4 ms·

Ask HN: How do you validate your business idea?

6 points by kashnikov2 5y ago

I've read about creating landing pages and advertising them to validate a business idea, is there any other method?

mtmail 5y ago
"Ask HN: Where do you find potential customers to validate your idea / MVP?" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26644616 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26644616 6 months ago "Ask HN: How do you validate your startup idea when you've no distribution?" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28263375 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28263375 1 month ago "Ask HN: Does a landing page MVP work?" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28068450 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28068450 2 month ago Personally I'm skeptical when it comes to landing pages (not even MVP). Maybe over the years I've seen too many.
Jugurtha 5y ago
A "landing page" is but one part. It doesn't do anything except get contact information of people who express curiosity or interest, and a fleeting willingness to be talked with about what that page contains. It doesn't validate anything. What you do next with the people who expressed an interest on your landing page will validate your idea: getting to know the problem space better if you have prior knowledge, or getting to know the problem at all if you're an outsider, validating the need and the market, qualifying your potential users, selling or "pre-selling" or getting a commitment of some sort, and expanding. Are you a user yourself? If so, you have knowledge of your ideal customer and you can figure out how to reach them. Maybe you can still make the most out of this post and expose your idea, and update your profile with a means to contact you in case someone is interested. PS: Are you familiar with Microconf[0]? They have excellent videos[1]. Each of the thumbnails will take you to the appropriate YouTube playlist for that year. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=validate++microconf https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=validate++micro... - [0]: https://microconf.com https://microconf.com - [1]: https://microconf.com/videos https://microconf.com/videos
mod 5y ago
Ask people to pay you for it.
fuzzfactor 5y ago
In terms of just plain business ideas not limited to technology, one plan is to start with an idea that's already been validated by someone else, where you have an even more valid approach by a significant margin.

6 points by kashnikov2 5y ago

I've read about creating landing pages and advertising them to validate a business idea, is there any other method?

"Ask HN: Where do you find potential customers to validate your idea / MVP?" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26644616 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26644616 6 months ago "Ask HN: How do you validate your startup idea when you've no distribution?" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28263375 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28263375 1 month ago "Ask HN: Does a landing page MVP work?" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28068450 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28068450 2 month ago Personally I'm skeptical when it comes to landing pages (not even MVP). Maybe over the years I've seen too many.

Jugurtha 5y ago

A "landing page" is but one part. It doesn't do anything except get contact information of people who express curiosity or interest, and a fleeting willingness to be talked with about what that page contains. It doesn't validate anything. What you do next with the people who expressed an interest on your landing page will validate your idea: getting to know the problem space better if you have prior knowledge, or getting to know the problem at all if you're an outsider, validating the need and the market, qualifying your potential users, selling or "pre-selling" or getting a commitment of some sort, and expanding. Are you a user yourself? If so, you have knowledge of your ideal customer and you can figure out how to reach them. Maybe you can still make the most out of this post and expose your idea, and update your profile with a means to contact you in case someone is interested. PS: Are you familiar with Microconf[0]? They have excellent videos[1]. Each of the thumbnails will take you to the appropriate YouTube playlist for that year. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=validate++microconf https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=validate++micro... - [0]: https://microconf.com https://microconf.com - [1]: https://microconf.com/videos https://microconf.com/videos

mod 5y ago

Ask people to pay you for it.

fuzzfactor 5y ago

In terms of just plain business ideas not limited to technology, one plan is to start with an idea that's already been validated by someone else, where you have an even more valid approach by a significant margin.