Doing the right thing
at the right time

Building software products is a complex endeavor. That means we can't solve it by analysis, we can't break it apart into smaller pieces, and we won't know if we're right until we try it. But building a market-scale product without knowing it will succeed is a huge risk, and requires significant investments upfront.

We can't eliminate the complexity, but we can adjust our behavior to reduce the risk — by answering the most critical questions first.

A typical software product lifecycle from the first idea to market success can be charted as a succession of four phases:

1. 1.Inception: Where we have an original idea
2. 2.Conception: Where we turn our idea into a marketable product
3. 3.Concretization: Where we hone and improve our product to make it lovable
4. 4.Realization: Where we make our product work at scale

In each phase, making progress on the path to success means asking and answering the right questions, verifying assumptions, and learning from customer feedback. But the kind of questions to ask, and the breadth and scope of the topics to work on differ significantly.

Not a template.

What's important is that this is not meant as a template model: we can't just plan each phase to be three weeks long and set a release date for three months from now. It is more like a compass to get our bearings.

When we find ourselves having answered enough questions, validated enough assumptions, completed our Value Proposition Canvas, and feeling confident that our idea is a great prospect for hitting the unicorn jackpot — that's when we move to phase 2. When we've compared different ways of implementing it, explored multiple ways of monetizing (subscription, one-off, ad-based, platform sales percentage?), verified pricing schemes, and developed a good understanding of the materials, organizational and legal structures, personnel, and other costs required — that's when we move to phase 3. And so on.

We can also go back, should we find that there are blind spots or missing information, or if we need to pivot. You get the idea: it is up to us to reflect and assess our current situation. It is a good idea to set aside time to do this frequently, with the entire team.