Switching up the format again this week! This will be a short issue following a few lengthier ones.

After last weeks announcement, the two most frequent questions I received were:

1. When is the product releasing? How do I sign up?

2. Are we taking angel or seed investments?

So in theme with those questions. Let’s get into it!

When is the product releasing?

Our goal is to release an MVP (minimum viable product) at some point in early to mid-August. This might seem quick but it’s just one step closer toward a sellable product.

While I’m non-technical and newer to leading on the product side of things, as a CRO I partnered with engineering to drive strategy surrounding the development of many products… so this will be the average non-coders introduction to early stage product development.

At the highest level an MVP is the earliest viable version of a product… and it should be just that. Viable meaning it’s capable enough to mostly get the job done, making it a stripped down version or “only the essentials or basics” of the true product vision.

Early MVP testers are like design partners. They fit an ideal customer profile and help to guide the development of the product in those early days. They are typically passionate about the idea, are ahead of the adoption curve for the concept, and willing to dedicate a solid chunk of time each week to feedback.

MVP testers are like bumpers at a bowling alley making sure you stay on course as you make your way toward the pins vs. waiting until the end to find yourself in the gutter. They help make sure you hit the pins, hopefully without having to go back and recode everything. Doing this right gets you closer to a sellable product.

Once things mature a bit, a beta-program will be launched to more broadly test a newer improved version of the product to gain additional feedback. A Beta is more polished than an MVP but likely a little buggy and still not quite as feature rich as paying customers would like to see. This gives you a final chance to tune things up before opening your doors to the public. You might think of this as a soft-opening at a restaurant. You want to make sure things are working, albeit maybe with a limited menu. 

All of this leads toward GA or “general availability”… meaning you are now selling and onboarding the product actively. This is the grand opening of the restaurant. You don’t earn a Michelin star opening night, it’s just the beginning. The product is far from done but it’s complete and polished enough to broadly deliver value and a good experience to early days paying customers.

Today we are in the early MVP & design partner phase. If your team is using Slack to sell to customers today you might be a fit to test things out early! (You can signup below!)

Are we taking Angel or Seed investments?

I wasn’t expecting as many readers of this newsletter to reach out on this topic! Thank you for the support and encouragement. It’s specifically validating to have many current and former operators interested in writing personal checks of varying sizes. I don’t take your support lightly! So what’s the plan on that front?

During my run at LinkSquares I was arm in arm with the CEO raising the $3m seed in 2018 through the $100m Series C in 2022. In total we raised $161m in VC Funding. I wasn’t just lightly involved, it was a near full time job for significant stretches during my 6 years there. Planes, trains, automobiles, and several trademark rejections up and down Sand Hill Road.

Fundraising is something I learned on the job and I personally find it fascinating, so for readers who are interested in learning more, I fully intend to go much deeper here. There will be entire issues dedicated to what I’ve learned across a number of important topics. Many of the lessons you just can’t get until you’ve lived it yourself. I look forward to sharing many of them with you!

For the time being I will continue to bootstrap the company with my core focus and attention going toward product development and sales efforts!

If you are personally interested in investing in Winrate and would like to be notified about those opportunities in the future, sign up below!

Do you want to get involved? 📬

🔊 Spotify Playlist of the Week