We need to talk about this "ship fast" mantra that's been flooding Twitter/X and every entrepreneurial discussion forum.
Let's address the elephant in the room:
you're probably not @marc_louvion or @levelsio with their massive followings.
And that's totally fine! But it means we need to look at their "ship fast" advice differently.
Here's the uncomfortable truth:
when someone with 100K followers ships a half-baked product, they'll still get 1,000 curious users checking it out.
When you do it with your 200 followers... well, crickets 🦗 .
These influencers could launch a potato with googly eyes, and it would still get more traction than most of our well-thought-out products 😭.
The "ship fast" movement gets even more problematic when you realize:
These influencers already have a built-in audience that will:
- Beta test their products for free
- Provide instant feedback
- Share with their networks
- Actually pay for early access
They can afford to fail fast because:
- Their reputation is already established
- They have multiple revenue streams
- Their audience will stick around for the next project
- They can turn any failure into engaging "build in public" content
But you?
You're starting from zero.
Your first impression might be your only shot with potential users.
That janky MVP might be the only thing people ever see from you, and they'll remember it.
What this means for you ?
- You need to build something good enough that people will share it without you having a massive platform
- Your product needs to work well because you don't have an army of forgiving early adopters
- Quality matters more because you're building reputation from scratch
- You can't afford to waste time on half-baked ideas because you don't have a cushion of passive income
I'm not saying you should spend 6 months perfecting your landing page. But maybe – just maybe – taking an extra week to really understand your market and build something solid isn't going to kill your indie hacker dreams.
The real opportunity isn't in being first or fastest.
It's in being thoughtful enough to build something people actually want to use (and pay for) month after month.
And when you don't have 50K followers eagerly awaiting your next project, that quality becomes even more crucial.
Build fast if you want.
But build smart first.
Because unlike the influencers, you might not get a second chance to make a first impression.