No Need to Launch

On a recent call, I asked a technology startup veteran when he knew it was the right time to transition from testing to selling. He had a great answer–they didn’t.

They never tested their platform with outside businesses. Instead, they were always selling and open with the fact that their first customers were going to have a buggy experience. They told businesses that they were adding functionalities and that they needed their help to make the product as helpful as it could be.

We need to take this stance.

We’re currently beta testing our product and working on adding more businesses to help us build and test new features. We’re going to be changing things up soon. Why not be candid with our position?

We do need help, but at the same time, what we’ve already put together is valuable.

The mentors at Y Combinator’s Startup School say the same thing. You should never actually “launch” a product. It’s not necessary. Instead, put it out there, get people using it, iterate based on their feedback, and keep growing.

This change in perspective will help us in more than one way. Things will be easier to communicate. No longer will we say we have a platform but we’re in testing. We can clean up language on our landing page and add a sense of confidence. Most importantly, we’ll be generating revenue more quickly.

So that’s what we’ll be working on now–changing our perspective and selling our platform.

One quick addition…

Tomorrow is our final pitch presentation for the FAU Tech Runway Launch Competition. We’re practiced, prepped (definitely doing some more prep today), and ready to go!