Done is better than perfect • RefDev

“If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”

Reid Hoffman’s legendary quote hit me like a ton of bricks—unfortunately, a little too late. 😅

There’s a special kind of demoralization that creeps in when you’re building, building, building… and still have nothing to show for it. It’s the silent killer of side projects, the motivation drain that leaves brilliant ideas gathering digital dust.

Sound familiar?

As engineers, we’re wired for quality. We have this “sixth sense”—an almost compulsive need to ship polished, feature-rich, bug-free masterpieces. And because of this noble pursuit of perfection, we often refuse to launch, paralyzed by thoughts like:

“It’s missing too many features…”
“What if users hate it?”
“What if it breaks?”

But here’s the liberating truth I learned the hard way:

Nobody cares about your app when it doesn’t exist. And that’s your superpower.

The Cost of Waiting for “Perfect”

I once fell into the “ideal solution” trap—tweaking, refining, over-engineering—and it cost me almost a year before I launched. A year of lost feedback, momentum, and opportunity. 🤦‍♂️

The lesson? Speed beats perfection.

✅ Done fuels motivation. Small wins keep you excited.
✅ Feedback > Assumptions. Real users reveal what actually matters.
✅ Progress compounds. A working v1 today beats a “perfect” v1 that never ships.

This Applies Everywhere

Even in coding interviews, a brute-force solution that works is better than freezing for the “optimal” one. Progress > polish.

My New Rule: Launch in 1-2 Weeks

Now, I force myself to ship fast—even if it’s imperfect. The faster you launch, the faster you learn (and the sooner success finds you).

What about you?

Do you struggle with over-polishing before launching?
What’s the smallest version of your project you could ship this week?

Drop your thoughts below—I’d love to hear your take! 👇