Ask IH: Following in the footsteps of a letdown
tldr; How do I get people to try my new product when they were very recently let down by another product that promised to do the exact same thing.
While doing research for the latest side project, I found that another startup did a great job building hype for their release but ultimately failed to implement the idea and shut down work on the project. I went about implementation from a completely different angle and now have an mvp that is working quite well.
The response to their project definitely validates my product, but I'm a bit concerned that people will be less excited and will see any pre-optimization rough spots as a sign of failure after so recently wasting time on a dud.
Do you think that this sentiment will only exist until the ball gets rolling and people start reporting back on how great it works? Should I get the project to a more mature state than a usual release given the circumstances?
Thoughts?
Just be honest and open! If I was excited about a product and was let down, I'd respect someone who came along and said,
It's amazing what response you'll get with this type of dialogue with users/potential users.
You are asking concrete question without revealing what product is, it's hard to answer without knowing it. You can start by learning what feedback you get from community first, most of the people here are openminded and evangelist. Share it here and get community's opinion.
Thanks all!
In general I see it as a huge benefit that market fit has already been proven. I like the recommendation from @elijahmurray to just be open with the concern like a normal person. Sometimes focusing on so many different aspects I forget that I'm a good person talking to other good people.
Sounds like a potentially amazing opportunity for sales, marketing, and PR. Contact people who were let down by the old thing. Sell them on using your new thing. Collect testimonials of where they say how much they love it and use that in your marketing materials. Pitch the press this neatly packaged story, which is inherently interesting — a highly anticipated tool let people down, but now your tool is out to pick up where they left off.
If you're worried that people won't love your product, then hold off on marketing and PR, and stick with sales + product iteration for a while. I'm a big fan of late launches. Launch when you can really capitalize on it, and keep things small before that if you're in position to do so financially.
This!
It sounds like you're projecting reactions on these potential users. Use it to your advantage and be the product that delivers; as Elijah said, be authentic and involve them through the journey and you'll develop strong relationships that will evolve into customers.
Don't overthink it.