So we've been talking about crowdfunding for so long now that I actually forget when we started talking about it. Back in May though we finally drew a line in the sand. July 19 was the date we would launch. After all we had a plan, and there's nothing like a deadline to help make things happen.
First rule of project management - no plan survives the start of the project unscathed. You probably already know this because it's August already. See any giant splash about our campaign yet? Nope.
With about a week to go we added 2 weeks. August 1 was still OK even if it was later than we had hoped. Our development team wouldn't be able to start work until September in any case. We (the ABAKiS Guys) have a combined 40 years experience in the software industry, so we are no strangers to schedule delays. But this is our project - plus we know better. We're better than this, aren't we?
The problem of course is in trying to plan something you've never done before (in this case, crowdfunding). There are just too many unknowns to keep to a schedule without driving yourself insane. Another week went by. A couple of times I thought we were almost ready, then someone would give us some feedback. Redo the video. More pictures. The squirrel looks evil. More data. Less cerebral. What's ABA? Fix the title. Again. More words. Less words. Different words. Another week.
All great advice (and very appreciated!) but it did start to get overwhelming. I almost lost it. It reminded me of setting up our first ABA program 13 years ago. (OK maybe not quite that bad but I started having flashbacks.)
In the midst of this my son said to me with his characteristic Buddha-like genius, "don't worry dad I'm sure you'll do great."
No judgement, no expectation. Just simple faith.
Thanks buddy for saying what I needed to hear. This is worth doing, so it's worth taking the time to do well. And we're almost there.