“Build first launch later” or “Launch first build later”?

[ericro]

For scoping the question. Let’s say we’re talking about a not so unique e-commerce type application. It’s targeting a niche which already has 2-3 players in the market. And by “Building” I mean building an MVP, not the entire product.

What approach would you choose and why?

Personally I’m going with build first launch later. Because I don’t have the funding to advertise (it’s completely bootstrapped) and I only have the skills to build. Along the way, I’m learning about how to launch it.

 

[caddyman]

@ericro Here’s the framework i use

If its not unique, focus on building full product and distribution

If its truly unique, build the MVP fast and get feedback, iterate till they are ready to buy

 

[bi6lethump]

@caddyman Out of all of the replies, this one is truth

 

[mikey1234]

@caddyman Yes that’s what I’m doing. My product is unique and I don’t even have the words to describe it. So I’m building and showing the framework to potential customers to help me find the right messaging to sell it.

 

[ness128]

@mikey1234 How did you describe it to yourself when you decided to build it?

 

[mikey1234]

@ness128 How can I take these businesses’ money who are underserved but loaded.

 

[jeremytheservant]

@mikey1234 I feel, a good way to help with this would be to ask yourself “what problem am I solving, and what is the solution”. The simplest way to describe a problem is to state the problem it fixes and how. If you can’t answer those two questions you may not have a product or you may need to pivot your product to where the answer to this question is simple and clear.

Side note: if it’s difficult for you to understand as The Founder than it’s gonna be even more difficult for a customer or investor to understand (someone that isn’t even almost as invested as you are). Food for thought.

 

[mikey1234]

@jeremytheservant They love it and understand what I’m doing.

 

[kraftykuts007]

@mikey1234 What's your niche? Ish, if you don't wanna share

 

[mikey1234]

@kraftykuts007 Prisons.

 

[kraftykuts007]

@mikey1234 Amazing.

 

[seansy556]

@caddyman A good litmus test for this I’ll add is identifying where your product should excel (and differentiate), meet industry standards, and (can) fall short.

You can subrank these columns by a priority system you prefer (MoSCoW, RICE/Confidence, etc.) to get relative importance or identify your assumptions.

A lot of these are clearly a hypothesis, but if you’re having trouble identifying “industry standards” you’re probably in a niche where you simply need feedback and iteration.

I.e. Airbnb created a new market paradigm and needed to test it asap. Figma on the other hand identified major problems with tech that had been dominating the industry for a decade. They had to reach industry standards to even be considered (and ofc had to excel on other fronts to win) - meaning they were in stealth for what.. 8 years?

 

[rohan]

@caddyman

If its truly unique, build the MVP fast

Exactly what I needed to hear.

 

[charl]

@ericro In either case, the deciding factor will be if you have distribution. It doesn't matter if you have the best e-commerce product on the planet.

You could likely build whatever you're building on shopify and have the same amount of success (at least initially).

TL;DR: Focus on distribution and how you will actually get customers.

 

[ericro]

@charl Well e-commerce was more of an example( I guess the wrong example). Marketplace is the right word for it.
If I’m not mistaken, doesn’t distribution strategies involves convincing people to use your platform. For that they would need to know and experience your platform?

 

[charl]

@ericro Distribution in this context refers to "How will you get customers and 'distribute' your product to them"?

 

[ericro]

@charl Okay, I understand what you’re saying. First research and work out a distribution plan since that will be the deciding factor. Right?

 

[glorfindel8]

@ericro No. Not necessarily. In fact a lot of times it is easier to convince someone of how great it will be before it exists because once it exists they'll know.
If you can preload one side of the with say suppliers then you could be better off at launch. The key is to make sure that they can take the risk of using your platform without dumping in loads of time, effort, or money.

 

[lords_servant_02]

@ericro "For that, they would need to know and experience your platform." That is technically not true. One of the purposes for distribution is to introduce your product to people. If they have to experience it to become users you would be counting on the near-perfection of your product (which is not always possible or the right approach). Purpose to have a usable product then improve on it while curating to meet your target demographic's needs. On distribution, given that there are already 2-3 more players in the market, focus on your point of differentiation and target those users who care about that POD.

 

[lettuce]

@ericro Sell first, then build and launch.

It’s surprising how much work you can do to sell a product before you build it