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Ruthless Product Management
I've been thinking a lot about what Domain Direct ought to look like tomorrow. Lots of ideas have been running around, some very concrete (implementing coupon codes) to the ethereal (make the service feel "airy" but "dependable"). I ran into this article this morning and really like the pithy way it sums up the real job that lies ahead.
There is no version 4.
– from Moonwatcher
When the team built OpenSRS, we used this philosophy - when we designed Blogware, we ignored it. With Skydasher, we're somewhere in the middle. In doing what we’re doing with Domain Direct, I don't think we can afford to do anything but focus on Version 1.0.See this post as it first appeared on Blogware.
8 comments
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Tris Hussey, June 11, 2006
No version 4 ... excellent point to keep in mind. The beta is now the v1 the one you need to make a splash with.
john, June 11, 2006
when we designed Blogware, we ignored it
Explain...
Winst, June 11, 2006
Have you read Seth Godin's "Purple Cow"?
Ross, June 11, 2006
We didn't realease it until version 4.0 had been completed. In other words, we left it unreleased for so long that we had waaaayyyy too much luxury in terms of "what features do we want to throw in next" when it came to each point release. Very little of it was thought through to a recognizable use-case. User-profiles are a great example of this. We had a vague notion of how they ought to function, but very little thinking went into how users would benefit from them. What we ended up with was an overly complex set of features that very few users actually use.
Very v4.0.
Ross, June 11, 2006
I think that depends. The one I want to make a splash with is the one that I've attached a scalable revenue model to. I don't mind going beta before that, but it shouldn't be splashy. A lot of startups seem to miss that important little point.
Ross, June 11, 2006
No - I avoided it based on the title. After working for Tucows so long, I'm a little bit sensitive about the whole thing ;-)
doug, June 11, 2006
You never get a second chance to make a first impression is my favorite cliche, because it is true. DD hasn't made an impression yet, (all due respect to Scooter and the crew) so have at it.
Ross, June 12, 2006
DD has made a great impression with its existing users. I really want to build on that, grow that, evolve that. Making a great impression on everyone else, well - that's a different story - its the story I'm talking about here. How do I make that impression without trying to outspend....