This is such a great question!

At some point every PMM will find themselves in a situation when they are asked to launch a product that just isn’t ready. It’s always a mistake to go too early (launching too late isn’t good either but less dangerous).

If it’s truly an MVP and you launch it with the expectation it isn’t people will be disappointed. I think it’s possible to change the narrative around your product but why take the risk? A launch should be a celebration and underwhelming people at the jump isn’t going to get you anywhere. People usually understand a new product won’t be 100% built out, but it should fulfill the core promise you make if your messaging.

The best thing we’ve done here to help make this easy (because product and leadership WILL ask you to do this even though it’s a bad idea) is to document launches that went to early and why that was bad. And to have some sort of SLA with product, like you can’t enter beta until at least 10 real customers are using the tool, and you can’t launch a product until your NPS hits a certain number. Those rules will save you from launching a product too early and disappointing your audience.