Yutong sent me the prototype book by Alberto Savoia. In the first page I saw this quote:
Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn once said: “If you are not embar- rassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”
Very nicely said. Thanks Yutong.
Obviously, anything that sounds right must be put into context, and the tough part is, the author often ignore that part, and only tell you the conclusion. Just as the “Little Horse Crossing the River” story, the Ox, and the squirrel told completely different idea but they forgot to tell the horse that the depth of the river was relative to THEIR heights.
Let me put a little context to what Reid Hoffman said.
That means, it has to be 1) very easy to release. 2) very easy to change, 3) free to try out.
You cannot use the philosophy on hardware product (Well, I am still thinking about the iPhone 1.0 case), and you cannot use it on something too expensive to try. Image you asked your user to buy a $1000 product that is really not ready, and you expect the customers to buy it again few months later. (Well, iPhone 1.0 case?)
I am still thinking about the other context Reid Hoffman didn’t tell in the simple sentence.
Here is the link:
Video Like: http://vimeo.com/19443634
Slide: http://www.slideshare.net/LuisFelipeFernandes/innovation-at-google
Thanks for the insights! In the past, I would say the quote is too vague. Now I know what it miss.