Embarking on an Experiment (making software) #2 — Stuck at validation — build small or validate?
Lately, I’ve been reading more about the lean methodology: Lean startup/Running Lean. I did the initial activity of making a lean canvas (identify audience segments, problem, solution, etc).
The problem for me is that I really want to build something small (in terms of software), but I’ve been running into a wall trying to validate the idea.
So I asked a question on /r/startup: how do you know if your idea isn’t as good or if you just suck at reaching people?
The insights are pretty valuable, but it pretty much comes to making an MVP (minimum viable product). Now an MVP can take many forms — it can be an explainer video, some slides, a landing page — i.e. it’s not necessarily software.
For me, I went and asked bloggers to see if they like the idea of turning their web articles into podcasts. Their feedback was ‘no’ because it doesn’t connect well with their audience. So now, I’m turning back to my intial idea which is to sell to consumers of web articles. The thing about selling to consumers is that they only won’t pay for stuff (at least that’s how I think as a consumer).
[edit: 3/10/17]: I’ve later learned that I should start by using paid plans rather than going freemium at least initially.
But if there are users, then money can be made from advertisers later on, so that’s the plan… for now…
So it’s time for me to take action and make the MVP.
Here’s a landing page — feel free to sign up for early access if you like the idea (todo: make an explainer video as well) [edit: 3/10/17 — explainer video is done]:
Here are some resources that I used:
http://tawk.to — for getting a free version of Intercom (live chat on website)
http://leanstack.com — for making your own lean canvas — which is a great exercise to dive into your idea a bit more.
Please ❤ the article if you’ve ever been stuck between validation and moving forward!
