My startup idea changed 3 times within 4 weeks. Here’s what I learnt

Chabi Chaffa — Fri, 02 Aug 2019 17:20:11 GMT

I recently moved to the bay area, specifically San Jose because i felt that being in the silicon valley will increase my exposure to relevant tools and connections necessary to launch a successful global SAAS startup. While applying to hundreds of jobs ( rent and bills bro’) and doing dozens of phone and site interviews with top tech companies including Facebook, Cisco, Oracle and the likes… I joined Startup School for Summer 2019 at Y Combinator. Yesterday, during the group session where you get to work with other startup founders, talk about issues/challenges you’re facing, it dawned on me that the idea my startup idea changed 3 times within the past 4 weeks

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Do not be ashamed : Your business idea is the foundation of your entire startup. You get it wrong, you are doomed to fail. Your startup idea is a hypothesis, an assumption that X customer has Y problem and that your A solution is perfect for him/her. Even when you validate these 3 elements, you still need to figure out how many (him or her) are out there that will use your A solution and are willing to pay for it. If there’s not enough people to make money and sustain growth within that market, then there is no need to press on. shut down and move on.
It has to be simple: During a Happy Hour event at ATRIUM, a legal company that advises startups globally, in San Francisco, it was difficult for me to articulate in a short and concise sentence what the whole idea was about. It made sense to me and in my head. but it was complicated to express the complexities of the system. I knew i didn’t have a business here.
Do not recycle old ideas: The initial idea I was pitching at the Happy Hour was a chatbot i worked on in 2016 while being a consultant for MTN, the largest telecom in Africa. I figured, it could work for small businesses. and if it works for small businesses in Africa, it would work for SMB in the US annnnnd Europe. OMG! This is genius. NO! It’s not. it turned out, it could only be a chatbot for telecom companies and only in Africa. Darn it! How many telecom companies are out there? the market isn’t big enough.
Inspiration is not enough: Another idea, was a school management system for African schools. I was frustrated that i wasn’t able to access my 11 old daughter’s school performance and engage the school or her teachers directly. when i want. I thought…Heyyyyyy Savior Chabi…why don’t you solve that problem and be a hero for African Schools. YAAYY! I loved the idea of being a savior but when i looked deep into the execution, there are so many issues I felt that i was not ready to take on at this point. DROP IT!

So what am i working on now ? Tell you what ? Stick to my page I have more stories coming? Do you think it makes sense to have a video channel where i document this startup journey as well? What is your experience about startup idea validation? I want to hear from you. It’s Friday, Let’s kick it.

Stories by Chabi Chaffa on Medium

My startup idea changed 3 times within 4 weeks. Here’s what I learnt