Retrospective: Lessons From Building 10+ Startup Products

Discovering my love for startups was an ikigai moment—the perfect intersection of what I love, what I do best, and what I believe I can give to the world. The rumors are true - startups aren't perfect. But it's in this chaos that I find my most creative self flourishing.

The startup ecosystem allows me to solve problems without restraint. I can allocate resources within given constraints, choose inspiring people to work with, and have freedom of execution.

I've been involved in the startup scene for almost a decade. From winning competitions to securing seed money for my first business, exploring export-imports in the fishing industry in Asia, and my latest venture in Toronto, I've always been involved in some form of entrepreneurial venture.

Over the past two years, my co-founder Batuhan and I have had the privilege of working with more than 10 Toronto-based startups as software developers. Foam On Latte Inc. is currently a B2B venture. We build and design mobile or web applications for early-stage startups and provide them as much value as possible. All our services are custom to the business's needs.

Key Learnings from Our Journey

1. Start Small, Progress Big

When we first started in this saturated market of developers, it was hard to differentiate ourselves. As a solution, we started taking on the smallest projects but over-delivered on all of them. We worked on small landing pages and mobile apps with few screens, then slowly moved on to developing more complex applications such as payment processing and inventory management systems.

We always went a little beyond the scope of work to show that we care and want the product to succeed. It's okay to start small, but have big plans to progress big.

2. Working with the Right People

Over the last four years, I have developed good friendships with exceptionally talented full-stack developers and competitive programmers. At first, we collaborated on small projects as a synergy check. Over time, our shared vision and work ethic transformed into creating meaningful partnerships.

Who you work with is going to have a massive impact on your venture, so choose wisely.

3. The Art of Speed

Things move incredibly fast at startups, which is why we had to master the art of speed while maintaining quality. We also noticed that clients love frequent demos and seeing the work in progress, so we try to have at least one weekly or bi-weekly demo for them to see their product come to life gradually

4. Building a Portfolio

Starting to post our work on different platforms and on LinkedIn gave us a lot of visibility. We had founders reach out to learn more and discuss projects. However, I must admit that marketing ourselves is not our strongest suit—it is, in fact, our biggest weakness.

5. Keeping Things Human

Above all, we learned that empathy, friendliness, reliability, and kindness go a long way. This brings me to one of my favourite James Clear quotes:

"Being good at what you do is partially about competence, but not exclusively. Two other things that matter:
- Reliability. You do what you say you're going to do—on time and as expected.
- Enthusiasm. You're excited to be here and eager to work on this problem. Skills matter, but in many cases, it's your reliability or attitude that separates you from the pack."

Show that you care and provide value. Genuinely.

We are trying to push out blogs and case studies weekly, but like all good things - good writing takes time. I'm not using AI to churn out any of my paragraphs in a second. I've tried it in the past, and it didn't sound like me at all!

If you are a founder or just interested in startups, tech, or product in general, don’t hesitate to reach out at hello@foamonlatte.co

Until next time!