Lock Yourself Out
Ok a few days ago I said Lock Yourself In and now I say lock yourself out. Both are right, just not at the same time :) An external deadline keeps you accountable. But sometimes you have to step away from the keyboard to get the word out and talk to your future customers.
The code that you push every day isn’t going to announce itself and your product has no value if you don’t explain it. Even if you know that you are solving an actual problem, talking to your customers has a great value and can inform the choices you will make in the short or mid term.
I am traveling to Ukraine today and it’s pretty common when you travel to have a spotty connection. On purpose I didn’t take with me a machine that allows me to work on Podrover. Kinda imposed by the situation I embraced a no-coding rule. I am sure I’d have ended up stressed by complaining about the slow WiFi connection at the airport.
But … my faithful iPhone and its 3G connection is alive and kicking! So what am I doing? Engaging on social media, talking to beta testers, identifying who should I get in touch with to propose the beta. If I were at home I’d have postponed this. I’d have preferred to keep on building the product, but this short travel gives me a great opportunity to do what’s needed now.
Fun facts:
- I brought with me 3 extra batteries. One was already gone at 11am.
- After 30 minutes of intense network access the iPhone is quite hot on the back side.
- Coffee is pretty good at the airport in Istanbul.