Soft launch: day 16

Notes from day 16 of the new job at AnnArbor.com

Here is the "soft launch" definition from Wikipedia; of course you don't completely trust Wikipedia, but it's a first start, especially when you credit it.

Soft launching is the method of launching a missile (such as an anti-tank guided missile) in such a way that the rocket motor ignites outside of the launch tube; the missile is ejected non-explosively. The point is to minimize the risk of damage to the launcher by maintaining a safe distance. Contrast this with hard launching. A similar concept called cold launch was pioneered by the Soviets for application in vertical launch system clusters on board ships.

as trek notes, this is also a good common practice in launches of new software.  This from a 37 Signals essay "Why it's wise to launch softly"

Soft launching lets you tweak and revise. You get the word out there and you gauge interest. You know what works and what doesn’t.

Plus, you get to make mistakes while you’re still in the shadows. Messing up in front of a smaller crowd means you’ll be better off when the bright lights eventually do shine upon you.

The most recent search engine to try to do the hard launch with a massive PR spike was Cuil, a search engine which billed itself as a Google killer and got its brief shining moment in the sun before sinking into oblivion the very next day.  Techcrunch harshed their mellow thusly:

The hype cycle now lasts less than a day. Take yesterday’s over-hyped launch of stealth search startup Cuil, which was quickly followed by a backlash when everyone realized that it was selling a bill of goods. This was entirely the company’s own fault. It pre-briefed every blogger and tech journalist on the planet, but didn’t allow anyone to actually test the search engine before the launch.

For whatever reason, you may or may not have the luxury of starting out in obscurity and growing, mushroom-like, doubling in size every year until you are unstoppable.  Some markets demand a full-sized product at day one with the corresponding market splash.   If you are in that kind of world, at least be aware that you are, and take some people into your confidence who can give you an honest opinion so that you have heard it and internalized it already.