There is a version 2. It's your version 1 that sucks.

"There is no version 2" has become a common statement in product management.

I happen to think it's bullshit.

There absolutely is a version 2. It's just your version 1 that sucks.

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The origin of the "version 2 mirage"

The lore behind this statement is simple: most PMs experience shipping a project and never getting time to revisit it later. Priorities shift and resources are pulled.

Stakeholders are hungry and the roadmap is a never-ending conveyor belt of delicious-looking food.

Average 1-person engineering team roadmap

It's something all PMs experience, leading to frustration and the birth of the "There is no version 2" statement.

But this is bullshit.

This statement doesn't even stand the tiniest bit of scrutiny.

Of course, there's a version 2. There are even version 3, and 4, and 500.

The Substack app on which you might be reading this (LiKe AnD SuBScRibeeEee) is on version 2.32.0. Telsa's full self-driving is on version 12. The iOS Facebook app is on version 495, for God's sake!

If, for some random reason, you need even more convincing, look at your backlog. How many tickets are, roughly, 'fix XYZ' or 'add XYZ to ABC'? Those seem like version 2 tickets to me.

Version 2 exists.

So, what's going on here?

Reality check: it's your version 1 that sucks

In my description of the lore behind this earlier, I purposefully glossed over an important part: shipping.

PM builds feature. PM ships to customer. PM gets assigned another priority. Feature is left in 'version 1'. PM writes an emo post about there being no version 2.

Here's the secret: you're not getting a version 2 because your version 1 sucked.

Your version 1 doesn't solve a problem. It doesn't resonate with your target audience. It doesn't fix a pain. It's not something customers want enough.

This is why you're not getting a version 2. If your version 1 solved a real customer problem, you would get feedback demanding more, better, faster, stronger; aka a version 2.

Facebook got to version 495 because something in version 1 worked. Something was worthwhile. Something inspired confidence to take the next step and build a version 2.

Making a worthwhile version 1

The only way to get a version 2 is to build a worthwhile version 1.

And I'm using the term 'worthwhile' loosely. It should aim to solve a customer pain point and do so effectively and within a tight feedback loop.

Shifting your thinking this way forces you to focus on the important stuff:

• What do customers want?

• How do I deliver this as quickly as possible?

• Which of these requirements are nice-to-have ("version 2" fodder, ditch it)?

• How do I get feedback as rapidly as possible?

Some projects still won't get a version 2. But that's ok. Those are losers.

But the ones that work, the ones that solve a customer problem, the ones that look promising: they will get more versions.

Intellectual dishonesty

I suspect "There is no version 2" is often uttered to sound controversial.

I also suspect it is used as a disingenuous self-serving mechanism. A PM will whip out this sentence to 'force' an engineer to go the extra mile. Yet, when the PM is back against the wall on a deadline and needs something shipped ASAP (even if half-baked), a version 2 is miraculously promised.

Years of frustration has taught our community the wrong lesson. Forget about version 2. Ship a version 1 that solves problems. That's it.