Being the first few employees at YouTube and responsible for building a slew of YouTube features and heading the mobile efforts, I often get asked on the thought process that goes behind building something that can be wildly successful.
Below are a few of my thoughts on this:
Do:
- Build a product that solves a complete problem, not just a part of it
- Think long term, execute short term. Have a clear vision and direction.
- Iterate at the speed of light (to follow your vision)
- Keep the product quality very high
- Be extremely passionate about your product and hire someone who is
- Make sure you are building something that you will use regularly
Don’t:
- Don't launch features just for the heck of it. Have a long term plan and track it.
- If you can't explain what you do in 10 words, you don't have focus
- Don't over-engineer. Worry about scaling when you have to, not before that.
- Don't hire too many people in your team that are in management role until you have to