believe in its functionality and value, which can be reassuring to potential customers or investors.
Yup, agreed.
Using your own product allows you to experience its usability and effectiveness firsthand, which helps you identify strengths and areas for improvement. This builds credibility and trust with customers, showing confidence in what you offer. Personal usage also fosters innovation as you encounter real-world scenarios that inspire new features or enhancements.
Exactly
And then there is something in between: To use an open source product. This gives you a way to get to market fast and then to customize as well
Yes, that's true. Albeit it only works with certain types of products. Not only, in most cases, either the target audience isn't a match for that strategy or it's not substantial enough. But yes, for some products it's certainly a good way to go about it.
Nice! I remember back when I was in some early college marketing course an article on advertising legend David Ogilvy - one of his most important rules/lessons was to use your own product (or that of your clients in his case). If you use them yourself then you'll know it as a consumer and will be better suited to market it/better the product.
Extremely important to. Never understood why it's somewhat looked down upon. We use goleko to manage all our tools. How else are you supposed to know your products work the way you envisioned them to?
Yup, exactly!
I definitely use my own products.
I schedule tweets using Zlappo, I sell digital products/subscriptions using Zylvie.
If you don't dogfood your own apps, you're NGMI.
Couldn't agree more
So true.
This is why scratching your own itch is a great way to discover new product ideas.
Instead of thinking of ideas, just start building something and discover the real opportunity along the way.
Exactly.
This very much of something I read in a book called Rework, which, if I recall correctly, was written by the guys who created BaseCamp. It said something like "you should scratch your own itch"
Yup, spot on.
Microsoft coined the phrase dogfooding for using your own product.
We do that for our form backend service fabform.io We use it on several sites
and it allows us greater insight in adding new features and catching any errors.
Awesome
I started Selftalk.ing literally because I had the problem of accountability and consistency. Being your own product's user really makes you see things through a different perspective.
Absolutely, agreed!
Since the initial motivation for creating my product was to solve my own problems, I am a deep user of my product.
As it should be!
We use ours all the time! The problem I am running into is what aspects of our product do we make more obvious and easier to use because I come up with novel applications constantly.
That's a good problem to have!
I don't mind having it :) Definitely have to constantly product manage myself and stop myself from building what I want
Meeting your own needs is just one of the development modes, but it is difficult to determine whether others will pay for it, such as personalized needs. Usually, I will use the products I developed myself because this can find some coding problems, but for design problems, I must ask someone else to find more problems. And most important is PMF.
Totally agree.
Thank you, and happy to be found 😎💚
Haha, same here
Great insight on the founder-user experience connection!
Happy you liked it!
Wow! Interesting insight. Gave me some food for thought!
Glad you liked it!
Great insight. Never thought about my product like this. Will have to make my next project to solve a problem I have!
Great read as always.
Appreciate it Sam!
It sounds like you've gained a lot of experience over the last six years! Whether it’s personal growth, professional achievements, or a combination of both, reflecting on such a period can be really rewarding. What’s the most significant thing you’ve learned or accomplished during this time? Or is there something specific you’d like to talk about or need advice on moving forward?
Hard to say briefly but probably to pursue goals and a life tailored to what you actually want rather than a generic life.