In defense of the 'not-so-lean startup'
“Many great products have failed because there were no buyers or users ready. Remember Pets.com or Webvan? Of course you do—but for entirely the wrong reasons. It’s vital to remember that building a viable sales channel is just as important as building the viable product itself. The Lean Startup method would have you rush a product to market. Then, you would maybe flounder on initial launch but iterate nonstop—and put what few, loyal customers adopt early through countless revisions, updates, and interface changes. Finally, you might eke out a product worth the mass market’s purchasing dollars. But what happens if your product development issues are so vast that it leads to poor word-of-mouth?”
