the art of the start

I've just finished reading The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki. It's less than 34 pages of easy reading, good advice about start-ups and entreprenuering (I love ChangeThis).

I really liked: "Don't wait to develop the perfect product or service. Good enough is good enough." This is something I've started learning these last few years. Being less of a perfectionist is good. It saves a lot of time because you don't have to revisit things you may perceive as not perfect, but which is in fact more than good enough.

He also stresses that you should get the product / service out as soon as possible, even if it's not 100%. You can refine it later. That, is a good thing too. Not just because you're getting out into the market sooner, but it also sets things in motion. Sometimes we get good ideas, and play with it in our thoughts, run over it again and again, procrastinate a little, and eventually too much time has gone by and we just let it go. Nothing happens.

I hate admitting it, but I have done this a few times. Built things that are good enough, ideas that are good enough, but didn't put it out there or follow through. Just to see it appear in the market a few years later, in some form or another, sometimes a lot less functional than my version, but doing much better because they put it out there...