Launching product is like dating

We launch product in hope to get users. Most time, product mastermind has this idea who our users will be, but often be surprised by who actually turn out to like our product.

In that sense, it’s a lot like dating. We clean up well before going on date with someone, our targeted “user”, hope there is mutual chemistry. Often times, it doesn’t always work out.

It’s also like put yourself out there in a friend’s party: someone you have crush on turns out not to like you at all, not to be discouraged, someone else maybe drooling over you from afar, without you even knowing.

Life isn’t fair.

We are in the process designing a product to help people improve their sports. Ideally our targeted users would be amateur and (semi) professional athletes. But the first group of people showing great interest turns out be coaches and trainers.

Let me take that back, launching product isn’t really like dating. People don’t really change, not your look, personality: We can’t change ourself to force the chemistry. We have to change who we date, i.e. changing users.

But product can change. If we fancied athletes, but coaches like us better, we might as well change the product to better suit coaches.