Do you really need it all?
When big visions get in the way of real progress.
As a product leader, have you ever caught yourself or your stakeholders aiming for the perfect end goal right from the start?
It’s tempting. The big vision. Everyone’s excited, and it seems smart to just build the “real thing” immediately. But aiming too big too early usually doesn’t play out the way people expect. Here’s why.
1. You might realize it’s not even your real destination
When teams sprint straight toward their “final” vision, they often miss opportunities hiding in plain sight. And sometimes, that means building something that looks nothing like what the end product should have been.
Before it became Instagram, the product actually started as a check-in app called Burbn. It had location tagging, plans with friends, and a bunch of other features. The thing people actually cared about, though, was photo sharing.
If the team had gone all in on building the perfect check-in product, they could have missed what Instagram became. Pivoting early made all the difference.
2. The sunk cost fallacy
The more time, energy, and money invested into something, the harder it gets to walk away from it, even when it’s clearly not working.
You might spend months building a feature like an in-app community with chat and badges, watch engagement flatline, and still keep pushing it forward. Not because it’s working, but because so much has already been invested.
3. Small steps keep your focus sharp
Small steps help teams stay focused on what actually matters instead of getting lost in the big picture.
For example, instead of building an entire booking platform with payments, profiles, and scheduling, you can start with a simple spreadsheet. That’s enough to validate demand before writing a single line of code.
4. Confidence grows when you build step by step
Each small step gives you something to build on. Progress compounds.
A simple landing page with a waitlist can be the first step. When signups start rolling in, adding something small and functional, like a basic scheduling tool, becomes a logical next move backed by real signals.
5. Big leaps make bigger damages if you fall
Going all in early leaves no room to adapt if things don’t work out. And when the gap between vision and reality is big, the damage can be huge.
Right now, everyone wants to add AI to everything. But do you really need it from day one? For early validation, a simple hardcoded algorithm can do the job. If the product works, AI can join later. If it doesn’t, no time or budget is wasted chasing something “cool” too early.
Big visions are great. But they’re meant to guide you, not dictate day one.
Start small. Learn fast.