The #1 thing we did after finding a new business idea

Yesterday I was having coffee with a friend. We were working on a business idea and just invalidated the concept 😔 However, he then brought up an old problem from when we were working together in our full-time jobs. We realized at that moment that the problem might be big enough to build a tech startup around.

It could be massive, so from being frustrated I get all of a sudden excited again.

This is what we then did. From discussing the idea till now:

• I called my partner. She has a PhD in Entrepreneurship, and it’s always worth bouncing an idea with a smart sceptic.
• We put online a landing page describing the value proposition and price to see if we can get anybody to sign-up to a waiting list. That would show very high purchase intent.
• I’ve WhatsApped the URL to some entrepreneurial friends, who, if the product would be ready, should be interested in buying the SaaS product. But I won’t tell them that it’s my idea so that they stay sceptic. I’ll literally ask them whether they would buy it, and subsequently ask for any feedback on the idea. If 30% signs up, that’d be great.
• We then met up with the guys and girls that showed great interest and asked them to pay us upfront for the product. We said that we’d only develop it if they showed us the money now.

That’s how I start working on new ideas.

Learn how to find paying customers within one day. By doing so, one learns a lot, gets to understand the problem, dynamics, and customers from the start.

And most often realises that the idea is worth sh*t.... like this one

TIP: Don't build an OKR Goal Management Slack bot