Founders play a crucial role in the success of a tech team and the products they create. From setting the vision and goals to providing the necessary resources and support, leadership can make all the difference in building better tech products.

It can also stymie and slow progress if founders have the wrong focus or approach to leading a technical team.

In this blog post, we'll explore some key values for leading your tech team to success, from fostering a culture of innovation to empowering your team members to take ownership of the outcomes. Whether you're a seasoned founder or just starting out, these tips will help you build a strong, collaborative tech team that delivers products your customers will love.

But first, let’s dive into the mindsets leadership should avoid in order to save time, money, and engineering heartache.

Common Software Development Misconceptions Founders Can Ditch

We’ve noticed a few things that just aren’t working for founders who are building a product within their company, and we are ready to kick these mindsets to the curb.

Software Development Misconception #1 - Feature Based Planning

Pretty much every founder we talk to wants to know how long it will take to develop a very specific, very long, list of features.

So it’ll sound pretty crazy that we stopped signing contracts that agree to specific feature sets (gasp).

Here's why... Features are subjective.

If all you give your tech team is a list of features, they won’t know if the actual goals of the product are accomplished once the features are built.

So what’s a better approach?

Orient your product planning around user outcomes.

Ultimately, you need your user to accomplish a specific thing.

For example: “I need my user to skin a cat.”

(You see where this is going?)

Okay, you’re right. Let’s go with a less gruesome example.

There are multiple ways to get from point A to point B.

Picture this:

Your boss is in town for a client meeting, and you’re driving them from the hotel to your client’s office. Your boss wants you to take the highway. You, however, are a local. You know that the highway sucks and there are always wrecks, and you know in-town is always faster and saves on gas.

You, as the in-town expert, would have a better solution than your boss, who doesn’t know the area, right?

The same thing can happen with your software development.

If you prescribe one solution by giving your engineers a specific list of features, you’re missing a possible better way that your tech team is aware of. You’re taking away their creative freedom to take part in the design of your problem-solving.

Features will still come as a result of planning, but they shouldn’t drive the planning. Let outcomes drive, and let features fall into place with the partnership of your engineering team.

Software Development Misconception #2 - Product Over Process

You don’t need an app, you need a process that can develop technology, listen to and apply user feedback, and react to your changing business needs - across the lifetime of your business.

Examine the process you are creating for your software development. If you released your app into the world tomorrow and it flopped, do you know what you would do? How would you collect feedback to incorporate and make a better product?

A hyper-focus on creating the perfect app fails to recognize the ongoing nature of software development. Your market is going to change, user needs are going to change, or users might simply disagree with the way you built your technology in the first place. Having a process for development allows you to catch that feedback and integrate it right back into the development process, so you’re always building and creating better iterations of your product.

Software Development Misconception #3 - If You Build It, They Will Come

Say it with me: 👏🏼 Your app is not your business 👏🏼

Writing code is the easy part of launching an app.

Identifying your market, understanding their needs, selling into that market, getting feedback, and providing amazing customer service - those are the hard parts.

People won’t self-select into using your product just because you build it. You should know exactly how your tech is going to support your business goals and include a go-to-market strategy - or else you’ll have an amazing product… with no one using it.

Software Development Values Founders can Adopt to Build Better Products

We work with a lot of founders, and these aren’t just pie-in-the-sky ideals. These are the values that the most successful startups we work with utilize to better understand their technology and their customers and to build better products.

Software Development Value #1 - Experimentation

If every new business was guaranteed success, 90% of startups wouldn’t fail. Building a business is one big experiment to see if you can turn your great idea into a great business.

The fastest way to find traction is by testing small experiments that will prove traction or validate that big idea you’re running after. Testing small experiments will help you build better products by connecting with your market, failing faster, and capitalizing on wins sooner.

Software Development Value #2 - Iteration

Expect to always be growing and adjusting your product.

Don’t believe us? Pull up your favorite app in the app store right now and check the Version History (Instagram just released version 278.0 at the time of writing this).

Start getting feedback from your users as soon as possible so you can build a product the market wants.

Keep your development cycles short and often so you can consistently deliver, evaluate, and pivot when needed.

Software Development Value #3 - Prioritization

Cut things from your to-do list.

Focus is the most valuable thing you can bring to the table to make progress. What is the one thing you want to accomplish first?

Focus on that, and de-prioritize the rest.

Software Development Value #4 - Communication

Technology is not a black box. In fact, you should understand exactly what is going on with your product development.

You should know the state of your tech, why you’re hitting hurdles, and how different aspects of your technology might impact your business.

Don’t settle for a technical partner who cannot communicate those technical priorities back to you. You don’t have to know how to code, but you can still find a partner who helps you feel confident about your tech.

Founders Can Help Their Teams Build Better Products

When business and tech are in sync, it can make magic happen for an organization. Can you point to ways your team is implementing experimentation, iteration, prioritization, or communication within your tech process? Can you identify quick wins you could implement to start working these values into your process?

Implementing these values will help you better understand your customers, build better solutions, and become a more confident tech leader. If you’d like to dive into how we can help your team achieve these outcomes, we’d love to connect and see if there’s a way we can help.

Values Founders Can Embrace to Build Better Products