This is a topic I’ve been meaning to discuss for a long time and it applies since we are experiencing something similar with the new sites. Launches are important to the owner because it marks a milestone of a level of completion. Many companies, particularly online ones, make the mistake of putting too much into The Launch.

I was reading Seth Godin’s article called Not so grand and I agree with his point:

The best time to promote something is after it has raving fans, after you’ve discovered that it works, after it has a groundswell of support. And more important, the best way to promote something is consistently and persistently and for a long time. Save the bunting for Flag Day.

How many times have we seen companies throw the elaborate launch parties to fade into the shadows? Honestly, how many people can remember the companies spotlighted by TechCrunch’s conferences and those that won – do you use it?

The “big” companies that are successful weren’t successes at launch. Twitter began in March 2006, Twitter launched in July of 2006 but didn’t get their big break until SXSW 2007. Unfortunately, they were unprepared for the massive amounts of usage they receive and failed to properly define their company. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, did a presentation about Twitter and there is a definite divide with how a large portion of their users use Twitter and how they envisioned the service to be used. Twitter was not built to handle the amount of use it receives today and the challenge to upgrade and keep the service live is a challenging one. The focus for Twitter was scaling (not monetizing). A better idea? Focus on building the architecture so when the people are there, scaling would not be so challenging.

See, that’s the mistake most companies make – the rush to get the people before the cement of the foundation is dry. Easy to do but usually has detrimental repercussions. While Twitter has irked many people it gave competition the opportunity to enter the space or worse, piggy back on their services. Twitter will probably come out of it okay because they have a ton of money being thrown at them that puts them in a better position to fix the issues.

Most companies do not have that luxury – millions after millions being given to them.

Let’s look at another example, Digg. It was launched in 2004 but really didn’t begin to gain traction until 2006, exploding in 2007. They scaled with traffic but then encountered a problem, a problem that could have been sorted out earlier. The company wants to take Digg more mainstream; their users prefer it stay focused on technology. Again, a divide between how the users want to use the site and what the owners envision for the site.

Launch is great but it’s just the beginning of (hopefully) a long journey to success that has to be achieved and more importantly maintained. Taking the time to make the right decisions, ensuring the foundation is strong and the challenge is easier to win and the road to success a smoother journey. Focus on the wrong points and watch your company slip through your fingers into a deadpool.