Guy's Maxim: Launch Early, then Churn Baby Churn

I think that the maxim "Launch early, then churn baby churn" was originally coined by Guy Kawasaki. The only problem I have with this is that there is definitely such a thing as "launching too early." As is the case with many difficult things, entrepreneurship can sometimes feel lonely. This is because the entrepreneur is often the only one at first who can see a beautiful vision of what it is that she is going to create. Because the entrepreneur is always reflecting on how beautiful her vision is and how likely it is that somebody could copy what she is doing, she feels a crushing need to launch as soon as possible.

I have learned the hard way that while I generally believe in Guy's maxim, I think we need a bit more clarification. Here are some things to consider doing:

• Ask a fellow entrepreneur (known for brutal honesty) if he would look at the state of your pre-live product and tell you if he would go live in that state
• Get the opinion of some relevant industry bloggers
• If another competitor has already gone live with a similar product, I think this actually increases the need to get it right before launching. Slow down, take a deep breath, and focus on beating the competitor over time. Most often, we feel a desperate need to go live right after a competitor has launched.
• What is the probability of a preponderance of poor reviews if you go live in your current state?
• First impressions last a very long time, especially if you won't be able to update your product or service very rapidly after the initial launch