Good enough, ship it: the first Google Maps
Originally written in Chinese. Translated with AI, reviewed by Gary. Read the Chinese original →
Google Maps today has more than two billion monthly active users and has become the most used map service in the world. But few people know that when it first launched, it only had maps of the United States. It was far from complete.
At the time, the team felt the product was still an early prototype, not good enough. But Larry and Sergey said something that became a classic:
"It is already good enough. Ship it."
So everyone gritted their teeth and launched. Through user feedback they kept iterating and improving, and that's how we got today's Google Maps.
There is no perfect product
The essence of a startup is moving forward through imperfection.
If you wait until "everything is ready", you often end up doing nothing well, or even missing the moment.
Founders aren't doing research in a lab. They're scrapping it out in the market. Only when a product is in users' hands does it tell you what the real problems are.
Iteration matters more than perfection
Google Maps didn't succeed because it had the strongest features at the start. It succeeded because it focused on doing one thing extremely well and then kept improving it.
A startup isn't about getting it perfect in one go. It's about small, fast steps and quick corrections, gradually finding the right direction.
A founder's resilience
Startups matter because the people in them are wired to face imperfection head-on and keep going in uncertainty.
In Antifragile, Nassim Taleb makes the point that:
"A truly strong system isn't one that never gets hurt, but one that gets stronger from the blows."
A founder's resilience is the same: through all the gaps, doubts and failures, you still push things forward.
Push the boat into the water
We've just started a few new projects ourselves. Honestly, we often fall into the "not perfect enough" trap. But Google Maps tells us:
A startup is building and revising as you go. If things were perfect from the start, there'd be no need for founders.
Rather than waiting for the east wind, push the boat into the water first, and let the wind come and find you.