Your idea is probably good enough

[Gale4rc]

I used to put really high value on the idea itself because it seems like if you build something that's a great idea it should just explode.

What I've come to realize (which may or may not be true) is that it's really not about the idea at all. Most peoples ideas are actually pretty good. Where most people go wrong is in executing the idea and not iterating on it from customer feedback.

When you get an idea and build it for the first time, for SaaS products at least... For most of us it's always going to be bad. It gets good from improving over time and listening to your customers.

IMO to make a idea really work all you need is a market and to provide some type of actual value. There's a lot of products out there that when started, it didn't fill a need at all but they grinded away knowing the value they gave and eventually created a need themselves.

When I see a lot of ideas on this forum I often find myself thinking "Oh, yeah ... I could see that working actually." ... I think we need to put less emphasis on the ideas themselves and more emphasis onto
1. actually building them - not a landing page.
2. iterating and constantly improving them.
3. making sure there's a market that you can attack relentlessly.

If the idea is really not as important as we think it is, then we should stop coming up with ideas for random industries and focus on building ideas that align with our interests so we can move forward passionately and endlessly.

What do you guys think?

 

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[tafy]

I agree

I hear too much about pre-selling, make a landing page and get sales before you build it etc

What you think about this kind of popular advice?

 

[GuestUser140]

Exactly. So many people overcomplicate it. They think about the idea and get lost in the specifics.

It's really just about:

1. Give the market what it needs
2. Scale to serve millions

Most would be better off thinking long and hard about those two things first.

An idea is something beautiful. But it's about a thousand little ideas you try out along the way. My best "ideas" came when I had a simple notepad to brainstorm about the above two items.

 

[Gale4rc]

I agree

I hear too much about pre-selling, make a landing page and get sales before you build it etc

What you think about this kind of popular advice?

Depends - for physical products where you basically have a prototype as the image and people can pre-order it, that's pretty solid validation.

For software - It doesn't really mean anything because what you build will be completely different than a landing page. The core message might be the same but you can't see how it fits into peoples lives and neither can they. This leaves your message up to their interpretation and you may or may not be able to deliver on what they thought they were getting.

Validation comes from knowing an industry inside an out, being able to see how your product fits into everyone's day-to-day without them having to envision it or try to tell you how it might fit.
If you don't have that knowledge, you can get it by diving into the industry you're thinking about building something for but you gotta learn EVERYTHING there is to know about it. That's the only way to confidently say this is what we're building and this is why it should work.

Lastly:
Pre-orders from friends and family / colleagues doesn't validate anything. They know you and support you. Even cold calling someone and selling is a question of sales skills, not a question of your product.

"If I asked customers what they wanted I would've ended up with a 6 legged horse" - butchered henry ford quote

 

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[tafy]

Depends - for physical products where you basically have a prototype as the image and people can pre-order it, that's pretty solid validation.

Your right, I didnt think about physical products!

 

[Durete]

I agree, I'd love to get more insight on

product building,
iterations of products,
follow ups on products.
Customer handling,
and after-release marketing. (like in, a year after release..how do you make sure that your product still sells?)
How to decide what your next product should be. etc etc etc.

Also the legal side of product building and business is something that interests me.
Where to register,
How to register in the best countries tax wise etc.
What to register/where/how for your specific products. (For example: Ebooks, do you need a isbn, where, what how, do you need to copyright, trademark, etc etc etc.)