How to go from idea to TechCrunch in 90 days!
When my friend Boyan Josic asked me to help him with his new company, ProfileBuilder, a few short weeks ago, I would never have believed that the product would be launched at what at the time seemed to be the impossibly close TechCrunch Meetup 2007.
But when you do things the right way, great things can happen. So what are the key lessons from this tornado of a product launch?
1. It’s all about the people
There is no time for messing around or mediocrity. You need the best possible developer(s) you
can get your hands on, and second to this - the best PR help (in this case, the truly awesome AirFoil).
2. Keep the number of developers to the bare minimum
This may be counter-intuitive, but the fewer developers, the better. It keeps things focused and it minimizes communication and miscommunication. Optimal: one.
3. Forget about competitors
If you are sure your idea is great and (most important) that it is truly filling a need, forget about the other players. Don’t waste a second of your precious time on them. Besides, you have no idea what their real situation is - they could be gone tomorrow because the underlying architecture of their product sucks, or their CEO leaves, or whatever. You don’t know, so don’t care. UPDATE: Note that this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be aware of what they are doing. Just don’t spend cycles fretting about them.
4. Validate your idea with the right people
Talk to smart people who will give you their unvarnished opinion. You don’t have time to waste on people who are stroking your ego or who are clueless about where things are heading. You need to hear it like it is from people who are plugged in.
5. Don’t skimp on the user interface
Think Apple - iPod, iPhone. The first people who will be looking at your application look at Web apps all day long. Give them some eye candy. But not just eye candy for sake of the candy. Make it practical, easy-to-use eye candy. At TechCrunch, the ProfileBuilder user interface was a big hit.
6. Get the smallest amount of functionality working that has value to at least some set of users
First build a set of functionality that is actually useful for a set of users. Yes, it won’t address the full spectrum of users you eventually want to reach, but you have to get the product in the hands of the users as soon as possible. Once they get their hands on it, if it’s the right product, they’ll figure out what the potential is for future enhancements.
7. Use the right tools
Ok, so here is the Google Apps angle. Boyan is in Troy Michigan, I am in Chicago, the developer is in Northhampton England, and the PR f irm is in Silicon Valley. How do you coordinate, keep things straight, and make sure everyone is on the same page? Google Apps!
