I used to believe entrepreneurship was about having a perfect idea.
Turns out, it’s mostly about having the right skills and learning by doing.
Over the last months, while building small products (like my Chrome extension for cleaning up LinkedIn job search), I realized that the most valuable skills aren’t taught clearly anywhere. So I wanted to share what I’ve learned—and hear from others too.
🧠 The skills that made the biggest difference for me
1. Problem Spotting (Underrated but critical)
Before code, before business models — comes this:
Can you notice real problems in your own life?
My extension only exists because I was personally frustrated with:
- Promoted spam jobs
- Repeated listings
- Low-quality posts
- Wasting time scrolling
Good products often start as selfish solutions.
2. Shipping Over Perfection
I shipped:
- With rough UI
- With missing features
- With bugs
And still got users.
Waiting to feel “ready” is the fastest way to never launch.
3. Basic Marketing (Even for developers)
You don’t need to become a growth hacker. But you do need:
- Writing clearly about your product
- Posting consistently
- Asking for feedback
- Listening to users
Your first users rarely come from ads.
They come from conversations.
4. Learning to Talk to Users
This one surprised me.
People will:
- Tell you what’s broken
- Suggest better ideas
- Explain how they actually use your product
But only if you ask and genuinely listen.
5. Comfort with Uncertainty
No roadmap.
No guarantees.
No validation at the start.
You build → share → adjust → repeat.
That loop matters more than any single skill.
The question I want to ask you
If you’ve built products, freelanced, started a company, or grown something meaningful:
What skills helped you the most on your journey?
Not textbook answers.
Real ones.
The ones learned the hard way.
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