Those who call your ideas “genius” are equally as useless as those who call your ideas “moronic”. Look for feedback that stems from insight rather than words that play to your ego or lack thereof.
Archive for May, 2011
For Serious: The Importance of Knowing Your Customer
This may seem like a no-brainer and yea, it actually is but:
Know Thy Customer
I wanted to share a little story explaining my past 6 months working on absolutely nothing, while still conveniently staying busy and “making progress”
The Toughest Realization
You are building a solution in search of a problem
The Reason
You didn't really know who your user was or even what problem you were addressing
The Worst Feedback You Can Ever Receive
"It sounds cool."
"Yea, I'd use it."
"Looks fun"
Can also be considered a “Vanity Metric“, really nice to hear but completely worthless.
The Revelation
People throw competitions all the time. Why not just ask what bugs them?
Month 6: Week 1
* 1,150 emails to prospective customers
* Site copy and design good enough
* A customer base was identified
* Competitors were located
* Opportunities were imagined and ready to be questioned
Month 6: Week 2
* 1 feature proposal for a very enthusiastic potential customer
* Conversations with a dozen more
* Additional leads were generated
* You start to learn about the customer
* Excitement is now brewing
* Momentum was gained
And My Parting Recommendations
* Stop worrying about the perfect idea
* Stop worrying about being lean
* Stop worrying about code architecture
* Stop using buzzwords like gamification
* Start with an idea or
* Start in an industry
* Start asking around and see who has problems
* Start your company already
All you have to do is say hello. Note: LaunchRock isn’t a totally worthless service.
