Two folks in different Mastermind groups added newborns to their households in the last few months experiencing all of the joys and anxieties and frustrations and insights they bring. I thought it would be fun to compare a startup’s first product with a couple’s first child.
Newborns Vs. a Startup’s First Product
A baby can open up a whole new world for you. Starting at 2 o’clock in the morning.
John Drybred
As the two entrepreneurs are settling in to life in a household with an infant–a truly wonderful tiring scary delightful time–I thought it would be useful to put a short comparison table together of the difference between newborns and new products.
| Comparing Newborns and a Startup’s First Product | ||
|---|---|---|
| Attribute |
Newborn | New Product |
| Preparations Before Ship Date |
There is a lot of preparation required and many things get left undone. Some turn out to be unnecessary and least one or two prove critical and require quick thinking and improvisation. |
|
| Ship Date | Rarely arrive more than two weeks after schedule and can arrive one to three months early. |
Rarely arrive less than two weeks late, never arrive more than a few days early. |
| At Birth | Everyone celebrates and congratulates you, but it gets harder from here. | |
| First 3 Months After | Wonderful when they sleep. | Terrible if neither prospects nor customers are calling. |
| Thoughts at 3AM |
We got what we asked for, we should have been more specific. | |
| Yelling |
It’s like arguing a car alarm, it doesn’t really help. | Team may fall silent but it’s unlikely they agree or will bring bad news in the future. |
| Debugging | You cannot always figure out what’s wrong. | |
| Problems | Many are temporary and get better on their own. | Require focused ongoing attention. |
| Sleep | A full night’s sleep is hard to come by. | |
| Adding Functions |
Much happens naturally: e.g. talking and walking. | Requires hard work and collaboration. |
| Surprises | There are many surprises, some pleasant, some unpleasant, all educational. | |
| Independence | Most children exhibit a gradually growing and effective independence, culminating in teenage years when everyone is looking forward to full independence |
Products never lose their dependence on the development team although they can be designed to support end user configuration and customers may develop add ons. |
| Improvisation | Flexibility and responding to feedback is as important as detailed planning before launch. | |
| Changes | Changes can happen both suddenly (e.g. accidents, first words, teething, puberty) and almost imperceptibly (e.g. growth, judgement) |
Changes looks more like punctuated equilibrium, where most features–and bugs–don’t make much difference and a few have a significant impact. |
| “Behind the Scenes” |
People celebrate a product doing well or a baby growing but rarely see the amount of “behind the scenes” work required. This can lead to people underestimating what is required and prematurely jumping into either starting a family or a business. |
|
Related Blog Posts
- Father’s Day 2018
- Father’s Day 2017
- Father’s Day 2016
- Things I Have Learned From My Children
- Father’s Day 2012
- Father’s Day 2011
- Uncle’s Day
- 9 From Greg Knauss’ “An Entirely Other Day”
Photo Credit: Amber McNamara “Smiling Little Boy“