Preparing for launch - Build Log #7
Preparing for launch
The product is now reaching a point where it is feature-complete, and I've been through a series of tests to ensure that it remains reliable under increased traffic. I've also spent time preparing for launch with various important steps:
- Product Analytics: once we've launched, it is really just the beginning of product development. Lots of assumptions that I've made about how users interact with the product will prove to be wrong; sometimes in small ways which provides opportunities for optimisation, and in other places I expect some larger assumptions that I've made will turn out to be incorrect, meaning that larger changes will be required. To reach any of these conclusions, it will be important to have visibility on how people are interacting with the product, and therefore collecting this information from the beginning is important, to set a benchmark for conversion rates and other key metrics. I've decided to begin with Posthog - it's not a product that I've used before, so I'll be testing it before we ultimately launch to make sure it meets our full requirements.
- Customer Support: I've decided to use Intercom, which I've found to be the most feature complete product in the space. The cost of the product scales as the number of users does, so I incorporated this into my previous financial model to ensure it doesn't negatively affect margins.
Alongside the above, I've been preparing to begin demo'ing the product to stakeholders in the coming weeks.
Improving the discovery of genius
I've been thinking a lot about the idea of genius recently: what creates it? Is it innate or cultivated? How can better methods for discovering genius be discovered? Some similar topics are discussed in an article that I linked to a few weeks ago: Why we stopped making Einsteins. The article touches on some interesting points:
That it's been obvious in the past who in recent history would be considered world-historic geniuses, but the answer is not so apparent today:
[Writing in 1914, Spengler] repeatedly describes Tolstoy (d. 1910), Ibsen (d. 1906), Nietzsche (d. 1900), Hertz (d. 1894), Dostoevsky (d. 1881), Marx (d. 1883), and Maxwell (1879) as figures of defining “world-historical” importance: in other words, as working on the same plane as Plato, Archimedes, Ovid, Shakespeare, and Newton. He does not argue their merits; to him it is obvious that these are the men who deserve to be thought of as “world-historical” figures, and it is clear from the way he makes his arguments that he expects that his own readers already agree with him.
That there is a strong correlation between historic genius and being the recipient of aristocratic tutoring, a form of education that is very rarely practiced these days. Examples include:
- Ada Lovelace
- Voltaire
- Descartes
- John Stuart Mills
- Virginia Woolf
- Albert Einstein
In particular, I've been considering this in the realm of creativity. In reference to my post on the film Tick Tick Boom, what would have happened if Jonathan Larson had received more support during the 10 years where he was writing his musical while struggling to make ends meet? It's possible he would have gone on to write more musicals with the same critical acclaim as Rent.
I'm exploring ways in which creative talent might be better identified and supported to bring more incredible works of art into the world - will be sharing updates over the next few months.
Full casting announced for Once In Concert
Excited to announce the full casting of Once In Concert, which is taking place next year at the London Palladium for two performances only. You can read the full announcement here.
Interesting articles I've read this week
- Meagan's Gen Z POV on The Music Industry: With the recent handling of the on-sale for Taylor Swift's upcoming tour by Ticketmaster and the US government's renewed interest in an anti-trust probe, I've been spending more time thinking about this space, as well as its overlap with my theatre production company, Positive Sum Productions.