The Middle Path

So it’s been a while since I’ve written anything (I know I know, I’m lame), but after coming across yet another thought-provoking post by my man Eric Ries I just had to  jump back into the saddle.

In the August 3rd entry entitled, “Minimum Viable Product,” Ries argues that the majority of entrepreneurs take one of two approaches when it comes to building products (be it to delight customers, make a lot of money, or change the world): they either try to “maximize their chance of success” by building something with a rich feature set or “release early and often” in order to “get as much feedback as possible as soon as possible.” However unfortunately for them (and their customers), neither is particularly viable.

For starters, spending an inordinate amount of time “perfecting” a product only lends itself to risk; if your end user does not like what you have created, it may be too late to right the ship (you may have already run out of money). Whereas “releasing early and often” puts you at the mercy of the ever-changing needs/demands of your consumer base (if only because “chasing what [they] think they want” is a never-ending and ultimately futile process).

Case in point, just look at The Freight Exchange and Smart Genetics.

1) The Freight Exchange: There were a number of reasons why my partner and I failed to get TFE off the ground, but none of them was more egregious than our drive for perfection.

In 5 short months we squandered 20K of self-financing – 15K of which we spent on a programmer – in an effort to put out the most feature-rich freight matching site possible – and for what? We didn’t make a dime.

2) Smart Genetics: SG was the polar opposite. The company never had any direction.

In an effort to make a sale, we would spam our prospective customers with new landing pages, content, and discounts every couple of days –  hoping that something would stick. Suffice to say, not only did we fail to increase our revenue, but we failed to learn anything about our target audience as well.  Ouch!

The solution therefore Ries concludes, lies somewhere in between: create a product with a minimally viable set of features such that you can achieve the maximum amount of validated learning with the least amount of effort (i.e. maximize the learning per dollar spent).

Though the process will not be easy and may very well take a while, believe me: The more you can learn, and the more meaningfully you can apply that which you have been taught, the closer you will be to attaining Nirvana.

We Are the Ones

Though I don’t necessarily think a blog of this nature is an appropriate forum to discuss politics, I feel compelled and almost obligated to say a few words in light of today’s historic inauguration.

Like many of you, I am profoundly humbled to be alive and of an age that I can comprehend the magnitude of this extraordinary moment; and like you I suspect, I pray with every fiber in my body that the next 4-8 years live up to the hopeful and optimistic sentiment that surges through the veins of millions here and abroad.

However, celebration and promise aside, I believe deeply that this is a critical opportunity for us to reflect on the immense challenges ahead as well. For in spite of the kinship and unity we no doubt feel as Americans today, the world has in many ways never been more fragmented: In October of 2008, the global financial/sub-prime crisis and ensuing federal response poignantly underscored the widening discrepancy between rich and poor; in November, citizens the world over stood in stunned silence as 173 innocent men, women, and children fell victim to terrorist attacks in Mumbai, causing relations between India and Pakistan to fray even more; and in late December, Israel for right or for wrong (I will let you decide) launched an offensive that ultimately left 1300 people dead, a country’s GDP in shambles, and a region in disarray.

Thus, it stands to reason that if we are to truly live up to our considerable potential, if we are to truly form a “more perfect union” between people of all colors, creed, and beliefs then it is imperative we start to focus on something larger than ourselves each and every day. Be it making one more person smile, listening to someone just a few minutes longer, opening up to one more facet of the truth, or genuinely engaging someone we normally would not talk to. It doesn’t matter.

Today, whether we’re ready or not, the sun rises anew. But let there be no mistake: it is solely up to us to ensure that it rises even more gloriously tomorrow.