Time to launch
How long did the first version take, from starting to build to shipping?
Published . Figures recomputed on every request.
One group has enough businesses to report. A single median is a statistic, not a comparison, so this page is not yet offered to search engines.
Days to launch by business model
The middle half of each group runs between the 25th and 75th percentile. Medians, not averages: at this sample size a single large outlier moves an average somewhere no business in the group actually sits.
| Business model | Businesses | Median days | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| SaaS | 10 | 4 days | 2 days–19 days |
How this was counted
- 11 of 81 published businesses carry a stated time from first build to launch. The rest are left out rather than estimated.
- "Launch" is whatever the cited source called it — an App Store submission, a first paying customer, a public MVP — and the note on each profile says which. The figures are comparable only to the extent founders mean the same thing by the word.
- Only a stated duration counts. A founded year and a launch year twelve months apart is not a 365-day build.
- A business that charges two ways is counted under both models, so the group sizes add up to more than the cohort.
- 1 group is left out for having fewer than 5 businesses. A median over three companies is an anecdote.
What this sample is, and is not
55% of the businesses here were built by a single founder. These are small, mostly bootstrapped software businesses that chose to show their numbers, not a sample of the software market. Founders who say how long the first version took are usually saying it was quick. Read this as how fast a first version can ship, not as how long a business takes to build.
Businesses that publish their numbers skew towards those happy with them, so treat every figure here as the favourable end of its kind. How figures work.