Lesson 1: The #1 Mistake in Spec Writing – And How to Fix It

Introduction

Most product failures start with unclear specs. In this lesson, I’ll share the #1 mistake I made (so you don’t have to), and how simply writing things down can save your project.

If you’re building anything—whether it’s a product, software, or even a personal project—having no written specs will slow you down and cause problems.

Let’s dive into why writing things down is the single most important first step in spec writing.

🔑 Key Takeaways from This Lesson

✅ Writing Specs Down Is Always Better Than Nothing

Even if your project is small, even if you think you can keep everything in your head—having written specs will make a huge difference.

Here’s why:

1️⃣ Thinking through your specs upfront leads to better ideas.
2️⃣ It’s cheaper and faster to iterate on specs than to fix bad implementations.
3️⃣ If you work with a team, written specs create alignment and reduce miscommunication.
4️⃣ Even if you’re working solo, specs act as a roadmap to keep you focused.

🚨 Biggest lesson: Going from nothing to something will make the biggest impact. Future refinements are easier once you have a foundation.

💡 Pro Tip: Start with a simple bullet-point list of what you want to build. Even a rough draft is better than nothing!

💬 My Personal Experience: The Rimac Automobili Story

When I joined Rimac Automobili, a hypercar company building the world’s fastest accelerating hypercar, I was tasked with creating the M2M Dashboard—a system similar to an F1 pitstop interface for remote diagnostics and monitoring.

But I made one big mistake: I didn’t write down any specs before jumping into building it.

Here’s what happened:

❌ Mistakes I Made:

• I spent 1.5 months coding without clear specs.
• I kept making small, unfocused changes instead of defining the core requirements.
• When I finally showed my work, we discovered major issues:
  • Some features weren’t even possible due to missing signals/sensors.
  • Some parts weren’t needed at all.
  • If I had gathered early feedback, the product would have been better from the start.

🚨 The Cost of No Specs:

• I wasted weeks building the wrong things.
• I had to redo significant parts of the work.
• I felt frustrated because all of this could have been avoided.

🔥 Lesson Learned: If I had written even a simple spec document, I could have caught issues early and saved time, effort, and frustration.

🛠 How You Can Apply This Today

Want to avoid making the same mistake? Follow this simple action plan:

✅ Simple 3-Step Action Plan:

1️⃣ Write a one-page summary of what you want to build.
2️⃣ List the key features and requirements—even in bullet points.
3️⃣ Share it with a teammate (or review it yourself) before you start building.

📌 Bonus Challenge: Take a project you’re currently working on and write a basic spec—even if you already started. See how it changes your perspective!

📌 Recap & What’s Next

Writing things down is the foundation of good product management and spec writing.

📌 Key takeaway: Going from nothing to something is the biggest jump you’ll make.

🎯 Next Lesson: Now that you know the importance of writing specs, let’s talk about keeping them organized so they don’t become a mess. Watch Lesson 2 →

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