Article

37 Signals on Launching Softly

Bernhard Kappe

Published on: June 16th, 2009

This post was previously on the Pathfinder Software site. Pathfinder Software changed its name to Orthogonal in 2016. Read more.

Over at Signal vs. Noise, sound advice on the advantages of launching softly:

… You don’t need a big bang – slow evolution is what you want. Unless you absolutely must “open wide,” abandon the mass introduction strategy. Instead, launch softly.

Restaurants start off by serving friends and family before they invite the media.

Movie studios use test screenings to fine tune movies. The people behind the scenes know that until you get into the test screenings and see what people really think, you just never know.

Likewise, Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock try out jokes in small clubs before hitting arenas…

Soft launching lets you tweak and revise. You get the word out there and you gauge interest. You know what works and what doesn’t.

Plus, you get to make mistakes while you’re still in the shadows. Messing up in front of a smaller crowd means you’ll be better off when the bright lights eventually do shine upon you.

Dead on, as usual, from the authors of Getting Real. It’s what we advise clients and prospects, and when they follow it, their chances of success dramatically increase.