Maybe the better question is what are we actually trying to learn before launch. If the product already works well enough, letting real people use it can teach you a lot more because you quickly see where they get confused, what they ignore, and what actually makes them come back. But if you’re still not sure whether people are interested in the idea at all, then a waitlist can still be useful. So skipping it wasn’t really a mistake; it just depends on whether you needed to test demand first or learn from real users.