"Just ship it" is the most common startup advice.
It's also the most useless.
Because the people saying it loudest are usually the ones who've never dealt with the actual complexity of shipping something real.
I've shipped dozens of features for Nexus. And "just ship it" has never been the bottleneck.
The advice sounds obvious
"Stop overthinking, just ship!" "Perfect is the enemy of good!" "Ship fast, iterate later!"
Everyone nods. Everyone agrees. Everyone goes back to not shipping.
Because the advice ignores the actual problems:
You don't know what to build
You're scared it's not good enough
You don't know if anyone wants it
You're overwhelmed by the scope
You don't know where to start
"Just ship it" doesn't solve any of these. It just dismisses them as excuses.
What "just ship it" actually means
When experienced founders say "just ship it," they mean:
"I've internalized all the skills required to scope, build, and launch things quickly, so launching feels trivial to me now."
When they tell you "just ship it," you hear:
"There's some simple thing I'm not doing."
But there's nothing simple you're missing. You're missing years of pattern recognition about what actually matters when shipping.
The skills you're not being taught
Shipping requires:
1. Scope management. Cutting features ruthlessly until you have the minimum possible.
2. Comfort with imperfection. Knowing what's "good enough" vs what needs to be perfect.
3. User empathy. Understanding what users actually need vs what you think they need.
4. Technical judgment. Knowing which corners to cut and which will break everything.
5. Emotional resilience. Handling the fear of judgment when you put it out there.
None of these come from "just ship it." They come from shipping 50 times and learning from each one.
Why experienced people can "just ship"
When a senior founder says "just ship it," they're drawing on:
Years of knowing what minimal actually means
Dozens of launches where they learned what matters
Confidence from seeing their "bad" v1s turn into good v2s
Understanding of what users actually care about vs what developers obsess over
You don't have that pattern recognition yet. So "just ship it" doesn't help.
It's like telling someone who can't swim to "just swim." The advice is technically correct but practically useless.
What actually helps
Instead of "just ship it," better advice would be:
1. "Ship the smallest possible version." Not "ship fast" but "ship small." Cut everything that's not core.
2. "Show it to 5 people first." Not "ship to everyone" but "get feedback from a few real users."
3. "Pick one feature to make work." Not "launch the whole product" but "prove one thing works."
4. "It's okay if it breaks." Not "make it perfect" but "it can be broken as long as it's usable."
5. "You'll iterate after anyway." Not "this is your only shot" but "this is v1 of 100."
These are actionable. "Just ship it" is not.
The fear they're ignoring
The reason you're not shipping isn't because you don't know you should ship.
It's because you're afraid:
It's not good enough yet
People will think it's bad
You'll look incompetent
Users will hate it
You wasted time building the wrong thing
These are real fears. And "just ship it" doesn't address them. It dismisses them.
Better advice acknowledges the fear and gives you a path through it.
What I learned shipping Nexus
The first version I shipped was embarrassing. Bugs everywhere. UI barely functional. Features half-working.
I was terrified to show it.
But I shipped it anyway, not because someone told me to "just ship it," but because:
I scoped it down to the absolute minimum
I showed it to 10 people first who gave feedback
I accepted that v1 would suck
I committed to iterating based on real usage
Those specific strategies helped. "Just ship it" wouldn't have.
When "just ship it" actually works
There's one case where "just ship it" is good advice:
When you've already shipped 20+ things and you're overthinking this one.
If you're experienced and you're stuck in perfectionism, yes, "just ship it" is the reminder you need.
But if you're new and you don't know how to ship? "Just ship it" is useless. You need actual guidance on how to scope, what to cut, and how to overcome the fear.
The advice you actually need
Instead of "just ship it":
"Ship something in 48 hours." Force yourself to cut scope radically.
"Show it to 3 users and get feedback." Start tiny, not with a public launch.
"Pick one thing to prove." Not the whole product, just one core feature.
"Launch as a test, not a final product." Reduce the stakes psychologically.
"You'll iterate 10 times before it's good." Set expectations properly.
These give you a roadmap. "Just ship it" gives you pressure without direction.
The brutal reality
The people most likely to tell you "just ship it" are the people who:
Haven't shipped recently
Forgot how hard it was the first time
Are giving generic advice without understanding your situation
Want to sound helpful without actually helping
The people who are actually shipping consistently? They're too busy shipping to give you advice about shipping.
They're just doing it.
— Arjun