2 ms·
I disagree with this interpretation. It is a question of versioning and packaging. Basically, v0 of a product is for testing the initial hypotheses that people
by baxtr 4y ago
I disagree with this interpretation.
It is a question of versioning and packaging. Basically, v0 of a product is for testing the initial hypotheses that people are interested in buying at all. And it also serves as a tool for finding the initial "fans" that are excited by your product vision and will help you flesh out the product.
"Sell before you build" is just way to communicate this.
btw: The post is very short. Here it is:
> This is such bad advice.
It assumes that everyone will nail their product on the first go. Almost no-one does.
> If I went to customers and pitched Songbox to them with what was the initial version of it I had in my head - I would have gotten nothing. And if I'd given up on it at THAT point then I would have missed out on (a couple years later) having a business that's well into X thousand MRR and even more importantly, working with some amazing people and having truly exciting and unique experiences.
> There is no doubt that "sell before you build" will work for some people; but everything and anything will work for SOME people.
> For the general populace of makers it is crushingly bad advice.
- 01acheru 4y agoIMHO I don't think you can have real product fans without a product as much as you cannot have music fans without music. They might be fans of you vision, of your marketing or whatever else but that can be as bad as it can be good when your product finally lands.
- zapperdulchen 4y agoMaybe this is the misunderstanding. Reaching out to potential customers is not about "Look here is my idea of a hammer. Would you buy one?", but understanding which problems are solved, which benefits are achieved, which tasks are done, if there was a hammer like that. The bet is that this can be learned faster and less expensive via communication than developing.