4 Things I Wish I Knew When I First Started as a Full-Stack Developer Founder

Understand the concept of iteration. Modern startup methodology revolves around short cycles of Learn, Build, Measure. Measuring is essential. Depending on your product type, a 2–4 week iteration cycle is usually ideal. Your first goal is to create 10 true fans. People who love your product enough to recommend it. As Paul Graham said, this likely involves doing things that don’t scale. Talk to users directly, learn from them, and you’ll discover that early adopters often behave very differently from your eventual mainstream users. Accept that your attempts might fail. If you’re not failing often, you’re probably not trying hard enough. The only way to avoid failure is to do nothing. Embrace small failures—they mean you’re learning. Learn from those who’ve gone before you. There’s a wealth of high-quality knowledge out there. I believe reading 2–3 foundational books is essential to build your core skills. After that, YouTube and online content are more than enough to keep you moving. https://x.com/DuckyoungLee

Apr 12, 2025 - 06:28

Understand the concept of iteration.
Modern startup methodology revolves around short cycles of Learn, Build, Measure. Measuring is essential. Depending on your product type, a 2–4 week iteration cycle is usually ideal.
Your first goal is to create 10 true fans.
People who love your product enough to recommend it. As Paul Graham said, this likely involves doing things that don’t scale. Talk to users directly, learn from them, and you’ll discover that early adopters often behave very differently from your eventual mainstream users.
Accept that your attempts might fail.
If you’re not failing often, you’re probably not trying hard enough. The only way to avoid failure is to do nothing. Embrace small failures—they mean you’re learning.
Learn from those who’ve gone before you.
There’s a wealth of high-quality knowledge out there. I believe reading 2–3 foundational books is essential to build your core skills. After that, YouTube and online content are more than enough to keep you moving.