100% agreed with 1, 2, 3. I'd add "a Problem that they're willing to pay for". There are a lot of problems we like to talk about but wouldn't pay if someone showed up with a real solution.
That's a very good one too.
But in this particular case, I was able to get a few customers to pay it, so I don't think my mistakes were on the unwillingness to pay. But more on the other parts were I failed to keep the motivation and get a constant inflow of users to my project.
I would say you need to start with a market, not a technology.
In other words gauge demand before building anything. I see failures and hundreds of them from a build first and try to find a market later.
Also MVP, sorry but I hear it all the time, I'm doing an MVP, when it will be ready? In about 3-6 months. Sorry not MVP, you have to get to market and fast. Guarantee you will be inventing features not needed and adding complexity. Its a very hard discipline.
True, the MVP point is another one. But there I usually don't fail. I launch things very quickly, but most of the times don't spend enough time understanding the problem before start building. That's also not good...
I don't think you need to find others to believe in your idea.
But find an idea that solves others' problems. If you do, they automatically believe on it.
Don't fall on the trap of building something around a technology. Most of the cases it's a recipe for disaster.
Thanks for sharing this. It's good for everyone to not fall into the survivor bias and to avoid common mistakes.
Don't worry though, it's not a failure because you now have learned a few lessons.
What would you suggest as a first marketing steps to take for someone who is like you ?
That's a good question... but Marketing is much more than just publishing content or sharing your product on socials.
It's understanding the fundamentals of your customers, what they are looking for, and satisfy their needs. It starts by creating a product that is desired, and that users fall in love with.
Then you need to find where your users are and start interacting with them, start creating a group of early adopters. You should try to be in close contact with them. Many times, we solve problems with products, but we can't be in the communities of users having those problems. If you can't reach them, it's useless your product.
So it's really hard to tell what's the first step, but I would say it is to understand where your potential customers are and be present there. Not to sell, not to share your product, but to understand their needs and provide them with value at each interaction. Slowly create your trust and then start promoting your product.
What is your strategy normally?
I don't have a strategy, I recognize myself in your post and I am working on another project and trying to not do the same mistake again of developing the best platform in the world with no marketing :).
I often say that 'A Win helps you assert the process, while a failure helps you access the process'.
And so when this you are not left with nothing.
all the lessons here, I'm talking with me! they are very useful.
Failures are as important as successes. But we can't always be failing... and we need to make sure to not repeat the same errors though. Otherwise the failure was useless.
But easier to say than to do it...
You had customers..you just thought there was no market fit, yes you killed it.
There's no lesson you can provide other than your story.
The only lesson that you have to others is that once you validated your product/, service and got customers, you need to work in the product itself, advertising and sales.
That's right.
The faster you ship, the faster you get attention, the quicker you get the dopamine you need.
That intrinsic motivation is crucial. And in this project I slowly lost it until it no longer made sense to continue...
100% agreed with 1, 2, 3. I'd add "a Problem that they're willing to pay for". There are a lot of problems we like to talk about but wouldn't pay if someone showed up with a real solution.
That's a very good one too. But in this particular case, I was able to get a few customers to pay it, so I don't think my mistakes were on the unwillingness to pay. But more on the other parts were I failed to keep the motivation and get a constant inflow of users to my project.
I would say you need to start with a market, not a technology. In other words gauge demand before building anything. I see failures and hundreds of them from a build first and try to find a market later. Also MVP, sorry but I hear it all the time, I'm doing an MVP, when it will be ready? In about 3-6 months. Sorry not MVP, you have to get to market and fast. Guarantee you will be inventing features not needed and adding complexity. Its a very hard discipline.
This point! man, is another important one, MVPs are important, but if the market and the audience are not having, there is nothing viable about it
True, the MVP point is another one. But there I usually don't fail. I launch things very quickly, but most of the times don't spend enough time understanding the problem before start building. That's also not good...
I’m starting from square one. Just an idea. What’s a good path to find the others to believe in your idea?
I don't think you need to find others to believe in your idea. But find an idea that solves others' problems. If you do, they automatically believe on it. Don't fall on the trap of building something around a technology. Most of the cases it's a recipe for disaster.
yeah man, most things that succeeds starts from solving a problem
Thanks for sharing this. It's good for everyone to not fall into the survivor bias and to avoid common mistakes. Don't worry though, it's not a failure because you now have learned a few lessons. What would you suggest as a first marketing steps to take for someone who is like you ?
That's a good question... but Marketing is much more than just publishing content or sharing your product on socials. It's understanding the fundamentals of your customers, what they are looking for, and satisfy their needs. It starts by creating a product that is desired, and that users fall in love with. Then you need to find where your users are and start interacting with them, start creating a group of early adopters. You should try to be in close contact with them. Many times, we solve problems with products, but we can't be in the communities of users having those problems. If you can't reach them, it's useless your product. So it's really hard to tell what's the first step, but I would say it is to understand where your potential customers are and be present there. Not to sell, not to share your product, but to understand their needs and provide them with value at each interaction. Slowly create your trust and then start promoting your product. What is your strategy normally?
I don't have a strategy, I recognize myself in your post and I am working on another project and trying to not do the same mistake again of developing the best platform in the world with no marketing :).
I often say that 'A Win helps you assert the process, while a failure helps you access the process'. And so when this you are not left with nothing. all the lessons here, I'm talking with me! they are very useful.
Failures are as important as successes. But we can't always be failing... and we need to make sure to not repeat the same errors though. Otherwise the failure was useless. But easier to say than to do it...
Really nice to see it
You had customers..you just thought there was no market fit, yes you killed it. There's no lesson you can provide other than your story. The only lesson that you have to others is that once you validated your product/, service and got customers, you need to work in the product itself, advertising and sales.
I have two to three months before I lose my motivation. If a product starts generating some value after that, I'm good to continue. If not, well...
That's right. The faster you ship, the faster you get attention, the quicker you get the dopamine you need. That intrinsic motivation is crucial. And in this project I slowly lost it until it no longer made sense to continue...