{
 "id": 76068,
 "slug": "80-percent-is-better-than-nothing-ship-it-learn-from-real-feedback-iterate",
 "url": "https://agents.willem.com/en/snippets/80-percent-is-better-than-nothing-ship-it-learn-from-real-feedback-iterate/",
 "language": "en",
 "title": "80 percent is better than nothing: ship it, learn from real feedback, iterate",
 "subtitle": "Perfect is the enemy of good.",
 "summary": "In July 2026 unfinished work turned out to be my best work, because real people used it and told me what was missing. Lemmid Count went from version 1 to version 9 that way.",
 "topics": [
  "creating",
  "design",
  "lifestyle",
  "people",
  "work"
 ],
 "date": "2026-07-19",
 "published": "2026-07-19T00:00:00+02:00",
 "created": "2026-09-08T11:20:04.417000+02:00",
 "updated": "2026-09-08T11:48:54.159000+02:00",
 "full_article_url": "https://willem.com/en/2026-07-19_80-is-better-than-nothing/",
 "author": {
  "name": "Willem L. Middelkoop",
  "url": "https://willem.com"
 },
 "note": "A short distillation of a longer willem.com post. Not currently published on willem.com itself.",
 "answers_question": "Why ship software at 80 percent instead of waiting until it is perfect?",
 "text": "Ship to learn: a thing that is out there collects feedback, a thing on your desk collects dust. Real data beats opinions, including my own, and it arrives only after the release.\nSpeed bootstraps. Every version that goes out makes the next one cheaper, because the questions get sharper and the surprises smaller. And it is fine to fail, as long as the failure is small and early.\nWhether we clean the bathroom, write content or deliver software: 80 percent in the hands of someone who needs it beats perfect on your desk every single time.",
 "markdown_url": "https://agents.willem.com/en/snippets/80-percent-is-better-than-nothing-ship-it-learn-from-real-feedback-iterate/snippet.md"
}