
Why you shouldn’t launch your startup in the press - jamesjyu
http://gigaom.com/2011/12/19/lean-startup-launch-strategy/
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thesash
The bottom line is: manage hype, and don't buy into your own. One of the most
interesting takeaways I got from hearing Eric Ries speak a few weeks ago, is
how toxic hype can be to startups not just in the press, but also among
investors, friends, family, etc. As entrepreneurs we face myriad challenges
and problems to be overcome between vision and product execution, and these
massive expectations that we build up can be a huge barrier when it comes time
to make tough decisions and revisit product strategy, especially when (not if)
things don't go as well as we would like the first time we deliver products
into customers' hands.

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mikeklaas
Tried this with a previous startup. Soft-launched an iterated on the idea. A
few months later, started pitching the idea to press. The reaction we got was
very negative—no-one wanted to cover us unless there was "news". We had
already launched so there wasn't anything "new" to report. We had to invent
features to put in the product and sell that "story" (it worked, sort of:
people wrote about us but reported on the new feature rather than the fact
that we existed).

I recommend putting some sort of beta-wall or limited access on your launch if
you're going to do this, if only for the excuse of being able to announce
public access later. I wish PR tricks like this weren't necessary, but they
really are.

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raganwald
I can’t speak to recent events, but a decade or so ago when I was involved in
some venture-backed startups, there was a lot of pressure from our financiers
to launch in the press, while we wanted to launch (and possibly fail fast) in
private.

As you can imagine, sometimes the interests of the entrepreneur and the
interests of the VC are not aligned. They benefitted from press about their
investments, while we benefitted from organic growth. They felt that even if
this cost us revenues, it would be made up for by subsequent investment rounds
at high valuations driven by our press releases.

n=1 and all that, perhaps things are different today than in 2002.

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einhverfr
The thing though is that I think the marketing launch shouldn't be done as
late as possible. Rather it should be done once you have a strong
understanding of what your value proposition is. This takes time and it takes
listening to customers, figuring out what works for them and what doesn't.

This means yes, do the product launch as early as possible, and if you are
moving into an established area, market early too, but if it is a new area, be
more cautious and put off the marketing launch until you have typical
customers, and know exactly what you are doing for them vis a vis the
competition.

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minimax
I don't think it's fair to lump Wolfram Alpha in with Cuil and Color. I use
Wolfram Alpha at least once a week. It's great for sharing plots of arbitrary
equations and running through back of the envelope calculations.

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jsherry
Cuil immediately came to mind after reading this:
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/28/technology/28cool.html>

