Phora has a feature backlog. Plenty of ideas, each one logical, each one useful. I've built a few so far. Most of the rest will probably never get made.
That's not laziness. That's a decision.
The backlog trap
I've seen this pattern at every SaaS: the founder collects feature requests, prioritizes them, and starts checking them off the list. Because a good founder listens to users. Right?
Not necessarily. Users tell you what they're missing. They don't tell you what actually matters. The difference between those two is enormous.
Three requests came in during the first month, all of which made sense. I could have built all three. Instead, I built a completely different feature — which nobody asked for.
Because that was the feature that changed how people used the product. Not what they said they wanted — but what they needed.
What you don't build is also a decision
Every feature has a maintenance cost. Code that needs updating. UI that needs testing. Edge cases that will surface. Building a feature takes 10 hours. Maintaining it for a year: 50.
The best products aren't the ones that have everything — they're the ones that do the essential things well, and nothing else.
Less, better
It's not about doing more — it's about doing different things. Fewer features, but the ones they focus on, they do better. Simply, quickly, reliably.
I'm not proud of what I built. I'm proud of what I didn't.
There's always a next level.
If you like what you see — whether you're building a product or a team — I'd love to hear about it.