Failure to launch
jasonleow • 3 Jun 2022 •
It’s been 1 week since I launched Sheet2Bio.
ZERO sign-ups so far.
It’s fair to conclude that the launch failed. Or something failed, at least.
Sigh. This is a new low.
I knew Sheet2Bio is still a scrappy MVP. I know I’m still experimenting with it. And I know I’m signalling these two points by building in public, so it does affect the product’s reputation in a way.
So I had low expectations going into the launch, but not that low. I expected something non-zero, for sure.
Not gonna lie…this was hard to stomach.
OK so back to the drawing board…
I set out to test this hypothesis through the launch:
“Are people even willing to pay for this tool to begin with?”
Not “Of the 100%, how many % are willing to pay?” because this latter hypothesis assumes some will pay, just how many % out of my target population of customers. Nope, I made no such assumptions. Because it’s still a leap from having a product that no one will pay for versus a product that some might pay (and you just have to find them). And also because most alternative link-in-bio platforms offer a freemium model - so anchoring bias might exist (where people expect it to be free than paid, a bit like how people expect apps on the app store to be 99 cents because the first apps were all 99 cents).
It’s about product-pricing fit, not channel-offer fit.
Hence from a single pricing plan of $10/month, I’m now experimenting with a two-tiered pricing model:
- One-off plan where you pay $50 once and use forever, but no future feature/updates
- Monthly subscription plan where you pay $10/month and get access to all future features/updates
But leading in front of both plans is the 14-day, no-questions-asked free trial.
Hope this reduces the barrier to payment!
Also tweaking the landing page design, adding more style and overall making it look more credible and legit, while maintaining the brutalist vibe.
I want to see what happens if I just do my own path despite going against prevailing best practices and how-tos…
Will I regret it? Or will it lead to contrast and standing out?
Comments
@joshpitzalis Thanks so much Josh! I like how you said it - failure is the price of trying new things. Yeah I think I needed a moment to sit with it and to vent. Don’t wanna just avoid the emotions by doing doing doing… I think I’ll be fine with friends like you and others on Twitter!
bro, I know how it feels. Gambateh!
@knight Thanks bro!
I’m sorry to hear there were no sign-ups. That can be soul-crushing. I’ve been here, more times than I’d like to admit. It can be difficult to shake off.
Don’t be too hard on yourself though.
You’re already reflecting on what went wrong and looking into how you can fix things for the next time. This is the best any of us can do. Failure is the price of having the courage to try new things and put yourself out there.
Plus you’ve got this wicked product that we’re all writing on, so you’re obviously doing something right :)