Re:Ask HN: Settling on an Idea
by alain94040 on Friday December 05, 2014 @03:33PM
(#8706723)
But the Big Ideas don't happen here. That comes by doing customer discovery, reaching out, and engaging in live conversation.
So true. Go out and talk to people. You'll be amazed by how better your brainstorming gets.
In the end, there are usually two main routes for ideas. Enterprise products are easy to profit from, you just need to know the space, talk to potential customers ahead of time and do it. Boring but profitable. Consumer ideas are much harder. Everyone can get ideas for consumer products (do we really need another dating app?).
So choose wisely. Is your real goal to build a small but sustainable stream of income? Choose enterprise. Are you dreaming big? Maybe try consumer.
Yeah talking to folks is definitely on the todo list. I think over the next week I'm going to try nail down what I want to do. From that point out I'll be looking to continually validate (or invalidate) where I'm going.
Reaching out to potential customer isn't what I'd consider one of my strong points. I think I'll be taking some time to think about, and read up on, how best to go about this.
But the Big Ideas don't happen here. That comes by doing customer discovery, reaching out, and engaging in live conversation.
For just one of your ideas-- can you identify and talk to 100 potential end-users and buyers? It takes a long time to actually connect with these people. You'll get blown-off or simplistic good luck platitudes. But every now and then, you'll find someone generous with their time, and thoughtful feedback. Those people are golden and will make all the difference. Incidentally, here's good read on Give & Take > http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16158498-give-and-take