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We need all that. Still, it can be frightening. I have "launch fear": I delay by another week every week, because I found one or more bugs the day before, whi

by 1996 8y ago

We need all that. Still, it can be frightening. I have "launch fear": I delay by another week every week, because I found one or more bugs the day before, which to me is unacceptable. Also it would crush my ego if people said I hadn't noticed or bothered to fix it, because it would mean I don't care about my users. When I am launching, I want users to have the best experience possible. MVP is minimal, not bug ridden. When I find a bug, it hurts, and it is almost depressing - as in, leading to paralysis.

jf- 8y ago
A piece of advice I heard once - if you’re not embarrassed by your first release, you waited too long. Just do it.
sonnyblarney 8y ago
Wow - this. I didn't quite realize that this was a thing. I share the same tendency and it may have as much to do with something else: the 'epoch' moment which implies change, i.e. a 'decision' or outcome which could be bad. 'Development' is a grind, but at least you're alive. After launch it may go well, but you could get wiped out - I think people may fear this. Also, launch brings so much chaos, unclarity ... in 'development' you're in charge of what's going on. After launch, your users and investors definitely own your time.
- 1996 8y ago
  I think we all share the same concern. I am told to lauch by everybody (even here) but I can't until I have at least fixed the MVP to fit my minimal standards. It is hard to explain but you've nailed it. In development, you are alive and can fix things. I do not want things to go wrong for my users. By myself, I have a lot of leeway. There are many things I can tolerate, and I often strive for "good enough" But I can't do that with future users involved, even if they don't exist yet. Because they will trust me to deliver a good product, and I want to be worthy of their trust.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- jakoblorz 8y ago
  To add my two cents: I guess that people do not fear getting wiped out as in being killed because the product was bad. When launching, the dreams / expectations that fueled the development will get "reality-checked". The initial dream comes from the heart, so when the launch fails, people fear that their core identity is being attacked. You could call that the negative side (from a personal pov) of external validation.
fastball 8y ago
"If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late." - Reid Hoffman
nojvek 8y ago
I feel you. I also don’t like the “if you’re not embarrassed, you haven’t released early”. We only get one chance at a first impression and it’s very important that we get it right. If we do, then that user is delighted and will mostly likely recommend it to someone else. That’s why I really like “minimal delightful product” rather than “minimal viable product”. But “minimal delightful product needs to solve the users job”. This means even if it’s slightly buggy but you manage to solve a painful problem, the user still is delighted with a smile. So many products I see that are the work of long months of building but don’t solve the users problem. The process I find works best is a strong canary program. “You don’t spend more than a week without iterating by showing something to a customer and collecting/observing feedback” The first version is ugly and only meant for a few users, as more holes are fixed, it’s exposed to more and more users until you hit the gold pot and find new users are actually “getting delighted”. That’s when you’d go full GA on a feature with a limited scope that “gets the users job done in a way that delights them”
phkahler 8y ago
>> When I am launching, I want users to have the best experience possible. Just add to that: The best experience possible right now. If your imperfect product is compared to your non-existent product, which will your potential users want?
mariopt 8y ago
Same here. The way I try to overcome it is by thinking that there are things that I don't control. I could create an app in XYZ stack and in the months some packages are broken and unmaintained. Just realise that if it's hard for you, it's also hard for others. If you fight for it, eventually things will work. I had many failures in the past due to arrogance, not playing along, over confidence, etc. In the end, you've to analyse the situation, learn from it and just keep going forward. The more you fail, the better you'll become at handling it. You were born on this plant knowing nothing and you failed a lot of times, more than you can count, until you become you. Each day you're a little bit better than yesterday.

by 1996 8y ago

jf- 8y ago

A piece of advice I heard once - if you’re not embarrassed by your first release, you waited too long. Just do it.

sonnyblarney 8y ago

Wow - this. I didn't quite realize that this was a thing. I share the same tendency and it may have as much to do with something else: the 'epoch' moment which implies change, i.e. a 'decision' or outcome which could be bad. 'Development' is a grind, but at least you're alive. After launch it may go well, but you could get wiped out - I think people may fear this. Also, launch brings so much chaos, unclarity ... in 'development' you're in charge of what's going on. After launch, your users and investors definitely own your time.

1996 8y ago
I think we all share the same concern. I am told to lauch by everybody (even here) but I can't until I have at least fixed the MVP to fit my minimal standards. It is hard to explain but you've nailed it. In development, you are alive and can fix things. I do not want things to go wrong for my users. By myself, I have a lot of leeway. There are many things I can tolerate, and I often strive for "good enough" But I can't do that with future users involved, even if they don't exist yet. Because they will trust me to deliver a good product, and I want to be worthy of their trust.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
jakoblorz 8y ago
To add my two cents: I guess that people do not fear getting wiped out as in being killed because the product was bad. When launching, the dreams / expectations that fueled the development will get "reality-checked". The initial dream comes from the heart, so when the launch fails, people fear that their core identity is being attacked. You could call that the negative side (from a personal pov) of external validation.

fastball 8y ago

"If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late." - Reid Hoffman

nojvek 8y ago

I feel you. I also don’t like the “if you’re not embarrassed, you haven’t released early”. We only get one chance at a first impression and it’s very important that we get it right. If we do, then that user is delighted and will mostly likely recommend it to someone else. That’s why I really like “minimal delightful product” rather than “minimal viable product”. But “minimal delightful product needs to solve the users job”. This means even if it’s slightly buggy but you manage to solve a painful problem, the user still is delighted with a smile. So many products I see that are the work of long months of building but don’t solve the users problem. The process I find works best is a strong canary program. “You don’t spend more than a week without iterating by showing something to a customer and collecting/observing feedback” The first version is ugly and only meant for a few users, as more holes are fixed, it’s exposed to more and more users until you hit the gold pot and find new users are actually “getting delighted”. That’s when you’d go full GA on a feature with a limited scope that “gets the users job done in a way that delights them”

phkahler 8y ago

>> When I am launching, I want users to have the best experience possible. Just add to that: The best experience possible right now. If your imperfect product is compared to your non-existent product, which will your potential users want?

mariopt 8y ago

Same here. The way I try to overcome it is by thinking that there are things that I don't control. I could create an app in XYZ stack and in the months some packages are broken and unmaintained. Just realise that if it's hard for you, it's also hard for others. If you fight for it, eventually things will work. I had many failures in the past due to arrogance, not playing along, over confidence, etc. In the end, you've to analyse the situation, learn from it and just keep going forward. The more you fail, the better you'll become at handling it. You were born on this plant knowing nothing and you failed a lot of times, more than you can count, until you become you. Each day you're a little bit better than yesterday.