If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late.

• intro
• perfection is the enemy, go for "good enough"
• fail fast, learn fast
• instead of planning, it is more about how quickly can you respond to changes
• all ideas are worthless, if not executed
• checklist, when launching something new

intro

I am following Scott D. Clary on Facebook, it pops up in my news feed: "If you are not embarrassed by your early work, you waited too long to put it out there. Ship imperfectly, often. Iteration brings mastery."

I was watching Derek's presentation: "Uncommon Sense" at World Domination Summit, 2015. He says, he likes a quote from Reid Hoffman who started LinkedIn, that goes something like: "If you’re not embarrassed by your first launch, then you’ve launched too late."

Apparently, the original Reid Hoffman's quote goes: "If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late."

Is it just me or it truly is a mind blowing statement? If you are willing to be embarrassed, or uncomfortable in any other form, you gain speed and flexibility.

perfection is the enemy, go for "good enough"

Trying to make your product perfect, before launching it on the market, it might take forever. Chasing perfection is an endless process. Even if you make something perfect, you can always make it better, if you blow extra resources on it. Mindset for higher speed: make your products 80-90% good, leave 10-20% for mistakes.

Go for good enough, send it out, collect real-world data and feedback, adjust & improve. Repeat. Everytime you send it out again, it means a small step up in terms of improvement.

Launching, starting something new is just the first step. It's what you do afterwards, how you adapt and evolve, that truly defines your journey.

Real world is not a perfect Hollywood movie, but a movie full of mistakes, failures, disappointment and that is perfectly fine.

fail fast, learn fast

"Oh, you only get one chance to make a first impression."
"Oh, it is all over, if I fuck up."
"Oh, what people are going to think about me?"

Nah.

Partially, you actually want to fail, want to be wrong. If all goes according to the plan, sure you are happy, but you didn't learn anything. There is no story, no lecture to tell. When you fuck up, you learn.

Move fast, break things. Fail fast, learn fast. You cannot really know, until you try. Don't wait too long to execute.

Embrace failure, embarrassment, disappointment, discomfort, people's feedback. That is your fastest and the most secure way to the top.

instead of planning, it is more about how quickly can you respond to changes

Things happen along the way, things change. Instead of having a fixed, secure plan, the key quality here is, to be flexible, quickly responsive to changes. When shit doesn't go according to the plan, how quickly can you respond to changes?

Don't waste your time planning things too much into detail, too much into future. It is OK not to know/predict everything and still give it a go. Start now, collect & process data from the environment, adjust your game along the way.

At 2015 World Domination Summit, Derek (also) says:

• nobody actually knows the future, so all business plans are moot (you don't need a five-year plan and know exactly where it is going)
• instead of committing to one idea of the future that you have, commit to a problem that you want to solve (the answer/solution might change throughout the time)
• no plan survives first contact with the customer (the difference between idea in your mind, on the paper VS actually trying to execute)

Why do we care so much about what Derek says? He started CD Baby by accident in 1998, sold it for $22 million 10 years later. Gave it all to charity, because he didn't know what to do with all that cash.

And what did Iron Mike say? "Everybody has a plan, until they get punched in the face." Sure, you can prepare, anticipate, but things will go its own way. And it is all about how well you can react.

all ideas are worthless, if not executed

Sivers in his book, Anything You Want: "Ideas are just a multiplier of execution."

• brilliant idea x no execution = no value
• average idea x good execution = decent value
• great idea x great execution = top value

Until only in your mind, that is just dreaming. When one particular idea gets on the paper, that is better, that is progress, but still no effect. If you are serious, go test your idea as fast as possible. Start now, start with the most basic execution, no fancy apps or machinery, no funding, involve folks around you. (1) dream; (2) write it down; (3) act. Based on your feelings, feedback from the environment, keep developing or trash it and go to next project.

Many people dream, plan all their life. That is lovely, everything starts with the dream. But no action? It is all worthless, all garbage.

Better to have one, average idea and execute than 1000 brilliant and no execute.

checklist, when launching something new

Practical checklist, when starting/launching something new:

• market research: what problems do people have, are there already companies, offering a solution?
• legal & regulatory checklist: what does the papa government say, are we swimming in a friendly water?
• test, test, test: take the idea off the paper, into the real world, execute (!!), play with variations; involve people around you before going for the big audience
• feedback loop: install tools to collect, organize, analyze data, use it for improvement
• iterate: you have done, now do it again 100x, get it better each time; try different stuff, or do the same product/service and have version 1, version 2, version 3, etc.