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Great practical advice! I like the way you have distilled it down to 3 responses - No, Yes, Hell Yeah! Two questions: 1)And how do you convert Yes to Hell Yeah

Great practical advice! I like the way you have distilled it down to 3 responses - No, Yes, Hell Yeah! Two questions: 1)And how do you convert Yes to Hell Yeah!? 2)What strategies would you apply to find those potential (or initial) customers?

JacobAldridge 11y ago
If you don't already know who your target audience is, then you've probably put the cart before the horse and there's a good chance you're building a 'Solution in search of a Problem' rather than the other way around. Who are your ideal clients? pg's section on finding the 'Well' - a small group with a deep problem, not a large group with a shallow problem - is relevant here http://paulgraham.com/startupideas.html http://paulgraham.com/startupideas.html Be as specific as you can - geographically, demographically, what do they look like, what do they do etc (Google 'personas' for a slightly more complex take on this). Are you building something for black lesbian vegetarians? College-educated Donald Trump supporters? When you're super clear about this, ask yourself where these people hang-out - where can you find them? (That also helps with channel strategies in the future.) Converting from Yes to Hell Yeah! involves asking open questions and doing a lot of listening. If your solution addresses a pain, have them explain that pain to you over and over - when does it show up, how does that impact them, what do they currently do, what does it currently cost them, who else do they know with a similar experience, what hasn't worked in the past, what are their concerns, how important is this to them, what will their life be like when it's resolved, how much time and effort do they put into resolving it now etc etc. And if necessary (and you're comfortable doing so) be direct. "Based on our conversation, I'm going to add xyz in the next week and sell it for $x. Can I take a pre-order from you right now?" If they say 'yes', you might have backtrack a little on timeframes ("Fantastic. Now, in reality I need to scope that and it may take longer than a week. However I'm going to give you an x% discount / bonus something if we proceed") or if it's a big change let them know that that was a market research question (they know this is a market research interview, so don't worry about that). If they say No, ask "If I may, can I ask why not? What is still missing?". Keep in mind, the most common answer here is also one many people won't recognise or share - your solution just isn't worth that much to them. You've dug a broad hole, not a deep well. That's why you need more conversations (I recommend at least 10 - you could easily do hundreds, but let's be realistic). Creating these conversations isn't hard - most people, even business owners, are quite happy to give you an hour of their time if you introduce yourself and ask for help. For programmers in particular, however, leaving the garage and talking to people is outside their comfort zone - and the result is a lot of products built based on assumptions, not conversations with actual customers. Conversely many massive businesses developed from first identifying the pain and solution - either because of deep experience in a boring industry (something most coders in their 20s lack), or because it was scratching their own itch (reasonable advice, unless your solution is to build something every other 20-something coder would build because then none of them will value it). Hope that helps!

JacobAldridge 11y ago

If you don't already know who your target audience is, then you've probably put the cart before the horse and there's a good chance you're building a 'Solution in search of a Problem' rather than the other way around. Who are your ideal clients? pg's section on finding the 'Well' - a small group with a deep problem, not a large group with a shallow problem - is relevant here http://paulgraham.com/startupideas.html http://paulgraham.com/startupideas.html Be as specific as you can - geographically, demographically, what do they look like, what do they do etc (Google 'personas' for a slightly more complex take on this). Are you building something for black lesbian vegetarians? College-educated Donald Trump supporters? When you're super clear about this, ask yourself where these people hang-out - where can you find them? (That also helps with channel strategies in the future.) Converting from Yes to Hell Yeah! involves asking open questions and doing a lot of listening. If your solution addresses a pain, have them explain that pain to you over and over - when does it show up, how does that impact them, what do they currently do, what does it currently cost them, who else do they know with a similar experience, what hasn't worked in the past, what are their concerns, how important is this to them, what will their life be like when it's resolved, how much time and effort do they put into resolving it now etc etc. And if necessary (and you're comfortable doing so) be direct. "Based on our conversation, I'm going to add xyz in the next week and sell it for $x. Can I take a pre-order from you right now?" If they say 'yes', you might have backtrack a little on timeframes ("Fantastic. Now, in reality I need to scope that and it may take longer than a week. However I'm going to give you an x% discount / bonus something if we proceed") or if it's a big change let them know that that was a market research question (they know this is a market research interview, so don't worry about that). If they say No, ask "If I may, can I ask why not? What is still missing?". Keep in mind, the most common answer here is also one many people won't recognise or share - your solution just isn't worth that much to them. You've dug a broad hole, not a deep well. That's why you need more conversations (I recommend at least 10 - you could easily do hundreds, but let's be realistic). Creating these conversations isn't hard - most people, even business owners, are quite happy to give you an hour of their time if you introduce yourself and ask for help. For programmers in particular, however, leaving the garage and talking to people is outside their comfort zone - and the result is a lot of products built based on assumptions, not conversations with actual customers. Conversely many massive businesses developed from first identifying the pain and solution - either because of deep experience in a boring industry (something most coders in their 20s lack), or because it was scratching their own itch (reasonable advice, unless your solution is to build something every other 20-something coder would build because then none of them will value it). Hope that helps!