Essay · 10 min read

Don't launch

Eric Ries · Startup Lessons Learned (Eric Ries) Free Intermediate

Ries makes the exact distinction our answer rests on: a product launch (making it available) and a marketing launch (making noise) are two separate events, and conflating them is what turns a soft launch into either cowardice or a wasted splash. Read this before you plan your own launch sequence so you are choosing the timing on purpose, not by default.

  • Product availability and public announcement do not have to happen on the same day
  • A quiet release lets you fix problems before they are visible to everyone at once
  • Treat launching as a tactic you deploy when it helps, not a milestone you are owed
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The question it answers

  1. What does a 'soft launch' actually look like, and is it just a cop-out for being scared to ship?

Read with it

  1. The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past... momtestbook.com Book · ~130 pages The Mom Test Rob Fitzpatrick
  2. The permission slip to recruit users by hand, do things manually, and deliver 'insanely great' experiences to your first few... paulgraham.com Essay · ~15 min read Do Things That Don't Scale Paul Graham
  3. Video · ~13 min How to Plan an MVP Michael Seibel (YC)
  4. Basecamp's battle-tested, opinionated system for shipping meaningful work in fixed cycles without endless backlogs, a primary... Basecamp / 37signals Book · free online book Shape Up: Stop Running in Circles and Ship Work that Matters Ryan Singer
  5. The definitive talk that reframes launching from a one-shot event into a repeatable tactic, exactly this category's thesis. YC... YC Startup Library Video · ~25 min How to Launch (Again and Again) Kat Manalac (Y Combinator)
  6. Video · ~25 min How to Talk to Users Eric Migicovsky
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