Ask HN: To Beta Or Not To Beta?
We're a team of 4 people; 1 business/sorta-coder-guy (me) and 3 crazy-smart-programmers (not me). We are nearing the release of our first major mobile app release and are nailing down our beta strategy. Our app is consumer oriented, hyper local and fairly addictive to our current beta users.
The question is whether we should bother trying to do:
An exclusive beta where people ask to get on the list and get priority based on the number of other people they get to signup.
...or...
Just do an open beta and be done with it.
Now, I like the exclusive nature and the scarcity of a closed beta. One that does really well can even get a quite a few people signed up on our list whom we can all notify immediately when the app gets a full release. Conversely, we need lots of usage data to make our app the best it can be and limiting the number of users could hurt that effort.
With that said, we need to know the opinion of HN startups that have been there. What do you think? Did you do it before and would you recommend it again? Is there a reason you wouldn't again? Should we just do the closed beta and go open if not enough interest comes in?
In the past we have tried both and I've found being more restrictive allows you to iron out things (most of the time unforeseen) before a full scale launch but you lack the large user base that you would get by just opening it up (Signup to be notified lists in my opinion and experience leave a lot of users out cold who don't come back).
In addition, larger betas can get you more traction quicker and also provide insight into new markets and uses for your app you never thought of while smaller betas on the other hand create a good core group of early adopters (because you can give them more attention) that if taken care of will help to champion your cause and spread word about your product.
If possible, I think the "best of both worlds" solution is to have an open beta, but encourage users to invite friends by offering something other then early access. I do this with my startup and it has helped get the word out.