Have you really validated the need for your product before building it? Do you know how to pre-sell your product before it’s made? In this video, I share my best strategies for validating your startup ideas.
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Want to know why building a tech startup is TWICE as hard as opening a restaurant?
It’s because both the product AND the market are unknown.
They need to be figured out…
… for a sushi restaurant you just need to know if people in your city eat sushi – which most do.
So the risk is only in building a great restaurant experience… the market & “product” are proven.
With tech, it comes down iterating and testing both of these assumptions.
1. Will the product actually do what I think it will (technology / science / etc).
2. Will anyone want it?
The cool part is both of these can be figured out fairly quickly if you do it right.
One word of caution:
It does NOT require an MVP (Minimum Viable Product).
Actually, I have a huge problem with the term MVP because it has the word “product” in it.
I have a much different (and far more cost+time efficient) approach that I cover in today’s video.
It really comes down to a few simple frameworks that I’ve created to help you validate your ideas… and generate the confidence (and initial funding) you need to go all in.
Here they are:
1. Idea: Problem, Pain, Passion
2. Validated Research
3. Clickable Prototype
4. Pre-Sales
I’ve used this approach to build ALL of my companies and it doesn’t matter if it’s for a consumer application, or a solution for big Fortune 500 companies – it can be done.
So before you pour your savings (and next 6 months) into building an “MVP”…
… take 5 mins right now to watch today’s video and make sure you’re setting yourself up for success right out of the gates.
Have an incredible day!
With gratitude,
– Dan
Don’t forget to share this entrepreneurial advice with your friends, so they can learn too: https://youtu.be/3_A5JNLeHAQ
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ABOUT DAN MARTELL
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“You can only keep what you give away.” That’s the mantra that’s shaped Dan Martell from a struggling 20-something business owner in the Canadian Maritimes (which is waaay out east) to a successful startup founder who’s raised more than $3 million in venture funding and exited not one… not two… but three tech businesses: Clarity.fm, Spheric and Flowtown.
You can only keep what you give away. That philosophy has led Dan to invest in 33+ early stage startups such as Udemy, Intercom, Unbounce and Foodspotting. It’s also helped him shape the future of Hootsuite as an advisor to the social media tour de force.
An activator, a tech geek, an adrenaline junkie and, yes, a romantic (ask his wife Renee), Dan has recently turned his attention to teaching startups a fundamental, little-discussed lesson that directly impacts their growth: how to scale. You’ll find not only incredible insights in every moment of every talk Dan gives – but also highly actionable takeaways that will propel your business forward. Because Dan gives freely of all that he knows. After all, you can only keep what you give away.
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I'm wondering how you solve the hard problems. The physical problems. The ones that take ten years of research, ten years to implement, then twenty years of political combat to keep those who hate and fear change from destroying your work.
I like and understand the validation process, but what if your core benefits to the user are design/performance driven? Should they still want to pre-buy? Also, what if the 50% isn't enough to fund the prototype fully? How long should you have them wait? What if finding co-founders takes longer than 3-6 months?
Hi Dan,
Thanks for the video! My question is: How do you actually obtain feedback from your target customer? Where would you find these customers and how do you approach them to obtain feedback for your product without sounding "sales-y"?
Thanks for the valuable information!
Wafa
Great advice Dan, keep up the good work mate, I really appreciate the videos.
Thanks Dan. Do you have any advice on how to get customers into a pilot programme? Things like practical tips on finding and vetting potential customers, cold calling, emailing etc. How do you break through the 'sales' wall, speak to the right people and be seen as part of the team solving a problem they desperately need to solve.
Don’t build your startup backwards! Most entrepreneurs are doing it wrong because they misunderstand the term MVP!