It's funny how people used to make fun of Microsoft for taking three versions to get something right. It was always true. The market feedback loop is the only way to do this.

Don't buy .0 release might have been harsh though. :-)

@lennysan @tfadell Very good quote

@stevesi 1st innovators, 2nd early adopters, 3rd early majority.

@stevesi Some marketing guy, “I know it’s the first release, but if we call it version 3.0 we’ll sell more copies”.

@lennysan @tfadell can confirm. i bought the third gen.

@JoeWilliamsonTX Before internet releases of patches, a real debate was the whole "major or minor" release naming. Is the version +1 to the left or right of the decimal point?

https://hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/p/088-planning-the-most-important-windows

@lennysan @tfadell Ok, I went back to look. I still like my Gen 2 iPod. The problem was a Mac-only product, when Macs had only 2% market share. Still works, still sits on my desk, still have a NewerTech battery to install in it.

@lennysan @tfadell i've seen this in music production too - first track is the concept, second is the mix, third is the master that sticks

@lennysan @tfadell May you please check our article Lenny Rachitsky, https://medium.com/@onur.oguzel/six-months-of-ai-assisted-software-development-a-critical-evaluation-of-vibe-coding-agentic-ides-6ce410360ee7 and I will be glad if you may check our project on https://hudhudscript.com

@stevesi The quiet part of "three generations": the feedback loop only works if the team can survive hearing it.

Most products don't die at v1 because they were wrong. They die because the founder couldn't separate "the product is wrong" from "I am wrong."

@stevesi Good luck explaining that to stakeholders who want a perfect product on day one.

@lennysan @tfadell I shipped 5 phases of a side project in 4 weeks solo with agents, each would have been a quarter of roadmap before. The waiting is all on the user-feedback side now. That part didn't speed up at all.

@lennysan @tfadell large company friction often kills the three-generation cycle before the business model settles. keeping new product teams as independent entities is the move to maintain focus, similar to the internal incubator structure at facebook.

@stevesi When I was using Windows on my personal systems, I wouldn't upgrade to the next version until the first service pack was out. Then it was "done".

@lennysan @tfadell The 'then you fix the business' generation is the one everyone forgets exists. Most teams nail version one of the product and assume the model will sort itself out.

@lennysan @tfadell when do we get agent collaboration then?

@lennysan @tfadell Three generations usually isn't the product getting better. It's you finally understanding who it's for. At Zee, two formats flopped before one added 10M users — same team, third read on the user. Gen 1 ships the thing. Gen 2 and 3 are where you learn what it actually was.

@lennysan @tfadell The three generations framework is the most honest thing anyone says about product timelines. Make it, fix it, fix the business. Most investors are funding generation one and expecting generation three results. Most founders are blaming themselves for not skipping to three.

@stevesi My friend will only by even number Apple products because it takes them at least one generation to deliver on the concept introduced in the odd-number generation

@lennysan @tfadell I'd reply to Lenny like: So true. Every v1 feels like a rough sketch. But that third version? Pure magic.