Bottom Line: Nobody Actually Cares About 80% Of Your Work
And that's a good thing.
Hey there Solo Dev!
I recently spent an entire workday forcing a system to do something it wasn’t built for.
And it still sucked.
It reminded me of a hard truth:
Nobody actually cares about 80% of your work.
The 80/20 rule
Also known as the Pareto Principle, the 80/20 rule states:
80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes
Not everything you do is equal. Two minutes spent are never the same. Applying 80/20 thinking is core to being a Solo Dev.
We need to maximize the utility of our time spent.
We need to obsess over the right things:
Identify what is valuable
Cut distractions
Ship early, improve later
The 80/20 rule in your software
I’ve been catching myself ignoring this as well, so this is a reminder to all of us.
FOCUS ON THE THINGS THAT MOVE THE NEEDLE.
But how do we identify those things? Well, a simple way is to track one product metric: what functionality is being used the most? Use logging to find this core.
That specific core is the 20% that accounts for 80% of the value.
Another way is to simply ask users what they find most valuable in the product. Let their experiences guide your development time.
If you have no users from which to gather data, simply using your own product can reveal this information as well. You’ll be drawn to the most valuable part, just by nature of it solving your problem.
Once you know exactly where most users find value, you can focus your work to maximize the utility of your time.
Instead of optimizing your entire app, focus on:
The 3 most frequently used features
The longest loading times on those features
The components with the most user interaction
There’s always room to obsess over the small things.
Of course there is. And this is often how the most remarkable products are made. The products that just ooze quality.
But that’s not our reality as Solo Devs, especially not starting out.
Starting out requires being brutally focused, and focusing our work on the things that move the needle.
We need to get off the ground before we can gain altitude.
The 80/20 rule as a Solo Dev
For Solopreneur Liftoff I defined the core of my application as creating scenarios that project income based on the financial profile of the user and their products.
And then I promptly decided to add more functionality, like product milestones and decision journaling.
I’d like to say it was a conscious choice, but being honest, I just got a little carried away.
Going back, I might have focused more specifically on the core itself, leaving the enhancements for later.
Fortunately, I’m building this on the side, outside of work. That allows me to make choices like this without the pressure of needing money.
I can focus my early projects on learning.
The issue with 80/20?
Here's the uncomfortable reality: as solo developers, we're often wired to be perfectionists. We want every feature polished, every edge case handled, every pixel perfect.
I’ve felt that way building Solopreneur Liftoff.
And that feeling’s been keeping me building.
And it can keep me building forever, and never launching.
It’s not about being lazy, but strategic.
We ship good enough to solve the core problem brilliantly. Not a perfect product with more bells and whistles that never sees the light of day.
Your users don't care about the 80% you obsess over. They care about the 20% that solves their immediate pain.
See you next Saturday!
Until then, open your notebook and list all the features of your project. Identify the 20% of your current project that delivers 80% of the value to users. How might this change your priorities?