Shipping what customers want vs. what they don't want

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For those who just want the key points then skip to the end as the conclusion in the article points out the two main factors you have to consider when shipping what customers want. However, I'd highly recommend reading the whole thing. Great write-up!

Great case study and takeaways. I'm not normally a fan of these big company case studies/comparisons as I don't think the takeaways often apply to beginner startups and are therefore, of no use to me, but this was super relevant and helpful. Thanks

I am grateful that you shared this. This provided the answers to many questions that I had been puzzling over in my mind.

Well written.
What customers want and what customers need are different things.
Customers normally do not know what they need!
When doing market research it's easy to fall into the trap of asking customers what they want, instead of focusing on their problems and needs.
Conducting proper research by observing users to discover what their current problems are and how they are currently solving them (Notion example you gave) is essential.

Shipping what customers want vs. what they don't want can be a delicate balance. Here are some things to consider:

Understanding customer needs: It's crucial to understand your customers' needs and preferences, so you can make informed decisions about what to ship. This can involve conducting market research, gathering customer feedback, and monitoring customer behavior.

Balancing customer wants and business needs: While it's important to listen to customers and deliver what they want, it's also important to make decisions that are in the best interest of your business. For example, you may need to prioritize features that are essential to your business model over features that are less important.

Managing customer expectations: Clearly communicating what customers can expect from your product can help manage their expectations and minimize disappointment. It's important to be transparent about what your product can and cannot do.

Providing value: Ultimately, the most important thing is to provide value to customers by delivering a product that solves their problems and meets their needs. This will help build customer trust and loyalty, which is crucial for long-term success.

By balancing the needs of customers and the needs of your business, you can make informed decisions about what to ship and deliver a product that provides real value to customers.

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I don't understand why so many founders insist on shipping what no one has ever asked for.

They do it for egotistical/narcissistic reasons, like implementing their so-called "product vision."

Relax bud, you're no Steve Jobs.

Just give people what they're asking for.

This piece is well done, although it does sometimes veer into "do things well, don't do things badly", territory i.e., Gumroad's rebrand sucks, they increased prices, etc.

The other thing is that it's talking about established products iterating, where I think the general gospel of product development these days (use data, validate, etc.) is at its best. I think there's a very interesting discussion to be had about whether we're ever really going to get transformation improvements via NEW products this way.

On the one hand, unvalidated disasters are especially useless disasters (legless metaverse meetings, 95% of blockchain ideas). On the other, that Jobs quote in the beginning really is true -- there was no indication whatsoever of mass market demand for a computer mouse, and there never would be until someone did it right.

I wonder if we miss out on stuff like that now.