4 ms·

Definitely agree that most technically-focused people fall into the trap of writing too much code too early. There's the other end too, though: you get so wrap

Definitely agree that most technically-focused people fall into the trap of writing too much code too early. There's the other end too, though: you get so wrapped up into an idea and sell it too hard and end up not delivering because you were detached from the technical reality. I think you just need to be smart about switching contexts, especially early on in the game. Using a little bit of code here and there to stay well-grounded, while focusing on customers to validate the idea. Early on you definitely should be spending most of your time engaging future customers.

kareemm 13y ago
> Early on you definitely should be spending most of your time engaging future customers. 100% agree. Though my approach is less about selling and more about learning: are we solving a valuable problem? Are people willing to pay for it? Do we have some ideas about how to scalably reach those folks? Etc
- jlongster 13y ago
  That's true. I guess because I'm a "hacker" I just don't know how to ask those questions without involving the technical merits of the product. I have a specific question, as I'm in this phase right now. I need to validate my product and demographic. It's a finance app targeted towards developers. I'm still working through the core feature-set (on paper, and a little code). It needs to differentiate itself in the details; the market is somewhat saturated. I also don't see how I can make a landing page without screenshots. Now, how do I validate it without writing any code? I have already written some code because I need to make sure I could get certain info from banks. I need to make a landing page to get people to sign-up. Can I really do that without screenshots (even if it's mock-ups, I need to think about the UI a little)? I need to "sell" it on a few features; writing code has helped a ton to sift through my ideas. How do you flesh out a landing page when you just have an idea? Obviously, I'm still learning about this.
  - kareemm 13y ago
    > I also don't see how I can make a landing page without screenshots. Use thumbnails with copy about benefits. That's what we did. > How do you flesh out a landing page when you just have an idea? We talked to customers about their problems - we reached out to people through our networks and cold emailed them. We understood their problems first, then were able to create a landing page with fake thumbnails of the interface. We wrote copy detailing benefits (save time / save money / make money) of the product. The goal of the landing page was to get more people who we could talk to to validate our idea. It didn't matter that the product didn't look anything like the thumbnails. The only code we wrote was to hook up the landing page to Mailchimp.

kareemm 13y ago

> Early on you definitely should be spending most of your time engaging future customers. 100% agree. Though my approach is less about selling and more about learning: are we solving a valuable problem? Are people willing to pay for it? Do we have some ideas about how to scalably reach those folks? Etc

jlongster 13y ago
That's true. I guess because I'm a "hacker" I just don't know how to ask those questions without involving the technical merits of the product. I have a specific question, as I'm in this phase right now. I need to validate my product and demographic. It's a finance app targeted towards developers. I'm still working through the core feature-set (on paper, and a little code). It needs to differentiate itself in the details; the market is somewhat saturated. I also don't see how I can make a landing page without screenshots. Now, how do I validate it without writing any code? I have already written some code because I need to make sure I could get certain info from banks. I need to make a landing page to get people to sign-up. Can I really do that without screenshots (even if it's mock-ups, I need to think about the UI a little)? I need to "sell" it on a few features; writing code has helped a ton to sift through my ideas. How do you flesh out a landing page when you just have an idea? Obviously, I'm still learning about this.
- kareemm 13y ago
  > I also don't see how I can make a landing page without screenshots. Use thumbnails with copy about benefits. That's what we did. > How do you flesh out a landing page when you just have an idea? We talked to customers about their problems - we reached out to people through our networks and cold emailed them. We understood their problems first, then were able to create a landing page with fake thumbnails of the interface. We wrote copy detailing benefits (save time / save money / make money) of the product. The goal of the landing page was to get more people who we could talk to to validate our idea. It didn't matter that the product didn't look anything like the thumbnails. The only code we wrote was to hook up the landing page to Mailchimp.