What is the relationship between staying focused and Japanese cheesecake?

I want to write this post as a reminder to stay focused, but keep our ears opened for feedback.

This was how a usual dialog would go when I bounced the B.A.B idea off my friends:

"Hey man, you should also cover topic X in this class." or "You need to scale it by doing XYZ."

"I don't think I should do that now."

"Why not?"

"Because it may not address an immediate student need or my target audience. But I will validate when I speak to students."

1-2 weeks later ... 

"You were right! I am going to update my curriculum because 3 other students told me the same thing, but I will have to move something off my curriculum. I will buy you a drink."

Or, "I am going to keep topic X on my backlog for now because it didn't really resonate."

Being ruthless in staying to the core offering is a discipline! This is related a key concept, called Minimum Viable Product (MVP), in Agile methodology. In a nutshell, it means taking a grand idea and cutting it down to the absolute fundamental elements that fulfill the true needs of customers. This allows organizations to focus all resources to create the best MVP and launch as soon as possible.

Uncle Tetsu's Japanese Cheesecake is the best example. When it entered Toronto market around 2015, Uncle Tetsu only offered (some stores still do) one type of cake for $10 in a place that is just big enough to make and sell them. They only make about 40 cakes per hour. This their MVP product. 

Because of all the attention (and love) they can put into each cake, it became so good - if you don't mind the calories - that people are willing to line up for over 30 minutes by the door, even in the brutal Toronto winter. 

Stay focused, build, listen & internalize feedback, pivot if needed, repeat.