Lanza imperfecto

The real learning happens when a idea comes into contact with the world. At Explorer we always advocate for this “learning by doing”, despite the fact that contradicts a very common belief: first you need to be prepared and then, act.

In the entrepreneurship usually happens right the opposite is true; acting is what prepares you. That’s why one of the mistakes most common in the early stages of a project is to delaying its launch until you feel that everything is ready. There’s one missing feature, the message could be better, the solution still doesn’t quite represent what you have in mind… the excuses to postpone it are many. The problem is that that perfect version only exists in your mind; if you don’t decide, it’ll never come out of there. And worse still: it will generate a cost.

That’s because while you wait, tweak, and go around in circles, you’re giving up receiving feedback of your users, to understand them better and to check whether what you’re offering them works and how it can improve. This cost is usually invisible because nothing happens… and precisely there’s the problem: there’s no learningand no evidence. There’s no progress. Perfection you’re looking for is what keeps your project stagnant.

Launching isn’t the goal; it’s another beginning

No rule says that launching means presenting a final version, so you can take that pressure off. The goal isn’t for everything to work perfectly, but check what happens when other people interact with what you’ve built. Again, you open up a conversation with your customers or users who will help you discover where the mistakes are or what you got wrong. With that information, you’ll change whatever is necessary.

The launch is not the “final exam” of the project. It’s the beginning of a new learning phase, and the process is the same as in the previous ones: you’re going to experiment before optimizing.

A project that remains safe from any criticism may seem flawless, but it generates no learning to indicate how to improve. On the other hand, an imperfect idea that receives real feedback improves much faster. And that works in your favor.

Your competitive advantage: the speed of learning

Many people think a project is in better position than its competitors when it has the ability to develop more features, invest more money or spend more time perfecting the product. However, in early stages there’s often another advantage that’s even more important: learning faster than others.

Every time you launch a version, a proposal, a campaign, or a conversation, you gain information that wasn’t available before. These data allow you to make better decisions, abandon paths that don’t work and reinforce what does generate value. That learning speed will give you a very valuable advantage at this stage of your project.

Put it out there

At this point in the program, you probably already know that Entrepreneurship isn’t about having all the answers, but knowing where to find them by asking the right questions. And to do that, once again, you have to go out into the street.

The work you’ve done throughout the program has reduced the uncertainty about your idea, but hasn’t eliminated it. There’s always a doubt that can only be cleared up when:

• Someone uses what you’ve created.

• Try to buy it.

• He recommends it.

• He rejects it.

• They compare it with other alternatives.

• They find a use you hadn’t imagined.

• Lo ignora. 

All that is useful information that will lead to new questions: this is how you keep improving your product. How you keep learning. Don’t wait until you feel the project is perfect. Launch, precisely, because still has a lot to refine.