Ok, I've been thinking about this for a while, but just can't reconcile some things here. First let me make sure I got the original FastLane story more or less right. MJ was a limousine driver and had several clients ask if he knew where to find a limo in other cities. Based on this, he built a site for people to find/reserve limos across the US. Unless I'm misremembering, he did not first make a "landing page" or anything like that to gauge demand, he just went ahead and built the site based on the hunch that it's a thing people needed. I'm completely ignoring existing competition and outexecuting them here, I only want to discuss validation.
So this is the problem I face. My skillset happens to be computers, including "making websites". From what I gather most people here are interested in businesses that don't revolve around pure information products, where their web site is just a storefront or lead generator for a product that's otherwise offline. I've had several people on this forum chide me for wanting to just jump in and spend 2-3 months building an initial product without any more validation than knowing a few people would want the thing I'm making - but unless I got it entirely wrong, this is exactly what MJ did!
Consider another example, Facebook. How could you validate that concept with a landing page? Much worse, what if Mark Zuckerberg had tried the landing page approach and people didn't understand what he was even talking about? What if they said "well there's already MySpace, you shouldn't even bother". Seems the downside of the 20-minute landing page validation is you may get it wrong and throw out what could be a great business. The examples I've seen always seem to be about a company that spent years laboring on a product that no one wanted, I guess because the people who made the other error (throwing out an idea too early) never realize the mistake they made, unless someone else later happens to do the exact same thing and that person finds out and writes about it.
Seems to me that websites where the site itself is the thing are hard to explain, to the point that people will be unable to evaluate your idea until you actually have the site, at least a very early ugly prototype form of it that implements the basic idea. You can still control your risk by setting hard deadlines and goals from the start - in 2 months, 3 months, the site must implement at least x, y, and z, or work on it stops and the original assumptions are evaluated. Only after you have a very basic site do you start using that to validate, and based on these very first users, decide what to do.
What I've described above is what people in the internet startup community do, and in fact the current crop of tools are aimed at bringing up sites as fast as possible (wordpress of course being one of them, but there are many more for people who are developers). I'm trying to reconcile this world (again, what MJ did) with what I read on this forum, which seems to be primarily geared toward people selling physical products. Remember MJ said flipping a company was fastlane, it's perfectly fine to never make a penny of revenue if you sell the whole mess for a pile of cash to someone who believes they can monetize it.
So this is the problem I face. My skillset happens to be computers, including "making websites". From what I gather most people here are interested in businesses that don't revolve around pure information products, where their web site is just a storefront or lead generator for a product that's otherwise offline. I've had several people on this forum chide me for wanting to just jump in and spend 2-3 months building an initial product without any more validation than knowing a few people would want the thing I'm making - but unless I got it entirely wrong, this is exactly what MJ did!
Consider another example, Facebook. How could you validate that concept with a landing page? Much worse, what if Mark Zuckerberg had tried the landing page approach and people didn't understand what he was even talking about? What if they said "well there's already MySpace, you shouldn't even bother". Seems the downside of the 20-minute landing page validation is you may get it wrong and throw out what could be a great business. The examples I've seen always seem to be about a company that spent years laboring on a product that no one wanted, I guess because the people who made the other error (throwing out an idea too early) never realize the mistake they made, unless someone else later happens to do the exact same thing and that person finds out and writes about it.
Seems to me that websites where the site itself is the thing are hard to explain, to the point that people will be unable to evaluate your idea until you actually have the site, at least a very early ugly prototype form of it that implements the basic idea. You can still control your risk by setting hard deadlines and goals from the start - in 2 months, 3 months, the site must implement at least x, y, and z, or work on it stops and the original assumptions are evaluated. Only after you have a very basic site do you start using that to validate, and based on these very first users, decide what to do.
What I've described above is what people in the internet startup community do, and in fact the current crop of tools are aimed at bringing up sites as fast as possible (wordpress of course being one of them, but there are many more for people who are developers). I'm trying to reconcile this world (again, what MJ did) with what I read on this forum, which seems to be primarily geared toward people selling physical products. Remember MJ said flipping a company was fastlane, it's perfectly fine to never make a penny of revenue if you sell the whole mess for a pile of cash to someone who believes they can monetize it.
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today
