Building Lit Spelling, and learning what it really takes to run a business end to end.
I’m a solo founder figuring out where to lean in, where to lean out, and how to make progress without doing everything myself.
How it started
Lit Spelling started in the kitchen, trying to keep up with my 10-year-old’s spelling and realising something uncomfortable. Wanting to help and actually being helpful are not the same thing.
I didn’t have the skills or tools I needed, and neither did other busy parents I spoke to. What began as a spelling problem quickly exposed something bigger about how much invisible work sits behind any product or business.
How it's going
Building Lit Spelling has made one thing clear: the product is rarely the hardest part. The real work lives in brand, positioning, finding the right audience, tooling, distribution, analytics, compliance, and the constant trade-offs that come with limited time.
Much of what exists today only exists because it had to.
Automation and tooling aren’t optimisations here, they’re how the work gets done at all.
The challenge has been learning where human attention genuinely matters, what technology can reliably take on, and when “good enough” is the right call.
Outside of work
Outside of building, I’m a soccer coach, coffee snob, and proud dad of two curious kids.

If you’d like to get in touch, you can reach me at hello@davidtheproduct.com