It’s really an important point. We try to teach entrepreneurs not to launch in the press, with all due respect. When you’re iterating and making mistakes and failing, you want to do that in private. You want to take advantage of the fact that you’re an obscure new startup and no one’s ever heard of you but a pathetically small number of customers. That’s actually a real asset. Take advantage of it. Do the big publicity push after you’ve already figured out how to build a sustainable business. We call it the ‘product launch’ when you put the product in front of customers — and you should do that as soon as possible — but do the marketing launch — when you’re pounding your chest and talking about how great you are — as late as possible.

Eric Ries on how startups can navigate launching new products in what is a very crowded environment