

Ask HN: Should I launch or polish my product more? - Presnus

I'm currently developing an online service. By the end of the month I'll have a very basic product. I want to give the customers a choice between multiple pricing plans. The pricing plans will be based on volumes (traffic) and additional features.<p>By the end of the month the service will not have all features available that I want to include in the paying plans.<p>The questions is: Should I first launch with the free plan, or launch everything together? I can already make a difference in volumes but not with features (since these are not developed yet).<p>If I launch everything together should I ask a lower price and when adding new features changes the plans and pricing? Or should I already ask my price (based on a full service with everything developed) and add the new features later? or just launch the free plan first?<p>What should I do?
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anandkulkarni
Release it as fast as you can!

From "What Startups are Really Like"
(<http://www.paulgraham.com/really.html>):

 _Lots of founders mentioned how important it was to launch with the simplest
possible thing. By this point everyone knows you should release fast and
iterate. It's practically a mantra at YC. But even so a lot of people seem to
have been burned by not doing it:

Build the absolute smallest thing that can be considered a complete
application and ship it._

Why?

 _Product development is a conversation with the user that doesn't really
start till you launch. Before you launch, you're like a police artist before
he's shown the first version of his sketch to the witness.

It's so important to launch fast that it may be better to think of your
initial version not as a product, but as a trick for getting users to start
talking to you._

------
helen842000
Why not have several mini-launches?

Launch the free, get feedback and iterate. You could post the price list but
make the higher tiers unavailable at the moment. You could offer a wait list
or make it invite only after they have tried a free account.

Then when you launch the higher tiers you have a list to contact. Get their
feedback and continue to improve.

I think it gives people confidence that you are actively improving the service
if they can see a feature set list that will be in the forthcoming paid
version.

If it's not costly, don't restrict people on volume on the free plan just yet.

You then get data on the natural usage levels your service gets.This might
help you to refine your volume cut offs in future.

------
Presnus
I'm also a bit scared that when I launch the problems / features aren't
developed in time. Since I'm the only one creating this product. Also when
launched you should keep an eye on marketing / feedback what takes more time.

I'm planning on using uservoice so that users can add their wishes and
complaints and work on the things that get most votes.

Probably I'll start working full-time on the product when I see that there is
a lot of interest. But this probably isn't in the beginning.

------
69_years_and
See this: [http://geekomotion.posterous.com/3-months-later-
gmvault-17-b...](http://geekomotion.posterous.com/3-months-later-
gmvault-17-beta-the-first-rele) (Gmvault 1.7-beta)

------
andremedeiros
Two tips:

1) I use this as a rule of thumb; only launch when it feels like it's version
3.0, not version 1.0. This keeps you on your toes and provides a much better
product from the beginning. Remember first impressions are everything, and if
customers come and see a smal set of features, they most likely won't come
back.

2) Never ever change prices. Unless you're making the product cheaper. If I
were to sign up for a service that increased its prices, I would just try and
find alternatives. As a customer, it feels like I'm being cheated. Instead,
label it as an early bird offer. 30% off in the first 3 months kind of thing.
Comes off a lot better.

~~~
adam-_-
What's the point in launching polished features that nobody wants? Much better
to release unpolished/limited features to a set of users and solicit feedback
on what they're really after.

Then you can release more polished/complete features and market more widely
and solicit more feedback and rinse and repeat to profitability (admittedly I
say this as someone that has not done this yet but plans/hopes on it).

~~~
andremedeiros
I honestly wish you good luck.

I've had too many occasions where, when evaluating a service that didn't quite
do it for me.

You can't expect customers to register and pay you money for a service when a)
it doesn't do everything they need, and b) there is no certainty that it will
ever do everything they need.

Grhmpft... software is hard. Let's go shopping!

~~~
AznHisoka
There's a middle path. Release it even when it's not done, but don't go full
throttle on marketing.

------
brudgers
Have you read 37signals _Getting Real_ ?

<http://gettingreal.37signals.com/toc.php>

------
tnorthcutt
Launch.

Charge money. No, more than that.

Go read everything patio11 has written about pricing. Especially his latest
about how to set your tiers.

~~~
Presnus
Thanks for the pointer. I'll definitely check it out. For others, the blog can
be found here => <http://www.kalzumeus.com/greatest-hits/>

------
hansy
"If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve
launched too late."

\- Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn

------
guilloche
Maybe you can release it free as beta and later you can charge customers after
lauching.

------
jamesjguthrie
Build, measure, learn.

