Paul Graham has turned his talk from Startup School into an essay. It’s a keeper! The Hardest Lessons for Startups to Learn is a must read for all entrepreneurs.
Paul says Release Early, and Keep Pumping Out The Features. AMEN! You don’t know what you don’t know, and until your product meets the end users, you just won’t know. You need to have a plan to release early, and release often.
There’s a wealth of great insight here. My favorite:
Almost everyone’s initial plan is broken. If companies stuck to their initial plans, Microsoft would be selling programming languages, and Apple would be selling printed circuit boards. In both cases their customers told them what their business should be– and they were smart enough to listen.
Just go do it!
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
