B2C validation ? What has worked for you?

I write about Micro SaaS Ideas every week to 25,000 subs. You are mostly correct. But more pointers here.

• Create a landing page without building a full-blown product.
• Launch on places like Betalist, ProductHunt and shoutout on Reddit, IH
• Build Waitlist
• Once you have 70-80 users on waitlist, ask them to get on a 1-1 call.
• Read 'The Mom Test' on how to ask questions without talking about your product. This way the users won't be biased and will be talking about the actual problem than talking about your solution.
• If you are able to talk to 20-30 users and get a positive vibe, send an email to those users and see if they are willing to make an upfront payment for a heavy discount
• If 5 users pay, go ahead and build the product.

You can leverage Ads ofcourse to get more people on the waitlist. But keep the ad budget to $100-$200 to make it lean.

I have built Saas products, Newsletters, Community, Info products myself.

Well, it depends on your capabilities and resources. We'd use the method you mentioned in an accelerator, as it's fairly quick and cheap to test. If you're going to go down this route, 3 pieces of advice I'd share:

1. Conduct thorough market research to understand the potential demand for your app. Researching competitors and similar products can help you identify the need and gaps your app can fill.

2. Set realistic goals for your app and create a plan to reach them. Think about the timeline and budget you need to make your app successful.

3. Make sure your landing page is optimized for conversions. Test different elements, such as copy, visuals, and user experience, to ensure that visitors are encouraged to take the desired action.

Other common methods include:

1. Create a survey: Ask potential customers questions about their needs and expectations from the app.

2. Conduct interviews: Talk to potential users to gain feedback and insights on how the app can meet their needs.

3. Test the concept with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP): Create a basic version of the app and measure its impact.

Hope this helps.

We've used AI to cold and warm message people in our Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) on Twitter, LinkedIn, etc

We've done paid interviews for demographics that are hard to reach

Modern forum-type channels like Reddit, Facebook Groups, LinkedIn Groups, and Discord

Actual forums that are still alive that your ICP visits

Mastadon is good if your ICP is code or creation centric

TikTok is great if you can make high quality or high quantity video content

PS In the early days I prefer to have conversations with potential customers vs statistical data like surveys or landing pages however landing pages and surveys can be great ways to find potential customers to have conversations with

I'm trying the landing page route right now:
https://keasigmadelta.com/store/landing/zitasync/

It's been slow going. I don't have a large mailing list, or much of a Twitter or Facebook following (well, the FB page has almost 1000 followers, but I'm sure most of those are bots/fake). Google says that search volume for phone to PC file syncing is low, so we'll see how those ads go. I have yet to try ads on social media...

In terms of other things I've tried, nothing has really "worked out" yet:

• Using Google's keyword tool to get an idea of interest. I wouldn't call this full on validation, but it can help early on
• Looking at existing products/services that solve a similar problem. It's useful, but no indication that people would be want my (potential) solution over any of the others.
• Related to the last one: look at complaints for existing products/services. Not really validation, but can help identify gaps in the market. I never got far with this one...
• Talking to people about my idea (really should focus on their needs/pain-points). It's very hard to gauge whether they'd want to buy, think it sounds great (as in, think others would buy), or are just being nice

Those with more experience would tell you that nothing beats building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and asking for money. Making sales is the only true indication of whether people want to buy. If you can whip up an MVP quickly, then it's probably worth skipping other validation methods and going straight for the sale.

I would probably start by defining the target customer tightly and then finding an appropriate sub-reddit to post some relevant content / ask a question to see how they respond. I would spend money on FB ads as a last resort, just my 2 cents :)

Though I have yet to test FB Ads, I think Reddit or Twitter marketing would benefit the most

FB ads is easy to start and is not bad in terms of ROI, if you know you audience (ICP) and make the offer right (ad text and landing page).

As a marketplace founder I would say, that building a marketplace is probably the hardest thing for solopreneur to do. Especially, if you choose the market wrong. The TAM (total addressable market) is the king and you need to make sure, that it is a big enough number before starting. The market could be interested in the marketplace platform, but if it is something too niche or geographically restricted it won't gain enough traction to generate decent revenue. Look for the book "Platform Revolution", it contains a lot of answers and right questions.

Hey! It would be best to niche down on the customers and service providers. Who needs such a matching tool? If you'd like we can chat over a call on Geeks and Experts.

I have connected with and introduced many first-time founders and early-stage entrepreneurs to others to get feedback on ideas.