A Lil' Marketing Thoughts from a start-up marketer

In many ways, I’m a fan of Facebook’s “launch what you have and then refine” model. Not only does such a model encourage innovation and rapid feature and application development, but I think it is the only way for an early-stage start-up company to go, and it’s the only way I’ve ever seen a website, for example, get published without so much review and accompanying delay that it falls behind the curve. Same goes for software.

But this model has also caused many public relations issues at Facebook with the company’s new privacy policy roll-out. Setting aside a debate on privacy and how it’s changing in an online world, why is it good for a start-up software company to pursue a “launch what you have, then refine” strategy?

• Competitive Advantage: The downside of a start-up is that, unlike Microsoft or Oracle, you cannot issue a press release claiming that the company will have a new product eight months from now. Large companies use this tactic to claim a space (see Orcale’s Cloud Office announcement here, for example) months in advance of having a release. They get the press to run with it, and suddenly every question becomes, “How are you going to compete when Oracle enters this space?” Start-ups do not have this luxury–they have to be agile, responsive, and represent what they claim. The most important aspect of any start-up announcement is that the product must be available now. It must also be released before the competition can match it. This is then followed by promoting the heck out of it, and having high-quality follow-through to encourage existing- and new-user adoption.
• It Will Never Be Perfect: No software is (and if it is, you’re not trying hard enough). Start-ups are strapped for cash and resources, and hence strapped for time. Get the product as good as you possibly can in the allotted time, and refine as you go along. Bringing your customers in on the — let’s call it what is is — QA process, can actually be beneficial. Customers can find bugs, issues, and also have access to provide ideas for new features to potentially be included in upcoming releases. In this way, you’re empowering customers to help guide your product; you’d be surprised how much they appreciate and respond to such initiatives.
• There Is Not Better Way To Beta: Internal employees know your product very well; customers, not quite so well, typically. So give them a shot. Often you’ll handpick customers with whom you have a great relationship, and provide them with access to the beta in advance of a release into production. Sometimes, you will encounter an issue like the one Facebook ran into with privacy (and notice in the image below the invite they have going on –perhaps they are hand-picking from now on?), other times clients will eagerly adopt the updated product, provide excellent feedback, and refer friends.

The important part is, don’t let structure and bureaucracy get in the way of innovation. New ideas, products, and features are what drive companies to excel. Start-ups are particularly adept at this, as their lean structure requires it. Might as well exploit it.