Had a chat with a young startup founder yesterday. She was in her early twenties. Youngblood, full of energy.
Her startup is about creating a fitness-related solution using a mobile-first approach.
The idea looked good. She was talented and confident. She was determined to make it happen.
Here’s a glimpse of our conversation:
"If I get funding of around US$25,000 then I'll hire the best mobile app developer and have them develop 10 BEST features from the competitor's apps," she said.
"Why do you want to build those 10 features?" was my question.
She: "Because I think all these features are super cool and offer the users with a lot of options and if users get more options then they might use more of my app and if they use more of my app then I'll make more money from the app."
Me: "What if you identify one or two EXTREMELY important features and leave every other feature out for upcoming releases?"
She: "But...but I know that all the 10 features are very good and my app should have it."
Me: "Why? Are those 10 features absolutely *essential* to the core of your solution? Or just good to have features?"
She: "Well, only one is core, but all others are really cool features. For example, I can provide sign in option via Twitter on top of email sign in option that I'm going to have as a default option."
Me: "Do you know how many people who are interested in your fitness niche are on Twitter? Are they active users? Do they really care if you have Twitter login option? Do you have any data which is unique to your niche that tells you that you must absolutely have 'Login via Twitter' feature in your fitness app?"
She: "Ugh, I don't have any specific data but I feel that it is a really good feature. I along with lot of my friends use Twitter so frequently. I think other users would also be using Twitter like ours ..."
Me: "What if you launch without Twitter login option and see if your users demand it?"
She: "I think I can do that but oh yes, I got the idea: rather than focusing on including every great feature that I can think of, you're suggesting that I quickly go to the market with the vital few features that are just better than my competitors?"
Me: "Absolutely. Do less AND do better!"
Observe the capital “AND” in the above statement. It is the key. Doing less is to do it better than everyone else, including your previous implementations. Better is non-negotiable.
If you can’t improve it, “less” has no value. In fact, it deteriorates the value of your solution. More and better is often a fool’s paradise.
Less and better is possible.
The users love it less and better.
Sometimes, a few hate Less and Better too, but that’s okay!
[bctt tweet=”More is full of clutter. Less is full of what matters more. #quote “]
More is full of clutter. Less is full of what matters more. Apple does it. Basecamp does it. Trello does it. They do less, and they do it better.
Sure, doing less is scary; doing better is difficult. Still, doing less + doing better is what it takes.
