4 ms·

As a programmer I'm finding out it's best not to code anything immediately. Think [first] about the idea, conceptualize it, let it soak in your brain. Take some

by apsurd 16y ago

As a programmer I'm finding out it's best not to code anything immediately. Think [first] about the idea, conceptualize it, let it soak in your brain. Take some time to let it refine itself a bit. [Next] would be a marketing website. Grab a theme off themeforest.net and work on a one page slideshow explaining your idea. Do this from a marketing perspective: sell it to your customers. I find this is crucial because it forces you to refine your idea into a marketable idea. If you are taking 3 paragraphs to explain what your app does, what problem it solves, or why people should care, well your idea is probably not that great, much less marketable. What this also does is sell yourself on the idea. Once you've taken the time to craft out some great marketing copy, you begin to think "hey this does sound like a good idea!". You also have an easy way to get initial feedback from your network. [Finally] after using your marketing site to get inner-circle feedback, you go after some customer development. Customers tend to need to see an actual working something though so it's probably best to code out and MVP. I'd start with modeling the data and then work out the core features and at long last, I get the joy of coding!

joelhaus 16y ago
This HN post was a pretty good example of what you describe (not complete to your specs, but a nice start): http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1365807 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1365807 The professional logo goes a long way toward making it feel legit. > If you are taking 3 paragraphs to explain what your app does, what problem it solves, or why people should care, well your idea is probably not that great, much less marketable. This may also be a function of your marketing/copy-writing ability; it doesn't necessarily correlate with idea quality or marketability. It could also indicate that your focus simply needs refinement.
- apsurd 16y ago
  Hi Joel, thanks for replying. The part about the marketing copy is surely correct. But for many HN'ers including myself, I would need to be good at marketing copy if I want my business to become in any way sustainable. Many people on here are flying solo, for better or worse. But it would be clear to say your business (i.e. someone inside your business) needs to be good at marketing!

by apsurd 16y ago

joelhaus 16y ago

This HN post was a pretty good example of what you describe (not complete to your specs, but a nice start): http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1365807 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1365807 The professional logo goes a long way toward making it feel legit. > If you are taking 3 paragraphs to explain what your app does, what problem it solves, or why people should care, well your idea is probably not that great, much less marketable. This may also be a function of your marketing/copy-writing ability; it doesn't necessarily correlate with idea quality or marketability. It could also indicate that your focus simply needs refinement.

apsurd 16y ago
Hi Joel, thanks for replying. The part about the marketing copy is surely correct. But for many HN'ers including myself, I would need to be good at marketing copy if I want my business to become in any way sustainable. Many people on here are flying solo, for better or worse. But it would be clear to say your business (i.e. someone inside your business) needs to be good at marketing!