How I launched my first product

Introduction

Launching my first product was an intense journey, full of uncertainties, challenges and, above all, learning. From a very early age, I always saw myself as someone who was curious, restless and eager to turn ideas into reality. However, turning an idea into a real, viable product is a path that requires much more than just creativity – it involves strategy, persistence and, sometimes, overcoming the fear of failure.

I decided to launch my first product because I felt that there was something on the market that needed to be innovated, something that no one was doing in the way I imagined. It was this desire to make a difference, combined with a passion for developing creative solutions, that drove me forward.

If you’ve ever thought about creating your own product, you know it’s not easy. And if you’re just starting out, I’ll tell you that the path is challenging, but the end result is worth every effort. In this article, I’ll share my experience – from the conception of the idea to the launch – to show you that, despite the difficulties, the process of launching a product can be one of the most rewarding journeys of your life.

The Initial Idea

It all started on an ordinary day at church, while I was taking part in dynamics and games using pen and paper. The simplicity of the activity made me think: why are we still stuck with such traditional methods? No, we weren’t simulating ancient Egypt, but I knew there was a more modern and effective way to engage young people. That’s when the idea came to me: to create an app that would unite young people and “church” activities in one place.

With the idea bubbling away, I rushed home and immediately called my friend and partner, Frankllin Teixeira. At the time, Frankllin was busy with another project of ours – which I’ll talk about later – but he still agreed to discuss this new possibility. After a long meeting and some research on the web to validate our idea, we decided to start the project, which we named “Fisgados”.

What began as a games and dynamics app has evolved into something much bigger: an innovative educational solution, capable of teaching the Bible to children and teenagers in a fun and unique way. And so Fisgados began to take shape.

The Development

The first big decision in development was to choose the right technology, and this cost us several hours of discussion and analysis of possibilities. Although we had experience in supporting mobile services and applications, creating a solution from scratch was a new challenge. However, our familiarity with Flutter, a technology we had already used in other projects, led us to choose this path.

With that decision made, the pieces began to fall into place. Firebase became an essential ally, offering various solutions that integrated perfectly with our app. As a Systems Analyst with a passion for what I do, I began to design each screen, each button, and to idealize all the functionalities that could make Fisgados a rich and interactive experience.

That’s when we encountered the first major obstacle: a lack of manpower. There were only two of us, with limited time in our daily schedules, and the tight deadline for launching the product demanded more than we could deliver on our own. We realized that in order to move forward, we needed to set priorities.

And that was the key to the whole process: setting priorities. Fisgados already had a target audience and a user base to test, so we focused on creating an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) that would meet the essential needs identified with our first users. With a clear plan, we set to work. After a month of coding and countless debugging sessions, we finally had a stable, installable version for Android.

Challenges and mistakes made

After getting the first APK installable, the next challenge was to upload the app to the Play Store. Although I’ve been through this process before, I have to confess that I felt a lot of trepidation. The last time I published something in the store was in 2017, in a very amateurish way, and I realized that things had changed significantly since then.

Fortunately, I was able to rely on the experience I had gained from Manoel Lucas, my former Tech Lead, who had guided me through this process in previous projects. The steps began to come back to me like riding a bicycle. However, what seemed simple soon proved challenging: an avalanche of errors and warnings appeared before we had permission to publish the app.

The funny thing was that we had reviewed every detail, but reality showed us how much there was still to correct. And so the challenge turned into a learning experience. Every bug fixed, every alert resolved, brought me even closer to the app. It was as if the code was teaching me its nuances, day after day. I kept uploading fixes and new features until, after a few days, the Play Store finally approved our first version.

With the app published, I began to promote it enthusiastically. Friends, family and followers of X (formerly Twitter) heard about Fisgados countless times. However, this was one of the first hard lessons I learned: I underestimated the impact of the initial feedback. Soon, responses started coming in from users, and we realized that there were only two of us to deal with all the demands that arose.

That’s when we decided we needed more hands to help us. Our volunteer interns, Juan Yago and Thales Guasti, stepped in. They were in college, thirsty for learning, and embraced the demands with all the energy they had. Without a doubt, their contribution was essential for us to keep moving forward.

Successes and Achievements

After a few setbacks, the successes finally began to emerge. We had a competent team and a group of users engaged with our solution. It was at this point that things began to look up. The list of Fisgados users grew, and more and more lessons were completed within the app. The feedback started to become more and more positive, which motivated us even more.

One of the biggest successes was the addition of Dandara Fialho to our team. She took on the responsibility of looking after our social networks, and with her help we were able to improve the app’s promotion in a more strategic and attractive way. We started appearing in lives, with streamers testing Fisgados, which generated even more visibility and excitement around our project.

However, as the popularity grew, I found myself reflecting on the path we were taking. I was constantly thinking about how to turn this visibility into something profitable, but I realized that we were moving away from Fisgados’ original purpose. That’s when I got back together with Frankllin, and together we decided that we needed to realign the project’s focus.

With this clarity, I started attending workshops and business roundtables, looking for new opportunities. And that’s when we received our first contact from an investor. Negotiations began and, little by little, a promising partnership began to form. We’re still far from having a perfect solution, but with every improvement in Fisgados, we’re closer to turning this investment into a truly profitable business.

Conclusion

I know the title of this article talks about how I launched my first product, and you may be wondering: is Fisgados 100% launched yet? The answer, honestly, is no. We still don’t have the product finished and completely available to the public. There are challenges that we still need to overcome, such as publishing the app for iOS users, the massive production of content and various other tasks that are in our backlog. However, one thing I’m sure of: we’re closer than ever to achieving this goal.

As promised, I’m going to talk about Beeework, the project we were working on before Fisgados. Unfortunately, Beeework was never actually launched. We spent so much time polishing the idea, striving for perfection, that we ended up missing the timing. Innovations we had envisioned were implemented by other platforms, and this hit us like a bucket of cold water. It was a hard lesson, but a valuable one.

If I could leave you with just one tip after everything I’ve shared here, it would be: launch your product as soon as possible! Nothing is, or ever will be, 100% perfect for launch. While you’re cleaning up the code or tweaking the style of the button, other people are launching unfinished products and gaining a foothold in the market. Learn from mistakes and evolve along the way, but don’t let the fear of imperfection paralyze your progress.