I think it is a recipe for success, but that doesn't mean it's easy. You can't just find a successful product that's overly complex and remove a bunch of features and succeed. You need to spend time understanding the market and the customers, figure out the sweet spot to aim for and then what features are actually necessary for that sweet spot and then ruthlessly say no to everything else. Many products have multiple sweet spots in the market and an up-market product can obscure the fact that there's another, more down-market product opportunity. Identifying that opportunity and then executing well is a pretty sure recipe for success, but it's really hard to do.
The people who should take heed of this advice are those who are less creative and visionary but are disciplined and skilled enough to build a quality product. There will always be product opportunities for people who can see 5-10 years out and either predict the future or lead people to their vision of the future. But that's not most people and there's no shame in admitting that. For those of us not in that visionary group, the strategy presented here is a pretty good alternative.
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I think it is a recipe for success, but that doesn't mean it's easy. You can't just find a successful product that's overly complex and remove a bunch of features and succeed. You need to spend time understanding the market and the customers, figure out the sweet spot to aim for and then what features are actually necessary for that sweet spot and then ruthlessly say no to everything else. Many products have multiple sweet spots in the market and an up-market product can obscure the fact that there's another, more down-market product opportunity. Identifying that opportunity and then executing well is a pretty sure recipe for success, but it's really hard to do.
The people who should take heed of this advice are those who are less creative and visionary but are disciplined and skilled enough to build a quality product. There will always be product opportunities for people who can see 5-10 years out and either predict the future or lead people to their vision of the future. But that's not most people and there's no shame in admitting that. For those of us not in that visionary group, the strategy presented here is a pretty good alternative.