When, why and how to launch your startup in secret

By: James McGrath

When you’re building your startup, the first step is to tell everybody about it, right?

While there are thousands of startups out there trying to get the attention of the press and prospective customers, there are those that deliberately avoid the limelight.

Businesses like Domo and Rev have gone the unusual route of making people sign non-disclosure agreements before letting prospective customers and funders have a play around with their products.

It’s unusual for a company to launch in complete stealth mode, and with an interconnected ecosystem it’s kind of hard to do things in complete silence these days. So why would you want to keep your startup under wraps?

The main benefits

The benefits of launching in stealth mode can be broadly sorted into three categories:

1. It gives you the focus to work on version 1.0 of your product without distraction
2. It helps build an air of mystique around your company, especially if the founders are well known
3. It keeps IP and the industry problem you’re targeting away from the prying eyes of potential competitors

It basically allows you the time and space to work on your product with a select group of potential clients and collaborators to keep the feedback loop really tight.

It also allows you to launch with a fully realised product which surprises and delights rather than doesn’t meet the expectations of hype.

Of course, this approach has its down side…

Read More >> https://www.myob.com/au/blog/when-why-and-how-to-launch-your-startup-in-secret/