“A Half Assed Product From a Bunch of Great Ideas??”
He didn’t like that tone one bit. He was pumped, but I shot it down. He was PISSED.
Not so positive, eh?
So, I asked him to calm down and let me explain.
As entrepreneurs, we’ve already made this mistake multiple times in our lives.
For new entrepreneurs, stop making the same mistakes as your predecessors and save valuable time.
It’s natural to want to turn a bunch of great ideas into a (crappy) product because you are short on time and you want to do everything at once.
What you’ll get in the end is what I call a half-assed product.
You have to face the facts and swallow your pride. You just can’t do everything you want at the same time if you want to do it well, that is.
Your time is limited, your resources are definitely limited and your focus is finite. Trust me, it is. You can only focus on so much each and every day.
Spreading yourself too thin will lead you to NOTHING.
It’s hard enough to do one thing right.
Trying to do ten things well at the same time? Just forget about it.
My advice? Sacrifice.
Cut your ambition in half. If your core product idea is great, then you are doing it for the greater good of those that need it, those that you will serve.
Your “MVP” is not just a product with half features chopped out. It’s not a way to get the product out the door earlier.
In fact, the MVP doesnt have to be a product at all.
An MVP is not something you build once and then consider the job done. An MVP is a process that you repeat over and over again. Your whole MVP is a constant process you need to improve upon to reach that one GOAL.
When you build a product, you make many assumptions.
You assume you know what users are looking for, how the design should work and so on. No matter how good you are, some of your assumptions will be wrong. The problem is, you dont know which ones are wrong.
That is why you have to build out a clear process for everything you build and do.
Focus on one thing at a time and put out a half-product that is already great on it’s own at what it does.
You’re better off with that than a half-assed whole product.
Most of your great ideas won’t seem all that great once you get some perspective, anyway. And if they truly are that fantastic, you can always do them later.
Trust the Process
As a Sixers’ fan, AKA, a Sam Hinkie fan, I do trust the process. Sometimes, it’s a chore, it’s a grind, but it usually works for the better in the end.
Focus on one great thing, build it, test, improve it, iterate. Then you can add your next great idea on your kick ass half-product.
How do you know? You’ll start getting messages like this…
I’m speaking from experience. From building my products, to eventually starting a SaaS app for doctors (seriousmd.com).
Even with a team of great minds, you can still fail by putting together a half-assed product.
Remember, directors cut good scenes.
Musicians drop good tracks to make a great album.
Writers eliminate good pages to make a book great.
Developers cut features to make something work better rather than having a cluttered UI.
Your MVP is a process.
Don’t fill it up with everything. Focus on what’s important right now, the one thing that users really need. Then you can build further from there. This is my go-to “Trust the Process” Technique.
Now go, be smart, be motivated and build a kickass Half-Product. Then tell me about it!
What’s your kickass half-product?