1) Your Idea‎ > ‎

Refining Your Idea



LISTEN FOR CUSTOMERS TO SAY
"WOW IF YOU CAN DO THAT, THEN I'M DEFINITELY INTERESTED."


Listen for the "Wow, if you can do that, then I'm definitely interested." message from the prospective customers you test your ideas on.  If you're not getting the "WOW" then it's either your pitch or it's the product and you need to adjust.

It's important to have strong conviction in your idea.  It's a fine line to have the humility to know when to listen to the feedback and how to adjust.  The best way to do this is to (a) listen to logical arguments and not intuition and speculation, (b) have a trusted mentor and/or business partner and/or executive team you can bounce ideas off and test ideas.

You can't please everyone.  In fact you shouldn't. I would argue that you should polarize the market - make some incredibly happy and forget about the others who simply don't fit your product.  Make sure it's easy to expand your market over time. Said another way: Find a few people with a burning problem that only you can solve.  Solve it better than anyone else.  Then expand your solution set.  

Look for Early Traction

These days, investors want to see early traction.  In other words:
  1. Start your business with a clear understanding of the minimum product feature set.  
    • Validate and refine your idea with a few friendly customers.  Do they have the problem?  Is the problem painful enough that they would pay to solve it now?  What have they done to date to try to cope with the problem?  What do they think of your proposed solution?
  2. Get a few happy (paying) customers and then
  3. Raise more money to grow your business. 
This approach lowers the technical and market risk for potential investors.  It also minimizes dilution for founders and early investors.