Marco Santonocito
Product, Startup

Launching Expert by Learnn

Lean Launch vs Perfection in a Startup Strategy

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Hi, I'm Marco 👋

I'm Chief Product and Technology Officer at a growth-stage company in Italy where I lead both product and engineering teams through big wins, tough failures, and all the dynamic moments in between.

On the other side I'm a solopreneur, or better say, an indie hacker: I design, build and grow personal projects.

I started this journal to capture everything I've learned, and continue to learn, about designing, building, delivering, and growing digital products.

If you want to follow me through this journey:

A week ago, I had dinner with Luca Mastella, CEO at Learnn, to discuss their upcoming platform launch: Expert, a service connecting verified experts with professionals needing quick, effective solutions.

Besides the potential of this new product, I was impressed by Learnn's approach that led to launching Expert just a month after conceiving the idea.

Many teams I mentor struggle with the concept of lean working. For me, it's a crucial skill for anyone wanting to start a business... and it inspired a little thought exercise.

"I want everything perfect!"

It's a Wednesday in February, and Luca logs into Google Meet for the monthly all-hands meeting.

"I've had a great idea! Let's develop a service within Learnn to connect experts and professionals from our community," he announces.

Cheers of approval!

The team trusts Luca's instinct and starts working on this new product... everything must be perfect! They design a new layout, purchase a very cool font, develop the platform using the trendiest frameworks, even create a booking system that connects to Google Calendar...

It's March, and Expert hasn't launched.
It's April, and Expert still hasn't launched.
It will launch exactly six months later, in September.

"Let's validate!"

It's another Wednesday in February, and Luca shares his idea at all-hands: "Talking with some people, I realized they often face problems that an expert could solve in an hour-long meeting. Why don't we find a way to connect experts with professionals?"

The team responds, "Great idea! Let's see if it's a common problem and if so, build an MVP."

The team starts a validation process with the following steps: