Gain a user’s trust

This is my response to a question asked in MLGen, a private group for young technology entrepreneurs.

Would you rather launch a product that is 60% complete, or hold on and launch with a better product that is 90% complete? — Shahed Khan

People often answer this conundrum by saying “you only have one chance at a first impression.” While I agree with this statement, I interpret it differently than most people do.

Instead of ensuring a good first impression by not shipping until your product is perfect, ship features as fast as possible, but stay honest with your users the whole time. Make them trust your product from the very begining. If they trust you, they will be willing to come back to see new features. And they will be rooting for you even if you make small mistakes and your features aren’t all perfect.

So I would rephrase and say “you only have one chance to gain a users TRUST.” So if you value design, make that evident from the begining. Don’t ship ugly stuff! But that doesn’t mean you can’t ship incomplete products. Let your products evolve. The users whose trust you have gained will help along the way.