Is it okay to launch a product before all the features are ready?
Mila Dymnikova
105 replies
There's been a lot of great discussions about launch advice.
Many people have said that launching early is better than waiting to have everything perfect.
I'm launching a product tracking tool soon – while the core functions are working and we've got the minimal version (or MVP) of the product, I feel a bit shy about promoting the features that are not fully built.
What do you think?
Replies
Axel Borry@nickyborry
PhantomBuster
MVP always worked for me to get your first traction (and even maybe first customer), product feedback, and build your brand awareness... One thing I love to do during the MVP part is A/B testing --- Pricing, content, and anything should be tested to know the best formula.
Share
@nickyborry yes I was talking to my team about how we feel about launching and they said that we should do it and then focus on A/B testing to help us iterate on the pitch of the product. So that's our next step! :)
Would you recommend any A/B testing tools?
I think you should ship when it feels like a pilot to a full season. The culture of launching early is great in theory, but iterating a live product is much harder/costly than iterating a product that has no users. Launching a half baked product is a skill and iterating it is a skill. It might also give you false negative, your product may get zero users, but at some point that might turn when your product crosses a turning point where users start to believe. The moment conversion becomes less of a struggle. Launch too early and you might have zero conversion.
If it's a small feature that will take 1-3 days then better wait, else GO FOR IT.
@himanshu1332 yeah totally, it's like putting on perfume before going out. Even if the outfit isn't red-carpet ready!
Warmup Inbox
You have the option to relaunch after 6 months if you release a major feature. So it will take you more than 6 months to finish the product you can launch an MVP to start collecting feedback.
However, it is important to have a working onboarding to launch. From my experience launching a landing page with a waiting list doesn't work on Product hunt.
Wonderslide
I support your concerns! But why not if your main functionality works correctly and does not discomfort your users?
In addition, you can use unavailable features to interest users for further contact.
In the end, put a "Beta" icon on your site :D
Artwork Flow
In my opinion, prioritizing a fast launch is more favorable. However, based on my experience, finding the right balance between determining the minimum viable product (MVP) and avoiding "lazy thinking" is also important.
It is generally advisable to release your product or service early and conduct thorough testing, as long as the cost of acquisition is not overly expensive. One good way to go about it is to consider your initial 100 customers as valuable sources of learning rather than immediate profit generators.
Establish clear objectives for your MVP - what needs to be measured, how it will be measured, and for what duration.
Additionally, as mentioned by @deluar_001, designate beta tags for features that are not fully developed and encourage active feedback from users.
FunContact
100% so!
Absolutely - you can get some great feedback from users. You can always launch again after 6 months too
Sense Relief
Just don't spend too much on marketing. Find the beach head market.
@mattbucklin So you mean like don't fluff around too much in marketing, instead get really specific on who to target for early launch. Yeah?
Sense Relief
@mila_dymnikova thanks for saying it better than I did. Yes, figure out who is most likely to use it and find out.
Booomerang
The short answer is, yes! Of course! Launching a product before all the features are ready is known as the Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Release your product with a basic set of features and start gathering feedback and validate the concept with early adopters. You will have a much better product down the road than if you had waited to have all the features ready before you launched.
Launching early is always the best option unless and until you are working on something groundbreaking.
Besides that, showcasing features in the pipeline is fine unless you overdo it.
In fact, by launching early, you get early feedback which lets you build, prioritize, and ship the right features. Even modify the nuances of feature assumptions you would already have.
@senthil99nathan yeah I guess it's the way you communicate it, and early feedback is sooo valuable. How do you feel about adding "In development" tag/phrase to features that are not ready yet?
@mila_dymnikova , I'd say not to. You can continue updating your feature list on your site as you progress.
For eg, if you are currently building a chat feature, add it without blatantly stating that it is in progress. This way you will always have something new every week or fortnight to show your prospects. And to add on, adding "In development/In progress" doesn't really give a great impression.
So instead of stating, when you go on a demo call with a prospect, focus on all the features you already have and just leave a note somewhere in between on the features that are in progress in a cohesive way. This should do the job if you ask me. :)
There will always be some features needed, especially in a rapidly changing tech world. 9 years ago we released BOWWE to the market with basic features and they helped us build it - with their needs. I recommend this approach.
@karol_andruszkow Thanks for sharing. So how do you make the decision on what features to include in the MVP? I feel like the answer might be really simple: the core functionality works 😄
@mila_dymnikova In my case it was that I already had some potential clients for the tool before it even was created. I knew exactly what they needed after hours of talking to them.
They were by old business partners and needed a website & didn't want to play on their own with WordPress as it lacked flexibility without proper programming knowledge, so I did it for them. After a time, as businesses grew I thought it would be easier if I just handled them a tool with which they can do it themselves - NoCode.
@karol_andruszkow That sounds like a perfect execution of creating a product. I'm sure there were still enough challenges in between the successes but this is motivating :)
@mila_dymnikova It was a nice start idea, and there were definitely many ups and downs, but nothing we could not face as passionate.
Hunted Space
Launching soon!
Yess! As long as you're transparent about the product's current state and communicate with audience which features are still in development it should be fine. Launching product in earlier stages can be a strategic move to gather feedback so you can have better overview of what direction you are moving :)
Absolutely! Launching a product before all the features are ready can be a strategic move in many cases. It allows you to gather valuable feedback from early adopters and understand their needs better.
It also helps in creating buzz and generating interest around your product, which can be beneficial for building a strong user base. So, while it's important to have a solid foundation, launching with a minimum viable product and iterating based on user feedback can be a smart approach to deliver a successful and customer-centric product.
Wishing you all the best! 🚀✨
Videodeck
As long as the essential features are done, I definitely think you could try launching your product. Plus, as others have pointed out, it's a great way to gain feedback from clients and peers.
Yes i just did : https://www.producthunt.com/post...
We love early launches cause they really tell you if your path is the right one. Or enable you to take shifts before its too late :)
We launched Liffery last week here on PH... the platform is strong, but there are some big features that connect all the dots that are still a work in progress.
Here is the difference between two of my recent launches:
https://www.liffery.com > polished but not complete but proven need way ahead of launch and a lot effort in communication via the landing pages. 600+ votes and product of the day award and 100's and 100's of new users.
https://www.translation-strings.com -> not polished and not complete with only a Loom video roughly explaining... no awards, not many upvotes and not many user signups.
So our conclusion is that if you are going to launch, you don't need a 100% product, but a 30% product is also no good. Liffery right now is about 75% there and for us... we think we hit a sweet spot.
Of course, if you are building something that is AI-focused... it seems everyone goes nuts for it! So... maybe launching with only an HTML/CSS landing page is enough to prove. There was a cool product launched here the other week just for that, Momentum I think they were called.
@john_carmichael Thanks for sharing your experience! 👀 I'm not building AI product, but it is a data product!
Layman Law
Constant shipping and iteration are the keys to success. When all the features are built out, it's too late.