How to best validate idea for an infra-focused app
I have an idea for an infrastructure app. Would potentially solve a problem that I have personally ran into multiple times as a developer. I also don't want to make a mistake of writing code before validating my idea first - something I've done countless times before.
Wondering if folks could share some insight into how to best validate my idea.
Here are few ways that I have in mind with their pros and cons:
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Reach out to former colleagues and ask their opinion
PROS: I will be talking to competent people who likely have faced similar challenges.
CONS: These folks will probably give me good feedback for the sake of being nice. How can I mitigate this? -
Go "4-hour work week" route. I.e. build a landing page, and drive traffic to it to see if there is demand.
PROS: If my idea has legs - I will see this in my analytics data, provided that my test is constructed correctly, and I drive enough traffic to the landing page.
CONS: I need to a) select the right audience b) find an efficient way to target it c) pay a bunch of money for ads. Even if my idea is good, I can get a false negative due to an incorrectly structured test. Or, a false positive. -
Build a prototype and put it up everywhere I can get free traffic (this site, producthunt, reddit, etc)
PROS: will get the best feedback AND early adopters if my idea has legs.
CONS: I need to build an MVP, which will take time and probably money (I will likely outsource some of the dev work due to time constraints), so this option is marginally better than option 2.
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Present my idea at a local Indie Hackers meetup and solicit feedback.
PROS: easiest option, can potentially get great feedback if present to the right crowd.
CONS: Will be a waste of time if I don't have target users in attendance. -
Do an old fashion market research.
PROS: knowing market landscape is great, seeing a gap in the market would inform what exactly I should build.
CONS: conducting a proper research will take time and probably money, as I will likely have to hire someone to do it right , otherwise I am afraid my research will miss out on whatever is happening outside of my personal echo chamber.
What do you think folks? Any advice? Have I missed any creative and cost-effective ways to validate an idea? Let me know :)
Just pick the one you are the most comfortable with. Over analyzing the validation process is just as bad as not doing it at all. For infrastructure apps, I would talk directly and personally to potential mid-large clients because if you can sign up one or two of them, it will give you the storing signal and potentially the capital you need to build your first proto that you can offer to the small ones as well. The risk is that what they need is not simple enough and takes a long time to make it.
thanks that helped me
Hi, I've been the CTO at a smallish startup and a small agency, and I also have a kind of infrastructure project idea. I can pretty much guarantee it's not the same as yours as mine is pretty novel. Seems like you don't want to put the details of your idea on here, so if there's a good way we can communicate directly I will look at your idea as if I was assessing its business value for my agency and write down everything I'm thinking honestly, if you'll have a look at my idea and do something similar.
sounds good, where and in what form do you think we should do it? Also, I am not too concerned about sharing my idea. Just didn't want to do it in this post, as here I am asking about the mechanics of validation - didn't want to muddy the waters too much...
Actually I have my email on here, just hover over my icon. I won't put it in the text of this message as every webscraper in the world will get it! So email me.