Startup time to market


    Good afternoon!
    A little less than a week ago, we started publishing ( 1 , 2 ) a series of articles on the design and prioritization of startups. A separate discussion within the framework of this topic is the reasons for the failure of start-ups and the passage of the Death Valley projects. One of the main issues of this topic: The stage at which it is necessary to bring the project to the market. Does it make sense to bring to the market a still raw product, while retaining the birthright, or to bring out a licked and perfected project that will clog its competitors with its quality?


    “When is it worth launching a product on the market?”

    Here there is a confrontation between investors and the authors of the project. On the part of investors, it is important to bring the product to the market sooner in order to be able to assess its real economic potential, increase the project capitalization, and receive the first Cash Flow. On the other hand, fear of the market forces authors to infinitely bring the product to perfection.

    The Internet knows examples of successful projects of both extremes.

    The founder of the popular shopping club KupiVIP commented on the development process in such a competitive environment: “I wanted to build a business and just started running, because I was 100% sure that it would work, e-commerce would fire. Accordingly, I did not have a testing phase. When I found out that another person was working on a similar idea in parallel with me, I gathered the whole team and said: We will start in six weeks and go online! ”

    The application "Hypocrite" Vkontakte was at the peak of popularity recently. Although it doesn’t have a superb design, the UI is far from perfect, the idea went pretty damn good . However, with the daily audience of the game about one million people, “Hypocrite” did not bring much income. Why? I believe the product was not ready for its fame, its monetization system was not thought out well enough, and the developers just did not have time to navigate. I think a super idea can make a product popular, but in order to ride the wave, you need a highly professional team and a full understanding of the priorities for real-time product development.

    Based on the personal experience of investing startups, I can say that such moments always cause lengthy discussions between investors and authors. And the current Flashells project invested by us was no exception. In short, this SaaS service aims to create, integrate and socialize online stores.

    At the moment, the project is in the working stage, but still far from perfect. Nevertheless, after lengthy disputes within the team with the participation of investors, it was decided to start in the current state in order to avoid problems similar to those faced by the “Hypocrite” application and adapt the service in a timely manner . Also, an early release simplifies the task of collecting and preparing a loyal customer base. It is worth paying attention to the fact that the project’s entry into the market did not in the least prevent its further development and revision. On the contrary, this made it possible to more clearly identify priority areas.

    For example, the project team faced the dilemma of adaptation during the release period, roughly presented below:

    Reality in the form of statistics on user behavior, feedback and competitor behavior indicated a significantly higher priority for socialization, usability and the appearance of the components of the product.

    An investor usually identifies the following criteria for a startup’s readiness to enter the market:
    • It is suitable for use by the target audience.
    • He solves the basic problem posed.
    • Imperfections and shortcomings are evident in the project. And sometimes frank bugs (Yes, yes, it is always important to know what can be improved)
    • The team is ready to quickly adapt the project, identify priority tasks and quickly solve them

    If you answer “YES” to each of them as a startup, then go for it!

    You can’t wait forever. Time is one of the most important resources in the IT field. It is necessary to probe the market and choose priority areas for development and improvement, without investing in secondary, secondary things. Get ready for the start as soon as you feel that the project is solving the basic task, otherwise you risk missing the moment. Moreover, what exactly moment, how to catch and use it - this can be found out only in the field. Things like popularity are extremely elusive and unpredictable, you should not count on them, but you need to be prepared to deal with them in a timely manner.

    It is also impossible to produce a frankly crude product that simply does not fulfill any of the tasks assigned to it. In this case, there is a risk of losing your reputation.

    Naturally, it is necessary to prepare the project for an early release. A well-submitted project hires users for free as testers, managers and creators. It is necessary to respond quickly to the collapsed reality, the project must be alive !

    For some, this lies on the surface! For us - this is confirmed in practice.
    For those who prefer the opinion of authorities, I advise you to read the book "Rework: Business Without Prejudice", where this idea can be traced throughout the book

    And finally, I want to wish good luck to all, especially beginners, startups! Do not bury yourself in continuous improvement in your own sandbox, do not be afraid to enter the market, try, get feedback and adapt!

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