skip to content

← back to the plays

independence6 unconnected · 3 more authors in those circles
standing

contested · 17 claims against 2

applies to

b2b and consumer, no audience needed

confidence

high

evidence

20 claims · 17 articles · 4 receipts

window

2016-10-28 → 2026-06-18

6 builders who never spoke to each other · contested

Take many small shots instead of one big bet

Hit rates reported across these builders cluster around one in ten, which makes the number of attempts the variable you control. Cycling through cheap attempts finds the one with pull, and staying attached to a single flawed idea for years is named repeatedly as the worst failure mode.

What both sides agree on

  • As soon as an idea survives your filter, block out time and build a first version immediately, because an unexecuted idea leaves you worse off than no idea at all.

Where this splits

Volume of attempts is offered as the whole strategy, and separately attacked as rewarding the act of launching over the harder work of finding something people want.

  1. side 01 · 17 claims

    Run many cheap launches until one gets traction

    Corey Haines · Cory Zue · Dru Riley · Florin Pop · Jakob Greenfeld · Justin Jackson · Luca Restagno · Tibo Louis-Lucas · Tyler Tringas

    1. 1Run many small launches instead of one big bet, because volume of attempts is what creates the chance of a hit.
    2. 2Release one product a week until something holds, because the cadence forces shipping and real feedback instead of planning.
    3. 3Riskiest validation, but viable if you ship fast: build the minimal version and launch it, repeating until one sticks.
    4. 4Ship small throwaway products alongside the serious ones, because the habit of shipping is what raises your rate of shipping.
    5. 5Plan on a long series of failed products rather than one attempt, and judge yourself against roughly a one-in-ten hit rate.

  2. side 02 · 2 claims

    Commit to one product and find real demand first

    Jakob Greenfeld · Justin Jackson

    1. 1Go all in on one project rather than running it beside a job, because a part-time bet always leaves you a comfortable exit the moment it stops being fun.
    2. 2Avoid ship-a-startup-a-month style challenges: they reward the act of launching when the real task is locating something people want.

What it returned

  • 100

    Plan of 100 launches over ten years; 100 apps averaging $100 monthly each would be $10k a month.

  • 2021

    Used this process himself in 2021.

  • 2025

    He put out Conlang, Invoice Command and TestDummy in 2025 as experiments rather than businesses, in the same year his serious products hit new revenue highs.

  • Makers running twelve launches in twelve months eventually hit one that became a multi-million dollar business.

Sources

the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.

More in product

all product plays

the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

963 corroborated plays to draw from · 3 a week

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.