Most failed products have the same origin story: a team charging full speed into development with not enough clarity about what they’re building, who it’s for, or why anyone should care.
If you’re nodding, don’t worry—you’re not alone. Fortunately, there’s a fix.
It’s called reverse engineering. It’s simple, it works, and it will save you months of headaches and a fortune in wasted effort. Here’s how to flip the script and build your product backward.
Step 1: Write the Pitch Before You Build
Forget business plans and Gantt charts. Start by crafting the pitch—the story you’ll tell the world about what you’re building and why it matters. Think of it as writing the movie trailer before filming begins.
This means creating:
- A Landing Page: Your homepage’s headline is your product’s elevator pitch.
Example: “Nea: Your AI-Powered Networking Assistant. Stay connected with the people who matter most—effortlessly.” - A Twitter Thread: If you can’t hook your audience in 280 characters, good luck selling your product.
Example: “Nea tracks your conversations, monitors social updates, and ensures you never miss a chance to connect. Here’s how we built an AI assistant to strengthen relationships. [1/5]” - A TikTok Hook: No one’s reading press releases, but they’ll scroll for days. Hook them fast.
Example: “What if your networking assistant knew every important date, kept track of your convos, and made staying connected simple? Meet Nea.” - A LinkedIn Post: Bring in the professionals. Tell them why this product solves a real problem.
Example: “We built Nea because relationships are the foundation of success. With AI-powered insights, Nea helps you stay engaged, strengthen connections, and seize opportunities.”
Why It Works: If you can’t explain your product clearly and concisely, it’s not ready to build. Plus, this exercise exposes what doesn’t make sense—early enough to fix it.
When we were creating Nea, the concept seemed crystal clear to us: an AI-powered assistant to help you maintain relationships. But explaining it to others? That’s where the fun began.
The first time we pitched Nea, we led with: “Nea is your AI-driven relationship assistant.” Simple, right? Not so much. Early feedback was a mix of confusion and assumptions:
- “So, it’s a CRM?” (Nope, but we get why you’d think that.)
- “Is it like LinkedIn with AI?” (Closer, but not quite.)
- “Why do I need this when I have reminders in my calendar?”
The questions were humbling. They made us realize that while we understood what Nea did, we weren’t communicating it in a way that clicked for others.
This forced us to rethink how we described Nea. Instead of leading with AI or generic terms like “relationship assistant,” we focused on specifics:
- “Nea tracks your conversations across email, text, and social media, so you never miss an important moment.”
- “It helps you strengthen relationships by suggesting thoughtful, personalized outreach based on past interactions.”
- “From birthdays to job changes, Nea keeps you updated and connected with the people who matter most.”
These changes weren’t just about making the pitch clearer—they shaped the product itself. We doubled down on features like personalized suggestions and prioritized notifications because they resonated most with users.
Lesson Learned: The best way to clarify your product’s vision is to explain it to someone who doesn’t live in your head. If they don’t get it—or if they think it’s something else entirely—it’s a sign to refine both your messaging and your roadmap.
Step 2: Anticipate the Hard Questions (Because They’re Coming)
After drafting your launch copy, show it to people who’ll give you honest feedback. I’m talking about your most skeptical friend, your spouse, or a colleague who isn’t afraid to tell you, “This doesn’t make sense.”
Ask them to poke holes in it:
- “What does Nea actually do that’s different?”
- “How does it know what’s important to me?”
- “How much work am I going to have to do to set this up?”
Those questions? Gold. They surface the blind spots you missed. For example, if everyone asks about data security, it’s not just a feature—it’s a trust factor you need to address, upfront.
When we were piloting my 360 review service, we thought we had it dialed in: identify gaps in leadership and provide clients with clear, actionable insights. Simple, right?
But during the pilot phase, something became glaringly obvious—clients didn’t just want to know what they needed to fix. They wanted to know what they were already doing well and, more importantly, how to lean into those strengths.
The feedback didn’t stop there. A recurring theme started to surface: “This is great, but how do I stay accountable?”
That hit us. Insights without action are like a gym membership without the workouts. Useful in theory, but in practice? Useless.
We went back to the drawing board. The solution we came up with wasn’t a complex coaching program or hours-long calls—it was something simpler, more human: semi-automated, just-in-time accountability coaching.
Here’s how it worked:
- Morning Texts: Each morning, clients received a short text message with something to reflect on for the day based off their 360 review—like a leadership practice or bite-sized action item.
- Evening Follow-Ups: At the end of the day, they got another message asking how it went, how they felt, and what they could tweak to strengthen that muscle tomorrow.
The result? It turned passive feedback into active progress. Clients felt supported and seen.
The focus shifted from, “Here’s what you need to fix,” to, “Here are two small exercises you can do today to make meaningful progress.”
Lesson Learned: Feedback isn’t just about refining the product—it’s about listening for problems you didn’t know existed. Sometimes, the biggest breakthroughs come from outside perspectives asking, “What’s missing?” For us, it wasn’t just about identifying gaps but also about creating a system that made clients feel their progress and measure their results.
Step 3: Map the Customer Journey (and Kill Friction)
Now it’s time to walk in your customer’s shoes. Literally. What does it feel like to use your product, step by step?
For Nea, it might look like this:
- Onboarding: The user connects their email and social accounts in three clicks.
- Daily Engagement: Nea sends personalized suggestions—like congratulating a colleague on their promotion or following up with your nephew on asking for that promotion.
- Real-Time Alerts: Nea flags high-priority events, like a former colleague sharing a new product launch on LinkedIn.
- Seamless Follow-Up: Users respond directly through Nea, strengthening connections without the mental load.
This step isn’t just about usability—it’s about storytelling. The customer is the hero, and your product is the tool that helps them win.
Step 4: Build With Confidence, Launch With Clarity
Reverse engineering isn’t just a framework—it’s a sanity check. By the time you’ve crafted your launch copy, answered tough questions, and mapped the customer journey, you’ve done more than clarify your product. You’ve aligned your team, sharpened your focus, and eliminated 90% of the ambiguity that kills most launches.
And here’s the kicker: the work you’ve done doubles as your marketing and sales assets.
Why Reverse Engineering Works
- Clarity Eliminates Confusion: The process forces you to articulate your product’s purpose and value in simple, clear terms before you build anything. If your messaging doesn’t make sense at this stage, it’s a red flag to refine your concept—not after you’ve spent months in development.
- Customer-Centric Thinking: Reverse engineering puts the customer experience front and center. By mapping how they’ll use your product and what they’ll gain from it, you ensure you’re solving real problems—not just building for the sake of it.
- Faster, Smarter Development: When you start with the end in mind, you eliminate unnecessary steps and features. Reverse engineering keeps teams aligned and focused, reducing wasted effort and accelerating time to market.
- Built-In Trust: Products built with clarity and customer focus inspire confidence. By addressing potential objections and crafting a seamless experience from the start, you position your product to earn trust—not skepticism—on launch day.
Questions to Reflect On
- If someone landed on your homepage today, would they understand your product in 10 seconds? If you’re unsure, try Roast My Landing Page for a sobering take.
- What’s one hard question about your product that no one on your team wants to answer?