How did you validate your project idea?
My question is this: for bootstrapping founders, what out-of-the-box methods have you tried to collect evidence and quickly test without breaking the bank?
I just finished reading the book "Testing Business Ideas" by David Bland, and quickly realized that all the "validation work" I thought I had been doing was really just glorified discovery. I still hadn't collected any strong evidence to prove/disprove my underlying hypothesis.
Now I'm trying out an experiment sequence to fill in the gaps and see if my assumptions are founded or not. The sequence is as follows:
- Additional customer interviews.
- Online ads: A/B testing different messages on social/google to see if my target audience clicks or engages.
- Simple landing page (using carrd.co, but open to suggestions!)
- Email Campaign: following up with anyone who completes a form submission on the landing page.
- Clickable prototype: mocked up in google sheets using hyperlinks.
- Wizard of Oz experiment: manually carrying out the business tasks before coding a responsive app.
I like @MAC_albion's response to this. It seems "bulletproof".
I've been using google ads PPC alot for my products. I don't have time to build SEO and then finding out that there's no market for it. PPC ads have helped me achieve the following:
It costs me around $150 a week, but saves me weeks of time on pursuing an idea that definitely does not work, and I value that more than the money I've put in.
I'd say its the best way to answer basic hypothesis like:
Once you got those answered, your business will be validated enough to do stuff like hit up communities, producthunt or on newsletter. The worst thing you can do is have a confusing website, and then start using those marketing strategies and all the feedback you get is "What does this do?" and then you've squandered the marketing opportunity
The most underrated question being "Do people understand the product?", I never realised how important user onboarding UI and user flow is
I've fixed some serious leaks in my funnels, now i think i'm ready to use more cold marketing methods and i know people will definitely understand my product because i've optimised my funnels with PPC traffic
I came here to attempt to provide a helpful response but this seems like such a robust approach to validating an idea. Found myself taking notes :). Thanks for this!!
How are you getting Google PPC clicks at .5-1? seems super low for most SaaS keywords
Firstly, I wanted to say that I found your article on validating project ideas really informative. It's a topic that is very relevant to bootstrapping founders like myself, and I appreciate you sharing your insights and experiences.
Your experiment sequence for validating project ideas is a great outline of the steps you take to collect strong evidence to prove/disprove underlying hypotheses. In particular, I think the use of A/B testing and a clickable prototype are smart ways to quickly test and iterate on your ideas without breaking the bank.
Personally, I have found that customer interviews are also incredibly valuable for collecting evidence and testing assumptions. It's a great way to get direct feedback from your target audience and gain insights into their pain points and needs. From there, you can tailor your messaging and product offering accordingly.
When it comes to validating a project idea, it's always possible to find a way - even if the process may seem rudimentary. The key is to keep experimenting and iterating until you find a simpler way to validate your idea. This could involve using tools like spreadsheets, Shopify, forms, Stripe checkout, building a landing page, or finding ways to distribute your idea more quickly. Ultimately, the key is to keep trying until you find what works for your specific project idea.