Desktop Blog

Software companies often keep the ‘beta’ label on software for a time after the official launch to stress that the product is not finished so much as ready for the next batch of improvements. Gmail, for example, launched in 2004 but only left official beta in 2009, after millions of people were already using it. Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, concludes every annual letter to shareholders by reminding readers, as he did in his first letter in 1997, that ‘it’s still Day 1’ at Amazon.com: ‘Though we are optimistic, we must remain vigilant and maintain a sense of urgency.’ In other words, Amazon is never finished: It’s always Day 1. For entrepreneurs, finished is an f-word. We are all works in progress. Each day presents an opportunity to learn more, do more, be more, and grow more. Keeping yourself in ‘permanent beta’ makes you acknowledge that you have bugs, that there’s more testing to do on yourself, and that you will continue to adapt and evolve. It means a lifelong commitment to continuous personal growth. It is a mind-set brimming with optimism because it celebrates the fact that you have the power to improve yourself and, more important, improve the world around you.

East on West