We launched early, asked for money right away, and have been doing excellent ever since. Now our problem is defining what makes a 'final, out of beta, stable' version. Defining it, and then meeting it. We're constantly going 'this isn't good enough for a final release'. But hey, almost 300 paying users right now is motivation to make it better for THEM, and not for us and our imaginations of what is better. With those users who've paid for our product (when it was barely a product) tell us what they need, it's far more valuable.
We launched early, asked for money right away [...]
You have no idea how I like reading this. I'm sick of all those new websites that offer their service for free, hoping to figure out how to monetize later.
You're exactly right. I should restate I mean '1.0 final' so we can say we are out of beta and anyone that buys it can know they're now getting something that has no problems with it.
In my view, that's more about the "Crossing the Chasm" transition from rabid early adopters to the early mainstream market. In your shoes I'd interview various potential customers to see what each group considers must-have features, and listen carefully to any early mainstream people that have used your current version.
