Joel is in the other camp than me when it comes to launching. I believe in getting feedback from the public as soon as possible, but I just realized that there is a factor that Joel not mentioning here but which makes a big difference: celebrity.
If you launch something and have a large following like Joel, lots of people will see it. For me, the "one chance of making a first impression" isn't that important because very few people are going to get that first (and bad) impression. For me, the feedback is of higher value and losing maybe a few hundred potential customers is not a serious threat. But what would happen if, say, Steve Jobs announced a poorly iterated new product? Millions would try it out and two things would happen: 1) they would hate it and never try it again -- the first-impression thing. But more importantly, 2) Steves reality distortion field would lose many energy-points (or whatever those run on).
If Joel "officially" launches a three weeks old web page with an input element and a submit button, it could damage the personal brand he has worked hard to establish. But if you are not a celebrity, and your ego can handle it, it's possible that you are better off with the launch early strategy..
Comments
Joel is in the other camp than me when it comes to launching. I believe in getting feedback from the public as soon as possible, but I just realized that there is a factor that Joel not mentioning here but which makes a big difference: celebrity.
If you launch something and have a large following like Joel, lots of people will see it. For me, the "one chance of making a first impression" isn't that important because very few people are going to get that first (and bad) impression. For me, the feedback is of higher value and losing maybe a few hundred potential customers is not a serious threat. But what would happen if, say, Steve Jobs announced a poorly iterated new product? Millions would try it out and two things would happen: 1) they would hate it and never try it again -- the first-impression thing. But more importantly, 2) Steves reality distortion field would lose many energy-points (or whatever those run on).
If Joel "officially" launches a three weeks old web page with an input element and a submit button, it could damage the personal brand he has worked hard to establish. But if you are not a celebrity, and your ego can handle it, it's possible that you are better off with the launch early strategy..