On Launching Embarrassing Shit

If You’re Not Embarrassed By Your Startup, You Launched Too Late

I’ve learned you should be embarrassed by the first version of your project — as long as you listen to feedback. That point of launching is to get your project out there & to hear what people think. To iterate.

The version of Fifty I launched on Product Hunt was garbage compared to what it is now. No real features, but it did tick one important box —

Users understood what the Fifty was about.

Users understood what it did, and how to use it. It had the bare minimum to call itself “A way to discover Indie Hacker projects”. This made it easy for users to make suggestions and give feedback, because once you understand something — it’s easier to cook up a way to make it better.

An important thing to note is that nobody is going to volunteer their feedback, you have to ask for it.

If you don't ask, you don't get

Yes, it’s a cat-poster — but it’s true.

Keep potential users in the loop. Eventually, it will be their feedback that makes the product great.

Also true. You’re not building for you.

To bring it back to my original point — launching embarrassing shit. It’s scary to put something you think is garbage out there. I thought I only get one shot at this building “credibility online” thing — that if I launch one piece of shit it would be over. Turns out that’s not how it works. Just make sure users understand what you’re project is about — make it easy for them to give you feedback.

So please, launch your garbage. Just like ideas, projects need to move through people to evolve. Also, make sure what you’re building is fun — if the project’s not fun, don’t bother — don’t get yourself into something you’re not going to enjoy.

Good luck with your projects 🧡

Find me on Twitter & Indie Hackers. Also, go and check out Fifty — I still need all the feedback I can get. The goal is to make the current version look like garbage in a couple of months.