Soft openings aren't just for restaurants

What It Covers

37signals prepares to launch Fizzy by inviting handpicked beta testers in staged batches, starting with five to twenty people before expanding to thousands.

Key Questions Answered

• •Staged rollout strategy: Start with 5-20 handpicked users familiar with your products to catch blind spots in onboarding and login flows, then expand to 2,000+ email signups before public launch to minimize risk.
• •Beta as forcing function: External testers create urgency that clarifies priorities by forcing teams to focus only on what must be fixed before strangers use the product, eliminating debates over long feature lists.
• •Community feedback structure: Use shared chat spaces like Campfire or Discord for early testers instead of individual emails to build community, encourage participation, and surface issues multiple people experience but wouldn't report alone.