Nobody wanted our first product
We built a product for fourteen months without asking anyone. Launch day brought 11 users; two of them were on the team.
The idea was born in a meeting room and grew there. We talked to no one, afraid the idea would be stolen. That fear cost us fourteen months.
On launch morning we scaled the servers. By six in the evening we had 11 sign-ups. Two weeks later three were left.
What happened?
We loved the product but never validated the problem. Our first user interview happened after launch — we had the order exactly backwards.
What we took from this story
Talk first, build second
Speak to at least 20 potential users before the first line of code.
Idea secrecy is a myth
Ideas are easy to copy, execution is not. Silence only delays learning.
Ship a small slice
A six-week version would have taught the same lesson far more cheaply than a fourteen-month product.