Stealth Mode - Kiss Of Death!!

Stealth mode is when a company is operating in secret for some length of time before launching their product or service. In many industries, creating a new product or service takes significant time and effort. During this time, being in stealth mode may make a lot of sense. But creating a new web service is not rocket science and does not take a lot of time or money. The rule of thumb is that it should take no more than 3 months to go from conception to launch of a new web service. Many reasons why one need to move fast: First mover advantage is important.
- There is no such thing as a unique idea.
- It forces you to focus on the key functionality of the site.
- Being perfect at launch is an impossible (and unnecessary and even probably detrimental) goal, Ship early, ship often.
- The sooner you get something out there, the sooner you'll start getting feedback from users.
Why is first mover advantage important? You get to define the space. Any future competition will be compared to you, which gives you continuous mindshare. Your service will become synonymous with the functionality you provide.The success of a web service is inversely proportional to the secrecy that surrounded its development. Web services have many advantages over shipping software. You can continuously update the service, fix bugs and add new features. There are no long development cycles. Embracing this is a key to success.The only thing of real value a web service has is its users.
- By getting your service launched as quickly as possible, you'll get exposure to this wonderful resource sooner. By listening to your users as you add features and improve the service (because, remember, it won't be perfect at launch), your users feel like they are a part of the process. Users are the one thing that your competition cannot copy and develop internally. Technology can be copied. Users have to be earned.