Sep 25, 2026 · 4 min
What startup coaching is actually for
Startup coaching isn't motivation and not a course. It's a faster way to make the handful of decisions that decide whether an early company works.
Read the note →Notes / Product
Notes tagged: Product
Essays tagged product. Honest writing for solo founders, drawn from the same practice that runs heyfaina.
9 notes
Jun 5, 2026 · 7 min
When a platform giant ships your feature
Founders call it validation when Apple or Google ships their feature. It usually isn't. Here's what's actually happening and what to do about it.
Read the note →May 29, 2026 · 6 min
The deposit and the retrieval
Logging products often confuse the act of input with the value. Streaks drive deposits. Retrieval is what builds a habit and keeps users coming back.
Read the note →Mar 18, 2026 · 8 min
Everyone loved it but no one bought it: how to read what people are actually telling you
Early founders can lose months in the gap between polite encouragement and genuine signal. Here's how to close it.
Read the note →Feb 22, 2026 · 6 min
The smallest version worth shipping is smaller than you think
Every founder building alone has a list of features that feel essential. Almost none of them are. Here's how to find the minimum.
Read the note →Oct 8, 2025 · 5 min
Pricing when you have no data
Early-stage pricing is mostly guessing. Here's a way to guess that gives you better information per attempt than the spreadsheet founders usually build.
Read the note →Sep 4, 2025 · 7 min
What 20 years in product taught me about hiring your first PM
Solo founders often hire a PM too early, for the wrong reasons, and replace themselves with someone less suited to the work. Here's how to know when to actually do it.
Read the note →Jul 22, 2025 · 6 min
The cost of pivoting too late
Founders usually pivot eventually. The expensive part is rarely the pivot itself. It's the six months of circling before it.
Read the note →Dec 8, 2024 · 6 min
The job of the first 30 days after launch isn't what you think
Founders often treat launch as the end of one phase and the start of another. It isn't. It's the start of the most important learning window you'll ever have.
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