HN Explorer

Do you guys ship in weeks or months?

5 points by nifal_adam ↗ HN
I know a ton of people who never ship, and I’m currently trying to complete an app that I’ve been working on for 3-4 months. Do you guys ever feel a bit depressed about the inability to ship quickly, get user feedback, and make some sales to boost enthusiasm?

6 comments

[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 27.7 ms ] thread
passwordoops
Really depended on the industry, users, team and complexity of the product. To wit:

-A simulation software for electrical engineers would get an update every 6 months. Keep in mind there was a robust pipeline and most projects or new key features would take 12-24 months to develop, as it involved some combination of new (to us) physics and optimization of the engine with hardware. Most users wouldn't even install the updates because they didn't want their simulation to break.

-A consumer health would update every couple of months, with beta tests organized for every new feature every sprint (2 weeks). This was basically a secure CRM with video feed and fluff and the side. We had a team of 8 devs.

So I would compare myself to others in my boat, i.e. level of product complexity, team size, and the target market.

Also get to the root... Why can't these people ship? Is it lack of experience leading to an underestimation of the work required? Is it perfectionism? Are they just not good? Do they not know when to say "this is done"? The solution here is to go spend 5-10 years learning all this at an established, profitable company

nifal_adam
Yeah I get it. I guess its mostly building a prototype is easy, but shipping it means it needs to have everything integrated to have sales .etc. Working in a company in 5-10 years can go either ways, you can get stuck working for someone too.
passwordoops
Here's the great truth you've yet to learn: you're always going to get stuck "working" for someone, even if your app takes off. Either the biggest client(s), or your majority shareholder(s), or the board.

So my advice is still go get a real job at a successful small-to-medium sized company so you have a better chance of learning all aspects of running a business for a while.

There's a reason the average age of successful start-up founders is 45:

https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/a-study-of-27-million-startup...

[deleted]
(comment deleted)
mjcurl
I've been working on two new related projects. Started them a week ago. I plan to ship one next week.

I think commitment to the goal is important. I've made timelines for it to keep me on track. I tend to lose interest if something goes on for too long.