Comment by eksith | Hacker News Reader

Comment by eksith | Hacker News Reader

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The problem here wasn't the premise really. I mean from a premise standpoint (when it launched) Twitter seemed pretty silly. They got over it by simply adapting from status updates to brain dumps and then it really took off.

The problem here was planning.

No one seems to have sat down there and thought it through with: What are we doing? How do we do it? Do we have the means? Do we have the capability? Are we going about this the right way?

"The landing page didn’t work in IE. It was buggy." Did no one open up the page in IE before launch? See what I mean about planning. It's unfortunate because these guys seemed to have cared about their product.

  ...chef Anthony Bourdain, who wrote our epitaph in Kitchen Confidential: "The most dangerous species of owner ... is the one who gets into the business for love."

I lifted that from the end of this page: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/a_fine_whine/2005/12/bitt...

In a way, that too is an example of poor planning.

Follow up question: Could it be the exact opposite of what you're saying that did us in? Could it be that we spent TOO much time planning, and not enough time actually DOING (which leads to learning?)

I'll leave this here: http://marshmallowchallenge.com/TED_Talk.html

I saw that talk and yes, there could have been too much planning.

There's a big difference between correct planning and too much planning and I wish I could point out the big glaring wall that divides the two. The honest answer is that I don't know until I've walked in your shoes.

Most startups always go with : Idea > Platform > Tinkering > Launch

Between Idea and Tinkering is a feedback loop with improvements. But most importantly, there has to be someone outside the loop to tell you when too much planning is going on. When you're in it, you don't see it.

I mentor at startup events and advise a few startups, and too much planning is definitely the most common problem.

The loop you talk about is known among Lean Startup people as the build-measure-learn loop: http://lean.st/principles/build-measure-learn

The folks I see doing best are the ones with a clear vision who iterate as frequently as possible, testing their assumptions in order of risk. The right amount of planning is the smallest amount to let them learn frequently.

This is really interesting. I would love to see what my Co-Founder Chris would say about this. He was a perennial planner, scores through the roof on conscientiousness.

The most interesting question you ask is: "Are we going about this the right way"

That's a question we asked ourselves...A LOT. We never quite found the answer.

I wish you guys the best of luck for what you have in store for the next time. And I do seriously mean that.

I'm still looking for something like what you had in mind, and also what your users seem to be requesting the most. It's an interesting idea and one day, if you do become successful, please be the anti-Facebook that we're all hoping for.

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