| This is a very interesting article because it is talking about two things and their conclusion seems to be wrong on both * A) They say they failed because they had a bleeding edge product IN Reality: they are talking more about Product Market Fit not being there/not being properly tested B) They say that selling such a product is difficult, getting companies to implement it is difficult, and that the mental game is more difficult In Reality: They seem to not fully understand their own product, what their customers' needs are, and how their product matches those needs
A few other points, with some overlap with the above Firstly, that product they discuss is not very bleeding edge. It's basically Analytics. It's not like they were trying to sell Virtualization or Nuclear Fusion Reactors It's Analytics/What Gets Measured Gets Managed/Pareto Principle -> We should build a tool that tells you the adoption rate of every component in your design system—across your product How is that bleeding edge? * Secondly, Winter 2018 to Summer 2020 That's 1.5 years Is that really time to tell if a product is a hit or not? Look at all the companies that are going IPO now. They are between 5 to 20 years of existence before IPO Outliers like Amazon and Facebook have really messed up lots of people's perceptions of what building a company should be like They think everything is going to come together in one or two years
Thirdly, all their problems (sales is hard; companies adopting product is hard; mental game is hard) is basically A) Your product doesn't have Product Market Fit. If there is a good fit then NEW makes it sell faster because no one else has it B) Your mental game is weak. If you are going to give time to a product (even a not that significant 1.5 years of your life) you must make sure you give it your best shot C) It seems all your issues rise from you thinking SOMEONE ELSE is going to do stuff for you You have to sell You have to get the company to adopt the product You have to keep yourself focused and positive * Do you really understand what problem that product solves? Does your customer want that problem solved? |