The truth is that there is value in thoughtful design and good built quality. Your customers are far more likely to love your product and spread it through word of mouth if it is polished. This doesn’t invalidate our first point, but it means that in a perfect world you would do both: you’ll ensure that you’re building something that people need, and you’ll polish it before a public release.

The problem is that this requires a lot of resources. Companies like Slack had the benefit of millions in funding, which meant that their teams could afford to work behind closed doors for a long time, while at the same time having access to hundreds of closed alpha and beta users who would give them the invaluable feedback needed to make sure they are building a tool people actually need before it looks good.

Most early-stage startups don’t have access to the same luxury, so when you have to choose between making sure you’re building something people need (i.e. showing it to customers as fast as possible) and launching a flawless first version, it’s vital to choose the first option. Yet, there might be a compromise that’s possible even for small startups: you can combine polish with effective testing by developing only the key feature(s) of your idea.

A closed alpha/beta is a great hack when you find yourself in this situation. A lot of customers love the exclusive early access and personal attention that comes with a closed beta, and at the same time, the knowledge that your product is not yet public makes people more understanding of its imperfections. This way you can gather invaluable customer feedback during the development process while buying time to polish your solution for your official public launch.