How do you know when it’s finally “done enough” to ship? 🚢
Hey Product Hunt
Would love to get your thoughts on something I’ve been wrestling with lately.
I’m getting close to launching my first product, and I keep catching myself thinking, "Maybe I should just fix one more thing before I go live."
Some days it’s a minor bug no one will ever see. Other days it’s a feature I might need later. Either way, it’s this weird loop where I’m building more instead of just shipping what I already have.
Part of me knows it’s ready. But another part keeps convincing me to tweak just a bit more. And then another day slips by.
So I figured I’d ask:
How do you personally decide when it’s time to stop building and actually launch?
Have you ever regretted shipping too early? Or waiting too long?
Anything that helped you push through that last stretch and go live?
Would honestly appreciate hearing how others have dealt with this - especially if you’ve done your first launch solo too.
Thanks in advance 🙏
- Brandon C
Replies
Personally I break down the launch in 2 parts (soft launch and full launch). In soft launch, my focus is to building something that I can share with my friend or some beta users to get early feedback bcz I wont know what is not clear or not working until I show it to people. Based on that early feedback, I iterate design, copy, messaging, basically everything and once that is done I reshare it with few more people to validate the idea (basically the first few sales or first testimonial). Post that I plan for a full launch in public (basically launching everywhere for next 1-2 weeks)
@gamifykaran Appreciate you breaking that down. I’ve mostly been in build mode so this helped me think about things in stages. I like the idea of using the soft launch to tighten the messaging before going wide - and looping in early users again as a gut check. That second pass feels key. Thanks for sharing.
@brandonbuilds you can DM me when you are planning to launch, happy to share feedback
@gamifykaran appreciate the offer, I'll follow-up with you via DM!
Nomadful
This might feel a little bit simple but I've identified some moments where I suddenly get tired and start thinking about new features. When that feeling gets constant, I make a test of my progress and if it works and I've accomplished what I planned initially, I pull the plug on the idea lightbulb and start revising [marketing] details for launch. The rest of ideas can easily be implemented in a future release or as part of a fix.
@manuelzarroca That definitely resonates. I’ve had those same moments and it’s easy to confuse progress with productivity. Taking a pause to check against the original plan feels like a smart gut check before slipping into endless tweaking. Appreciate you sharing - it gave me a clearer line to draw for myself this week.
Nomadful
@brandonbuilds Thank you so much! Happy to hear this helped a bit :)
New features should be a absolute no. They should not stop launch.
Bug fixes -- yes, required or at at least a workaround.
User experience issues- yes, some would be worth fixing.
More than the tech part, it is sometimes the marketing part that makes you wait :) The right timing and right creative assets.
@manu_goel2 Makes sense. It’s definitely been tempting to squeeze in one more feature, but I’ve realized it’s more important to get the core right and start learning from real users. The marketing side has been the biggest slowdown for me too - figuring out timing, messaging, and trying not to overthink every detail. Appreciate the reminder to keep investing time into that side of things!
Trickle
We feel this so much. It’s way too easy to keep tweaking endlessly.
What helped us was realizing real feedback only comes after launch.
You’re not alone — cheering you on! 🙌
@ninaaaa0913 That’s exactly where I’m at. There’s always one more thing I could fix, but I’m realizing that no amount of tweaking will replace real-world usage. Appreciate the encouragement - definitely helps to hear from others who’ve been through it 🙏
Trickle
@brandonbuilds Exactly! Perfect is the enemy of shipped. You’ve got this — excited to see where it goes!
PopPop AI Vocal Remover
Keep in mind what problems your app solves for users. As long as it helps them achieve their goals, you can launch it and later release updates for improvements. For example, you can always fix problems like " it’s a minor bug no one will ever see" soon later after your launch.