Grassroots Journalism: Will Independents Succeed First? | Main | Online K-12 Education
Mark Fletcher: Stealth Start-Ups Suck
wingedpig.com - Mark Fletcher's Blog: Stealth Start-Ups Suck:
...Here's the thing, stealth mode for a web start-up is the kiss of death.Stealth mode is when a company is operating in secret for some length
of time before launching their product or service. In many industries,
creating a new product or service takes significant time and effort.
During this time, being in stealth mode may make a lot of sense. But
creating a new web service is not rocket science and does not take a
lot of time or money. My rule of thumb is that it should take no more than 3 months to go from conception to launch of a new web service. And that's being generous. I'm speaking from experience here. I developed the first version of ONElist over a period of 3 months, and that was while working a full-time job. I developed the first version of Bloglines in 3 months. By myself. It can be done. And I suck at it! Just ask all the engineers who have had to deal with my code.Why go fast? Many reasons:
- First mover advantage is important.
- There is no such thing as a unique idea. I guarantee that someone else has already thought of your wonderful web service, and is probably way ahead of you. Get over yourself.
- It forces you to focus on the key functionality of the site.
- Being perfect at launch is an impossible (and unnecessary and even probably detrimental) goal, so don't bother trying to achieve it. Ship early, ship often.
- The sooner you get something out there, the sooner you'll start getting feedback from users.
- Karl on Monday, June 20, 2005
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.paradox1x.org/cgi-bin/mtos/mt-tb.cgi/3111
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Mark Fletcher: Stealth Start-Ups Suck:
Stealth Start-Ups Suck from Business Opportunities Weblog
Mark Fletcher, CEO of Bloglines, thinks that stealth mode can be the the kiss of death for a web start-up: Stealth mode is when a company is operating in secret for some length of time before launching their product or... [Read More]
Tracked on June 20, 2005 3:55 PM
