26th February 2009
Paul Buchheit is a web developer who I admire greatly. He has worked on some of the best web applications ever made:
Paul recently did an interview with the folks over at Mashable.com where he spoke about his advice for launching a startup we application.
The main points he made were:
Launch a light version
Paul's point is backed by 37signals who advocate this method in 'Getting Real'. On the web, it is generally best to create a small, light product (possibly a beta version) which works. Later, look to add features, but by then you'll be in a good place to know which.
Look for leading products with major flaws
When working for Google, Paul noticed that the largest web based email supplier, Yahoo was actually making their product worse. He saw it as a great opportunity to develop a competing product, so Gmail was born.
Create a product that people like so much they want to talk about it
This is something that Seth Godin would definitely agree with. Make your product remarkable, so that your customers spread the word. Secondly, ensure your customers have the ability to tell their friends about it easily. Not only does a remarkable product get popular but it is also the cheapest form of marketing.
Follow your passion, build a product you want to use
If you need a product but it doesn't exist, you are the most ideal person to build it. You can guarantee others need it too, and you already know what is required. So what are you waiting for?
Go off on your own
Releasing products at a big company can be considered cheating, as popularity is almost inevitable. Building a succesful product on your own is much harder and also more satisfying.
Paul has made some excellent points here and his tips agree with other respected web application developers, but what else did you expect from the creator of some of the best web apps ever?
