How to Launch a Product to Get Early Feedback?

👋 Hey, SK here!  Welcome to XTEN10X. I write about startups, product management , career growth and other stories based on real-world learnings.

In today’s post, we’ll be discussing product launches, specifically for launching new ideas with focus on the following points :

• Why shouldn’t you stress about your product’s first launch?

• What is a product soft launch?

• How can you execute a soft launch successfully?

This post is not just for product managers; it is for anyone who has an idea and is planning to launch soon.

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt stressed trying to make everything perfect for your product launch?

If so, this one is for you!

Maybe you've said,

“We’re not ready yet; only XYZ is pending. Once that is done, we can launch it”

“I’m afraid people won’t like it if I release it in this stage”

“I want a perfect launch because perfect products do better”

The problem is, chasing perfection is like a never-ending thirst.

Your to-do list never ends if you keep pushing changes to your product instead of actually pushing your product to production!

It’s not just about budling the product-

• You need SEO.

• You need perfect editing and illustrations.

• You need analytics.

• You need reports to analyze the data.

• You need automations, lifecycle mails, campaigns.

And the list goes on..

No matter how rational the reason to avoid launching might be, it’s ultimately preventing you from doing the most crucial thing: facing reality and getting early feedback!

This is exactly what a soft launch is- letting go of perfectionism and launching the product by allowing users to interact as early as possible.

It's like a dress rehearsal for your product, giving you the chance to refine your offering based on real user experiences.

Let’s talk about a real example from my recent experience.

A couple of weeks ago, I launched this newsletter, and let me tell you how many ways I went ‘wrong’:

• Didn’t create an Instagram account to build an audience base.

• No welcome email for new subscribers.

• No giveaway planned for new subscribers.

• Only 2 articles were in draft, waiting to be published (That’s basically only 2 weeks of content left).

• Published articles at random times during the week instead of following a schedule.

• Haven’t even done any SEO- literally nothing!

I could go on and on!

Anyone who sees this list would say ‘Oh boy, You need to have more than this.’

Instead, this is what I’ve done..