Because building is the small part. When I start building a tool, that's maybe 10% of the work. The other 90% happens in the usage: staff telling me every day what isn't working or how to do something. I've built so many tools I've lost count, and only about 10% are really used. The goal is implementation.
On a call recently, someone walked me through a tool they had built. It was designed to help people decide what to do next. My first reaction was simple: you've already gotten quite far.
But I also said what I always say. The goal of all of these tools is implementation.
Beautiful to look at is not the same as used
The beauty of these tools is real. They are beautiful to look at. And I've experienced this a lot. I have built so many things now that I've lost count. If I'm honest, I would say 10% of them are actually being used.
You will be surprised at what ends up being used, too. It's often not the one you were most excited about while building it. A tool can look perfect on the day you finish it and still sit there untouched.
Building is 10%. Usage is the other 90%
Here is how I think about it now. When I started building a tool, that was maybe 10% of the work. The rest, the other 90%, was accomplished in the usage of that tool.
What does that usage look like? Every day the staff would send me an email. Hey, this is not working. Hey, how do I do this? Small questions. Small complaints. Things you would never have predicted while building it on your own.
And in that everyday problem solving, something changes. We eventually ended up with a masterpiece, one that is being used pinpoint, perfect. One that is actually solving the problem we set out to solve in the first place.
That's the part most people skip. They build, they show it off, and they move on to the next thing. The tool never goes through those daily emails, so it never becomes the thing people really rely on.
So if you've built something and it isn't being used, don't read that as failure. Read it as the start of the 90%. Put it in front of the people who need it, listen to what breaks, fix it, and keep going. The building got you this far. The using is what makes it work.
“I built so many things now I've lost count, but I would say 10% of them are actually being used.”
Said on the call, 6 October 2026
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I run MarketinCrew, a marketing agency of around sixty people across Mumbai, Lyon, Paris and Toronto, and AI Crew, where we set up AI and marketing systems for businesses. I work with founders as a Virtual CMO, teach Search Engine Marketing and Social Ads at YNOV Campus in Lyon, and host The Marketin Podcast. Before all of that I co-founded American Joint, a restaurant in Mumbai that grew to three outlets.
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