“I started posting 'here's what I'm working on next' — not at launch but throughout the year. People started tagging their friends saying 'this is coming, you need this.' That sustained engagement carried me through dead periods where I had nothing actually ready to ship.”

Teasing a coming feature before it ships — not just at launch — is what unlocked momentum

Duffett found that pre-announcing upcoming features (with screenshots or demos of in-progress work) drove more engagement than post-launch announcements. Users who anticipated a feature became advocates before it shipped, tagging others and amplifying reach. This created a predictable engagement cycle independent of release cadence — especially valuable for a solo developer whose shipping pace is irregular.