Building things for myself, not just clients and thinking about who it's for from the start.

20+ years as a freelancer. I got good at solving other people's problems. Along the way I started 4 or 5 side projects with others. We'd build something solid, then wonder why nobody showed up. The pattern was always the same: build first, figure out marketing later.

Wish I'd understood earlier that reaching people isn't a phase after the product, it shapes the product.