Dogfooding

The practice of using your own product in your real day-to-day work, rather than only building it for others. The name comes from the idea that you should eat your own dog food before asking customers to.

Using your own product is the fastest way to feel the rough edges your customers feel. Founders who dogfood spot bugs, confusing steps, and missing features long before a support ticket ever arrives.

A founder building a planner app runs her entire week inside it. Within days she notices the weekly view is clumsy on mobile, fixes it, and ships a smoother experience before launch.