I'd love to have a delightful product, and I'd love for it to be given positive press to over a hundred thousand people! But like Android back in 2008, I don't think I'd get there without scrappily alleviating a pain point, getting my foot in proverbial door, and just shipping. Had Google waited and waited, they might be where Microsoft is now with WP7—an awesome product with really nice details that no one uses.

Granted, it's easier to switch cat feeders than phone OSes, but I think the point still stands—if you alleviate a pain point[1], you can tweak your product to make it delightful later.

Thanks for keeping up with your blog, and congrats on your three little humans! Do they make automatic feeders for those yet? Perhaps if you clean out your old cat feeders really well...

[1]: If you enter an existing market with nothing to differentiate your product (including price), then yes—you're probably going to fail.

The imperfect product that ships. Shipping is a feature, too.

Did I say it wasn't? You know what else is a feature? Being awesome!

I guess it comes down to "would you release an adequate product now and a great one later, or would you skip the adequate one completely?"