I'm frankly quite tired of these "here is what you should do" articles in entrepreneurship. There is no best way to do it, just better or worse strategies given a set of circumstances. It just happens that—for the most part—many web startups share very similar circumstances.
1. Anything that can't be re-deployed easily (hardware, desktop software, print) should be near damn perfect from day one.
2. Stealth mode applies only to very early stages, because you're so small your competitors couldn't care less about you.
3. APIs clearly depend on the context you're working in. In many cases, they would be a waste of time and money.
Visionaries revolutionize. Analysts distill a formula from their success. The mediocre follow the formula and wonder why it didn't work.
In order to change the world, you must have vision, ambition, tenacity, and leadership. Without these, no formula or recipe for success will help you.
Success formulas should be taken with the same grain of salt as for case studies. They show how someone else was successful, and usually contain nuggets of good advice. They are not blueprints for success.
"The thing that bothers me most about the iPad is this: if I had an iPad rather than a real computer as a kid, I'd never be a programmer today. I'd never have had the ability to run whatever stupid, potentially harmful, hugely educational programs I could download or write."
I had a branded PC / forgot its brand which used 3.5" floppy and showed me Fatal Error!!! While i booted it first time back it '95. And my hunt for a Floppy sized OS lead me to today - A software engineering who is making living building software for good.
1. Anything that can't be re-deployed easily (hardware, desktop software, print) should be near damn perfect from day one.
2. Stealth mode applies only to very early stages, because you're so small your competitors couldn't care less about you.
3. APIs clearly depend on the context you're working in. In many cases, they would be a waste of time and money.