Seeking wisdom on where to tap initial test users
I have an MVP built, ready to test to see if my product is viable and sticky. Maybe it's just pre-launch jitters, but I'm unsure of how to invite initial users. I could tap my personal network, but it is likely to give me lots of unrealistic affirmation, not true validation. I could do a series of test ads, but I don't want to go public just yet. Maybe that hesitance is foolish? Do you have any advice on how to get rolling, how to activate the first dozen to 100 users to test a new product?
Are there people in your personal network willing to share and help solicit "disinterested third party" users? And can you direct them to places (forums, groups) where you'll find an audience for whatever problem or topic domain your product aims to serve?
I understand your concern about unrealistic affirmation from the personal network. I haven't done my own app or app validation yet but in doing user research for product teams I had to constantly work to filter out the friends-and-family or "top of funnel" tire kicker comments, which are overwhelmingly positive and skewed.
Thanks Luke. That's a good suggestion. I could probably call on a few friends to forward an invitation to a few of their contacts outside of my network who fit the app's target. I should probably move forward with test ads ... the risk that comes with that at this stage is realistically pretty low.