I’ve been searching for someway to crystallize the sweeping changes that the social web is making in how we do business, develop new products and discover new markets. The concept of beta as a perpetual state of discovery and growth seems to capture this nicely.
In product release terms, beta is that state of ‘not-quite-done’ between a proposed spec and full functionality with some key customer acceptance thrown in. Usually the specs get reduced to eliminate bugs and meet sales cycles and then you start again.
Beta on the social web is always ongoing and a state of discovery where we are constantly moving forward to test our concepts and products against our developing market. And this concept is not just about products but extends to how we write our materials and discover our channels and markets. Beta is a state of being for how startups survive and grow in the face of unlimited unknowns and obstacles.
There is a synergy between the platform that new ideas are built on and the ideas themselves that speaks to this ongoing state of reinvention. The social web with its real-time data exchange and dynamic communications tools is building new solutions because…and I hate to say this…because it can. Flexible and inexpensive platforms, cloud-based architecture and mash-ups are enabling solutions that were unimaginable prior.
And on the other side, dynamic communications tools built on the same platforms provide community loops that fuel the conversations between developers and adopters that drive new growth and a constant state of new ideas.
A couple of examples jump to mind to illustrate this idea of beta as a state.
‘Slow roll’ is almost always the choice over ‘Big Bang’ for product rollout. On a social platform necessity and choice can become the same. Small companies can’t afford to build in isolation and create a market on launch. But more and more, even if they could, why would they? If you can have a flexible development platform and a community of early adopters, I challenge the wisdom of coming out bold before the users tell you you are ready. And by the time you have it right, the momentum is already there. Beta is the driver to always try and make it better.
Communities as focus groups for developing messaging and content are becoming a welcome norm. Many are writing books online, asking for input on presentations from the groups that are being presented to and questioning customers about product value in development blogs. Co-developing content with your community builds both rapport with your early market and a message that is already market proven. Our community platforms let us draft, share, gather feedback and iterate the message. This is a beta driven process and logical and continuous.
I’m a realist and the genius of companies like Apple who build in secrecy and have unlimited resources to market fall outside of this thought pattern. But for the entrepreneur and startup who are building from the ground up with only ideas and energy and chutzpah to make things happen, finding a model that works on flux is a good starting point to discover the value in the idea and the product.
For the startup, building on top of the social web and discovering a community is not a luxury but a necessity. And in the inevitable state of change that all startups work in, a state of constant beta is one way to think of a framework that allows for change as a solid building block to growth.
