The votes are in from the problem validation: the problem is real! Actually I "cheated" a bit, by validating six different problems, to find the biggest need among them. Several of them actually have a lot of potential, but people seemed to especially relate to one of them in particular. (More on the specifics later...)
So now that we know the problem is real, it is time to test proposed solutions! But once again, before creating any of the solutions, I need to "get out of the building" once again to ask if my proposed solution is what people need, and if the messaging resonates with them.
The Survey Drag
So once again, the hunt is on to find people kind enough to spend 3 minutes or so filling out a little survey. Typically survey responses is about 2%-5% of the people that you contact! Fortunately I've been getting about a 12% response rate through LinkedIn. I'm needing at least 20 responses, which means I'll probably need to send about 170 messages! This type of thing takes time. But not as much time as building n different solutions before getting "lucky" enough to find one people want to pay for.
The Temptation to Build
And boy has it been hard to not build stuff! I'm a creative builder at heart (like many of you probably), and have all kinds of ideas for cool things that would be really fun to build. ...Like the large-scale VR for example...still want to build that one. (When will I give myself a vacation?) I'm realizing much more now that I have startup advice and accountability through The Startup Collaborative, that building a business truly takes hard work and discipline. Not just on the things you want to do, but also all the things you find a big drag...like begging people to take surveys.
Speaking of which, I'm on it.