Post Launch Feelings

Launch day was honestly bittersweet. It can be exciting and really validating to be able to finally post and share the app that has only really lived on your Test Flight and the app simulator on your laptop for the last 6 months. To have people be able to use it in front of you or miles away is super exciting and nerve-wracking. But aside from the LinkedIn congratulatory comments or the amazing GREAT JOB Whats app messages, the realization of the huge pivot of what your day to day will be, what your focus NEEDS to be now, has already started to creep into your focus, with increasing urgency. As a software engineer by trade, creating code is a mode of comfort. Building vetting and writing features from idea to functionality is how I used to be able to most easily and efficiently create value, as of course that's what I have been paid lots of money by employers to do over the last 10 years. So naturally, when I am frazzled about what I need to tackle next, I'm inclined to gravitate towards to code and product. Whether its bugs or new features, I will naturally fill my in between unstructured hours with programming work. However, in this new post-launch era of Buckets 2.0, my logical and business school centric-fueled brain knows that its time to shift away that 80/20 ratio of product building to business building I have been operating by for the last year. And to be frank, it is humbling to revisit financial models and long term marketing strategies that aren't quite up to date. Casting my cozy engineering hat to the side is what I know is necessary for this quarter as I focus more on the data coming from the product experiments, and as our client partnerships projects and marketing initiatives come into reality.

With all that said, I am honestly super excited to delve more into these areas of marketing strategy that demands I have an honest but confident growth mindset. It's crucial for me to build up this marketing muscle to be the encompassing CEO and founder I think scaling this business necessitates. Building off of the foundational classes and takeaways I gleaned from my many marketing classes at Columbia Business School, I have also since leveraged my super intelligent and experienced marketing classmates and teachers that are experts in the field to help me up skill my marketing understanding of my customers specifically (See the power of leveraging your network? And yes, I used Buckets to help me organize these convos and follow ups!). So, if you are one of those marketing experts aforementioned, please reach out! I always clear my calendar to learn from others or if you have recommendations for courses or books, please send my way. Happy Friday!