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independence3 unconnected
applies to

b2b and consumer, no audience needed

confidence

high

evidence

4 claims · 4 articles · 3 receipts

window

2020-05-01 → 2025-02-17

3 builders who never spoke to each other

Cut the first release to one working feature

Ship a version that does a single job end to end and nothing else, then add the second thing only when someone asks for it. Four builders arrived at the same shape independently: one install-worthy feature, a spreadsheet, a login and a submit box. A narrow release also answers quickly whether the one thing you bet on is the thing people wanted.

The method

  1. 01

    Ship a first version with only the one feature that would make someone install it, and accept that the interface will be ugly and incomplete.

  2. 02

    Once the public posts prove interest, build only enough app for people to log in and submit their work, so participants stay on your site instead of on the social platform.

  3. 03

    Ship a feature as soon as it does the basic job. It only has to beat what the customer was doing before, not the finest version it could eventually become.

  4. 04

    Release the first version of a tool as a duplicable spreadsheet template: copying it into their own account is the entire install, and you find out whether people want it without building software.

What it returned

  • 15

    SuperLemon's first release was built in a week and did nothing but let a Shopify merchant attach their WhatsApp number to a chat button; over the following 15 months it reached $25k MRR.

  • 30

    Weekly and 30 day habit tracker templates were shipped on Google Sheets, described as an MVP that already did everything needed, with automatic counting and pass or fail marking built in with formulas.

  • The first version was a basic login plus code submission; features were layered on afterwards.

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.

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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.