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I had a similar idea as you originally with my startup: build a functional MVP, launch with beta testers, recruit co-founders, raise seed capital, and then (fin

I had a similar idea as you originally with my startup: build a functional MVP, launch with beta testers, recruit co-founders, raise seed capital, and then (finally) start to focus on growth. I wasted probably six months going down blind alleys with this approach. Here are some of the lessons I learned: 1) A small group of beta testers will not give your product the time and attention you need to find product-market fit. 2) High quality collaborators, willing to devote all their spare waking hours to your vision, are extremely hard to find (and even harder to get up-to-speed). Especially on a budget. You'll probably see several promising co-founders come and go before you find a good match. 3) Even if you have a really sexy MVP and a great team, it's nearly impossible to fundraise until you can point to a handful of satisfied early customers. You might think you can raise $100k (chump change!) to fund your first six months of operations, but you're probably wrong about that. The only thing you should be doing right now is getting your product into as many customers' hands as possible. In your post, you say you plan to "charge money and earn revenue from day 1". Today is day 1. Go get some customers!

jorgecurio 11y ago
My comments are being throttled so I have to be picky to which I reply and I think this comment is excellent since it reflects real world case. Yeah my previous SaaS I launched with beta testers two years ago was a totally misplaced end user targetting. In an effort to "capture" all opportunities I ended up building everything to compete on features alone which increased price sensitivity and led to bloat which made changes harder. My experience from this was to start from top to bottom, not starting with code. Picking your market, knowing who is using your product and finding copies of him, I tried to do this on my own last year but developing product, website, documentation, tutorial videos, writing blog posts, sales quickly was way more than I can chew. It's from this point where I clearly know that I focused on the entirely wrong group of customers. It was the naive belief that I could solve business problems with engineering and taking on more technical debt that ultimately led me to feeling burnt out (as you will see from my previous submissions). 1) I totally agree. Beta testers <<<<< paying customer. I've been there trying to aimless wonder the desert in hopes of finding water. It's so simple but I get it now after failing hard for a long time: "Be where your customers can pay you today not tomorrow or when this feature is ready". 2) Ironically this is where I feel the highest confidence but also where I take most caution. You don't know someone until you've worked with them for a while and sometimes I have misplaced expectations....they may not love your product, and not taking it personally....finding people would be quite hard as well and I think that in Vancouver there's a lot less people just striking out doing or hacking things on their own compared to SF probably. 3) 100% agreed. > Today is day 1. Go get some customers! I need to figure out how to get paid for the MVP and find people who will do that.
- Eridrus 11y ago
  I'm not great at following this advice myself, but most of what I've read seems to indicate that the best way to actually find product market fit is to talk to potential customers and ask them non-leading questions about what their problems really are, rather than just trying to figure it out in your head.

jorgecurio 11y ago

My comments are being throttled so I have to be picky to which I reply and I think this comment is excellent since it reflects real world case. Yeah my previous SaaS I launched with beta testers two years ago was a totally misplaced end user targetting. In an effort to "capture" all opportunities I ended up building everything to compete on features alone which increased price sensitivity and led to bloat which made changes harder. My experience from this was to start from top to bottom, not starting with code. Picking your market, knowing who is using your product and finding copies of him, I tried to do this on my own last year but developing product, website, documentation, tutorial videos, writing blog posts, sales quickly was way more than I can chew. It's from this point where I clearly know that I focused on the entirely wrong group of customers. It was the naive belief that I could solve business problems with engineering and taking on more technical debt that ultimately led me to feeling burnt out (as you will see from my previous submissions). 1) I totally agree. Beta testers <<<<< paying customer. I've been there trying to aimless wonder the desert in hopes of finding water. It's so simple but I get it now after failing hard for a long time: "Be where your customers can pay you today not tomorrow or when this feature is ready". 2) Ironically this is where I feel the highest confidence but also where I take most caution. You don't know someone until you've worked with them for a while and sometimes I have misplaced expectations....they may not love your product, and not taking it personally....finding people would be quite hard as well and I think that in Vancouver there's a lot less people just striking out doing or hacking things on their own compared to SF probably. 3) 100% agreed. > Today is day 1. Go get some customers! I need to figure out how to get paid for the MVP and find people who will do that.

Eridrus 11y ago
I'm not great at following this advice myself, but most of what I've read seems to indicate that the best way to actually find product market fit is to talk to potential customers and ask them non-leading questions about what their problems really are, rather than just trying to figure it out in your head.