Ship the First Draft

The first version is not a verdict on the idea.

It is a question sent into the real world.

Make the question concrete

Shipping early creates better feedback than polishing in isolation, especially when the work sits at the intersection of product, design, and code.
The first draft gives people something concrete to react to, and concrete reactions are usually more useful than another round of private speculation.

This does not mean shipping carelessly.
I still want the first version to be safe, understandable, and honest about what it can do.
The point is to keep the scope small enough that the team can learn before the assumptions become expensive to change.

Notice the perfectionism loop

I have noticed that perfectionism often disguises itself as responsibility.
It sounds like, "we should make this complete before anyone sees it," but sometimes it is really a way to avoid the uncertainty that comes with feedback.
The draft interrupts that loop.

Let reality answer

After shipping, I look for the gap between what I expected and what people actually do.
That gap is not a failure of the idea.
It is the most valuable material for the next version.