|
Hey Reader, A founder told me recently he likes to be 90% happy with something before he ships it. I told him that's the fastest way to waste two months on something the market doesn't want. I aim for 70%. Here's the math most people refuse to do: Expect roughly 70% of what you launch to fail or require a hard pivot. Not because you're bad at this – because that's the baseline reality of building something new. Competition, timing, messaging, market fit – too many variables outside your control. So what happens when you wait until 90% to ship?
The fix isn't more polish. The fix is faster feedback. At 70%, you have enough to learn. The remaining 30% should be informed by the market, not invented in isolation. If it doesn't sell, that last 20% of development won't save it. A full pivot might. The Clarity Filter Insight Speed to feedback is your only real competitive advantage – stop burning it on polish. [Share on LinkedIn] [Share on X] If you're sitting on something that's "almost ready," ask yourself what you're actually waiting for. A perfect version of something untested is still untested. Ship the 70%, get the reply, then decide what the next 30% should even be. Speak soon, P.S. Don't write code for a product nobody wants to buy. I built Traction OS to give you the exact 60-day roadmap, sales scripts, and validation templates you need to hit your first $10k MRR without guessing. From complete scratch or with an existing MVP. |
Every week, I advise founders on how to hit $10k MRR. On Tuesdays, I share my consulting notes from those private sessions. Learn from their mistakes so you don't burn your own cash.
Hey Reader, Alex had a great demo call with Billy, a marketing manager at an e-commerce brand. Billy asked good questions. Billy seemed interested. Then Billy went quiet. Alex assumed the product wasn't good enough. It was. The pitch was the problem. Alex was selling: "this tool does your email retention work for you." Billy heard: "this tool could do your job without you." That is not a sales pitch. That is a threat. Here is what most B2B founders miss when selling to employees rather than...
Hey Reader, A client came to me frustrated. They had the right targeting. The right demographics. E-commerce decision-makers, correct job titles, correct company sizes. Their LinkedIn ad campaign looked perfect on paper – and it was producing almost nothing. I wasn't surprised. Here's the thing nobody in your marketing agency will say out loud: LinkedIn's ad algorithm is years behind Facebook. It lacks the deep behavioral and intent data that makes paid social actually work. When you run a...
Hey Reader, A founder asked me last week how to respond to someone pitching a Shopify quiz app – 10x more expensive than existing competitors, no unique technology, no obvious edge. He expected me to help him dismantle the idea. Instead, I told him: I don't care about the idea. Here's the truth most early-stage founders don't want to hear: your product quality is almost never your real competitive advantage. You can have a worse product at a higher price and still win – if you have...