In the world of product development, Mark Zuckerberg’s principle of “Move Fast and Break Things” has prevailed and the notion of discipline often takes a back seat. However, a careful look at the product development process is enough to reconsider the role of discipline as not just a virtue but a strategic imperative in creating products that stand the test of time.
Too Fast To Fail
The pressure to launch quickly, iterate fast, and disrupt established players is the norm amongst early stage founders.
However, rushing product development can lead to negative consequences. Premature launches often result in:
- Buggy products aka glitches
- Poor user experiences
- Negative product sentiment
It’s not just startups, but established companies can also fall prey to chasing instant success.
Google has been a leader in AI research for several years (LaMDA, their conversational LLM was released in 2021). Given the threat posed by ChatGPT, they moved to launch Bard — their AI chatbot, despite several concerns that the final output is not refined.
Bard made a factual error in its very first demo which would go on to make Alphabet Inc lose close to $100 Bn in stock value.
Rushing into product launch in spite of having the technology, knowledge and resources may not yield the right results. It is also important to keep timing in mind and do necessary refinement.
The Long Game
We often overestimate what we can do in the short term and underestimate what can be done in the long term. It is no surprise that when it comes to startups the aim is to achieve Product Led Growth (PLG), focusing on the long game.
Primebook is a notable example
Catering to dynamic markets, Primebook had the discipline to undergo several pivots building a strong foundation for the launch of its Prime Book. Primebook has since grown its revenue to over Rs. 10 Cr. a month.
Post-Launch Refinement and Adaptation
Discipline doesn’t end with the product launch; it extends into the post-launch phase where the focus shifts to monitoring user feedback, continuous improvement and adaptation ensuring the product remains relevant and valuable over time.
User needs evolve, technologies advance, and markets change over time. Thus, post-launch refinement becomes an ongoing process rather than a one-time event and is what distinguishes lifetime products from one time products.
Adaptation and refinement has helped Zoho, a two decade plus business based out of Chennai, consistently offer enterprise solutions that meet user needs. AdventNet (now Zoho) first had two core products — Manage Engine(business management solutions) and WebNMS(IoT platform).
In 2005 they launched Zoho Writer, Docs and Sheets, though later switched their focus to CRM when Google launched their own version of Docs.Today, after much research and development, Zoho has an enterprise software suite of 50+ products and CRM is one of the most popular ones.
Takeaway
Discipline in product development is critical, helping curb the impulse to rush launches and emphasizing the importance of sustained user value through planning and adaptation.
Aereo, another company in Auxano’s portfolio, has shown discipline in developing the product which withstood the headwinds of the drone industry.
Author:
Aditya Golani
