I didn't throw a launch party, but I have been incrementally building my latest project (<a href="http://votereports.org/" rel="nofollow">http://votereports.org/</a>) completely in the open, starting from the first weekend it was started and launched (which happened to be a Startup Weekend event).<p>I'm about 2 months in now, and while I'll need another 2 or 3 before I'm ready to promote it, just having it out there has been an excellent motivator, for one simple reason:<p>When I talk about the site to someone new, rather than just explain the idea of the thing I'm working on I have to also tell them that it's up on the web.  And when I do that, given its current state I have to follow with a whole litany of cautionary notes to the effect of: it's not done yet.<p>So instead of basking in the glow of the nobility of my not-yet-public project, for now and until it's ready to go, I'm be making well-justified apologies every time it comes up.<p>I'm looking forward to not needing to make those apologies, and working in part to see that happen.  These uncomfortable moments complement my longer-term vision for the project, as the immediate, recurring motivation I need to complement the that farther-out achievement of completion.<p>So I agree, as the submitter says: Make your "Failure" Public.<p><i>edit</i>: And in the spirit of what's above, you should know that the site's visual design has been the same since the first weekend, and will be totally revamped sometime in the near future.