I understand Sean Ellis's view on product-market fit, etc. But while our product is ready (AKA "good enough") to launch and (I believe) start to get some paying customers, part of me wants to hold it back for another 1-2 months to "polish it up", add a few more things, etc. While they will definitely help, I'm not sure we absolutely need them. We've spent a year building our product and most of the functionality is there. It works and is stable, but we also have 3 big competitors in our space with lots of funding, good (but complicated) products, etc. So my question is really, should we stay in a private beta for 1-2 more months (with no paying customers, just a few dozen users) or should we launch sooner, even though I personally feel a bit more time on the product is needed?
I believe in MVP (Maximum Validated Product). The more you get customer/user validation, the more robust and complete the product becomes. It's smart to begin testing immediately to collect data that can help road mapping for the next product build improvements. Launch early with a few lighthouse customers to get the following (but not exhaustive) information:
• Validate improvement over previous product iterations
• Validate visual fit as a lightweight QA process
• Supplement quantitative A/B testing to investigate user preference from a qualitative perspective
• Identify missed usability issues or awkward product flows
• Show use cases of a product in multiple environments (Desktop vs. Mobile)
• Collect user feedback and hear their opinions, suggestions, and desired features lists
Answered 6 years ago
Access 20,000+ Startup Experts, 650+ masterclass videos, 1,000+ in-depth guides, and all the software tools you need to launch and grow quickly.
Already a member? Sign in