Ventures Ahead
8 Oct 2007
These last couple of weeks have been very exciting and quite hectic. Having just launched the music site Tape5.dk, we’re now thinking about marketing and future plans for the site. The launch itself was rather quiet as we have told only people close to the project about it - we’re still waiting for a few more deals with the labels to come through. Never the less it was a great feeling to flick the switch on a project underway for more than two years - it is now no longer a concept in development but an actual product we can tell the world about.
Being deeply involved for so long in a project you are bound to learn a lesson or two about management. A few things to keep in mind:
- Keep things simple. Even if it can be tempting to add new features, stay focused on the core value of the idea.
- Don’t spend too much time perfecting. A great idea will work without bells and whistles. No one expects a version 1.0 to do everything.
- Stick to deadlines if at all possible. Learn from mistakes and allocate more time the next time but accept a basic implementation for the first iteration. You can always refactor.
Although I believe we’ve done a reasonable job of keeping focused and dedicated to ship, it is something I will definitely be aware of in future projects. Having someone outside the inner circle of development review the plans and set the deadlines could be a great way of keeping up to speed. It would be someone you’d be hard pressed to disappoint (much like the client in financed projects) and, if possible, someone to motivate when the core team has run out of steam.
Speaking of future projects and following my post about searching for interesting projects, I was approached by the entrepreneurial Morten Wulff about the possibility to join a network of talented people to share and implement new business ideas. I’ve met a few people already and am very excited about the possibilites!
Also I’ve spoken with a couple of people about my Wii idea and they all share my enthusiasm about the possibilities, encouraging me to move forward. I’ll be writing down some of the details and ideas for approaching this over the next few weeks and then get started with a simple prototype.