Getting to that perfect ... imperfection

In the previous issue, I teased that I’d share my go-to-market strategy, but I’ve changed my mind. There’s something more pressing to discuss: the product itself!

Planning how to get customers is important of course. But let’s be real - without a product to promote, there are no customers to get.

So, how to get that first version out the door? And preferably, sometime this decade.

Speed vs perfection

When you’re building something new, like a CRM, it’s tempting to keep adding features, refining the design, and obsessing over every tiny detail until it feels “perfect.” But here’s what I’ve learned the hard way: perfection is a myth. If I wait for everything to be flawless, I’ll never launch.

That’s why I’m embracing a different mantra: speed over perfection. The sooner I get this first version of the product out there, the sooner I can start learning from real users - and earning real money! Early feedback is far more valuable than a thousand hours spent polishing something that might not even hit the mark.

Don’t get me wrong - this doesn’t mean shipping something half-baked. It means prioritizing what’s essential to deliver value from day one and letting go of the rest (for now).

The goal isn’t to launch a perfect CRM; the goal is to launch a CRM that solves core problems for small sales teams and then iterate based on what really matters.

Cutting the fat

Building the first version of the CRM has been a constant exercise in restraint. Every week, I look at the feature list and cut more from the initial release plan. The goal? To build something that delivers value fast and is incredibly easy to use - without overwhelming users with complexity.

At this stage, I’m focusing on the core essentials: features that solve the basic needs of sales teams, and an interface that’s clean, fast, and easy to navigate. The last thing I want is for users to feel like they need a training manual just to get started - you know, like with my competitors’ products.

But here’s the exciting part: I am including THE killer feature, a 100x improvement, for launch. I can’t spill all the details just yet, but this feature is designed to be a game-changer, something that will set us apart from the competition. More on that soon.

The key is to launch with a solid, simple foundation and then build from there - based on what users actually want, not trying to copy bloated feature lists from another CRM provider.

The Tech

Look, I’ll keep this short because most of you probably don’t want to get lost in the technical weeds.

Building a tech product - whether it’s a mobile app or web software, like my CRM - means making a bunch of decisions upfront. Things like:

• Do I expect hundreds or thousands of users? Or tens of millions?

• Is having a fixed monthly cost more important than a variable one?

• Which geographies will I focus on?

• Do I want to deal with servers myself, or let someone else handle that mess?

For me, the answers were pretty clear. I’m expecting hundreds or maybe thousands of users, mainly in Europe (at least for now), and there’s no way I want to physically manage servers. I’m all about serverless solutions, where everything scales automatically based on how many users are online at any given moment. Simple, right?

I went with AWS (Amazon Web Services) because it’s familiar territory for me. But sometimes, even the best-laid plans fall apart. In the late summer, I hit a major, unexpected snag: my choice of code and AWS didn’t play nicely together once things started growing. Without getting too technical, I found myself stuck between changing my entire code structure or finding a new server provider.

That snafoo halted development for weeks. Eventually, I decided on another provider and made the move. All in all, I lost about a month, which, to be honest, was brutal. Especially when focus is SPEED SPEED SPEED.

But now? With that nightmare behind me, things are back on track, and I’m excited to focus on building amazingness!

Wrapping up

So, that’s where things stand right now. The focus is on building a product that delivers value without the bloat, staying fast, and getting the first version into the hands of real users. Every day, I’m making tough calls to cut what’s unnecessary and refine what’s essential, all while embracing the mantra of “speed over perfection.”

Next time, I’ll dive deeper into how I’m planning to go to market and start getting those first customers on board.

Thanks for reading, and as always, feel free to hit reply with any thoughts, feedback, or questions. Until next Thursday!