Kat Mañalac advises founders to launch products as soon as possible, even if unpolished, to get early feedback and identify core users who love the product. The worst-case scenarios of launching too early are minor.
Kat Mañalac emphasizes the importance of having a clear, concise, conversational one-sentence description of the company's product/service that leads with what the company does.
Various launch strategies are discussed, including silent launches, friends and family launches, launching to strangers, launching on online platforms, pre-order campaigns, and waitlist/waitresponse launches. The key is to build an engaged community that will spread the word, rather than over-focusing on press coverage.
Meeting Notes:
Launching Early and Often
Kat Mañalac emphasizes that founders should launch their products as soon as possible (ASAP), even if the product is unpolished. Launching early helps determine: If they are solving a big enough problem that someone is willing to pay for or use their product, and get early feedback and identify the core users who love the product to focus on expanding that user base.
The worst-case scenarios of launching too early are minor: People might think the product looks unpolished or bad, investors or competitors might see it before it's ready, or no one sees or cares about it initially.
Kat Mañalac says this is fine, as founders can simply launch again and iterate. Companies like Airbnb launched three times before really gaining traction.
The goal is to make a few people really happy with the early product, as that will help founders figure out what to focus on improving and identify and expand the core user base who loves the product.
Crafting a Strong One-Sentence Company Description
Kat Mañalac emphasizes the importance of having a clear, concise, conversational one-sentence description of the company's product/service.
The description should lead with what the company does, not why they are doing it. This provides context upfront.
Avoid using meaningless jargon or marketing speech.
Aim for a straightforward description that gives the listener a good idea of what the company actually does.
Example of a strong one-sentence description: "Pace lets companies plan, communicate, and benchmark their compensation in real time." or "We built the first online marketplace that connects travelers with rooms of locals instead of hotels." (Airbnb)
Different Types of Launches
Silent launch: Set up a basic landing page with company name, short description, and way for users to contact/sign up.
Friends and family launch: Test the one-to-two sentence pitch and get early feedback, but don't stay in this phase too long.
Launching to strangers: Directly engage with potential customers, like DoorDash founders did by interviewing over 200 small business owners.
Launching on online platforms: Launch on communities like Y Combinator's Bookbase, Hacker News "Show HN", Reddit, etc. to get early users and feedback from engaged communities. Example: Robinhood got 10,000+ sign-ups after launching on Hacker News.
Pre-order campaigns: For hardware/physical products, do pre-order launches on platforms like Kickstarter or Indiegogo.
Waitlist/waitresponse launches: Build up a waitlist and slowly onboard users, as Robinhood and Superhuman did successfully.
Building a Launch-Ready Community
Start building an email list and engaging with supporters even before launching.
Use various channels to repeatedly launch new products and features, rather than a single big launch.
Don't over-focus on getting press coverage, as it is not a scalable user acquisition strategy. Instead, focus on building an engaged community that will spread the word.
Example: Stripe regularly engages their community through blog posts, Hacker News, social media, and press when launching new products/features.