When you build new web-based startup – you have a tons of ideas. After you launch it – you will have more ideas and when you will start to receive feedback messages from your users – bag of ideas will grow much faster, than you can even imagine. Stop it. Discard your bag.

Did you imagine, how your product will look like, when you will add all of your (and users’) ideas? That will be a harvester, not an app. That will be a non-intuitive, non-useful product, which won’t be suitable for anybody.

The first rule of an art of building web-based product is to sift all kind of ideas, which could be good. They won’t be good! Less is more. Less is better. Create only these functionalities, which will be good (not “could be good”!). Be sure, that this functionality will be useful for your users, before you will start to implement it.

Focus on the most important things, focus on the most important users.

One of the most important rules, which you can find in 37signals’ Getting Real book, is to answer “no” for all new functionalities. If this functionality is important, it will return to you. Stick to this principle. Fight with your momentary excitements. Analyze all pluses and minuses before you decide about the change.

The same thing is with the limits of accessiblity. The most important thing, is that you will give an access to your product to most of the users, to these most important ones.

Don’t try to build anything for everybody. You will be wasting time. Focus on the most important people. Find your target group. Offer what they need and nothing more.

Don’t support all of the web browsers and operating systems, don’t implement all of the “could-be-good” functionalities, don’t advertise yourself everywhere. Focus only on the important things, or else you won’t achieve anything.