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What Is 'Iteration Velocity'?

With every new offer, your primary goal should be to work through each Iteration Cycle as quickly as possible. The faster you move through the Iteration Cycle, the higher your Iteration Velocity, and the better your offering will become

The iteration cycle is necessary extra work. The problem with creating the final version outright is risk: you are putting a lot of effort in something that may not sell.

Iteration may take extra work, but after going through a few cycles, you'll have a deeper understanding of the market and your offer.

Josh Kaufman Explains 'Iteration Velocity'

When creating a new offering, your primary goal should be to work your way through each iteration cycle as quickly as possible. Iteration is a structured form of learning that helps you make your offering better; the faster you learn, the more quickly you'll be able to improve.

The faster you move through the Iteration Cycle, the better your offering will become. If you're really good, you can move through the process several times each day. The key is to keep each iteration small, clear, and quick, basing each iteration on what you learned via previous iterations.

The iteration cycle often feels like additional work because it is additional work. That's why so few people do it: it's very tempting to jettison all of these "extra" steps and attempt to create the final offering outright.

The major problem with the direct approach is risk: you're sinking a great deal of time, energy, and resources into creating something that may not ultimately sell. If the idea's a dud, it's far better to figure that out quickly and inexpensively than to bet the farm on an idea or market that just won't work.

Iteration may take a bit of additional effort up-front, but after you've gone through a few cycles, you'll have a deep understanding of the market, direct knowledge of what people actually want badly enough to pay for, and a clear understanding of whether or not you have a viable offer to give them.

If you discover that you have what people want, great-full steam ahead. If there's no demand for what you're developing, you can quickly and cleanly move on to the next promising idea.

Questions About 'Iteration Velocity'

• Have you planned for multiple iterations?
• How quickly are you currently iterating?
• What can you do to make it easier to iterate even faster?

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"I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work."

Thomas A. Edison, prolific inventor

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