Why we're not doing a big launch (yet)

We're not launching our M&A data platform.

We're doing this instead 👇

For months now we've been building an M&A intelligence platform focused on online businesses that have sold for 6, 7 and 8 figures. The goal is to help founders, buyers and brokers pull insights on potential buyers and comps for relevant deals.

We've already had some early successes! Including a founder who used the platform to identify good-fit buyers, find their contact info and book calls. She just sold her business 🎉

Now, we're at a big milestone: we're adding early users to the platform.

But you won't see a big, splash launch from us.

Here are 3 approaches we're taking to adding early users that go against conventional wisdom:

👉 1. We're skipping the initial loud launch.

Instead, we're slowly adding users one-by-one, ensuring the platform delivers value, and collecting feedback and testimonials.

Splashy launches create unrealistic expectations. They suggest the flood gates will open, which rarely happens. Even if you've built an audience ahead of time, a consistent trickle of sales is more likely.

And in our case, we'd prefer the constant trickle. We want to see how customers use our product and learn how to support them before adding hundreds of users.

Melissa Kwan took this approach, and shares how it went in her ProfitLed podcast. I'll link to that in the comments.

👉 2. We're not launching an MVP.

MVPs aren't good enough anymore. Instead, we're releasing a product our customers will get huge value from on day one.

I like how Jason Cohen reframes this; he says you should release an SLC instead. That stands for Simple, Loveable and Complete.

His post on this topic shaped how I thought about making our product ready for users. I'll link to that in the comments.

👉 3. We're not adding early users for free.

Many founders offer free accounts for their first users so they can get feedback.

But the biggest thing we're testing right now is whether brokers, buyers and founders will pay for access to insights that will help them maximize their deals. Giving the platform away wouldn't help us answer that question.

We need to know asap whether this is going to work. At the same time, we need revenue to keep building.

💸 So here's what we're doing instead of freebies: offering discounts for our first users.

Not to convince you to use the platform, but as a way of saying THANK YOU — for trusting us enough to use our product first.

Thank you for betting on us, for believing that we can provide insights that will give you a significant edge in lower-to-middle market M&A.

And thank you for being open and honest about what you need, so we can learn how to serve you better.