Building is not the hardest part

I'm an engineer.

And for a long time I thought product requirements were someone else's job.

Someone would tell me what to build.

I'd build it. That was the deal.

And honestly? It was 100% fun.

There's nothing like shipping something and seeing it work.

But at some point I started wondering:

is what I'm building actually making a difference?

Am I solving the right problem, for the right people, in the right way?

That question nagged at me until I did something about it.

I moved to product management.

I looked into analytics, website funnels, focus groups, market studies.

But those were hardly actionable and often left me with more questions than answers.

Until I came across the work of Steve Blank and Clayton Christensen.

They provided a framework to collect, understand and evaluate customer needs.

That was the compass I was looking for to navigate product decisions.

That journey led me to the Lean Startup Machine:

a 48-hour customer discovery hackathon in London.

On day one, they sent us into the street to interview strangers, trying to understand if our idea would work.

It was uncomfortable, a bit scary at first.

But we pushed through as a team.

With the first interview, something shifted.

Potential users were passionate.

They had real frustrations, real hopes.

I walked away wanting more.

That weekend taught me that the people who need what you're building will tell you everything, if you know how to listen.

If you're an engineer who loves building, keep that energy.

Point it at the right problem.

Getting there means talking to customers.

It's uncomfortable at first.

But what you learn on the other side is worth the conversation.

Building is not the hardest part.

Understanding what to build is.

See also: Lean Startup Machine experience