Product Development is hard even with AI assistance

As much as I want to go back to the good old days of writing articles about low‑level stuff — programming languages, frameworks, all the nerdy things — the reality is that we’re inundated with AI everywhere. I use AI every couple of minutes, sometimes every couple of seconds, and I’ve moved past the initial excitement of “AI is amazing!” into a more uncomfortable question: what value am I actually building?

I’ve been working on a side project with my wife, and for weeks I was churning out user interfaces, integrations, and everything in between. Since she doesn’t come from the software world, I’ve basically had to run a bootcamp — on‑the‑job training, crash‑course workshops, the whole thing. Getting her to think like a product person while juggling multiple roles in a short space of time has been… intense.

My experience in the startup space has come into play more than I expected. I’ve had to mimic the thinking of teammates across DevOps, Product, Project Management, Sales, Content Writing, UI/UX, and even CFO mode. As varied as these responsibilities are, I find myself living in a strange kind of anguish.

Let me explain the anguish.

We did a soft launch about a week ago and currently have 50 businesses registered. The product is free for now while we figure out a pricing model. We’ve been obsessed with creating value, and before we slap a price tag on anything, we want to be able to justify it — to clearly articulate the value we bring to businesses.

My obsession (and anguish) comes from the fact that the first and last thing I see every day is our Grafana dashboard. And while drowning in my fourth cup of coffee before 10 AM, I ask myself:

• Why am I seeing these numbers?
• What do they mean?
• Why don’t they translate to registrations?
• What can I change in the user experience to improve sign‑ups?
• Is our messaging unclear?

I remember how excited we were when we hit 10 registrations. We said, “It’s working!” Now we’re at 50, aiming for our first 100. Every new signup is celebrated, but we’re still far from that 100 mark — and some days, not a single signup comes in. Are we obsessed? Probably. Do I finally understand the obsession every CEO I’ve ever worked with had? Maybe. Is this why they’re the least exciting people in the business? (Joking… mostly.)

The side effect of working on such an ambitious project is that I no longer have time to play video games, and it takes a planet‑moving force to get me away from my desk to exercise.

So here’s the point I’m trying to make:Don’t get obsessed with the latest AI model being released. Work within the limits of what you have access to. What matters most is what you’re building.

Every developer now has the chance to build something and see if they can actually sell their idea. I think that’s a worthwhile endeavour. You’ll gain something — a skill that goes far beyond hustling for yearly performance review grades at your current job. (Still important for that bonus, but the growth and experience you get from building something real is on another level.)