Ask HN: How do you validate your startup idea?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7682763

by isanneh • 12 years ago

9 10 12 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Do you interview potential users to see if they'll actually use your product? If yes, how or where do you find them?

dennyzhang• 12 years ago

I start from my friends. If the POC is done, I broadcast in SNS. And mostly I examine ideas times and times again by myself. Feel free to contact me by dennyzhang.com

isanneh4• 12 years ago

thanks!

27182818284• 12 years ago

We had checks signed before the beta version was done. That was good validation. We reached that point by a lot of footwork and following the methods (not exactly, but in a general sense) of Steve Blank.

james678• 12 years ago

Its a good idea to first find where your customers hang out. Generally this would be at a handful of forums. The next step is to hang at those forums and mingle with the community. After a while you can approach people directly or start a forum thread talking about your idea and to get feedback on whether people would find it useful.

isanneh4• 12 years ago

Yeah I agree... it might be time consuming though...

Bayesianblues• 12 years ago

Regarding how or where, the specifics and actionable advice is often domain specific, so if you have more details I would be glad to comment. As to interviewing potential users/customers if they will use your product, from personal experience I can say be wary about overweighting based on small sample size, and also be guarded against taking as proof of concept the assent of friends, family, or even non-anonymous users who would be incentived to provide positive feedback (even if subconsciously). For initial adopters, privilege "action over talk" in your decision calculus. Best of luck!!

isanneh4• 12 years ago

Sure... I agree it's domain specific... I have several ideas that need validation... So basically, I was thinking if people would use a service that would help them validate their ideas.

pcharles• 12 years ago

Quickly create a landing page using something like Unbounce then drive some traffic to it ie. spend $100 on AdWords. Offer something like free access to your product or service for the 1st 100 signups. If you get traction, you'll know you've got something. Then you can use those initial signups as a beta group.

isanneh4• 12 years ago

thanks!

gremlinsinc• 12 years ago

I'm in a startup accelerator, and I can attest validation is one of the most important components they drill into us. Do whatever you can get in front of people and at the very least get people to say 'yes I want to use your platform', the more passionate the better, but even better than that is get signed contracts/deals before launch, or people who are passionate or excited about your app.

Ask HN: How do you validate your startup idea?

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